Groovin' in the kitchen, dancin' in Missoula.
I love making pizza. I have this magical bread machine that makes the pizza crust for me. It’s so fluffy! I highly recommend getting a bread machine. Even if all you ever use it for is pizza dough, it’s totally worth it. I do stray […]
I’m not sure what happened to all of my cookies. These lasted all of two hours before they vanished. I restrained myself from eating the dough, which was no easy feat. And they definitely came out of the oven… They made it to the cooling […]
I love elaborate recipes. I really do.
But 90% of the time, I’ll look at an elaborate recipe with 20 ingredients and think, “Yeah right! Not tonight, my friend.”
Which is a pity, because ingredient lists can be deceiving as far as effort involved.
On the other hand, if I come across a recipe with only 3 or 4 ingredients, I’ll probably dismiss that one too. “Not exciting. Probably has ‘boxed something’ as an ingredient.”
Sometimes I’m too judgmental.
While this list looks medium-longish, just look at the process:
Rice
Sauce
Beans
Broth and chicken
Cover and cook. Eat.
And don’t get a steam burn!
No seriously, DON’T get a steam burn. I went to pull off the aluminum foil, and my hand got in the way of the escaping steam. It was one of those burns that actually took a second to reach my brain. At first it was like, “oh that was kind of hot,” and a second later I was jumping around the kitchen waving my hand in the air like I just didn’t care. Then I remembered to run it under cold water.
I’m quick like that.
Hours later, I was STILL icing my fingers because they felt like my skin was melting off. Unwrap with caution, folks.
Steamy Rice and Beans
Serves 4-6
Adapted from eat, live, run
2 chicken breasts, diced (or leave out the chicken!)
1 cup dry rice (I used Jasmine rice)
8 oz can of tomato sauce
14 oz can of kidney beans, rinsed and drained
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne, depending on how much kick you’re looking for.
guacamole for topping (I’m kind of obsessed with the Wholly Guacamole from Costco. Best ingredients list I’ve seen on store-bought guacamole.)
Preheat the oven to 350F
In a 9×13″ dish, pour in the rice, tomato sauce and kidney beans. Add the spices to the broth and whisk together. Pour the broth over the rice and beans, and give the pan a little stir. Add the chicken, and then cover the pan very tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 90 minutes with the foil on.
CAREFULLY remove the aluminum foil, top the casserole with guacamole, and serve.
Yours truly with peeling fingers,
Jo
Let’s pretend this is a photo of a beautiful quiche, ok? And it’s all steamy, and delicious smelling, and puffy. Puffy is a very important quality in quiche. And don’t tell me you can’t smell food photos. You may need to get your nose checked, […]
Then I don’t know what is. I know I haven’t posted anything in awhile. And while I’m kind of sorry about that, I also really enjoyed the downtime. I took some time to take photos just for fun. And because I wasn’t trying to get […]
Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you My KitchenAid Stand Mixer:
(The folks at KitchenAid have no idea I exist, and I’m not getting paid or perked in any way. I’m just seriously in love with my mixer, and my amazing husband who gave it to me. This is a total gush post.)
Remember last Christmas when I yelled at family? This year was stunned silence. Speechless awe.
Yeah, Nick gets me. He knows what’s what.
And this mixer is what, let me tell you!
‘Cause it has attachments, you see.
Like pasta rollers.
And my talented husband knows how to work that roller.
Sure, the filling tasted amazing. And balsamic brown butter sauce is epic. But paper thin pasta rolled to perfection just can’t be beaten. Or competed with, really.
And making cookies with this mixer? No sweat.
Literally! I don’t have to mix the chocolate chips in by hand anymore!
You know how some people choose a certain car or shoe designer to fall head over heels for?
For me, it’s this mixer. And I anticipate we’ll spend many happy years together.
Now it just needs a name…
Remember those bacon things? Sometimes I like to mix it up, without having to work or think too hard. Quick and easy, same steps, sweet not savory. Should I be calling these apple turnovers? That just doesn’t seem like something I’d do. Call something by […]
Calzones are so great for those times when you have a lot of random ingredients that you need to use up. For instance, we bought some chicken and apple sausages from Costco. I really liked them, but Nick didn’t care too much for them. When […]
Ah, comfort food.
You know that scene in Amelie where she reaches her hand into a sack of beans because it’s one of her life’s simple pleasures? That’s how I feel about a bag of cornmeal. I have to resist the urge to dip my fingers into it every time I get it out of the cupboard.
It’s ok. I know I’m an odd duck.
I don’t have a fancy recipe for cornbread, I just follow the directions on the cornmeal bag. Maybe that will be a future project–fancy cornbread.
Run of the mill cornbread, baked for about 10 minutes.
In retrospect, I should have decreased the amount of cornbread and increased the eggs.
Not that it really mattered a ton, but it would have been a better egg to crust ratio.
The cheese was perfect though. Just a little will do.
And in my book, broccoli will always be classified as a comfort food.
Cornbread Quiche
serves 8
8 eggs
1 1/2 cup chopped broccoli
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
Cornbread**
Preheat the oven to 425F
**Follow your favorite cornbread recipe, omitting most–if not all–the sugar. Add enough batter to an 8 inch round pan to fill the bottom about a half inch. (Use the leftover batter to make cornbread muffins!)
Bake the cornbread for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, beat the eggs with the cayenne, cumin, salt and pepper. Stir in the broccoli.
Pour the egg mixture over the cornbread, top with the cheese, and reduce the oven temperature to 375F. Put the quiche back into the oven and bake for another 30-35 minutes. Just until the eggs are firm and everything turns a nice golden brown color. Serve hot.
If you want a little more kick or moisture, feel free to add some salsa as a topping.
Recently, my husband and I took a trip to sunny* California. What follows are a few photos of our favorite meals. Balsamic Portabello Burger and Beer Tasting, 21st Amendment Brewery, San Francisco Veggie Crepe, Streetcar Cafe, San Francisco Grilled Edamame and Flaming Sushi! Shimizu, Oakland […]