Home: To Cook and Be Sane

I have been working 6 days a week the past two weeks. I have lived in a hotel this past week and stayed awake 26 straight hours to complete a project started in December of last year. After I slept for 13 hours, all I wanted to do was cook, at home, in my kitchen, with my stuff. I wanted to eat with non plastic silverware and on non styrofoam plates.

In true Cook Crook fashion, I opened the fridge and the pantry and created a dish: asparagus and pancetta pasta. I found a loaf of garlic bread in the freezer and popped the cork on a chianti. Honey, I'm home.

Dinner? No I am sorry, we have the plague.

I have missed my little corner of the food world! Honestly, I believe my family has too because I will admit in writing, that as of today, I have not cooked a meal for my family in over a week! Shameful, I know. The person who believes every person can find time to cook a meal has failed miserable to accomplish that...the nerve right?

Well, let's put this in perspective. My real job has kept me hopping, and I mean 12 hour work day hopping. I have thrown a few things in a crock-pot here or there or re-purposed freezer leftovers a couple of times. But the real cause of this latest culinary drought? The plague. You read that correctly. I am convinced that short of dipping my entire house in bleach my family is doomed to a cycle of co-pays, medicines and sick days. I myself am home for the second day in a row after succumbing to bronchitis...this after being sick last Sunday with what my local doc-in-a-box called an "upper respiratory infection" and promptly gave me decongestant.Yesterday, my family doctor consequently shook her head at me "tsk, tsk" while she rubbed my lumpy lymph nodes and wrote me a prescription for amoxicillan. Now, did I mention last Saturday my little boy was diagnosed with Strep Throat...which in turn my husband caught and was home with for two days last week? Prior to that, my husband was sick with what we thought was the flu and was instead a yet to be named virus everyone else has had at some point judging by Facebook statuses.

What does this have to do with food? Well, the motivation to cook diminishes significantly when everyone including the head chef is ill or not getting home until 7PM at night. Hubby stepped it up and made dinner a few nights, our favorite local Italian place has received our online order a few times and last night for fear my small son would be subjected to pizza or grilled cheese again, I went and picked up take-out from a steakhouse chain. Sometimes, it is NOT about a culinary journey but survival. We have been surviving. I am definitely ready to move past survival and start cooking and enjoying eating again.

I am starting today by trying out a new recipe. My cough is still keeping me awake and my culinary creativity is in a Nyquil fog so I found this tasty recipe that I had pinned a while back for honey sesame chicken. I think I can manage the intensive labor it calls for....wish me luck and maybe one day I'll get back to meal planning and cooking...right now I am working on breathing.

Food Trucks!

I love the idea of food trucks. My mom ran a restaurant when I was an infant and I worked in restaurants for almost 10 years so the idea of a brick and mortar was never appealing. So I jumped at chance to take my family to our local Whole Foods for the food truck rodeo. It was a vegetarian theme, check out my burger!

New Year and New Opportunities

Happy New Year! 2013 is here and I am still in denial (thus the January 7th post I suppose). I am done with school for the first time in almost 3 years and while my work life is ramping up, my time away from home (and unfortunately the kitchen) will only be for a little while so I am constantly thinking about all the things I want to accomplish this year food wise.

Lucky me, my year got started off in a great direction when I submitted a recipe and picture for Fabio Viviani's Kitchen Academy Challenge. Now clearly I have mad love for Fabio already so I subscribe to his blog, and his Facebook.. and his Twitter and a newsletter...anyway, point is, he gives 5 ingredients you must use and whatever other ingredients you want. Then, you make a dish, snap a photo and submit it and your recipe. I missed Week #1 but Week#2 was carrots, mozzarella, mint, pine nuts and ham. So I made this:

Carrot and ham soup with a mint pesto and mozzarella croutons. And guess what?

I ended up on his Pinterest board: Fabio's Kitchen Academy Challenge #2

Okay, it is a contest...but I did not enter it just to have a chance to win (and looking at the competition, holy smokes there are some creative folks out there and winning is probably not an option!) but to prove my culinary chops. And that is among my resolutions: get better in the kitchen and take risks and put myself out there. It may not be my full time job, or even a part time one, but I love it. The only thing I enjoy more than cooking and creating recipes and making food for others is being with my awesome family and friends. So, I raise my tongs to you readers...this year is going to be tasty!

