Getting By, Dreaming Big

This is a blog for me to share my thoughts on my favorite things: books, traveling, food and entertainment!

Sunday Baking: Individual Key Lime Pies July 25, 2010

Filed under: Cooking,Sunday Baking — readerbean @ 7:47 pm
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As you know, if you’ve read Sunday Baking (there have only been two blog posts so far) my sister’s fiance, Josh and myself are having a year long baking challenge that I’m going to document here.  As that will only provide me with two blog posts per month on Sunday, I’ll also be blogging twice monthly about my own random baking exploits! 

As I said in my first post about our baking challenge, Josh and I usually fall back to our favorite regular desserts, namely incorporating chocolate.  My brother, is not a fan.  He love, love, loves his Key Lime Pie.  Recently at a gathering he asked if someone could make Key Lime Pie sometime soon to satisfy his craving.  I took his request to heart.  I had never made Key Lime Pie and I’ll admit I was intimidated!  After scouring the web for a good recipe I stumbled upon this great Key Lime Tart receipe that would give each person their own Key Lime Tart.  Sweet!  It was from a website called:  Our Best Bites.

Key Lime Tarts (via Our Best Bites)
 10 mini graham cracker crusts* (available near the regular graham cracker crusts in the baking aisle)
5 egg yolks
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
Around 1/2 c. fresh lime juice.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl combine egg yolks, sweeten condensed milk and lime juice.

According to Our Best Bites, using real lime juice is key, even if it’s not key lime juice.  I made the effort, bought the limes and a juicer.  I didn’t think it was going to be that difficult to get 1/2 cup of lime juice and I thought I had over bought – as I had purchased 6 limes.  However, it was really difficult and I used every bit of lime I had purchased.

After you mix well, distribute evenly in the 10 mini pre-made graham cracker crusts.  Place the tarts on a baking sheet and bake for 10-11 minutes at 350 degrees.  Once you remove them from the oven and they cool, refrigerate them until you are ready to serve.  I forgot to take a photo of the final product but I whipped up some homemade whip cream to top each tart – YUM!

These were a huge hit.  They were the perfect size (small), light and tasty!  Everyone loved them – they were a definite crowd pleaser!  I will certainly be making them again, not only because everyone liked them, but because they were so easy to make (the most difficult part was getting the lime juice!)  I will also be checking back with Our Best Bites for future recipe suggestions – it’s a great website – full of a ton of yummy looking recipes.

Post in Comments:

Do you like Key Lime Pies?

 

Foodie Wednesday: Giada’s Chicken Parmesan September 23, 2009

Filed under: Cooking,Foodie Wednesday,Giada,Recipes — readerbean @ 9:11 pm
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Today I did a guest post for my friend Shion, who has a blog called, Shi’s Eating.  It’s a Foodie Blog.  I shared with her readers all about my Everyday Kitchen Challenge, which is that I’m working on cooking every receipe in Giada De Laurentiis’ cookbook Everyday Kitchen.

When Jon and I got back from Germany we were craving a home cooked meal.  I immediately decided to make a Giada recipe and chose her Chicken Parmesan recipe. 

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 8 (3-ounces each) chicken cutlets
  • 1 1/2 cups Simple Tomato Sauce, or purchased marinara sauce
  • 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
  • 16 teaspoons grated Parmesan
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.

Stir the oil and herbs in a small bowl to blend. Season with salt and pepper. Brush both sides of the cutlets with the herb oil. Heat a heavy large oven-proof skillet over high heat. Add the cutlets and cook just until brown, about 2 minutes per side. Remove the skillet from the heat. 

Chicken rubbed in herbs

Chicken rubbed in herbs

Spoon the marinara sauce over and around the cutlets. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of mozzarella over each cutlet, then sprinkle 2 teaspoons of Parmesan over each. Sprinkle the butter pieces atop the cutlets. Bake until the cheese melts and the chicken is cooked through, about 3 to 5 minutes.

The Finished Dinner!

The Finished Dinner!

