A new experience.....

So today I tried something completely new and different that I never thought in a million years I would ever make. I made sushi....I guess I should say more like that I attempted to make sushi! This is a very hard task to accomplish. It tasted good according to my father but I never tasted it myself. By the time I got done making it I was less than interested in eating it! Isn't it funny how that things like that work? You spend so much time making something so elaborate and then you don't have any interest in eating it. It is Matt's favorite food and I was trying to see if it was something I would be able to reproduce and make my own so that we could save money and not have to buy it out at a resturant. We will see. I think food like that takes a lot of practice so I will keep that up and then go from there. This was a fun experience even though it was really hard. If I have learned one thing from all of this cooking and trying new things involved with cooking it is that there is no harm in failing. You just suck it up and move on but you don't give up. It has been a great experience for me.

A brand new day...

Today August 14,2009 began as a normal day and then I saw something that I never knew could have such an impact on my life. This something was the movie "Julie and Julia". I have found a new passion for cooking ever since my fiance' deployed to Iraq but this movie has inspired me to take this passion to another level. It has taught me to make mistakes in my cooking and be okay with it. To never apologize for making a mistake in my cooking. This movie has inspired me to continue cooking and look for life lessons in each and every dish I make. This passion will not be a short lived passion but one that continues to play in my life each and every day.

Before this movie I had made an Asparagus Quiche and Garlic Cheese Drop Biscuits. It was a simple meal but a very good one at that. I do not have the recipes next to me or I would post them and the camera I took the pictures with is not here either but just trust me it was a very healthy* and tasty meal. I hope if you ever watch this movie it inspires you as it has me to continue a passion that has been started with such a small spark and has turned into something so great. I can honestly say that I have a new way of looking at cooking. I love this hobby and am excited to see what there is in store!

A little something I threw together....

Well today I felt like trying to make my own Red Pepper Pesto Pasta! Tongue twister I know!!! I also burnt the toast under the broiler haha! It was an interesting dinner. I cooked a bunch of chicken along with this meal and it was really yummy. I coated the chicken in Italian seasoned bread crumbs and then sauteed it! The red pepper pesto pasta was really a simple dish. While you are making the pesto sauce you can be boiling the pasta. I used bowtie pasta so it would hold the sauce a little better but any type of pasta would work. The only ingredients used in the pesto are: fresh basil, red peppers, parmesan cheese and olive oil. Then you mix all of these ingredients in the food processor and then it is complete. It tasted better than it looks in the picture haha! If you try this meal I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Lazy summer days....

The last few days I have taken off from cooking and all kinds of other fun activities. I have been taking finals and picking up extra hours at work just to try and earn a few more bucks. Only 3 weeks or 28 days left until the Love of my life returns. THANK GOD!!! This deployment has been a very interesting experience. I will say that now that I have completed this summer term of school it feels very odd to be able to enjoy some down time. I actually can play the Wii with my father and not feel guilty because I should be studying for an exam or something of that nature. Needless to say today is the beginning of my summer haha! I finally get to have some lazy summer days! These are very much needed. I hope everyone is having a great day!

Feeling creative....

Well today I was feeling very corageous and creative and decided to try something I have never had the courage to do so before. I made a chocolate souffle'. It was a tough adventure but one I overcame haha. I am not even going to sit here and try and say that it turned out like I would have liked but it is edible haha.

Chocolate Souffle' Recipe

Ingredients

-1/3 cup all-purpose flour

-sugar

-1 1/2 cups milk

-3 squares unsweetened chocolate, coarsley chopped or grated

-6 eggs, separated

-1/4 teaspoon salt

-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In 2-quart saucepan, into flour and 1/4 cup of sugar, slowly stir milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and starts to boil.

2. Cook mixture 1 minute more. Remove pan from heat and stir in chocolate until melted.

3. With wooden spoon, rapily beat in egg yolks, all at once, beating until thoroughly blended; refrigerate to cool the mixture to lukewarm, stirring occasionally.

4. Grease 2-quart souffle' dish or round casserole with butter or margarine and lightly sprinkle dish with sugar. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

5. In large bowl with mixer at high speed, beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form.

6. With the mixer at high speed, gradually sprinkle in 1/4 cup sugar; beat well until the sugar is completely dissolved. The whites should stand in still glossy peaks.

7. With wire whisk or rubber spatula, gently fold chocolate mixture, one third at a time, and vanilla into egg whites, until blended. Pour mixture into souffle' dish.

