Pictures Up

Pictures of food are finally up! I've updated a few of the past posts to show the food pics. Apparently, I like to upload my pictures all at once.

Other random pictures: 

Roasted Garlic Cauliflower

Red Meat- all Ben. 

Christmas Eve Dinner
(perfectly done steak with sides of mashed potatoes
in steak juice and roasted cauliflower)
A team effort between Ben and Lydia

The Marvel of the Slow Cooker

I cannot believe it took me this long to discover The Slow Cooker. It probably is one of my favorite kitchen tools already! It churns out good food without you inputting lots of time! Definitely win-win! (Favorite quote from Letters to Juliet... anyone recognize it?)

I found the perfect slow cooker recipe weeks ago, but have been too busy/lazy/too-much-leftovers-in-fridge to make it until today. Today was perfect, since my first class began at 11:30 (and I finished at 12:30!). Before class, I opened up a few cans, chopped up an onion and a few cloves of garlic, and then dumped (not an elegant word, but pretty much described the process) everything into the crock pot. And that's it! When I got home in the afternoon, lunch was waiting! Plus, Ben just said I have "some serious talent in cooking" while chowing down on the soup. My life is complete!



Chicken Tortilla Soup in a Slow Cooker

2 frozen chicken breasts (I used Costco frozen chicken breasts- so they were pretty large)
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce (I used green enchilada sauce)
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 can (4 oz) chopped green chile peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup water
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
1/2 tsp chili pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 cup frozen corn

Sour cream
Avocado, sliced
Lime juice

Directions: 

1. Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles, garlic, and corn into slow cooker. Pour in water and chicken broth, then add chili pepper, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook on high setting for 3-4 hours (or low setting for 6-8 hours). 
2. After 3-4 hours, remove chicken breasts. Roughly shred chicken breasts. (I simply cut into chunks.) Toss shredded chicken back into slow cooker. 
3. Garnish soup with dollop of sour cream, avocado slices, and lime juice to taste. Serve with tortilla chips, if desired. 

Christmas Morning and The Crustless Quiche

The Ideal Christmas Morning:
Waking up early, full of excitement for the day to begin. Running downstairs to be with family and opening presents in front of the toasty fireplace. Holiday smells and warmth from the kitchen permeating every room.

Yep, that's how the movies always show it, so why can't I have a little part of it?

I woke up Christmas morning knowing I was headed off to work in a few hours. But I made the most of the few hours I had. I was an inventor and creative mind this morning, concocting the most delicious quiche (if I do say so myself), which made me feel super productive. But then again, what doesn't taste good with bacon, cheese, and eggs? Happy holidays!

The Crustless Quiche

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, diced
1 roma tomato, diced
3 strips of cooked bacon, roughly crumbled
5 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cup cheese (I used a mixture of Parmesan and Cheddar)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees F. Grease a muffin tin pan. (Make sure to grease sides and bottoms!)
2. Heat oil in saute pan. Toss in diced onions and cook until onions are soft and translucent. (My onions ended up a bit charred- result of too little oil and too much heat too fast, but it was fine nonetheless). Toss in tomatoes, and cook until moisture is gone. Add a 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste. Remove mixture from heat.
3. Season beaten eggs with a dash of salt and pepper. Add in onions, tomatoes, bacon, and cheese. Stir until combined.
4. Pour mixture into muffin tins, filling each muffin tin until 2/3 full.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.

Annual White Elephant Gift Exchange and Stuffed Mushrooms

We had our annual (second time) white elephant at our house a few days ago. The prerequisite for the party was to bring a wrapped gift and some kind of hor d'oeuvres. Besides being a French word I can never spell (thank you, Google!), hor d'oeuvres means appetizer-type foods. At first, I was afraid that we wouldn't have enough food at the party. However, as it always turns out at potlucks, there is too much! We had a varied and very pretty table spread. Also, there were lots of first-time recipes, which contributed to the fun!

Menu:

1. Spinach and Cheese Pinwheels (Tiff)
2. Green Onion Pancakes (Aud)
3. Stuffed Mushrooms with Cream Cheese Filling (Lydia- recipe below)
4. Baguettes Topped with Cream Cheese Filling (Lydia- I made way too much filling!)
5. Lettuce Wraps (Mom)
6. Potstickers (Rich)
7. Muddy Buddy (Mare and Glo)
8. Cream Puffs (Mare)
9. Chicken Meatballs (Cass)
10. McDonald's Chicken Nuggets (Mols)
11. Punch (Ann and Ben)

I have made stuffed mushrooms in the past, but this time I used a new recipe. I modified it a bit, and it was a great hit! I made too much filling, so I have cut down the filling to fit about 30 small white mushrooms. 

