Tuna, Asparagus, and Waffle Fries

Tuna with Asparagus and French Fries

Tonight's cuisine was a specialty of the the Library Bar & Grill, a local restaurant here in Madison. I frequent this bar a few times a semester to grab some happy hour drinks and food. Since my transition to pescitarian in the middle of last year, I have been a sucker for this Tuna Sandwich which is covered with a spicy sauce and fresh veggies the dish can also be served with a variety of side dishes and I almost always choose the cajun fries, french fries dusted with a spicier seasoning salt mixture. It is fairly simple to cook and only takes about 45 minutes total which includes marinating the tuna. I like to combine this with some seasoned fries and baked garlic asparagus.

Tuna Sandwich:
2 - 6oz Tuna Steaks
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 Cloves Garlic (pressed)
Slice of Tomato, cucumber and lettuce or spinach

Sauce:
1 Tablespoon Mayonnaise
1 Teaspoon Chili Powder

Directions:
Mix the Olive Oil, Lemon Juice, Garlic, Salt and Pepper together. Pour over Tuna Steaks in a shallow dish, cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Combine Mayonnaise and Chili Powder and refrigerate. Grill Tuna for about 4 - 5 minutes on medium high heat, turning once. The inside should be a pale pink, fading to white toward the surface. Place on your favorite hamburger bun and top with sauce and vegetables.

Baked Asparagus with Garlic:
1 lb of fresh Asparagus
1 -2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
Salt
3 -4 Cloves of Garlic Coarsely Chopped

Directions:
Wash Asparagus. Cut off rough ends. Place in 9" x 13" baking dish. Cover in Olive Oil and Salt. Toss to coat evenly. Mix in chopped Garlic. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 - 10 minutes or until lightly tender. I prefer my asparagus with a bit of crunch left in it. You may cook longer if you prefer it that way more tender. However, I would probably cover it if leaving in the oven for more than 15 minutes to prevent burning.

French Fries:
The french fries were my favorite frozen type and prepared per the package instructions then dusted with seasoning salt. I hope to try some homemade french fries or sweet potato fries with this dish the next time I prepare it.

Valentines Pt.2

On Sunday Brad and I wanted to partake in cooking chili which we can have to eat during the week. Brad has made chili often, and I've attempted it once. It did not turn out so well then. But this time I was prepared, I found a cool recipe from The Kitchn blog, and had the awesome La Chamba cookware my mom got me for Christmas. When you cook tomato in the La Chamba, it's supposed to sweeten the sauce because of the reaction between the acidity of the tomato and alkaline of the clay pot. It is interesting how these pots are made. They are handmade in Columbia. They turn black after they are rubbed with a type of stone which smooths the clay out.

Saute the vegetables (1 medium yellow onion, 1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks, gloves of garlic)

I first had to season my La Chamba by filling it with 3/4 water, and cooking it at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. This seals the pores in the clay. I let it set out and cool while I cooked the vegetables. I then added my roasted canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, 1 tbs chili powder, 1 tbs cumin, and 1 bay leaf. Then I added the cooked vegetables.

I let the chili cook for 1:30 minutes. I then added 1 cup corn and a can of kidney beans and let it cook for 20 more minutes. This lets them get warm without turning mushy. It smelled great!

The chili turned out awesome and it will be made again! I only omitted the meat and some spices (only 1 tbs of cumin and chili, and no coriander or cayenne). I liked this chili because it is thick and not thin like I made it before. I hadn't thought of putting tomato sauce in it. But I'm partial to Cincinnati chili, so I made spaghetti noodles to go with it. I am super excited to have it throughout the week.

I enjoyed cooking the chili with Brad and am interested to see how his turned out! I can't wait to enjoy the wine my mom got us for Valentine's Day this coming spring break! Thank you mama! This Californian winery has some nice red wine, Menage a Trois Wines. If you see it, I'd definitely try it out!


