Omeletes by The French Chef & What's next?

Julia Child the ever famous The French Chef was on PBS today making Omelets. Who knew that what I've been making as an "omelet" is considered by Julia to be leathery eggs! Huh! She recommended a deep skillet with high sides that was non stick. Hmm. I've done my one person omelets in a small pan - low and slow. She said "They are quick and shouldn't take you more than 30 seconds to make". Say what Julia!?

You beat your eggs with a splash of water to fluff them up a bit when you beat them. Then you lube your pan with a tablespoon (hello french cooking! would you like some more butter with that?) of butter - get it on the highest heat your stove will muster - and then dump your eggs in before the butter browns. Then you basically shake it around till it folds in on it's self and give it that saute flip that Julia called "jerking" lol - it's barely enough for the egg to set - before dumping it on your plate and topping it with goodies. You can also stir in your goodies for your omelet before putting the egg mixture into the pan and shaking the hell out of it for a few seconds and that's a "French" omelet. WHO KNEW!

I personally have become really good with the low, slow & covered method regardless if Julia the great thinks if they are leathery! Matt & Nate never complain! Just this morning Matt had a two egg, sauteed mushroom & Havarti omelet. He loved every bite! :)

I guess the moral of the story is kids: make your "omelet" the best way it speaks to you! You like them a little more cooked? Give it a lower heat so your eggs don't burn on the bottom and cover it with a lid so the top cooks at the same time (less moving the pan around to get the egg on top to cook) and add your good "stuffing" and fold it over! :) GEEZ! *how in the world omelets can be so complicated is beyond me!*

What's Next!?

Well all 3 readers :) Here's what is on the list of potentially what's next! Tell me what you think! I'll make it! *these jumped out at me from the cookbooks I have*

Gnocchi with quick Tomato Sauce
Crispy Chicken with Parmesan Tomatoes
Chicken stuffed with dried Tomatoes & Basil
Potato Crisp Chicken
Chicken Ragout
Boeuf Bourguignon
Texas Style Chili (this is an entire blog on it's own! the great chili debate)
Three Cheese Lasagna Rolls
Bayou Dirty Rice
Chicken & Dumplin's (southern staple?)
Chicken Positano
Beef Wellington for 2
Skirt Steak Stroganoff

Now I realize there is a LOT of chicken on this list. It's CHEAP PEOPLE! :) I'm cookin' for 4 on a budget! :)

Much <3

Beaten, Battered & Oh Well!

Today was the open casting call for a brand new show to air on Fox called "Master Chef". I just found out about it a few days ago from a friend on Twitter. They were looking for people who like to cook or entertain with food who didn't have professional experience. I wasn't too sure when I initially found out about it, but with a lot of encouragement from Matt I thought what the heck. I know I don't have a lot of experience, but it would be fun!

I went through a few recipes and decided to go with the Shrimp Scampi. It's most assuredly the most involved recipe that I've done or maybe that's just my take on it, since I've not made it a million times. At any rate, I fell in love with this recipe. **Warning- this blog might be a bit long so if you aren't sitting, you might want to**

I don't know how else to tell of my experience other than it's been interesting. I sent my initial email telling my story about how I love to cook and that I'm VERY new to the game. I wasn't going to sugar coat anything of my experience or try to bite off more than I can chew so to speak. :) They would see right through that crap anyway. In the process of sending the producers my store and pictures of plating things and such - I made a virtual friend :) Well she may not consider me one, but she was very sweet and I could send an email to this address and she wasn't going to judge me based on my lack of cooking history. She actually liked the fact that I'm so passionate about cooking and willing to show my true non cooking pro colors :) THANK YOU Maria - you'll never know what that little bit of kindness has meant to me.

I first sent her a picture of a plated tasty treat :) I got this idea out of one of Barefoot Contessa's cookbooks. This is a double chocolate brownie with coffee ice cream(Starbucks - the only way to roll coffee ice cream) with chocolate sauce and a strawberry for decoration. :) Not the most complicated thing in the world, but it was fun (yet stressful) to make but damn tasty! :)

I believe I also sent Maria a picture of my Portobello Steak & Crab dish that y'all got to see earlier in this blog. That was tasty too! :)

Then, just a few nights ago when I made the scampi for the first time, I was SO PROUD of myself that I had to send Maria a picture of it. I just couldn't help myself. :) Within just a few minutes of me hitting the send button, she called me to giggle with me. A little kindness goes a long way people! Learn how to use it! :)

