sunday cooking

Yesterday, I decided to make something for Novio since he often gets homesick and misses Colombian cuisine. After failing miserably at arepas, I went a little easier on myself and made sopa de arroz y carne.



dice 2 large potatoes...then 1.5 lbs of beef



then pour 7 cups of water, 1/2 cup of peas, and 1 chicken buillon cube, salt and pepper, into a large pot with the meat and potatoes 



bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 50 minutes. Then mix in 1/2 cup of rice ( I used Uncle Bens pre cooked so that I didnt have to cook it as long...or use a seperate pot. Gotta keep things simple!). Continue simmering for 5 minutes.

Pour into a bowl and top with fresh cilantro! Im pretty sure I want to put fresh cilantro on everything now its deliccccious...!

something new: swedish meatballs

I'm not sure why, but I got out of work hoy and wanted something totally out of the blue for dinner, something that I'd never made before. Entonces, I sat in bumper to bumper rush hora traffic and got to googling. After a few minutes, I'd found it. Swedish meatballs atop egg noodles--and better than the kind you get at IKEA (fyi I LOVE those!). I think they turned out great! Tasted dern good, too.

You'll need:

1 lb ground beef (or turkey)

1 egg

2.5 cups bread crumbs

1 bag egg noodles

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2-1 cup beef broth

Spices as you like: salt, pepper, dill

First things first, preheat the oven to 325. Next, you gotta get over touching raw meat. You have to physically mix 1 lb of ground beef with 2 1/2 cups of bread crumbs and 1 slightly beaten egg:



Once it's all mixed, start rolling it into little balls. 1 lb should give you about 15-20. Then, warm a large skillet on medium heat and melt 2 tbsp. butter, then brown all the meatballs in the pan. This will take about 10-15 minutes.



(you'll want to just keep rotating them so most of the surfaces are browned...tedious I know)



When they look like the picture above, you're ready to transfer them so a 9x9 baking pan. Once in the pan, pour 1/2 cup (I did a whole cup) beef broth. Let the meatballs bake in the broth for 30 minutes. After that, leave oven on, take out the pan and pour 1/2 cup of heavy cream and sprinkle some dill weed. Stir everything together, as if you were making a casserole.



Put back in the oven for 15 minutes. In the meantime, bring water to a boil atop the stove for the egg noodles (I used whole wheat egg noodles, about half the large bag). These take about 7 minutes to cook, and they will be ready as the meatballs are done. I also poured what was left of the beef broth into the water the noodles boiled in for added flavor.



Last, take everything out--drain the noodles, stir the meatballs into the cream and beef broth base and serve atop the noodles. It should look something like this:





Mmmm delish!!! Enjoy! Later this semana I promise to post things mas interesting than what I eat. :) Feliz Lunes!!

easy does it: omelettes 101

Every girl (and guy for that matter) should know how to make the perfect omelette. Why, you ask? Because it's unbelievably EASY and because people love them. So next time you host your friends, family, or significant other...whip up some omelettes!

For this recipe, I used:

 4 eggs (with a dash of nonfat organic milk mixed in, for fluffiness)

2 pieces of salami

1 roma tomato

1/8th of a white onion

2 pieces of ham, shredded

1/4th of a large polska sausage link

2 slices jarlsberg lite cheese



make things easier on yourself by prepping your toppings prior to even cracking the eggs open



pour the eggs into a large skillet (i sprinkled in some pepper...i love pepper). Let this cook a few minutes on high. You'll see it bubble up some--I poke these down with a fork to ensure everything cooks all the way through. Pick up the pan after it starts bubbling and swirl the batter so it sticks to the sides of the pan. This is very important--this is how you will peel the omelette from the pan and fold it at the end.



add all the toppings into one side of the omelette. Let it cook about 1 minute and a half, and you notice the opposite side egg start to peel away from the skillet, grab a fork and spatula and carefully pick it up and throw it over the toppings (I messed this up like the first 5 times I tried it...so dont feel bad)



and voila! serve immediately. As you can see, I like so many toppings that mine kinda splits open anyway. Who cares! You're going to eat it anyway. I often pour a little hot sauce on it so then you really can't see its imperfections.

Best complimented with a rainy day and mimosas.

And also, you can see a 4 egg omelette comfortably serves 2.

leek & potato soup

I've been feeling a bit sluggish lately, and I've just been needing things to sloooow doooown a bit. Nothing seemed more appropriate than a vegetable-rich, hearty cream soup to soothe my hunger and calm my spirit. I found this recipe which is incredibly easy to follow.

Note:  Novio took one look at it and said, "that's filled with all those things I hate isn't it?" i.e.- he is not a huge fan of veggies. Hopefully the cream base masks that. I had second helpings--it is delicious!



A note about leeks: they harbor a lot of dirt and soil in that white base. Not only did I rinse them, but after the leeks were cut I rinsed them again with the help of a colander.

Then came the fun! I chopped (by HAND!) about a billion vegetables. Really it was one large white onion, 3 leeks, 2 stalks of celery. But it took forever. It may have inspired me to get one of those veggie dicing machines as seen on tv...



then, alas, more chopping (and peeling) of 6 potatoes



then, everything gets dumped into a large pot. Fill with a 32oz carton of chicken broth (low sodium of course!)



Then comes the easy part. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Sprinkle with parsley and mix in about 1 cup of half and half (this is what gives it a creamier texture). I guess the half and half is optional, next time I may try it without. Either way it's worth a 'go-round.  Enjoy!

southern goodness

Its no secret I was raised in the South. It's also no secret that the best comfort food in the world comes out of Southern family recipes. Since Novio wasn't feeling well today, I decided to whip up something that always makes me feel better: chicken and dumplings. I make it fairly often, and am always pleasantly suprised at how easy yet delicious it is ...





I start by mixing the dumpling batter...



then shred the chicken (I use a rotisserie, it's just easier that way)



boil the chicken and veggies in chicken stock and a bit of flour



scoop the dumpling batter into small clumps and drop into boiling stock



boil, then reduce to a simmer for ten-fifteen minutes



prepare a little side salad if you'd like



pour servings for yourself and whoever's joining you



set the table, and enjoy the salad while your chicken n dumplings cool off a bit.

Voila!

ps-Novio is now feeling much better. :)

banana pancakes

Saturday mornings have always been my favorite time of the week. I think it has to do with the fact that it's the time of the weekend where you realize you have two whole days to do whatever you want.

While I used to be excited to simply watch the morning cartoons, my excitement has shifted in expectations of lazy mornings and cooking decadent breakfasts/brunches.

Today I was a little caught off guard at how bare our fridge was of breakfast essentials--alas, we always have pancake mix. So banana pancakes it was (that makes TWO times this week of indulging...this time I eased off the peanut butter and just had a small spoonful on the side). Out of coffee, our sweet breakfast was complimented with cups of organic Earl Grey Tea. So this morning quickly became the culmination of two Jack Johnson songs- Better Together and Banana Pancakes :)

Now if I could only get out of my pajamas.