I didn’t make her marinara sauce; I just used a jar sauce.  On the side we had Giada’s Caprese Salad (for whatever reason I was craving tomatoes that night!)  I have to say that when the recipe called for tabs of butter on top of the cheese while it baked I was more than a little nervous, but the end result was amazing.  My husband, Jon, said it was easily one of the best chicken parmesans he’s ever had and that it was restaurant quality.  I have to say I agree with him.  The herbs flavored the chicken so well.  The dish was much lighter too, without the bread crumbs; however you didn’t lose the flavor you might get from Italian seasoned bread crumbs because of the herbs rubbed into the chicken.

The dish was pretty easy, the most time consuming part was chopping the herbs to rub into the chicken.  Once that was done it was very easy to complete.

Another amazing dish provided by Giada!

Post in Comments:

Who is your favorite Food Network Chef?  Obviously mine is Giada, but if I had to pick someone else I’d say the Barefoot Contessa!

 

Foodie Wednesday: Frittata with Potato and Prosciutto July 21, 2009

Filed under: Cooking,Foodie Wednesday,Giada,Recipes — readerbean @ 9:11 pm
(The Potatoes, Onions & Garlic cooking…is there anything that smells better than onion and garlic?)(Everything cooking together in the pan)

(The Finished Product!)
(Side View of my Piece)

 

So for my latest Giada creation I chose the Frittata with Potato and Prosciutto. After I made Giada’s other frittata I spoke to my mom and she told me this one is even better. She was SO right! This fritata had a whole lot more flavor, not that the other one wasn’t good, because it was, but this one was AMAZING! And amazingly easy to make:) The leftovers re-heat well too!
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 (15-ounce) potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I didn’t peel my potato).
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 large eggs
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh basil
Directions
In a 9/12-inch-diameter nonstick ovenproof skillet, heat the oil over medium flame. Add the onion and saute until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the potato, garlic, salt and pepper, and saute over medium-low heat unil the potato is tender and golden, about 15 minutes.
Preheat the broiler. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, Parmesan cheese, prosciutto, and basil to blend. Stir the egg mixture into the potato mixture in the skillet. Cover and cook over medium-low heat until the egg mixture is almost set but the top is still runny, about 2 minutes. Place the skillet under teh broiler and broil until the top is set and golden brown, about 4 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, loosen the frittata from the skillet and slide it onto a plate. Cut the frittata into wedges and serve.
Post in Comments:
What are you favorite frittata ingredients?

 

(The egg, whipping cream, basil & prosciutto mixed together)

 

Foodie Wednesday: Musroom Risotto with Peas July 15, 2009

Filed under: Cooking,Foodie Wednesday,Recipes — readerbean @ 8:02 am
(The Risotto in the pan cooking!)

Even though I may not have had a Foodie Wednesday post in awhile (last week due to internet technical difficulties at my house and prior to that just being busy with work) does not mean that I have not been cooking up a storm!

In my quest to cook all of the recipes in Giada DeLaurentis’ “Everday Italian” cookbook I present to you Mushroom Risotto with Peas.

Ingredients

8 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
1/2-ounce dried procini mushrooms
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups finely chopped onions
10 ounces white mushrooms, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice or short-grain white rice
2/3 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
2/3 cup grated parmesean
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, optional

Directions

Bring the broth to a simmer in a heavy medium saucepan. Add the porcini mushrooms. Set aside until the mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes. Keep the broth warm over very low heat.

Melt the butter in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add olive oil. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the white mushrooms and garlic. Using slotted spoon, transfer the porcini mushrooms to a cutting board. Finely chop the mushrooms and add to the saucepan.

Saute until the mushrooms are tender and the juices evaporate, about 5 minutes. Stire in the rice and let it toast for a few minutes. Add the wine; cook until the liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 2 minutes.

Add 1 cup of hot broth; simmer over medium-low heat until the liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Continue to cook until the rice is just tender and the mixture is creamy, adding more broth by the cupfuls and stirring often, about 28 minutes (the rice will absorb 6 to 8 cups of broth.

Stir in the peas. Mix in the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

(The finished product!)

I will say that this did take a long time to cook – I was stirring for what seemed like forever – but it was well worth it. I was nervous having never previously made a risotto and it doesn’t start to really look like risotto till towards the end, so I was unimpressed with my big brown glob of mush in the pan while I was cooking!