I really wasn't nervous about this experience. I know I don't have but a scratch of cooking experience - all self taught with the long distance help of my Mom Laveta. *You'd love my Mom - she's awsome!* So the process went like this:

Wake up at 8 - take a shower. Get dressed. Get in the kitchen and get cookin'! :)

For only being the 2nd time of making the Scampi it was MUCH better than the first time and the first time I couldn't stop ooohing and aaaaahing over the sauce! I got everything packed up for plating and put the good stuff in a warm mug and took off. Nate kept me company and gave me a lot of support while being nervous. I had a check in time of 11-12 and got to pass through the CRAZY line outside of Sir La Table in Kirkland. It went from the left side of the store in the alley, all the way around the front of the store and up the right side down the street.

I had a pre-screened pass if you will to not sit in that line. So we got in really quickly and didn't have to wait in that MONSTER line. We get inside and immediately I felt in over my head. You can see some people have already plated their stuff and HOLY COW, I must have looked like an idot. But I had the balls to be there and do it anyway. I didn't care.

As the line moves around, I learned that I'm not the only one with little experience and that was comforting. Some dishes I saw, I thought "wow, really!?" I could do so much better than that! I was finally moved around the room to a station where I could plate my Shrimp Scampi. YEAH! (not so much) we had waited there - plated almost an hour - watching people who had come to plate after me come and go. The longer I waited, the worse my stomach got and the more I wanted to cry. Ugh!

We finally get in front of a Chef Judge. The one I wanted to be judged by because she sat with Maria (Woo Hoo!) and I should have kicked myself. I was already seriously nervous and I realize that she was just doing her job, but I felt like I was tore up by this woman who was the professional.

She asked me about how I made the dish and what was in it. Were the shrimp fresh? Why do you clarify butter? Is there stock in the dish and did I make it myself? Uuuuh. :( I'm sorry I didn't have a picked chicken carcass just hanging around to boil & simmer for hours with amazing fresh herbs to blow you away with my chicken stock. I had store bought free range chicken stock. KILL ME! No I don't know why you clarify butter. I now know that it removes water and milk solids and leaves pure butter fat which gives it a higher smoke point, but that doesn't mean much to me and Scampi when I'm not cooking it at a very high temp anyway!
My toast pieces were too large and the plate was unbalanced. It tasted just like scampi. Win!? NO! She got what I was trying to do but it didn't work for her. She seemed very put off that I wasn't bringing her an original creation and that it was a recipe from my Mom.

I was crushed. I tried to keep the tears back. It didn't work. We packed up - I turned in my packet and we headed home. Crying while driving is really hard. But tell me something - why do your best come backs always come AFTER THE FREAKIN' FACT!?
Now I would love to tell that judge or ask her - when she first thought about cooking - was she cooking out of cookbooks and recipes from those around her or was she just the most amazing natural that she was cooking the most amazing inspirational dishes from the get go without any training and a large budget!?!

Did this hurt a little? Yes! Will this stop my cooking adventure? No way in hell! I'm far from done people! As a matter of fact - I encourage all you non cooks who might be interested in cooking to join me in my journey in learning how to cook!

I've had my minute to be sad- now it's time to move on and COOK MY ASS OFF!

Much <3

HOLY SCAMPI BATMAN!

I feel like the Campbell's soup commercial! Cause it was "so mmm...mmm... good!" I was looking for a dish to make for Sunday (more details Sunday). I tried the steak & crab dish. It was nice but it wasn't BAM! Mom kept bragging about how delicious this Scampi dish was that she and Aunt Donna can't get enough of.

So I think I wrote this thing down about 3 different times before finally deciding to try it. It sounded complicated! "Clarify a stick of butter." Well, I've never done that before! In all honesty this was probably the most complicated dish I've ever made just on the butter part! MAN!

The first stick - separated and didn't really bubble thanks to the heat being way too low. It just looked like an oily mess! YUCK!
TAKE TWO!
Second stick of butter was MUCH better. I turned the heat up a bit- things separated and bubbled & foamed and all that jazz that butter is supposed to do when you "clarify" it. :)

Now the easy part - shrimp! I purchased 2lbs of shrimp (on sale baby) that had already been cleaned - I just needed to peel them. It was time to delegate! Jackson was playing/crying/grumping under my feet and all over the house so it was time to make this go faster. NATE TO THE RESCUE! Nate scrubbed in (LOL) and helped me peel. He was very proud to pull the shells off and the tail of the shrimp still be attached. I didn't even have to pay him for his labor! He just wanted dinner :)

I floured the shrimp and chopped fresh garlic. I thought you could have too much fresh garlic. Not so much! I wanted more! I had to double the amount of garlic - I thought we were all going to stink! :) After browning the shrimp in the sparkly butter - I added the garlic and let it fill the house with smells of NOMS! (Have I ever told you this cooking thing rocks!?)

