Stir Fry

I had made stir fry before with a group of friends, but this was my first solo-flyin’, stir-fryin’ experience.

Zucchini, onion, mushroom, green pepper, carrots, blah di blah veggies blah blah blah.  Julienne, stir-fry, no magic here.  I was really excited about the sauce, though.  See, the problem I have with a lot of home stir-fries is that it’s just veggies and rice, with no sauce to tie it all together.

I didn’t measure, sorry:

Honey dijon salad dressing

Water

Lemon juice

Vernors (trust me)

Minced garlic

Cornstarch to thicken

Mix it up.  Heat it up.  I used the same pan I’d been stir-frying in, so it had some of the veggie-flavored olive oil in it as well.  I had added everything but the Vernors, and I could tell it needed something.  I opened the fridge, and inspiration struck.  The ginger ale works great because it added some sweetness as well as a gingery flavor.  Very nice.

After that I added the shrimp and simmered the whole thing until the rice was done.

Fathead’s Brewery

Oh man. Oh man oh man.

Delicious sandwich. They call it a Brewben, and it’s pastrami, hot pepper kraut, thousand island dressing, and Swiss cheese on rye. And it’s delicious.

Served with their freshly made potato chips. (Good and thick, the way I like my chips.)

Oh yeah, and they make their own root beer. Wonderful.

I’ll definitely be going back.

The Vegetarian Chronicles, part III – Veggies in Cream Sauce

This one ended somewhere entirely different than I intended it to go, but it was tasty nonetheless.

I just some sauteed veggies (zucchini, mushroom, tomato, onion, garlic), and then simmered them in a cream sauce (roux, half and half, garlic powder, and a little cumin), and I served the whole shebang over rice.

The rice thing was a miscalculation on my part.  Cream sauce is white, white rice is white.  It made for a boring-looking (albeit good-tasting) meal.  In retrospect I should have used some green linguine or one of the more colorful rices.

Valentine’s Day

For Valentine’s Day I surprised my girlfriend with a picnic lunch at the Winery at Wolf Creek. It was still rather cold that day, so we ate indoors, but the lunch itself was picnicky enough.

Menu:

Portobello mushrooms, tomato, carmelized onions, and monterey jack cheese sandwiches on ciabatta.

I marinated the the portobello slices in a mixture of grape juice, grape jam, hot sauce, italian dressing, and lemon juice <—Sounds weird, but it came out really well. Then I sauteed them with onions and garlic.

Brie and crackers.

A bottle of White Lies, a delicious, sweet, grapey wine that they make at Wolf Creek. Hands down, my favorite wine.

For dessert, something I bought at the grocery store called a “Devil’s Delight Parfait.” Basically, it’s chunks of chocolate cake with whipped cream and a ridiculous amount of hot fudge sauce, with a cherry on top. <—-Delicious, but would have been better with more cake and less fudge sauce.

The atmosphere of the place is absolutely wonderful. The winery has both an indoor dining room (with plenty of windows, of course) and a patio which overlooks a beautiful lake at the bottom of a hill.

All in all, a very successful date. Travel was efficient, and everything went off without a hitch. Very romantic.

And speaking of homemade mac and cheese…

One of our Thursday night gatherings (which have now moved to Fridays) was a mac ‘n cheese themed evening.  Not one of the healthiest of our gatherings, but certainly one of the most delicious.  There were of course traditional mac ‘n cheeses, but other such fun options as Havarti ‘n Ham, Chicken ‘n Broccoli, Asparagus ‘n Pasta, and others that are escaping me at the moment.

My contribution was a Bacon Cheddar Mac ‘n Cheese.  Shredded cheddar cheese, milk, sour cream, and butter made up the cheese sauce.  (I didn’t measure, sorry. )  The pasta I used was medium shells.

What gave me trouble was the question of what to put on top to get all brown and wonderful. Inspiration came from a close friend and fellow foodie:  Hash browns.

In general I’m not one to give myself too hearty a pat on the back when it comes to my culinary creations.  That said:   Holy.  Freaking.  Crap.

I can’t really take credit for it’s deliciousness, though, as I don’t see how any combination of pasta, cheese, sour cream, butter, bacon, and potatoes could possibly be bad.

The rules…

Ok, this had to be addressed eventually. You’ve read the tagline of the blog. “Because good food is really, really good.” The thing I left out is that not-so-good food can be pretty good, too. I recently blogged about Aldi-brand instant mac and cheese. Don’t misunderstand. I love a good, homemade mac and cheese, but sometimes the bar is just lower. You’re hungry, you’re hungry now, and dammit, you just want something processed and bad for you.

This brings me to White Castle.

Oh, White Castle. Your steam grilled (And what the hell is steam grilling?  Don’t ask me!) delights have satisfied many a craving. Yes, I love White Castle. (There! I said it!) And no, I still won’t give up my Foodie Card. I give you truth here: White Castle can be delicious, as long as you know and follow the rules.

In no particular order:

• Don’t go in expecting a burger.

