Breakfast Pie in the Nighttime

Posted on April 10, 2012 by admin

One of the many places I get my inspiration for cooking is from The Food Network Magazine, they come out with great articles, and tons of recipes. Each month I jump for joy as I clutch the latest issue, and then I drool until I can finally make one of the dishes.

The article was called "Mix and Match Quiche", it was wonderful because everything was pretty open ended and there were tons of appetizing pictures

More often than not I wait until the next weekend, but this issue had something in it that I had been dying to make… Quiche, or as Ted likes to call it: Breakfast pie. Now we are not morning people, so I made this brunch classic for dinner. The thing is, that it was easy to make, but it takes a little bit of time to wait for all the components to finish. This would be a great “make ahead” dish.

The Ingredients: The great thing about the quiche is that you can add whatever you like, as long as you have the right ratios. The things that you absolutly need are as follows:

Pie Crust (store bought or self made)
3 eggs
Make sure that the bowl you crack your eggs into is deep enough for the milk and the whisking that will take palce
1 1/4 cup of milk or cream
salt, pepper

Then you can add any combination of meat, cheese, and vegetables, there are guidelines however:

Choose a total of:

1 cup chopped/sautéed vegetables
1/2 cup of meat
1 cup cheese

When I say this is flexible, it really is, you can use almost anything, here is what I used:

Two whole scallions chopped are about 3/4 of a cup

3/4 cup chopped scallions
1/4 cup chopped basil
1/2 cup cooked chopped bacon
1 cup “mexican blend” shredded cheese (cheddar, jack etc)–Note: I did think about using Ricotta, and will try it next time
1 1/4 cup milk

The Method: The article tells you start off with a pie crust, I bought a pre-made one at the grocery store. Most packs come with two crusts, so you can either make two quiches, or you can freeze the other crust for later (I will have quiche again soon).

Pre-heat the oven to 375′ F
Put the pie crust on a greased 9 inch pan
Chill for 30 minutes
Line with foil, fill with pie weights or beans
Bake for about 20 minutes
Remove pie weights and foil
Bake for 5-10 more minutes, or until the crust is golden brown
Let the crust cool while you are getting the ingredients ready for the quiche
Turn the oven down to 350′ F
The meat, cheese, vegetable mix
Mix together your meat, cheese, and vegetables
In a separate bowl whisk the 3 eggs, the milk, and the salt and black pepper–at this point you can add freshly chopped herbs or any other spice you like (paprika, lemon zest, etc.)
Once the pie crust is cool add the meat, cheese vegetable mix, then pour the whisked egg, milk, spice mix over it
Bake in the oven at 350′F for 40-50 minutes
Let cool for 30 minutes before slicing

Alone a quiche isn’t much of a meal, so I made a nice salad to accompany it. I used a spring mix as my base and divided it into two bowls.

My mixed green salad, in my brand new springtime bowls

Each bowl then got a 1/2 of a chopped scallion, one strawberry, 4 chopped basil leaves, 4 grape tomatoes, a few chopped baby carrots, and two chopped bacon strips. I dressed this salad with just a touch of caesar dressing, and it was a fun party of sweet and savory in my mouth. Even more exciting is that I will have breakfast already to go for tomorrow and I will be able to sleep in!

Rotisserie Chicken

Posted on April 3, 2012 by admin

It was a Monday, I hate Mondays. For some reason the upcoming week seemed very long, as if the weekend was never going to come, ever. Needless to say, such lethargy takes the desire to cook and dumps it down the drain. What to do? What to do? I don’t want to get take out…I don’t want to cook. I pondered this question as the endless Monday, surprisingly, came to and end. Then it hit me, get a rotisserie chicken! “A whole chicken?” you might ask, “I thought this was cooking for two, not four!” Fairly noted, but here is the thing: it’s much cheaper than take out, and you can eat it all week!