My chili was a version found in Cooking Light's Way to Cook Vegetarian (pg. 404 for those who own it). It was an incredible mix of roasted bell peppers, tomatoes, butternut squash, and beans. It was a time consuming process, but after I had all the ingredients ready it went quite fast and all I had to do was let it simmer for about an hour and it was golden.


First you roast, peel and dice the peppers. Cook the onion in olive oil in a large pot over medium-low heat until it starts to brown. Add spices of your choosing, I used cumin, paprika, chili powder, and a blend of my very own dried chilies and habenaro peppers with about 6 cloves of pressed garlic. After this cooks for a bit then you add the peppers, some vegetable broth, a lot of squash and crushed tomatoes. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Add beans of your choice (i.e. pintos, kidney, great northern, cannellini, etc.) Cook for about 30 - 40 minutes until it thickens and then sprinkle with some green onions for additional flavor. You can garnish this with some sour cream or cheese. I even used some leftover dill sauce from the day before.

Another cool thing I did this evening was can the chili. Katrina bought a very cool book for me over the holidays, and I have been itching to try it out! It is called PreserveIt and teaches the fundamentals of canning and preserving foods. I also got a hold of Ball's Home Canning Guide and my grandmother's pressure cooker. After I did a test run on the cooker, I put it to work. I was able to can about 7 pints of the chili goodness and with any luck it will keep so I can share it with the world. I'll let it sit around for a few weeks and then give it a test. I would also use a word of caution for those starting out the canning process - it can be extremely DANGEROUS and should be done under a very watchful eye!


Earlier in the day, I also prepared some of Katrina's famous cinnamon rolls. Unfortunately, I cannot mention an ingredient of the recipe without some harsh consequences (I almost had to leave cinnamon out of the title, but Katrina's famous rolls just didn't have that ring to it!). With that being said, they sure are a treat. Despite the hard labor and patience it takes to knead dough and wait for these scrumptious delights, it is well worth it. Maybe some day, I can reveal this top secret extravaganza to the world and you can divulge in such splendor!

Valentines Pt.1

This Valentines weekend Brad and I decided we wanted to try a couple new dishes that invigorated our taste buds. For Saturday evening we made one of our favorite dishes for our Valentines dinner. We cooked up some salmon with a dill sour cream dressing, roasted chili potatoes, and for me a salad, and for Brad, asparagus.

From the grocery I picked up a salmon steak. I was glad to learn from Brad that the only difference is the way the salmon is cut. I thought the salmon was fine cut this way. Even though there more bones, they were easy to separate from the fish as well as the skin. Plus, I wanted the Canadian farm raised salmon instead of the Chilean, just because I thought it would be fresher since it would come from a shorter distance.

Look at all those wonderful Omega 3s!

I learned this recipe from my mom. Just slice some potatoes, glaze with a mix of olive oil, chili powder and salt. They don't turn out spicy, so a lot of chili powder goes well. Just roast them on 350 uncovered until they're browned.

Brad sent me this gorgeous necklace. I absolutely love it...and Brad! He found it from an Etsy shop I had on my favorites, 3 dots. She has some amazing jewelry. I love how the rustic wood mixes with the modern shapes and the elegance of the way it is put on the necklace.

I love the one he picked out!

Now back to the salmon. I put a layer of mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt and pepper for the marinade. This combination is acidic, so it tenders the fish well. I let it sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Then I wrapped it in foil, making it into a packet so the fish would steam. This piece was a 3/4lb steak, so I baked it at 350 for 40 minutes while the potatoes cooked. It's really super easy to prepare, really healthy and not that expensive (the fish was $6.30 and it made two generous portions). I think I'll do this more often!

As I was cooking I looked out and the sky had turned this great hot pink. We've had some quite different weather lately with a lot of wind, and some pretty skies like this!

For the dressing for the salmon, mix some sour cream with lots of dill and some lemon juice. Let it sit in the fridge for a while so it will marinate the sour cream. It's best to do this as early as possible in the process of dinner.