New Frontiers: Collard Greens

I am starting my New Year's resolutions early this year. First, I am committed to trying new recipes and preparing foods I traditionally have prepared for me. Second, I am going to use more local produce. Third, I am going to work on working off the poundage I have put on, but that's for another post! But back to my first resolution. Although I do love cooking I have let my fear override my willingness to prepare things I have  loved to eat but let someone else cook. But when I picked up last week's CSA, I found collards in my bag of veggie awesomeness. I needed to cook them. I wanted to cook them. Could I convince myself to do it?

Fast forward to a much needed break from work, having been off since the 21st of December. I have been newly revitalized to cook a lot more being home. I have had time to peruse recipes, think about what I want to get out of 2013 culinary wise and do some serious menu planning. Visiting my parents on Christmas Day, I mentioned the collards I had to cook. My 82-year old grandmother chimed in with her sure fire method: cook them with some cabbage and add red pepper. Conveniently, my CSA also came with Chinese cabbage.Well, that was enough to make me commit.

I bought a piece of country ham for seasoning and set to work. First, I cooked four slices of bacon in a stock pot and drained them, reserving some of the drippings. To the drippings I added half of a chopped red onion, some red pepper flake (about a tablespoon), some cayenne (about a teaspoon) and a little olive oil. Just once the onions started to soften, I added  the ham piece and gave it some quick color. next I added 4 cups of my homemade chicken stock. I brought this up to a boil. Then I added all of my collards in batches and then all of the Chinese cabbage in batches as well. Each time I added a bunch of leaves, I ensure I wilted them down before I added the next. Finally, I added 2 cups of water, covered the pot, reduced the heat to a simmer and let sit for 2 hours.

They came out FANTASTIC! I served them with crumbled pieces of bacon on top. My mother-in-law said she had never had them before, and really enjoyed them. Hubby, who turned his nose at the idea of them, gobbled them up too. They were spicy and salty and, wonderful!

This is what I needed to convince me my New Year's resolutions were not at all unreasonable or unreachable. I am very excited about what's around the bend!

Cook Crook Creation: Brownie Awesomeness

Merry Christmas! Unbelievably I am sitting in a quiet house right now on Christmas Eve while my boys are off doing some last minute shopping. I still have some baking, cleaning and cooking left to do, but had to share this fabulous treat recipe for those of you who need some more sweets for your holiday menu or maybe a last minute gift! I created these one night in a panic to make something delicious for my husband's co-workers for Christmas. I had brownie mix but did not just want to make plain old brownies. I stumbled upon a fudge recipe that had a pretzel crust and thought why not a pretzel crusted fudge brownie? And then, not wanting the top to be outdone, decided to make the brownies with a cream cheese swirl. Hubby walked into the kitchen while I was "inventing" and asked me what I was making....my answer was Brownie Awesomeness!

Brownie Awesomeness

Crust:

1 ½ cup crushed pretzels

1 stick (1/2 cup) melted butter

½ cup granulated sugar

Brownie:

1 package fudge brownie mix (I used the Duncan Hines Family size)

¼  water

¾ cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

Cream Cheese Swirl:

6 oz. softened cream cheese

1 egg

¼ Tsp vanilla

1 tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix crushed pretzels, butter and sugar in a medium bowl and then spread into a 13x9 baking dish. Press the “crust” evenly into the bottom of the dish and bake for 8 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes.

Prepare brownie mix according to the package directions for “fudge like” brownies: add the brownie mix, water, oil and eggs into a large bowl and mix well. In another bowl, add the cream cheese, egg, vanilla and sugar and beat well with an electric mixer until smooth.

Gently spread the brownie mix on the pretzel crust. Using a spoon, add dollops of the cream cheese mixture across the surface of the brownies. Then using a knife or small spreader, gently swirl the cream cheese into the brownie batter until all of cream cheese is incorporated. Swirl in opposite directions to get desired look.

Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool for at least one hour on a cooling rack. Slice with a sharp knife into 6 columns and 4 rows.

I wish you and your family the merriest of Christmases and a Happy New Year!

The Simple Things

December has been a crazy month. Work is wrapping up for the year and I finished my last class for school. My last class...ever! Before I knew it, we were a week away from Christmas!

In the last few days, time seems even more precious. I am a food writer, not a social issues one so I will only say that my reaction to the tragedy in Connecticut was akin to the nesting I did when I was late into my pregnancy with my son. I wanted to clean and cook and ...even bake. The holiday time makes that all seem more reasonable of course but I knew I suddenly wanted to squeeze out a million memories and tackle dust bunnies because I felt powerless to do anything else.