What you need:

A car to get you to the grocery store
We went for the "all natural" chicken, our grocery store carries a few flavors like "bourbon" or "honey glazed"
One rotisserie chicken
2-4 hungry people
A starch
A vegetable

The Method:

I’m a firm believer that you need to eat balanced meals, so one chicken is just not going to do it for me, I’d like a few more things. Now, I’m going for speed here, because when I don’t feel like cooking, I don’t want to be in the kitchen for more than 10 minutes, if at all. So here we go: look in the fridge, freezer, pantry; what do you have for vegetables and starch?

I love to add fruit into my salad, it is a wonderful contrast to the savory bread and chicken

I had a spring mix, a cucumber, a few berries, some garlic, olive oil, and a few vinegars. Great! I have a salad and the dressing, but no starch, that’s ok, I’m going to the grocery store anyways. I go, I get a chicken, and on my way out I stop by the bakery section to pick up a loaf of french bread

Garlic bread only takes a few minutes in the oven, throw some cheese on it for added gooey goodness!

(or in this particular case, garlic bread). Time to rush home while the chicken is still hot. Throw together a salad, bake some garlic bread, carve off a few pieces of chicken, and voila! Enjoy your meal, and if you are feeling particularly lazy you can even use paper plates.

Left overs the next day can be turned into a number of different things, here are some ideas:

Chicken Salad: Chop up left over chicken and mix with a little bit of mayo, add grapes, celery, onions, or whatever else you like. Serve as a sandwich with some toasted bread, lettuce and tomato. Have left over garlic bread? Heat it up in the oven and serve the chicken salad on that! Don’t like mayo? Use caesar dressing (or some other creamy dressing like ranch) or plain yogurt.
Tossed Salad with Chicken: Slice long pieces of chicken and serve on a tossed salad with your choice of dressing. Still hungry? Add some soup for a whole meal.
Chicken Wraps: Chop up the left over chicken and sauté with chopped onions and mushrooms, serve on warm pita bread with some greens. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Chicken Lettuce Wraps: Chop up left over chicken and sauté with onions and red peppers, season with a oriental five spice and little cyan pepper, serve on large pieces of lettuce.

Now you have two days covered and you don’t have to think again until Wednesday. The weekend won’t be so far away, and the worst of the week is over. Enjoy!

The Slow-Cooker Coconut Chicken Curry Adventure

Posted on April 1, 2012 by admin

Yesterday was cold, rainy, gloomy… a perfect Saturday for something slow-cooked. A few weeks ago I stumbled on a recipe for crock-pot coconut curry chicken (here is the link to the original recipe), of course I wasn’t as well prepared to make this as I thought and I had a few bumps in the road. It was still amazing.

The great thing about crock-pot cooking is that it leaves you with leftovers that you can freeze and use during busy week days, and you don’t have to be there for the six hours it takes to cook. I got so many things done while dinner was cooking.

Feel free to make the original version, but if you come to have some of the same problems as I did, you can add or subtract anything you want. I will leave a commentary next to the ingredients for your benefit (and a little amusement maybe).

It was so yummy I forgot to take a picture before I started eating

Original Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into large cubes— This really isn’t optional, although I had a brief thought of adding shrimp. When making indian food I stick to chicken.

So many carrots!

1 lb. (about 5 large) carrots, peeled and cut into similar-sized cubes as chicken— Turns out I had a 1 lb. bag of baby carrots in the fridge, I used those, uncut. Looking back, I could have done with fewer carrots.

1 whole onion, peeled and quartered— I used a red onion

2 cloves garlic, peeled— I love garlic, I used four cloves, but looking back I could have used more

1 bell pepper, seeded and quartered— I used a red pepper, I hate green peppers for no real reason

1 small can (5 oz.) tomato paste— the smallest can of tomato paste that my grocery store sells is 6oz, which is fine

To avoid nasty preservatives I try to use organic canned products when available

1 can (14 oz.) coconut milk— the only size my grocery store sold was 13.5oz, which was ok, but I would have liked even more of a coconut flavor, I think next time I will use a can and a half…maybe even two, I love coconut…

1-½ tsp. salt—the thing about salt is, that in such a big dish a teaspoon just doesn’t cover it, add the teaspoon, and then two hours before it’s done cooking, taste it, and add as much as you see fit. Don’t be afraid of salt, it is your friend.