Chicken stock, some simple herbs & a little sauce - no I mean white wine :) and we were ROCKIN! I sliced some baguette and kept dipping it in the sauce as it was coming together. As it came together and simmered I could see trouble ahead! No wonder there are so many cooks over weight! You just can't stop yourself when it tastes so damn good!


FEAST YOUR EYES ON THIS!

I didn't really have a plate to make this look fancy - then I remembered the lonely set of China we got from my brother & his wife. SCORE! :) Look how far I've come! :) I'm SO stinkin' proud of myself! I could have written all night about this one, but it's late, I'm sleepy and it's going to be a long weekend which those of you who listen/read (all 2 of you) will read about on Sunday/Monday. :)

I'm happy to answer questions - send you the recipe but all I can say is even the shrimp hater in the house (Hubby Matt) thought this was good. "Thicken the sauce and ease up on the lemon." I love that I can get honest feedback from Matt & Nate and it doesn't hurt my feelings a bit. Now if Gordon Ramsay was giving me feedback, I might cry :)

Much <3

Tonight, tonight - is not just any night :(

The little one is sick and I have things going on - so I apologize to my 2-5 readers. Nothing exciting this evening. Check back tomorrow!

<3 U

Mmmmmm- Panini

Last night was a rather rough night with Jackson. He didn't seem to remember that sleep was important and was up about 5 times last night. Therefore, today was fun yet easy night in the kitchen. Meals don't always have to be complicated. Tonight I didn't have the brain power nor the energy for complicated. My assistant tonight in the kitchen?? You'll love this!! :)

The Griddler -by Cuisinart. AMAZING! :) One of the best tools on the market if you ask me! (don't ask me about any other of the tools on the market though - ok!?) :) This bad boy has the ability to open completely flat. Slip on the flat plates and you can cook bacon, eggs or your favorite vanilla, cinnamon pancakes! Change out the flat plates for your grooved plates (so simple I can do it!) and you've got the best panini maker around! The dials on the front of the Griddler are very self explanatory and easy to understand.

The panini ingredients for dinner tonight were easy breezy to assemble and even more fun to nom on! Nate has just your simple turkey and cheddar cheese. Matt and I had Roma tomatoes with Arugula & Havarti.
Sorry about the shadow on the picture - I'm SO not a photographer! :) I initially tried to cut the tomatoes on my new Mandolin and it tore the first half to SHREDS! Which is just fine if I want them that way - all torn up and nasty but that wasn't my goal. I broke out the tomato knife for the rest. Muuuuuch better! :)

All these beautiful ingredients were assembled on a fantastic sourdough bread and toasted to perfection. NOOOM! Here is a picture of dinner - mid-grilling :)
It doesn't look very pretty here - (I think this was Nate's) but I got better with the assembly with each one.

Needless to say - dinner went easy. Jackson is changed and in bed. I should workout tonight, but I'm so tired I don't think I could safely be on the treadmill for 3 miles and not fall after the first 10th due to heavy feet. Tomorrow is another day.
Night y'all!

Is Spaghetti boring?? Not always!

How many of you use spaghetti night as the lazy cooking night? (I'll wait for the crickets to stop chirping) In my single Mom days, it was how I lived. As I got further along in the kitchen it was the lazy cooking night. Now it's - I've still not done it completely from scratch (that will come eventually) but how can I jazz it the jar sauce?

A jar sauce can serve as a great starting base for a great spaghetti night. Tonight, I used the Classico line of tomato and basil. Most times I make spaghetti, it's ground beef, sausage, ground turkey or we've even used ground lamb in our house for our protein. The star tonight was meatballs. (giggle- sorry my inner dork tends to show its self from time to time)

I might have had time or the energy to make the from scratch today but in the words of most of the Dewey siblings "meh!" When I saw the bag available at Costco yesterday of pre-made frozen Italian style meatballs - I went LAZY COOKING NIGHT! (LOL)

So here is how tonight went after last nights extremely involved dinner -

Break out the crock
Chop: Green Bell Peppers, Onion, Garlic
Pour in Classico
add Peppers, Onions
8oz free range chicken stock (it's just really good)
diced tomatoes
tomato paste
about a cup of Chateau St Michelle Merlot
Italian seasonings
1/2 cup Parmesan
enough meatballs to feed 4 people
cover and turn to low since about 11am

This was great! My only complaint is I either picked a bad pepper (the diced pieces were rather bitter in the sauce) or does that mean I added them too early? Hey - I said that my cooking ventures would always go my way! I mean really, I've only been at this seriously for less than a year.