Tonight was our yearly tradition of cookie making. My step-daughter will be with her mother until the New Year so we did it tonight and because it was a school night and a work night we did use a mix. But who cares? We made egg yolk paint that I used when I made cookies with my parents. I let them cut their choice of shapes (notice the Star Wars ones) and paint whatever they wanted.

Rebecca's Cookies

Josh's Cookies

Favorites were chosen for lunch boxes and for Santa. My son was covered in flour and when he went to bed my dear girl wanted to help me make candies for my office and wrap gifts for my co-workers. I got a little choked up as I looked at my sleeping boy and said good night to my teenage girl. I am no longer in a rush. Every moment counts. It is the simple things.

Dinner by Bestie

My best friend Steph and I met in college working in a not-to-be-named chain steak place. We roomed together after college and admittedly I never cooked as much as I do now. Fast forward 15 years. We are both married, with kids, busy careers and we live 3 hours apart. We don't get to see each other as often as we'd like so when she was in my town for a conference, I jumped at the chance to spend time with her.

We Christmas shopped. We had a girls night out with some of my other friends. We went to Whole Foods for lunch and then drinks. Then when it turned out she was free for dinner on Sunday, we decided on a home cooked meal.

She helped with the menu, asking me for ingredients for the goat cheese kisses and volunteering to make them and then requesting baby bok choy as a veggie. The weather was so warm we agreed grilling would be a great option for our main dish. I brought up the shrimp skewers I love and she suggested steaks to go with. Finally I decided on parsnips for our starch (a purée for sure!). I grilled the baby bok choy too....

This plate is the result.

Just as delicious as it looks. I loved cooking with her and I loved cooking by suggestion. Come back anytime Steph. I am happy to cook but next time I am buying!

Breakfast ... Fast

I love breakfast. Eggs. Bacon. Sandwiches. Omelettes. Corned beef hash. Wait...must stop salivating. Weekends we go all out. My challenge is the week days and my work schedule. Some mornings I need to leave my house by 5 a.m....yep I said A.M. But my love of breakfast doesn't waver and I am a person who must have breakfast lest risk crankiness. The problem is I would fail to give myself time to get a morning meal together...and to a drive-thru I would go or I would just scrounge up something at my desk. NOT a great way to start a morning.

So I had been seeing different recipes online for making egg "muffins", simple eggs made in a muffin tin. I had made a South Beach diet version using Egg Beaters but never used real eggs. Then over the Thanksgiving holiday I needed a quick way to make breakfast for 6 adults, 3 teenagers and a 5 year-old. The recipe is on Pinterest and online in a million places but ultimately I go back to one of my favorite no-carb/low-carb sites, Kalyn's Kitchen as a favorite although the version I made (and cannot remember the source) was at 350 degrees and you just break one egg into each muffin tin and then break the yolk as opposed to beating eggs and pouring into cups. Then you sprinkle the top with the meat and cheese (if that's what you are using)

They were a hit with the extended family and I made them again this week to have breakfast on hand for me and the rest of my house. I used just deli ham and shredded colby jack. There are a million combinations, it's quick, low mess and delicious. Now to figure out how to get breakfast to ALWAYS be that easy!

Thanksgiving: Thankful for not Cooking?

Thanksgiving is a culinary Super Bowl for me. I personally start prepping and planning at the end of September, right when Halloween decorations start inundating local stores. This year I scoured websites, pulled pages out of magazines and salivated over Pinterest. However, we traveled this year to Connecticut to visit my husband's side of the family and my sister-in-law who was kind enough to turn over her house to all of our crazy, said Thanksgiving was all taken care of.

I was excited and sad all at once. No early morning prepping. No agonizing over turkey doneness (if you saw last week's Top Chef you know even chefs have bad turkey moments). No juggling of times and peeling and, and....no cooking Thanksgiving?! What would I do without that stress to fuel my culinary fire?

You know what I did? I enjoyed every last bite of that delicious dinner that my very awesome sister-in-law ordered from Whole Foods. It made a plate that looked like this:

And a leftover turkey and stuffing casserole that I made that looked like this:

And a turkey salad club that looked like this:

And potato pancakes that looked like these:

And THIS is how I celebrated my last evening with my family, during the Thanksgiving holiday. 

No drama. No stress. No back-breaking mixing and chopping. No pacing the kitchen. Lots of time to enjoy moments like this:

There are many a Thanksgiving dinner left in the future for me to cook . So far though, the best time I have had, has been the one I didn't.

Steal of the Week: Churro Cheesecake

When the election was going on, I began to wonder if Facebook had any redeeming qualities anymore. I have a Twitter and a Pinterest, why did I need a news feed of emotionally charged stuff only sprinkled with updates of people I care about? Yet I soldiered on and wouldn't you know it, people post recipes on there too?!