1 tbsp. curry powder—I used 2-4 tbsp by the end of the dish

You can see the crushed bay leaves on top

1 tbsp. garam masala (Indian spice mix)— This spice mix did not exist in my grocery store, so I had to improvise I used the following: 2tsp ground ginger, 2tsp cinnamon, 2tsp oriental five spice, 2tsp ground mustard powder, 2tsp ground cumin, 3 tsp turmeric, 4 crushed bay leaves, 1tbsp ground ground coriander, 1 tbsp ground cardamon

I know that it sounds like a lot of spice, but I do like very favorable dishes, if you think that it may be too much for you, cut everything in half and then add your favorites two hours before it’s done cooking, just like the salt

1 jalapeno, seeded and halved OR 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (optional for heat)— I used crushed red pepper and ground cayenne

I also added one apple (chopped) and one potato (chopped) into the croc-pot, had I had more potatoes I would have added more…but alas, there was one and it needed to be used sooner rather than later. The apple added some sweetness that I was afraid I was missing, it was a nice touch, but it was overwhelmingly “appley”, and thus I added more spice. I had a half a container of mushrooms that also found their way into this dish.

—

2 tbsp. water

1-½ tbsp. cornstarch

The cornstarch/water mixture is for the last hour of cooking to thicken up the sauce, I used it, but it didn’t seem like the sauce really needed too much thickening. If you add more coconut milk in then you may be in need of it.

–

For Serving:

1 bunch cilantro (optional but so, so good)

I made extra rice for all of the leftovers

rice

naan bread or pitas (optional)

I used all three, the cilantro was AMAZING, added just the right amount of freshness at the end.

The method:

Grease the crockpot. I sprayed it with an organic cooking spray–just make sure its evenly coated.

The following I chopped into cubes and put directly into the crock-pot: 1 apple, 1 potato, 1/2 of the onion, 1 lb. carrots, 1 lb. chicken

I crushed two cloves of garlic in a garlic press and added it to the crock-pot

All the veggies ready to be blended

Most of the rest of the ingredients were put into a blender to be pureed: 1 pepper, 1/2 of the onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 a container of mushrooms, tomato paste, coconut milk, all the spices

Blend until smooth and then poor the sauce over everything in the crock-pot, mix well. Cook on low for 6 hours.

Don’t forget to taste the dish two hours before it’s done cooking so that you can add more spices as needed (the chicken should be cooked through and safe to taste)

An hour before it is all done mix together the water and cornstarch in a small bowl until the cornstarch is completely dissolved. Add to the crockpot and mix well. Cook for another hour and then you will be good to go.

Serve on top of rice, topped with some cilantro. I baked a piece of store bought naan to accompany the dish. Enjoy wish a nice glass of white wine, we chose a Sauvignon Blanc.

After Ted got seconds, he was kind enough to let me take a picture while the food was cooling down a little bit

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Posted on March 9, 2012 by admin

The wine is made by Chocolate Shop. The two that I have tried are the chocolate strawberry, and the regular chocolate.

I love chocolate covered strawberries. Who doesn’t? I also love red wine. It’s nice to pair the two together after dinner for a simple romantic evening. What if I told you that you wouldn’t have to eat anything to get that same exact sensation? Yes, it exists. Chocolate Strawberry red wine, every bit as delicious as it sounds. I would not recommend pairing this with your dinner, it is extremely sweet. So sweet, in fact, that I would go so far as to say that you should drink this instead of having a dessert. Personally I could not drink this wine by itself, I had to dilute it with another red blend I had laying around the house. My boyfriend, on the other hand, had no problem drinking it as it was. It is just a matter of how sweet is too sweet for you.

I promise that this company is not giving me any money, I’m just really excited about this discovery, I’ve been telling everyone I know all week!

