Happy Birthday to my favorite, most inspiring chef, Chef Seng! Don’t work too hard today!
Bacon Wrapped Mini Meat Loaves
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.
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.
Then I shaped out mini loaves.
And browned all the sides in a pan.
Then 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!
DryBar Georgetown
I am not cheating on my stylist. I promise. But I had a photoshoot, and my hair is in that awkward length that I don’t know how to deal with. So after hearing rave reviews about DryBar, I wanted to give it a shot!
This place is SUPER cute. I love the hints of yellow. It’s so cheery, bright, and happy. I booked the appointment online for me and Deana. We checked in, they offered us a beverage (I chose sparkling fruit punch, yum!) and waited until my stylist came to get me.
Here’s the deal. It’s not a full service salon. It’s just a place that washes, dries and styles your hair. So simple. I know you are like, I can do my own hair. Good for you, I can’t. Oh and by the way, it’s a professional. It’s $40 bucks, and you get to be pampered. I love it. 
Amber came out, sat me down at her station. Asked me when the last time I washed my hair. After finding out its been awhile (I know I’m disgusting and busy) she offered a double wash. I chose the Mai Tai, which is a loose beachy wave. After I decided, we went to the other room for a glorious relaxing shampoo. The best part of any hair styling situation.
My greasy before, while Deana still looks stunning.
And after!
The Drybar Georgetown
1825 Wisconsin Ave NW
Washington, DC
(202) 609-8644
Aji Verde Sauce and Peruvian Roast Chicken
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.
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.
Split the bird, then pat dry.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
Dewey Beach Recap: Mother’s Day Weekend
My maman wasn’t buried in the ground. She was cremated, and her ashes were spread in the ocean in Dewey Beach, Delaware, where she first got on a surfboard. She wanted to be scattered in the ocean because she loved traveling. She didn’t want her body and spirit buried in the ground, but free to travel where the waves take her. Because of this, we feel her presence the strongest at large bodies of water. And because we can’t leave flowers at a grave, we release flower petals in the ocean.
Dad’s Birthday Recap
I’m a Daddy’s girl. For the longest time, I was his little tomboy princess. Now it’s my little sister’s turn to have the crown. She’s 4.
We love him so much, that we went to his house, 2 hours away, after work during traffic, to celebrate his special day with him. And he’s lucky because it’s always crawfish season when it’s his birthday. So we do how any cajuns would do a birthday. With a crawfish boil!
So he’s been 21 for over 30 years now I’m sure. But we’ll let him have it.
Since my brother and I don’t drink anymore, he made us take shots of frosting. Disgusting. But that’s love.
Soy Honey Chicken with Broccolini
The 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.
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!
Trim 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.
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!
Happy Mother’s Day!
(Via google)
Though mine is no longer with me, I think about her even more than usual today. I was lucky to spend one last Mother’s Day with her, before she passe (the next day). You may not always get along, but your mother is still your mother. Whether she gave you life, or maybe it was someone who raised you. Think of them and make them feel extra special today!
3 Years.
I contemplated whether or not to write this post, like I do every year. There really isn’t much to say. It does get a little easier to “deal” with the sadness, but of course it will never go away. The sadness that is. But you can only hope that the happiness of her being in a better place will overcome your own selfish sadness. I say selfish, because that’s what I would be if I wanted to her to stay here, even though she was suffering.
Three years has past. Three years of changes, and life passing, moving forward. I never thought I’d be the type to marry, or want kids. And after losing my maman so young, I couldn’t even imagine doing things without her, like getting married, and having babies. Yet here we are, a mere three years later and what has happened? I bought my first home. I fell in love. I got engaged. We’re planning a wedding, and babies.
I can only hope to share my memories and love from my mother to my future children.
Happy Birthday Dad!