I followed a process similar to Katrina's for dinner. I had salmon fillets and used a combination of olive oil, parsley, oregano, salt, and pepper to marinate it for about 2 hours. I then put it in some aluminum foil and topped it with sliced lemons and baked it for about 35 minutes at 350. Once it was finished I topped it off with a sour cream dill sauce. I also did the potatoes with chili powder and some asparagus roasted in olive oil and pressed garlic. I also enjoyed the dinner with a bottle of my favorite cheap white wine to not overpower the fish. Broke Ass Wine goes for about $6 a bottle and is very good for the price!

Katrina got me a new Fossil wallet and an amazing vintage coffee mug. Even though I am slimming my caffeine intake these days, I still enjoy a heaping cup of the brew early in the morning. She also sent along some of my favorite chocolates from Old Kentucky Candies in Lexington, KY. I am a sucker for chocolate suckers!

On Friday, we caught a couple of Netflix. We watched "A Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea", which was made in 1976 and based on a novel. It's horrible, don't watch it. Especially if you like cats and Kris Kristofferson.

After that we watched "The Gates" which was a documentary about a temporary art project installed in Central Park in 2005 by two French artists. It was pretty neat. Brad says he remembers ASLA (American Society of Landscape Architects) writing an article about it. It was a large controversy, but created a lot of enthusiasm once it was actually installed around 30 years later.

Tonight we were looking for something a bit lighter and romantic. I chose the I.Q. which stars Tim Robbins, Meg Ryan, and Walter Matthau (He plays a wonderful Albert Einstein). It was a very interesting, and yes, romantic comedy! I don't understand why this movie flopped so bad??

After that, we were feeling more movie, so I had Katrina pick out any film she wanted. She chose Journey into Amazing Caves: IMAX. It has very great images of caves and exploring, but lacked a huge part of verbal pizazz. Once again, we were feeling like spending more time together so we watched yet another movie. I chose Ira & Abby, which is a very different movie about love and life. It is a little neurotic in places, but overall a wonderful film. I would urge you to check this out if you are into quirky romance films...

It was a really great night and I can't wait to see Brad over spring break! Which is only a month away.

It was a very great evening. Although we didn't get to actually see one another face to face, Skype and the movies sufficed. We are saving our trips for a journey up to Minneapolis to check out the city and do some sight seeing. I am very much looking forward to spring break!

Spinach Lasagna... Fast and Easy

As part of my after-Christmas de-cluttering extravaganza I have decided to rid my pantry and freezer of items I have been sitting there for months. So this evening, I decided to use things that have been taking up that much needed space to generate ideas for cooking. So what can I do with a half bag of frozen spinach and a jar of pasta sauce? Spinach Lasagna!

Spinach Lasagna

Ingredients:
1 Package (12 oz.) Fresh Egg Lasagna Sheets
2 Cups Ricotta Cheese
3 Cups of your favorite pasta sauce (I used the jar of Newman's Own Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce I had in my pantry)
1 1/2 Cup Grated Mozzarella Cheese
1 Cup Parmesan Cheese
1 Package (16 oz.) Frozen Spinach, thawed and drained

Directions:
Cover the bottom of a 9" x 13" casserole dish with just enough sauce to cover the bottom. Add one layer of the lasagna sheets. Spread an even layer of the Ricotta Cheese over the sheets. Cover the cheese with some pasta sauce. Sprinkle half of the spinach over the pasta sauce. Spread the grated Parmesan and Mozzarella cheeses over the spinach and top with another layer of Lasagna sheets. Repeat this layering until you get to the topmost layer. Here I left off the spinach. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes at 350°. During the last 5 minutes take off the aluminum foil and let the cheese brown on top. Enjoy with a salad and garlic bread...

Notes: This is by far the easiest recipe that I have cooked in a while. It just requires you to open up some packages and layer ingredients until you are out. I used the fresh lasagna sheets, but you could make your own or buy the dried kind (just remember to pre-cook them). You can also take the liberty of adding whatever sauces and herbs you enjoy in any Italian dish.

