Category: Cook

Sloppy Joes

I love that the honey is cooking more. That frees up time for me to do other things …like laundry and write about what he’s cooking. Hah! This week he brings…

SLOPPY JOES!

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I haven’t had these in forever. And it’s usually from a can. But it seems much healthier if you make it from scratch right?

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Sloppy Joes
Adapted from Foodnetwork

Ingredients
1 pound extra-lean ground beef
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced
1 red pepper, diced
1 can small red beans or pinto beans, preferably low sodium drained and rinsed
1 cup tomato sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon A1 sauce
1 teaspoon mustard powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons brown sugar
Freshly ground black pepper
8 potato burger buns

Directions
Brown the meat and the onion in a large skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, breaking up the meat as it cooks.

Pour the drippings out of the pan and discard. Add the garlic, jalapeno, and red pepper and cook 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the red wine vinegar, the molasses and the rest of the seasonings. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes more.

Scoop onto buns and enjoy!

Posted on by miemo 0

Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

I have a new favorite dressing. It takes some planning, and I can’t just whip it up out of my cupboard like my zesty italian dressing, but still pretty simple.

I had it over my quinoa, edamame salad and everyone loved it. So happy! I hope you like it too!

First you start off with a pound of fresh strawberries. Wash ’em, trim em’ halve ’em. Put them in a small pot, add sugar, salt and water and cook on medium heat.
Once they are broken down and soft, and leaked out their juices, hit it with the immersion blender until smooth.
Even then, it’s still not smooth enough! Strain that baby into a bowl. Let it cool down to the touch. Or cooler.
Add seasoning, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Whisk until incorporated. And delicious.

Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks. Yeah, right. Like it will last that long 😉
Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette
1 lb Fresh Strawberries, stems removed, chopped
1 tsp of sugar
a pinch of salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 bag of Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix

Directions:
In a small pot over medium heat, stir strawberries, sugar, salt and water over medium heat. When juices release and strawberries are soft, remove from heat. Blend with an immersion blender (or transfer to a blender) and pulse until smooth.

Strain into a bowl. Let cool. Whisk in the rest of the ingredients. Store in fridge in an airtight container for up to two weeks. Enjoy over salad!

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Cooking Quinoa

Can I tell you a secret? I never made quinoa before. And I never ate it either until one time last year at whole foods. I like the texture. I don’t know how to eat it really. But since I am trying to eat healthier I thought I would start with a salad. So I made it in beef stock and threw it in with my salad! My cousin told me that she had been making it wrong the whole time!

Its basically like rice. A 2:1 ratio. Use your favorite broth, to get some flavor infused in there.

I used Trader Joe’s Tri Color quinoa. 1/2 cup of dry quinoa, washed clean in cold water. Then in a small pot I added the quinoa and 1 cup of beef broth. Bring to boil, then lower to a simmer and cook covered until all the liquid is absorbed. Easy right?

 

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Everyone’s Obsessed with Sriracha {Salt}

source

It’s so true. This green topped bottle has been in my kitchen since before I was born, so I wasn’t sure why all of a sudden everyone is using it. But I guess because it is MAINSTREAM now. I’ve decided I should start trying out some of these Sriracha recipes.

I started out with the the Sriracha Wings, which were a huge hit! My next adventure? Sriracha salt. Mostly because these would be great gifts and a nice little topping to some simple meals.

I am sure you can find the measurements somewhere on pinterest, but I like to wing it. Maldon sea salt flakes, and enough sriracha to make a paste, but not too wet.
Mix it with some garlic powder, and it becomes a seasoning salt.
Spread it out on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Stick it in the oven and turn it to 200F. When the oven reaches temperature, turn it off. Stick a wooden spoon to prop the door slightly, and leave it in the oven over night. The next day check it out. It should be dry. And probably stuck together.
Stick in a spice grinder, or food processor.
Grind it up as fine as you like it.
Then put it in a cute airtight jar, sprinkle it on everything. Spicy. salty, garlicky goodness.
Posted on by miemo 0

Chicken Divan

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You might be surprised to know I’m not the only cook in the house. My honey also enjoys cooking, I just don’t let him in my kitchen often. But there are some days where I don’t want to cook, and thats when he gets to shine. One of his favorites to make, that can be done after work is his grandmother’s Chicken Divan.

 

His Chicken Divan

Ingredients:
3 boneless chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp curry powder (optional)
1 lb bag of shredded cheddar
1 lb of frozen broccoli or 2 large fresh crowns chopped
French bread/baguette

Directions:
Pre heat oven to 350F.
Bring a pot of water big enough to cover the chicken breast to boil. Add chicken breast. Boil until chicken is cooked. In a small bowl mix mayonnaise, cream of chicken and curry powder until thoroughly incorporated. Boil broccoli until slightly tender. Drain.

In a baking pan (9×13) shred the chicken and spread evenly. Layer the broccoli on top of the chicken. Pour mayonnaise mixture over the pan and spread evenly. Then top with desired amount of cheese, or whole bag! Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, cut and enjoy with bread!

Sorry there’s no finished picture. He hasn’t made it in awhile for me to take pics!

Posted on by miemo 0

Thank you for your Support!

Wow! I can't thank everyone enough, for coming out in the yucky weather Saturday to support my market debut! I sold out!

Yelp hosted a wonderful event and it was so nice to see and support local small businesses. Since it was such a success, I might even consider doing another market and expanding my macaron clientele. Exciting flavors and things to come next year! Stay warm everyone!