My New Grill (Pan)

Posted on March 5, 2012 by admin

Long before I moved into my latest apartment, I had been living with an electric stove. It was the first apartment I’d ever had, and I didn’t know that I would soon be wishing for a gas stove. Why? Well, as I started to enjoy cooking, I also began to find myself transfixed by the Food Network. With no actual TV I was forced to stare at the computer screen and I had to specifically choose which shows to watch. Ted introduced me to the show Chopped, and there I saw for the first time: A cast iron grill pan. It fit over two gas burners and it enabled the chefs to grill indoors. I wanted! I needed! But, alas, I could not, for I did not have a gas stove. Oh well, such is life. Then, this past October we moved into a new apartment, and it came with a brand new gas stove. Oh joy! Finally I was able get my magical indoor grill! For months I agonized over the purchase. Every trip to the cooking store undoubtedly left me gazing longingly at the heavy iron pans. I carefully picked them up, turned them over, compared prices, and thought to myself: is it worth the money? Yes, yes it is.

I am not a professional. I did not know which one to get. I don’t remember which one I did get. What do I know then? I know that tongs are essential, as is cooking spray. I opted for my grocery store’s organic cooking spray (why organic? I will soon add a blog about why I choose certain organic things). The pan gets really warm, make sure that you do not touch it, if you are really scared of the heat then get out of the kitchen! (just kidding) get a good oven mitt.

Another important tip for apartment dwellers, is open your windows! Cooking on a grill pan can get a little smokey, you do not want your fire alarm going off!

So here I am. My new love and I at last! What to cook? First I try some veggies. You can’t really go wrong, as long as they are warm it will all be ok. Meat is a different story, you don’t want to undercook or cross contaminate.

Here is the best thing I came up with my first night with the grill pan:

Grilled Thyme and Garlic Stuffed Mushrooms

These would be great as the veggies for your dinner, or as appetizers for a littler dinner party. If you make them, let me know what you thought, what you changed, of if something didn’t work for you.

What you need:

one package of “baby bella” whole mushrooms
bunch of fresh thyme
a head of garlic
olive oil
sea-salt
crushed red pepper (optional)

How to make them:

Spray down your grill pan with cooking spray
Wash your mushrooms and take the stems out so that there is hole in which to add stuffing
Chop stems very finely
Turn both burners on to medium heat
In a bowl combine 4-5 cloves of crushed garlic, 1/4 cup of fresh thyme, teaspoon of ground sea-salt, chopped mushroom stems, teaspoon of crushed red pepper (optional), 1/2 cup olive oil
Dip mushrooms (one at a time) into bowl to make sure they get an even coat oil and salt
Stuff each mushroom with the garlic and thyme from the bowl (make sure that it is packed very tightly)
Put the mushrooms hole side down on the grill pan, let sit for about 30 seconds to one minute
Flip over and cook the rounded side for about two minutes

Tips: Many times while cooking I’m eyeing the amounts, these are “guestimations” based on taste. If you don’t like garlic that much, don’t add as much as I did. Also, if you seem to run out of anything before you are done stuffing your mushrooms, add the ingredients ass needed. The reason I put the mushrooms hole side down is so that the moisture of the mushroom can have a chance to steam the garlic inside. Once you flip them once, if they don’t appear to be cooked through, give each side another 30 seconds, until they are done. Don’t be afraid of the filling falling out, use your tongs to stuff it right back into the mushroom.

New Orleans Vacation

Posted on February 27, 2012 by admin

Great meal from the French Market Cafe

February is a great time to take a vacation. The weather was cold and miserable so we decided to head south for a few days. I have felt New Orleans calling my name for some time now, finally I bit the bullet and we traveled the 1,900-something miles to our vacation destination. The morning of our flight it was sleeting, and I could not have been more excited to leave Connecticut. Sadly, upon arrival in New Orleans I learned a very valuable lesson: It’s not always warm in the south. Putting aside the cold weather, everything was amazing, if you haven’t been to New Orleans I suggest you book your trip now.

There we were: two twenty-somethings, first time traveling any great distance without an adult giving us a vague itinerary. Every trip I’ve taken has had a parent, or friend’s parent sponsoring most of it; not this time, we paid for everything, we were free as the wind. Weary from travel we managed to find our hotel, and then the age old question came up: what’s for dinner? Being the adventurous people we are, we left the hotel with no plan and ran straight toward Bourbon Street. It was immediate sensory overload. Lights, bright lights, and sounds, and people, oh so many people, everywhere! Oh, and drinks? Did you know they liked to drink in New Orleans? Drinks in hand we wandered down the street and found a restaurant that suited our needs: They had food. Honestly, nothing to rave about, and nothing to complain about, though it is not one of the places that I would recommend, or even remember.