Spaghetti Squash

Tonight's dinner was Spaghetti Squash. Yes......that's right........spaghetti squash. Instead of normal spaghetti with pasta, this dish uses squash as the noodles. This type of squash is seasonal, so look for it during the late summer and fall months (It's a light yellow color). This is a super easy dish to make and is extremely great for you!

What makes this dish so great is that it eliminates the processed wheat out of the traditional dish of spaghetti. The squash noodles practically act the same as normal noodles. Wheat in excess is a burden on our bodies; everyone has some intolerance of wheat. By replacing the wheat with squash, we are not only reducing the amount of wheat we are eating, but also giving our bodies fiber and tons of nutrients. So, eating a piece of garlic bread with this dish is still OK because you're still eating a low starch and sugary meal! This dish really doesn't take much effort, just the time to cook the squash.

Spaghetti Squash

Servings from one squash: 4-6

Place the entire squash in a casserole dish filled with a half inch to an inch of water. Poke it with a fork if you like. 9X13 works well.

Bake it for 30-45 minutes on 375 degrees.

The squash will have to be cut in half and baking it somewhat beforehand makes this a lot easier!!

Remove the squash and cut the top part off where the stem is. Then cut in half lengthwise. Be careful, this squash is tough! Place a towel underneath it to keep from slipping.

Place the two halves back in the dish, right side up, and add more water if necessary. Put some butter on the halves as desired.

Bake for an hour to an hour thirty minutes. You want the squash noodles to be really done.

Rake out the seeds and mushier part of the squash from the center.

Scrape out the rest of the squash down to the skin of the squash rind. Do the same for the other half.

The full squash takes 16oz of tomato sauce. Any sauce can be used, but the squash absorbs and takes on the flavor of the sauce, so make sure you like the sauce.

Top with Parmesan cheese.

*Update: To make the spaghetti even better, try baking it for a bit after adding the sauce. You can then also put some cheese on top.

A Squashy Dinner

On Monday Brad and I went all fall for our dinner. Brad hadn't ever had butternut squash, so I told him to get one while he was at the Dane Co. Farmer's market, and he brought it with him here to Lexington. We followed this recipe from My Kitchen Addiction. We didn't take the time to puree the soup in a blender though, cause that gets messy, so we just simmered it until we thought everything was soft enough to mash. We had plenty of beta carotene this evening.

Brad brought me these great fall colored flowers!

The butternut squash soup simmering away

Meanwhile, we separated the butternut squash seeds from the pulp and coated them with a little olive oil and put them on 300 degrees for about 10 minutes. Then we sprinkled them with some course salt. They are sooo good! and smell and taste almost like popcorn.

This soup is really filling, and healthy too! (If you want you can garnish this soup with some fresh herbs and parmesean cheese!)

Over the years, I have come to appreciate homemade pies more and more. I have actually begun to attempt a few renditions. The following pie is straight from the can of pumpkin at the Co-Op in Lexington... I strongly recommend this store or any Co-Op if you haven't been to one! Anyway, growing up, none of my family were huge fans of pumpkin (except for my mothers dad). This means that no one ever bothered to cook the real thing and most were store bought! With that being said, we decided to attempt this recipe as a primer for the real thing around Halloween...

While the soup was cooking I made a pie crust from scratch and Brad made up some pumpkin pie filling. This recipe off the can uses condensed milk, which was different than I've had before. The pie was really good and is so much better than what you buy ready made! I really like the graphics on the can too, and I really like my skeleton oven mitt I got when I was at Madison!

Homemade pumpkin pie (the canned pumpkin puree isn't homemade, but that'll come soon)

I should note that we used the dough recipe from the Apple Pie recipe posted a few days before this one. We halved the recipe to account for not having the pie crust top and still had some left over. We added a decorative pumpkin and leave to the top. If you do the decoration, add it to the top about half way through the baking process. If the pie isn't firm enough, the dough will just sink!