 

 

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My Macaron Equipment

Some of you wonder what I use to make macarons at home. Thanks for asking! There are always plenty of choices when it comes to kitchen stuff, and I LOVE having a kitchen full of a gadgets. You don’t necessarily need to use EXACTLY what I use, for example, I used a standmixer, but you could do the same with a handmixer. You’d just have one less hand to use to prep! All product links are from amazon. If you purchase them from here, I get a small percentage to help keep the site running, but please don’t feel obligated to use my links. I just like to recommend products I trust and use regularly.

Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer: This is the best kitchen investment I’ve had. This thing has been with me through countless breads, cakes, cookies, frostings. Not to mention, freshly ground meat and making my own sausages. And now its helping me make macarons. Having the extra hand to whisk egg whites while I prep other ingredients is very helpful in time management.

Kitchen Scale: Macarons are so temperamental, especially if you use the classic french method. The best way to even out the playing field (sometimes humidity is a factor you can’t control) I prefer measuring ingredients in weight. Volume can vary because of the space in the measuring cup (clumped ingredients, or sifted, etc) but weight will always give you the same amount.

Silpats: There are other silicones out there (trust me, I’ve used two other types which were gifts) and they don’t always work like Silpats. I’m not usually a brand snob, but since feet are so crucial to macarons I have to only use these.

Chicago Half Sheet Baking Pans: These perfectly fit the silpats. I had other cookie sheets in bigger sizes, but these are the sized perfectly for the baking mat and helps keeps my kitchen efficient.

Piping Bags: 18 inches gives me enough space to fill a whole batch of macarons with one fill.

Large Decorating Tip: I use this for the circles and the filling

Spice and Nut Grinder: Sometimes I’m just too lazy to use the food processor or the vitamix, and this works with less clean up. But then it makes me wonder why I have SO many kitchen gadgets!

Fine Mesh Sieve: Use this to make sure all ingredients are smooth and light. Very crucial in making sure your shells have feet!

Bowls: I don’t need to link to bowls I am sure you have plenty!

 

Are you guys using anything different? Let me know!

 

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Holiday Macarons

I don’t know if you can tell from my instagram, but I’m obsessed with making macarons! I’ve actually started putting together holiday gift boxes for people to purchase and give to their friends this holiday season.

Can I tell you a secret? I like making these a lot more than cupcakes. I guess because they are so tedious to make, that when they turn out well, with their little feet, I get joy! Instant gratification. I officially am not taking cupcake orders. I’ll still make some here and there for my friends who love my creative cupcakes, but none of this making it a side hustle thing. I don’t even think I make them that well.

But macarons. Yup. They are so colorful and you can make so many different combinations, plus they can be intimidating to make, so people are more than likely buy them, than make them themselves. I was addicted. I didn’t like them at first, but after my third try, I’m like MAN, I love macarons. After spending $2+ on each, I realized I had an expensive addiction. Then came the idea to make them myself. I'm pretty good in the kitchen, why not?

And now I have a running list of flavors I need to make, and request for orders. I love it. To introduce my skills for hire, I've put out an online order form. It's currently only for local orders so if you are interested, please email me at macarons@miemonster.net. I am only doing holiday flavors for the rest of the year though.

The flavors that come in my assorted boxes are gingerbread, hot cocoa and candy cane!

**The gorgeous photography by Camille Beatrice, the random low budget picture by me via instagram

 

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Vertical Chicken Roaster

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As you can tell from my blog. I like to roast chickens. It’s pretty easy, and cheap and filling. Plus you can get creative with the sides and everyone’s happy. I saw this vertical chicken roaster on World Market, and was like hmm, I’ll give it a try. It was $20 and I wondered if I could get a crispy all around chicken.

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So I prepped the chicken as usual. rinsed it, dried it stuffed and seasoned it. Stuck on the roaster at 425F. After about an hour I checked on it and it was pretty…but not what I expected. It was crisp all around, but the bottom didn’t golden and not crisp. I ended up just sticking it on a roaster to finish it off.

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Maybe it’s just me, I will have to google to see how to properly use it. But I do like the idea of it. Have you used one of these before? What am I doing wrong?

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Roast Chicken and Crispy Potatoes

So this dinner might take a couple of hours. But totally worth it. These crispy potatoes are OVEN BAKED and you are going to want to make them over and over again. I know I will, and I do. The roast chicken is so perfect. And crisp.
I used Emeril's Recipe for the perfect roast chicken. Listen to him. Do what he says. He's magical. Also I say, start the bird, first and foremost. It's takes the longest to cook.

And you already know how to make my green beans. So now onto the Crispy Oven Baked Potatoes!

Did you know that the type of potato matters? Russet (the big brown ones) are great for baking, but suck at boiling. they will fall apart. Red are awesome for boiling and they will hold shape pretty well. But the best potato for what we are doing right here? Yellow. Gold. Whatever you wanna call it. They are versatile. You can boil em, you can bake em. And that is what we are doing tonight.

Crispy Oven Baked Potatoes

Ingredients
5-10 yukon gold potatoes (or as many as you want to eat!)
Olive Oil
Salt, Pepper, your preferred seasonings

Directions
Preheat the oven to 500°.

Scrub your potatoes clean and cut them into bite sized pieces. Place them in a large pot of salted water. Bring this to a boil over high heat and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook 4-5 minutes, just until the edges are softened but is still hard in the middle.

Drain the potatoes and put them in a large bowl. Drizzle the potatoes with the olive oil and sprinkle them with your seasonings. Cover the bowl with a large plate or a pot lid and shake vigorously to roughen up the potatoes.

Spread the potatoes in a single layer over a baking sheet. Bake for 35-40 minutes, flipping the potatoes every 15 minutes until they’re brown and crispy.

 

Posted on by miemo 0