What would I recommend?

Get an Abita, it’s one of their local beers and it is unbelievable! Craft brewing at its finest. Once you have your beer you can walk around and soak in the city.

Planning on drinking? Go get some food at Cafe Maspero. The sandwiches are huge, the service is fast, the food is tasty, and the daiquiris are four dollars. You will be full and ready to go out on the town.

Don’t get stuck on Bourbon Street! There is so much to do in the French Quarter, and Bourbon Street is mostly full of drunk tourists. That being said, there is something very enchanting about Bourbon Street after ten o’clock. The Saturday night crowd was large and fun, the people were friendly and, the bars did not close.

Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar. It’s an old haunted pirate bar, come on now, you know you have to go. You can find it at the end of Bourbon Street. If anything, go for the history, stay for a drink…or two.

Frenchman Street. Go there at night and listen to music. That is where we are lead to believe the locals go after a long week of dealing with tourists. The street was pretty packed while we were there, but the crowd was more dignified than the mob of young people looking to be flashed on Bourbon Street.

Want fried chicken? Go to Fiorella’s. The food is handmade to order and delicious. I had fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, unbelievable comfort food, and also great for a hangover…not that I had one.

Still haven’t had enough? People will tell you to make sure you eat a beignet (fried dough of the gods), these are good, but if you want real French pastries go to Croissant D’or. This is a real French bakery that makes everything in the morning and throws leftover dough away. Try a cafe au lait made with chicory coffee while you are there.

When it’s time for lunch find a place that serves crawfish, anyplace will be fine. We happened upon The French Market Cafe, conveniently located across the street from the French Market itself. The crawfish were spicy and juicy, they harmonized perfectly with yet some more beer.

Once dinner time hits you will be bombarded with more choices, there are just too many good places to eat. I wish that we could have tried them all, but contrary to what I’ve written, we did things other than eating and drinking. Our last dinner in the city was at the local Brew Pub. The food was gourmet, the beer was brewed on premises, but the memory that I will walk away with forever was the unbelievable preparation of their asparagus. You did not misread, I am talking about the long green vegetable that is low on most lists. I don’t know what they did to it, but I wish that they had given me much more asparagus. It was cooked very al dente, and seemed to have been lightly grilled, and salted… Was it really that simple? Am I missing something? I will be trying to recreate this…

Who am I? Why am I writing a blog?

Posted on February 20, 2012 by admin

Good question!

The idea for blogging came to me as my frustration mounted with online recipes. Yes, it was delicious; yes, it took me only half an hour to make; but…I now have leftovers for days on end. Cooking for two is a difficult thing, you either make too much or too little. There is then the question of how much to buy, and how to not eat the same thing for a week. After some recipe modification I think that I have gotten the hang of it, therefore I feel that it is time to share the knowledge.

That being said, not all of my recipes are just for two. Some times we have friends over, other times I will use a slow cooker…I love slow cookers!

I don’t only cook, sometimes I go out to eat, or I travel, or I drink wine (I do that more than sometimes). I don’t think that I have the attention span to blog about only one thing, so this is going to cover a few things of interest to me, maybe you find them interesting too!

Now for a little about myself:

I have always thought that blogs are a little bit self-centered, or too impersonal, now I realize you either need one or the other. Here is a quick bio, just so you know a little about who is behind all of these words and experiences. My name is Justina (pronounced you-stee-nah), I’m originally from Lithuania, and now live in the United States. At a very young age I was well traveled and spoke a few different languages; I have always loved food, loved to travel, loved to write… so on and so on. Currently I work as a waitress and live with my boyfriend Ted (he will be the other person that makes up the word ‘we’). I am a student of theatre, literature, history, and as of recently cooking. Thus, as I learn what it is to travel with two, cook for two, and live in a small family, I will impart my knowledge.

Curious Kitchen

Culinary and travel adventures for improvisational people