Being the pumpkin pie buff, I had to add some whipped cream for garnish. Albeit, I actually cut back on what I usually put on the pie.

Potato Leek Soup and some Good Will

I came back to Lexington this weekend to visit Katrina and brought with me some fresh farmer's market vegetables from the Dane County Farmer's Market in Madison, WII.  Talk about your interstate vegetables!  I had made some potato leek soup earlier in the month and wanted to try it again with a little twist.  It is a fairly simple recipe... I can't stress that enough.  Katrina and I teamed up in the kitchen to make this fast so we could watch a movie and enjoy a beer or two.  I strongly recommend pairing this with the Flying Dog Raging Bitch IPA or the Blue Moon Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale.  

It's been a long time since I've had some potato soup, but I was amazed at how few ingredients are in this soup and how flavorful it is too. My mom came and had some with us and really thought it was good too. The weather here in Kentucky has really changed these pass couple of days, from sunny and pretty warm to cloudy, a little rainy, and quite cold compared to all the heat we just had! This is a good soup to bring in the fall season. I imagine I'll be making this again. We watched the movie Good Will Hunting which Brad really liked and I hadn't seen before. 

Potato Leek Soup

Ingredients

1 lb Leeks, thinly sliced

3 lbs Red Potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 Tsp. Olive Oil

1/2 Tsp. Salt

1/4 Tsp. Ground Black Pepper

2 Cups Vegetable Broth

1/2 Cup Heavy Cream

Water

Heat the Olive Oil in a medium frying pan.  Add the Leeks and cook until they start to brown slightly.  Add the Leeks, Potatoes, Salt, Black Pepper, Vegetable Broth, and Cream to a large pot.  Add enough water to the mixture to cover the ingredients.  

The peelers I got when I was in Madison a few weeks ago made peeling the potatoes (and apples for the pie) super easy!

Bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cover.  Cook for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork.  Take a potato masher and mash the ingredients until it has reached a creamy consistency.  You can serve with some corn bread and sprinkle with your favorite fresh herbs. 

Brad in the final stage mashing everything up to make the soup

My vintage enamel pot (a find of the Sturgis Antique Mall) is perfect for making this soup!

Unfortunately, at this point in the process we were too hungry to remember to take a picture of our finished product all garnished and ready to serve.  You will just have to take our word that this dish was as visually pleasing as it was tasty!

Jalepeno Pie & Music

Earlier this week, I took advantage of this summer's freedom and stayed home. Albeit, I worked on some important things such as my thesis, the water resources report, and some content for the new Participatory Photo Mapping website. During my spare time I was able to cook up a recipe I have been wanting to try for some time now. It was a Jalepeno Pie and it was very good. It had all the ingredients I enjoy, but I decided to add a bit of tomato to balance the flavor. It was not really all that spicy, but very cheesy! Again, I had to cook this in a casserole dish because I have yet to invest in a pie pan, but the results are the same, but more cake-like in appearance.

Boo's Tomato-Jalepeno Cake-like Pie

Anyone who knows me, knows that I have an massive amount of music. So I also took some of that time to go through my ever growing music collection to round up some tunes for a few mix CDs for Kat. As it turns out, she is making the 600 mile trip up to Madison next week to visit and tour Wisconsin with me. I know how boring of a drive it is so I put together a 2 CD's for the occasion mixed with sappy love songs, new rock tunes, and some classic pop hits! I even added some flare to the covers... unfortunately the music won't quite cover the whole 9 hour trek, but will add some variety to those NPR dialogues!

The Album Art for "To Madison, With Love"

Dinner & A Movie: Documentary and Comedy Stir Fry

Tonight, Kat and myself decided to do the Skype date thing and try a new veggie friendly recipe. I knew it was only a matter of time with trying the vegetarian thing out before a 'stir-fry' dish would appear and that would be tonight's cuisine. This was a Vegetable Lover's Fried Rice from one of my favorite recipe sites, Allrecipes.com. Actually the recipe wasn't fried rice at all, but more like a fried vegetables and egg with rice added later... anyway, I digress!