Stuffed Mushrooms 

25 whole fresh mushrooms 

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp minced garlic

1/3 cup chopped crab meat (I used imitation crab meat because I had that on hand)

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened 

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Grated Parmesan cheese, for sprinkling

Black pepper and salt, to taste

Cayenne pepper, to taste

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. Wash mushrooms and twist off stems. Drain mushrooms and dry on paper towel. Arrange mushroom caps on greased baking sheet. Remove woody part of stems and chop rest of stems finely. 
3. Heat oil in pan, and add garlic and mushroom stems. Cook until moisture is gone. Remove mixture, and cool until warm (no longer hot). 
4. Mix together cream cheese, mushroom and garlic mixture, crab meat, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, salt, and cayenne pepper in bowl. 
5. Put cream cheese mixture into large ziplock bag, snip off corner, and pipe mixture into mushroom caps. Top each mushroom with extra Parmesan cheese.  
6. Bake mushrooms in oven for 20 minutes, until mushrooms release their juices. 

Stuffed Mushrooms

more 'shrooms

Baguettes with Cream Cheese Spread

Who's dat blocking all the food? :)

Our Abundant Feast!

Movies with the 'Rents and Sugar Coated Pecans

Saw Tangled with Yannie (ten going on eleven years old!). Loved it. LOVED it. I totally want to see it again! My parents saw Tron instead (didn't like the fluffy Disney animated films).

So far, pretty relaxing winter break. Doing some reading: finished Les Mis for the second time in a day. I start with the intent of savoring Hugo's work, instead I get absorbed into the plot and zoom through. Didn't quite read morning till night, but close. Currently reading, and about to finish, The Memory Keeper's Daughter. It's a good read thus far, I enjoy it.

Finally tried this Sugar Coated Pecan recipe while Angela was at my house this weekend! I can't believe I waited this long. It's ridiculously easy and produces a delicious snack (while reading, of course)! Plus, it makes the whole house warm and smell like cinnamon. I made 2 batches. First time, I followed the recipe with previous bakers' modifications. My parents verdict: delicious, but too sweet. Second time, I added my pecans, and kept the sugar mixture the same. Here is it!

Sugar Coated Pecans (with my modifications)

3 egg whites
2 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp water
2 lbs whole pecans
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Beat egg whites with vanilla and water until foamy. Add pecans and thoroughly coat.
2. Combine sugar, salt, and cinnamon in separate bowl. Then add the sugar mixture in parts to pecans. Thoroughly coat pecans with each addition of sugar.
3. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Cover 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil and grease foil.
4. Spread pecan pieces evenly on baking sheets. Bake for 1 hour, stirring nuts every 15 minutes.

I got lazy the second time and stirred the nuts only twice before taking them out of the oven. Turned out fine. The foil is a must, saves you from having to scrub the dried sugar crust off your baking pans! This makes quite a bit of pecans... but they keep well in airtight containers, plus they make great gifts! Costco sells 2 lb. bags of pecans for about 10 bucks... it's totally worth it!

Comfort Food: Coconut Curry

Decided to add a foodie post to the emo one (See: Standing at the Edge). This is definitely one of my go-to recipes when I crave good home-cooked food, but am short on time. Plus, this makes lots of leftovers, so perfect for the school week!

Coconut Chicken Curry

2 chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch chunks (I use two of the large, frozen ones from Costco)
Splash of cooking wine
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 1/2 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tbsp curry
1 onion, thinly sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups peeled, cubed potatoes and/or carrots (1 inch chunks)
1 (14 oz.) can coconut milk
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce (optional)
Sugar and salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Season chicken pieces with cooking wine, salt, and pepper. 
2. Heat oil and curry powder in large pot. Be careful to not burn the curry! Add more oil if necessary, to prevent burning. Add onions and garlic, and cook until onions are translucent. 
3. Add chicken, stirring chicken to coat each piece with curry oil. Cook until chicken is white on the outside. 
4. Add potatoes and carrots, coconut milk, diced tomatoes with juice, and tomato sauce (if using) to pot. Stir to combine. Partially cover pot and simmer on medium heat, stir occasionally (especially if using stainless steel pot), for 45-60 minutes, or until curry thickens. Add sugar and salt, to taste

The first few times I majorly burned the curry oil (second step), because I was heating the oil and curry while cutting and prepping all the other ingredients. The curry turned black and I had to completely start over! To avoid this, prep everything (cut chicken and season, cut potatoes/carrots, open cans) before starting to cook. Watch the pot, and add more oil if necessary! Also, I have left the tomato sauce as optional. I use it when I have it on hand, but I feel the curry is delicious even without.

Frozen Seattle

We're not quite used to snow in Seattle, definitely not snow before Thanksgiving hits! I think I can classify today as a mini-blizzard. Constant snow falling (and actually sticking!) and freezing, swirling winds that immediately numb your extremities and face. I thought I was prepared stepping out this morning with leggings under jeans and my ski jacket on over a sweatshirt, but as the day progressed, the temperature dropped and dropped. The ice cold snow hits your face with wind blasts. The roads became slicker and icier in the afternoon and evening. My friends and I were slipping and sliding along as we walked to dinner tonight. As I bussed home tonight, I saw several cars stuck in the snow and ice in the middle of the road. People had to congregate and push cars to the side of the road. There were also cars sliding into each other. I was very blessed that my bus actually made it to my stop without too much trouble and within an hour. 

My shoes actually sink into the powdery snow in front of my house. 

This is the most snow I have seen accumulate for a long time!