Tomorrow night we are having panini's for dinner thanks to my AMAZING family who gave us the Griddler for Christmas. (let me tell you what - this thing is A W E S O M E! Used it a ton already!)

We all know what Spaghetti looks like - so forgive me for no picture today.

Still to come:

Shrimp Scampi and a new Crock recipe that will come in handy in Feb as our temps drop!

Night y'all!

Love U!

New Year - New blog!

So my friends, family & loved ones :) This is going to be an all new blog. I am sure I will still talk about my running and getting into better shape however life is taking me into a 2nd direction!

I've caught the cooking bug! My poor Mom, while I'm sure is very proud of me now, she has been waiting for the moment where the cooking bug would bite me. In my lineage, there are a bunch of Southern women who live to cook. It's in my DNA! I only wish I had taken the time to pay attention when my beautiful Mom was trying to teach me in my younger days that cooking is an art!

I was waaaay too busy doing everything thing else teenage/high school appropriate to even consider cooking. Even as I got older, had a child, lived on my own as a single Mom, I cooked to get by or survive. Spaghetti noodles & jar sauce. Box Mac n Cheese. You get the picture right?? :)

About a month or two ago, the cooking bug rushed up on me like a fever that I can't cure with Tylenol! I just want to cook. A L L T H E T I M E!

I know not every cooking adventure will turn out well or the way I want them to. I know that I'm very hard on myself when things don't go my way in the kitchen. Guess I better get over that or I may never learn anything.

While I don't know jack about what knife to use with what task in the kitchen or how to pronounce everything correctly but I do promise to keep at it and keep you informed. If you're reading or not :) (I know you're reading Meghan! I <3 U!) *at least I'll have one reader!*

Matt got B&N gift cards for Christmas and he told me to use them. CRAZY I KNOW! The man who can't sleep without new books, let me use his "gotta have new book smell" cards! :) LOL

My purchases were:

The New Basics Cookbook - by Julee Rosso & Shelia Lukins
The Good Housekeeping Step by Step Cook book

Not to mention I've borrowed 4 from my brother in law Nick - THANK YOU!

Tonight's cooking adventure wasn't from any of those cookbooks -it was from my own imagination and my Mom's cookbook.

Portobello Mushroom with Steak and Crab Imperial -

I watched a youtube video on how to prep the mushroom - MAN you have to be much easier removing the gills of the mushroom then I thought you would have to be... hence the rough looking mushroom. It didn't turn out the way I wanted it to when I cooked it. Oh well! Try, try again! I am however getting really good at timing a steak under the broiler! :) The steak turned out fantastic and seasoned very well - just a light Montreal Steak seasoning. (I'm sure the professional cooking world hates that stuff, but I love it) The Crab Imperial is a dish that I've made before, but couldn't remember what I needed so I had to call Mom.

We had a communication issue (my ADHD kicked in) and I messed it up! I had whipped this poor little egg white into serious submission with stiff peaks. LOL. (that is laugh out loud Moma! I <3 U too!) I folded it into the dressing that is used on top of the crab and around the plate that you see. Mom wanted me to put it into the crab mixture. OOOPS! (I so must not have been paying attention) SO she says " just pour it in the crab mix". I kept thinking how wet it would be and that it would take forever to bake. Sure enough - the mixture was too moist and I had to bake it an additional 15 minutes then threw it under the broiler to dry it out more. You live, you learn, you keep cooking!

Needless to say - the flavors worked very well together despite the contradictions that kept singing in my head over and over.

Next I think will be Shrimp Scampi :)

While I'm most positive that none of these dishes will assist my smaller figure goals - Portion control is everything AND I will keep at it in the gym. The holidays were a wee bit stressful so I've put back on a few pounds. Nothing 5 nights a week doing cardio and at least 3-4 mornings a week lifting weights can't fix!

I think I will look for another 5k around March. Anyone wanna join? Meghan? Lauren? Anyone? :)

Well my fabulous friends! I'm heading to bed with an amazingly tolerant hubby who doesn't mind eating my ... (he, he) screw up's in the kitchen. :)

Love U!