Boo's Spicy Vegetable Lover's 'Not So' Fried Rice

I have never been one for creating tasty dishes when it comes to stir-fry. In fact, I got a wok kit for Christmas one year, only using it a few times, and I remember nothing good ever came from it! However, this dish was fairly simple and very satisfying... And there was plenty left over for later in the week. I will add that I cheated with frozen vegetables and took the liberty of adding some curry powder and crushed red pepper for spiciness because it was a bit bland at first. Considering this is a basic dish and very easy on the wallet, I think I will be cooking this again.

This week Kat and I watched two shorter films instead of the longer ones we have been seeing. The first, Independent Lens: Between the Folds, explores the art of origami from its origins to the modern concepts of engineering, health, and postmodernity. It was a fascinating movie which helped kill time while the rice cooled. After we cooked the dish, we sat down to enjoy our meal to the comedy of Zach Galifianakis: Live. This movie was a bit awkward, but funny nonetheless... I have become accustomed to humor like this, in part, because it reminds me of lots of my friends, but I guess you have to like the stuff or live it to enjoy that kind of awkwardness!
I am beginning to think that this dinner and a movie trend will continue with delicious results...


Kat:
I on the other hand, don't think I'll be making this dish again. For some reason, me and frying doesn't work sometimes. I was really wanting some Chinese food last night, so Boo found this recipe to cook tonight, thinking it was going to satisfy my craving...


Chinese is one of those genre of foods that is best left to professionals


I ended up overcooking my rice because I left the boil on high too long. So my dish ended up being almost a rice mush, and trying to fry it didn't fix it. It turned out edible, not bad tasting, but not exactly flavorful. I think it will take a lot of practice and modifying for this dish. Or maybe I'll just leave the frying to Boo, and I'll stick with the baking.


I really enjoyed the movie about Origami; especially where the technicalities of the art is going. You would never think the practice of origami is ending up in space technology (unfolding satellites in space), medicine (finding cures of diseases), and even in teaching students geometry. It was eye-opening!

Kat's Bland Chinese Vegetable & Rice Mess

Dinner & Movie: tomato tart & a thriller

Even though 500 miles separate Boo & I, it doesn't keep us from still having date nights. Boo recently had an idea to have date nights. We decide on something to cook for dinner or to bake for dessert, and watch a movie simultaneously on Netflix while sitting with each other in Skype.

Tonight we picked Tomato Tart, a recipe via David Lebovitz, and it looks gooood. Especially while tomatoes are in season.

Boo felt like watching a thriller, so we picked out Momento featuring Guy Pearce (who we've seen in Count of Monte Christo and Bedtimes Stories (both awesome movies!))

Kat's Tomato Tart

This dish is wonderful! You won't miss meat in this baby, it's hearty and fills you up. This would be great for a chilly night indoors with a fire going and blankets. I added a little bit of artichoke hearts in mine and used fresh chives and basil from my window box. Instead of goat cheese, I used mozzarella, feta, and parmesan.

Boo:
I wouldn't give myself complete credit for this idea... I think that we both came up with it. And this is a great way to experiment with new vegetarian (or seafood) friendly dishes together. On top of trying the vegetarian thing and helping the environment while we do it, we are bulking up our cookbook and will have a variety of dishes to prepare once we cross back over to eating meat. I will say that it has been a challenge to go veggie, but not doing it alone helps. Anyway on to the dish and the movie...

Boo's 'Freestyling' Tomato Tart

I would also agree that this dish is amazing... I am not much of a baker, but I was able to stumble through it. Getting the crust to cooperate was the hardest part and since I didn't have a pie dish, I decided to 'freestyle' it! I also used artichoke hearts and mozzarella, but think that next time I will add some jalapeños or chilies spice to make it more flamin'. A great thing about this dish is that if you know what you like, you could throw in just about anything to compliment it and not go wrong. Give it a try yourself...