This may sound strange and worrisome, but never enter a White Castle with the intention of eating a cheeseburger (or a hamburger, or any other kind of burger.) If you do, you will be severely disappointed, and probably a little grossed out. White Castle’s strength has never been making burgers. White Castle’s strength lies in making insanely cheap snack foods that are vaguely burgerlike. If you go in expecting Sliders, you’ll be much happier.

• Never go before midnight.

I violated this rule once, and it was a very unpleasant experience. The closer you go to 3 a.m., the better. I don’t know why, but 3 a.m. is the absolute perfect time for eating White Castle. There’s a witching hour joke there somewhere, but I’m not brave enough to find it.

• The fries are disappointing.

This one’s not so much a rule as a piece of advice. They’re the crinkle cut, frozen,  dump the bag onto a cookie sheet and bake kind of fries.  Less than stellar.

• Don’t split a “Crave Case” between fewer than three people.

Please, please  just trust me.

• If you’re really, really hungry, all bets are off.

There comes a point where the rules just stop mattering.  9 pm, 9 am, noon, if you’re that hungry then just hang the rules and go nuts.

Just stick to the rules, and everything will be alright.  On a side note, the clam strips are really good.  And I don’t mean “White Castle good,” I mean normal food good.

Vegetarian Chili

This was super fun and super easy.

1 can each of black, navy, pinto, and kidney beans (drained of liquid)

1 can corn (drained of liquid)

1 jar mild salsa

1 large can diced tomatoes

chili powder and cayenne pepper to taste

Throw it in a crock pot.

Seriously, that’s it.  Put it on low for like six hours.

The other cool thing is that I was going to a party the following day at which there were no vegetarians.  I got the same chili (as in, the same pot I’d made the previous day), added another can of diced tomatoes, two cans of off-brand Rotel, more corn, more cayenne and chili powder, several handfuls of crushed tortilla chips, and some ground meats of various types (sausage, turkey, beef), put it in a crock pot on high for four hours, and had a darn tasty traditional chili.

The Vegetarian Chronicles, part II – Stuffed Peppers

Before we begin:  Stuffing poblano peppers is a bad idea.  A very bad idea.  Nice flavor, but WAY too spicy.  I did two poblanos and two green bells, but when I make it again, I’ll dice a poblano, add it to the stuffing, and stuff bells with it.

green bell peppers, tops cut off, ribs and seeds removed

2 cups rice

1 or two cans black beans

1  or two cans corn

2 cans diced tomatoes and chili peppers (Rotel or equivalent)

1 Mexican sweet onion, diced

salsa

cheese

Cook the rice, add the beans, corn, and Rotel.  Stuff it inside the peppers.  I used the salsa in the same way one would use tomato sauce if one were making stuffed peppers with meat.  I put some in the bottom of the dish and poured the rest over the peppers.  Sprinkle cheese on top.  Bake covered for 30ish minutes on 375-400, and an additional 5-10 uncovered to melt the cheese.

The times are approximate, check the firmness of the pepper.  Really, it’s a matter of taste because the pepper and the onion are the only things that aren’t already cooked.

Like I said.  DON’T STUFF A POBLANO.

Otherwise very good.

P.S. – This makes a crap ton of filling, so either reduce the quantities, have plenty of peppers, or be ready to eat Mexican everything for a week.

Italian Eggplant Casserole (Or Eggplant a la Megan)

Hey err’body.  I’ve recently decided to learn to cook vegetarian.  (I’m not a vegetarian myself, but my girlfriend is, and I figured it’d be nice to be able to make her dinner.)

My first attempt was a sort of Italian eggplant dish that I named “Eggplant a la Megan.”  Bet you can’t guess why…

Bear with me, I didn’t use a recipe, and I didn’t measure.

1 eggplant, sliced thinly

1 green bell pepper, sliced thinly

1 red bell pepper, sliced thinly

1 vidalia onion, diced

1 container of sliced mushrooms

1 jar marinara sauce

shredded cheese (I used an italian six cheese blend)

linguine

Not rocket science.  The plan had been to layer everything, bake it, and serve it over the linguine, but we ended up having to transfer it into a larger pan which destroyed the layering scheme.  Really, just mix it up and throw it into a casserole dish.  Eggplant is a soft vegetable and doesn’t require much time to cook.  Bake it for 20-30 minutes at around 375, put more cheese on top toward the end.  Serve over linguine.  Enjoy.

It came out really well, but in retrospect I’d have used more sauce and more cheese.  Also, the layering thing would have been nice if it had worked out.  This could be done as a lasagna fairly easily as well.

Happy Update Day! (To all of us…)

From the Drawing Board, I’ve got a Morel Dilemma below.

There’s also another recipe in the works: Having become the Unofficial Cold Soup Guru at our Thursday night gatherings, I’m in the process of coming up with a completely original soup recipe. I’m thinking a fruit puree, maybe tropical. More to come…

Going back to the drawing board (he he), I’m in research to create the perfect recipe for a margarita.  (Not to be confused with the Perfect Margarita recipe.)