Thank you Karen for sharing this recipe for churro cheesecake! I always have reduced-fat crescent rolls on hand as well as neufchatel cheese so I whipped this up super quick for my wine tasting/spa party! Delicious.

So good in fact, my chocolate obsessed hubby loved it!

Pinterest Recipe: Pineapple Cake

I am becoming quite fond of Pinterest and its easy to access recipes. Equally enjoyable are the easy recipes, especially for things I am not as good at, like baking. So how could I turn down a cake that was two ingredients? Yep, just one 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple and one box of angel food cake mix. My kitchen smells amazing. The true test will be my office mates reaction tomorrow!

Harvest Pot Roast

What's better than a hot meal after standing in line for almost 2 hours to vote? A hot meal from a crock-pot with a November theme: harvest!

One chuck roast, sweet potatoes, carrots, onions and a blend of brown gravy mix, seasoned salt, and cinnamon! Made a nice gravy when it was done. And as an aside, pairs great with Punkin Ale!

Charcuterie

I LOVE cheese! I love meat and cheese and tasty little bits of mustard and peppers and eggs and focaccia. I could live off charcuterie.

Party Time! Halloween

We had a great party Saturday night! It was rainy but our friend Sandy had not yet arrived so our fun was not dampened! Tried some great Pinterest recipes, especially the " broccomole"! Fun, friends, food and a homemade TARDIS costume.... Priceless!

Pinterest Recipe: No-Bread Cheese Bread-sticks

My friend Kandice has made a commitment to make every recipe she pins on Pinterest. I have not been as dedicated as that but I am making an honest attempt to try them all.

Cut to tonight when I had a head of cauliflower I had yet to use and remembered that I had pinned a recipe for cheesy garlic cauliflower bread-sticks. You read that correctly: cauliflower. As it turns out I had already heard from my friend and fellow food blogger, Cooking for Betty that she had tried the cauliflower pizza crust and had been happy with the results.

This recipe was super easy, and I had all the ingredients on hand minus the fresh garlic (which, umm how did THAT happen?) so I substituted with more garlic powder and a little Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic. My family's verdict? My husband and step-daughter were practically fighting over them at the table and I will be making them again this weekend on order request. And let me say as a cheesy bread-stick expert, this is a keeper for sure!!

Steal of the Week: Pumpkin Bread

That awesome first CSA box experience included 2 pie pumpkins. Here then is my opportunity to confess I have NEVER cooked with fresh pumpkin. However, the opportunity presented itself and I was on the search for a pumpkin recipe calling for the fresh stuff.
Then I found this recipe for Pumpkin Bread by one of my favorite chefs, Alton Brown. It was especially attractive because it used the seeds too.
While peeling the pumpkin proved difficult (I was down a vegetable peeler) the food processor made quick work of shredding the flesh. I toasted the seeds to add and the result was moist, delicious and devoured by my office in one work day!

Admittedly, the seeds in my opinion did not add as much to the bread as I thought and I do not think they are absolutely necessary. I can see variations of this and definitely muffins would be great!

Pasta, Pasta! Chicken Sausage Alfredo

The best thing about pasta is it is quick! And when you can put together with a quick homemade sauce and an easy add-in it is also delicious. The quick light Alfredo recipe I discovered from before went great with sun dried tomato chicken sausage and fresh fettuccine!

Crock-pot Creation

That CSA box I purchased contained radishes. I do not believe I have ever put a radish in anything other than a salad! However, it is a root vegetable so why not use them in stew? The problem? No stew meat. However, I did have boneless chicken thighs and decided to go with those.
Two pounds of thighs, one cup of red wine, two packets of brown gravy mix, one cup water, four sliced carrots, the radishes, chopped green pepper, salt and pepper. 10 hours later, a pot roast like stew I served over rice for hubby and over some toasted sourdough for me!

Dining Out: Pierce's BBQ

My step-daughter asked for one thing during our weekend away in Williamsburg: a trip to Pierce's Pitt Bar-B-Que! A local staple and a tourist Mecca, the barbecue is tasty and worth the wait, the small restaurant and the even more minuscule restrooms! This is a time when splurging for a "combo" is worth it, especially when it comes with tasty classic crinkle cut fries and a homemade cookie.

While not the North Carolina style barbecue I usually crave, the Pierce's sauce and simplicity of its food make it a great lunch spot. Family friendly and always consistent, we stop there whenever we are in the area.