However, the final product was outrageously delicious!!! Jon and I could not stop saying how good it was. It made about 6 servings and had 4 as leftovers. It was a fight as to who got them! I will definitely make this recipe again and I look forward to trying additional risotto recipes. Now that I’ve done it once it doesn’t seem so scary anymore.

As a side note, when purchasing the 1/2 ounce of Porcini mushrooms you really only need 1 maybe 2 mushrooms. They are $49.99 a pound (at Whole Foods) so be careful how many you throw into the bag!!!

Post in Comments:

Have you ever made a risotto?

What are your favorite risotto flavors?

 

Foodie Wednesday: Nacho Spuds April 22, 2009

Filed under: Cooking,Foodie Wednesday,Recipes — readerbean @ 9:49 pm

I tear out all recipes in magazines that look good and have the potential for me to make them! This was one I tore out of Everyday with Rachel Ray! Above is a picture of the nacho spuds on the baking sheet.

Here is a picture of my serving of nacho spuds with a dollop of sour cream on top! I have to say these were delicious, very tasty, easy to make and great to reheat for lunch or dinner the next day. I would definitely recommend these to anyone looking for a fun dinner. I would also imagine that these would be pretty kid friendly. Maybe they’ll become your family’s new favorite meal….
Ingredients
2 large baking potatoes (1 1/2 pounds total), sliced into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
2 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
1/2 pound lean ground beef sirloin
One 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
2 tablespoons taco seasoning
One 8-ounce package shredded sharp cheddar cheese (2 cups)
1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered lengthwise
Sour cream and shredded lettuce, for serving

1. Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 450°. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the potatoes with 2 tablespoons olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Arrange in a single layer and bake until golden, about 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and the ground beef and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in the beans, taco seasoning and 2 tablespoons water. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring, until heated through, about 10 minutes.
3. Transfer the potatoes to an ovenproof platter. Sprinkle half of the cheddar on top, spoon on the meat mixture, then top with the tomatoes and remaining cheddar. Place in the oven and turn off the heat. Let stand until the cheese is melted, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve with the sour cream and lettuce.

Enjoy!
 

Recipe Wednesdays: Orecchiette with Mini Chicken Meatballs March 25, 2009

Filed under: Cooking,Recipe Wednesdays,Recipes — readerbean @ 9:56 am

Last week I made another Giada creation: Orecchiette with Mini Chicken Meatballs. Once again, it was delish!

If you would like the recipe you can click HERE. It was fairly simple, more prep time than cooking time. It was more flavorful then I thought it was going to be. The chicken meatballs were divine and I was nervous seeing as I had never used ground chicken as a base before in place of ground turkey or beef.

This meal heated up great as leftovers, I ended having it for lunch most days last week. I just added a little bit of chicken broth each morning and some salt, pepper and cheese and it was delicious once heated in the microwave for about 2 minutes.

This is definitely a recipe I would recommend!

 

Recipe Wednesdays: Comfort Food March 18, 2009

Filed under: Cooking,Recipe Wednesdays,Recipes — readerbean @ 10:05 pm

This Sunday I was making my meals for the week and I made one of my favorite dishes that is totaly comfort food for me – Skillet!!! Skillet was something that we ate all the time growing up. I don’t know if my mom just made it up or if she got the recipe from someone but I have very fond memories of skillet night (my brother and sister might feel differently!)

Here is the recipe:
1 lb. ground turkey
1 onion
1 box of frozen peas
1 box of beef rice a roni

Chop up the onions and cook them with the ground turkey. Drain the fat from the ground turkey. Add the margarine/butter and the rice to the pan and brown the rice. Add the water, seasoning packet, ground turkey, peas & onions to the rice and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

On a cold day I find a piping hot dish straight out of the pan extra yummy! The great thing about this meal is that it heats up in the microwave well so it’s great to have for lunch for the week.
The drink in the background is my new concoction – 1/2 seltzer water and 1/2 grape juice – yum!
Post in Comments:
What is your favorite comfort food?
 