8. With back of spoon, 1 inch from edge of dish, make 1-inch indentation all around souffle. Bake 35-40 minutes until knife inserted under "top hat" comes out clean.

Along with this dessert I was watching the Food Network and saw a yummy looking recipe. It was Potato Chip Crusted Chicken. I did substitue regular potato chips for Sun Chips to help with the health factor but that doesn't help when you put a lot of butter like the recipe called for. Either way it went down well. Along with this type of chicken I also made some mac-n'-cheese and some asparagus. Needless to say it wasn't the most healthy dish I have ever made. But I found this tonight to be a HUGE stress relief. I am getting pretty good and I know my fiance' is going to be ready to come eat my meals haha! Or I least I hope so!

Potato Chip Crusted Chicken

Ingredients

-8 tablespoons Butter

-6 cloves of garlic minced

-2 tablespoons olive oil

-10 oz. of potato chips

-6 boneless chicken breast

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Put aluminum foil on a cookie sheet to cover pan and then grease the foil.

2. In a skillet, melt butter. Add garlic and saute' for two minutes. Remove from heat. Cool for about 2 minutes and then add olive oil to this mixture.

3. In a plastic bag (sealed), take a rolling pin to crush the potato chips.

4. Roll chicken in melted butter and garlic mix. Then put into potato chips crumbs, pressing to adhere. Let chicken set at room temperature for about 15 minutes.

5. Bake in oven for 10 minutes the first side, flip over then 8 more minutes.

Well I hope you enjoy these dishes if you choose to make them as much as my family and I did. Cooking is a very fun hobby and I am so glad I am finding myself becoming more mature in it!

Just starting out....

Let me just start off by saying that I have never done the blogging thing before and was interested in giving this a shot. I am not sure how it is going to turn out but I am going to give it my best effort. Okay....my fiance' has been deployed for the last month and a half and I have recently discovered through this experience a new love for cooking. The Food Network is normally on my TV from the time I wake up in the morning until the time I go to bed. It has been a very stress relieving experience to find a new hobby such as this. My parents joke when I get a new recipe and such, "How much is this going to cost me?" haha. It has been a very rewarding experience as well. When my fiance' gets back he and I have decided to take on a new task. We have purchased Rachel Ray's 365 no repeats recipe book and we are going to do this challenge together as a couple. I think this is going to be a very fun thing and an activity that will help us as a couple grow together. I am so excited about this new journey that we will begin when he returns... I will actually get to cook with my Rachel Ray pans...I have had them for about 7 months or so and have cooked with them twice haha. They reside at his home so that should explain a lot. Before he left I absolutely hated cooking but I had a change of heart somewhere along the way. Tonight I made something that I know will get a lot of not so fun faces but it was a Seafood Pot Pie. It was a recipe I saw on "Paula's Party" the other day and just felt the need to recreate this what looked to be delicious dish. Let me tell you, IT TURNED OUT TO BE WONDERFUL! I have never had something so good that I made in a long time haha.

Seafood Pot Pie

Ingredients

- 1/4 cup butter (4 tablespoons)

- 1 cup chopped onion (preferably white)

- 1 cup minced celery

- 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

- 1 1/2 teaspoons Creole seasoning

- 2 tablespoons dry sherry

- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan

- 2 cups half-and-half

- 1 pound medium fresh shrimp,peeled and deveined (Pre-COOKED!!!)

- 1 pound fresh bay scallop

- 1 (8-oz) container lump crabmeat,picked free of shell (imitation crabmeat works well too!)

- 3 tablespoons butter, melted

- Recipe for Drop Buttermilk Biscuits for topping follows

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 4 (2-cup) oven safe bowls. Place bowls on a jelly roll pan.

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, celery, mushrooms and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in the Creole seasoning, sherry and cheese. Stir in half-and-half, and cook 5 minutes, or until thickened. Remove from heat and add shrimp, scallops and crab. Spoon into prepared dish.

Spoon the Drop Buttermilk Biscuits evenly over each casserole. Bake for 20 minutes or until biscuits are golden.

Drop Buttermilk Biscuits Recipe:

- 2 cups baking mix (Bisquick biscuit mix will work)

- 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

- 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar

- 1 cup whole Buttermilk

In a medium bowl, combine baking mix, cornmeal, garlic powder and cheese. Stir in buttermilk just until dry ingredients are moistened.

This recipe is wonderful. Take my word for it. I will post new recipes as I try them out! I hope you enjoy this hobby as much as I do!