52 Weeks of Cooking: Easy Bacon, Onion and Cheese Stuffed Burgers November 2, 2007

Filed under: Cooking,Recipes — readerbean @ 8:17 am


Ah…the infamous lunch I mentioned in my previous post. I wanted to make stuffed burgers for my family gathering because I had never made them before and I thought it would be a fun thing to make.

I wanted to pick a relatively simple recipe (for a stuffed burger that is) and I found this particular recipe on http://www.allrecipes.com/. If you would like to review the actual recipe click here!

I got everything ready so that when they arrived all I had to do was the assembly. The burgers didn’t stay totally stuffed, some of the stuffing came out the side while Jon was cooking them.

I served them with just a light salad because I had a feeling that they might be a little heavy. And I was right. Everyone “said” they really liked them, and I liked the flavoring and the taste, but I just thought it was too much food. I only ate half my burger and was glad I didn’t try to finish it off.

I would definitely try a stuffed burger again, and I would even try this stuffed burger again. Next time I would either make the burgers smaller and put less filling in, so that the burger isn’t too large or I wouldn’t serve it on a roll, but rather over a bed of lettuce, with onion, tomato and pickles.

 

52 Weeks of Cooking; Awesome Baked Sea Scallops November 1, 2007

Filed under: Cooking,Recipes — readerbean @ 9:10 pm

Again, I bet you thought I had abandoned you! No, even though I was perhaps too busy to write, I did stick to my 52 weeks of cooking:) Saturday, October 20th Jon and I woke up early enough to go to the Farmer’s Market at Union Square, one of our favorite New York things to do. It’s just such a great way to start your day (and this coming from a girl who hates crowds, ah, how I’ve grown).

My parents, brother and my brother’s girlfriend were coming over for lunch the following day and I wanted to make something with very fresh ingredients. While we were there we picked up some scallops for our Saturday night dinner and I made this dish – Awesome Baked Sea Scallops.

You can find this recipe on www.allrecipes.com or by clicking here! The cool thing about allrecipes.com is that when you find a recipe you can adjust the ingredients for as many people as you want by just putting in how many people you are cooking for.

This recipe was good – a little heavy, more filling than I generally like my fish to be – but in all fairness to the recipe I forgot to adjust it for just 2 people in all aspects but the scallops! Oops – that’s what happens when you rush around. It looks really beautiful and is really quite flavorful. I definitely plan on giving this recipe another go around and will make sure that I adjust the recipe appropriately next time!

 

52 Weeks of Cooking: Pork and Vegetable Stir Fry October 9, 2007

Filed under: Cooking,Recipes — readerbean @ 10:21 pm

Goodness I feel that this is turning into a cooking blog – eek! I’m going to have to get out this weekend and do some interesting things so I can get back to blogging about NYC experiences! Our weekend was a ton of fun – it was a lot of hanging out with friends, cooking, drinking, watching sports – you know, THAT kind of weekend! We had a great time and got to spend lots of time with friends and family.

Sunday night we decided to relax and cook in. I do have to say that this 52 weeks of cooking project definitely has upped my cooking, and it’s really reminded me of how much I love to cook. I’m not very crafty so cooking is one way for me to express myself in a way creatively – it allows me to take different ingredients and turn them into a meal. I didn’t realize how much I’ve missed that until I took up this project. So yay for it working :)

Pork and Vegetable Stir Fry (this is a South Beach Diet Cookbook recipe)

Cook Time: 30 Minutes

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar-free apricot reserves
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1 1/2 pounds pork cutlets, cut into 1/4-inch strips
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound broccoli, cut into florets
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 bunch scallions, cut into 2-inch lengths
4 ounces snow peas, strings removed

Whisk preserves and soy sauce together in a bowl until smooth.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large nonstick skillet or wok over high heat. Add pork and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned and no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
Add remaining oil and garlic to the same skillet; cook over medium-hight heat for 30 seconds. Add broccoli, pepper, scallions, and snow peass and cook until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in portk and preserves mixture; cook 1 minute more. Serve hot.

This recipe was more prep time then anything else, since I had a lot of veggies to chop up. It was a really easy recipe and it was uber-flavorful! Most importantly it heats up well the next day for lunch or dinner leftovers.

Happy Cooking!