Cheese Monster Head

He was a very tasty Halloween treat! 

Chèvre Kolache with Brandied Apricots

The latest recipe experiment. Chèvre Kolache with Brandied Apricots, garnished with Flaxseed Pocipke.

 I now pronounce them good and GONE!

I will post the details on these yummy pastries later. 

Chèvre Kolache

On the Rise

A Bunch to Munch

Salad of Dreams....

 Try this at home! Every day! You don't need no stinkin' store-bought salad!

I recommend: Two types of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, red onion, radishes, olives, olives, olives, bacon, ham, feta cheese, cheddar cheese, boiled eggs, avocado, your favorite dressing, croutons....mmm...mmm...mmmmmm!!!!!!!! 

Rolls to Kill and Die for...

Quick, dreamy, "I could eat eight of them in one sitting" rolls...

These took less than two hours: including prep time, proofing and baking. Damn they were good! Rose like a dream, too. No problems at all...except that it was hard to stop eating them. Just like the old slogan from Lay's potato chips: "No one can eat just one!"

These were baked on my grandmother's old sheet pan, too.

See? Told you that thing was good luck! ;) 

Rolls to Kill & Die for

Noodle Art

Noodle Art

 

Accidental "Noodle Art," that is!

Because I was too lazy to look for the pasta machine. Well, when you're making homemade chicken noodle soup...the noodles should really be "rustic-cut" anyway, ha ha!

Noodle art on my grandmother's sheet pan. That pan has seen many, many, many, many kolache, bukta, cinnamon rolls and other yummy baked goods over the years. It's a lucky pan...brings good luck to the person using it. :)

Tex-Mex Tales

I haven't checked in for a while and shame on me! There have been many food adventures since I last posted and I have a lot of catching up to do. Today, though, I need to opine about Tex-Mex.

We recently heard some sad news about the state of  a couple of Tex-Mex restaurants in our little town of Sealy, Texas. There was a report of possible rodent infestation at two of our local restaurants. The sources which generated this information are credible.

I'm not going to mention any names...if you live in Sealy and you want to know, send me a private message. I will describe the incidents, though.

The first incident involved take-out containers. The recipients of the take-out containers are related to me, so I take their word on this. The containers had been gnawed on by rats (or other small rodents). I shudder to think of what else they might be up to in that particular kitchen. Why didn't the waitstaff notice the teeth marks? I don't know. Maybe they did and decided to use them anyway to save money. Maybe they thought no one would notice. Yeah, that didn't work out so well. Now the word is out.

The second incident is far worse. Witnesses described a scene right out of a horror movie...oh, let's say...like "Willard" or "Ben." Meat had been left out on the counter to defrost, (already a big no-no and food safety hazard). The worst part? Rats were gnawing on the meat. Oh, yum-yum! NOT!

That's a little too close to "Demolition Man" food for me. (Remember the burger?) Not that that particular restaurant would have substituted a few of the rodents to make up for the loss of the meat, but...well...my mind wanders.

So...even if there is an announcement that these problems have been resolved...I just don't see myself being able to dine at either of the places again. Ever. It's a damn shame, because both of them were good. Not the greatest ever, but good most of the time.

Now if we crave Tex-Mex, we're out of luck as far as dining out. Well, there is one other place here, but we haven't been in years. Their beans always taste "off," like they weren't held at proper temperatures. (My theory on that was that they must have used them for the lunchtime buffet and saved them for the evening meal.)

That leaves driving out of town or home-cooked Tex-Mex. We do it on occasion anyway, so it's not that much of a stretch. That's what we ended up doing yesterday, on a bigger scale. We did a "combo meal": salad plate with tacos & guacamole...then cheese enchiladas, tamales, Mexican rice and beans. All dishes were made from scratch, except the tamales. Fresh and delicious! Untouched by rodent lips! Win, win, WIN!!

Of course, some of the products had GMO ingredients...hard to avoid since GMOs have invaded so many of our crops. But, the good outweighed the bad, in my opinion. 

Cheese Enchiladas from the home kitchen

No need to boil your corn tortillas to soften them. There is a better way. We'll talk about that later, though.

Loaded Tacos! 

Fortunately, we had some sour cream on hand, too. Oh, and don't buy that nasty taco mix full of fillers. You can make it at home in a snap.

Cheese Enchilada Plate with a tamale, refried beans & yummy rice

All we needed for this was a little extra gravy...I should have made two batches. The beans were brined overnight before cooking. We've been doing this a lot lately...it really makes a difference!

Now our Tex-Mex craving has been satisfied...and we have leftovers!! WOO-HOO!!

Have a great day and may you enjoy "rodent-free" cuisine for the rest of your life!

Blueberry Hemp Cake-Part I

This experiment is part 1 of "The Blueberry Cake Series." The cake in part one is dense...more like a pound cake in texture. The batter contained blueberry preserves, about a cup of frozen blueberries and hemp seeds. The icing was made with cream cheese, chopped dried blueberries and toasted hemp seeds. It was good, not too sweet (even though the preserves were insanely sweet). It got good reviews from the "taste testers." ;)

The next test will be as soon as possible. Since it's "busy time" in the garden, I'm not sure of an exact date but here are a couple of ideas I've been tossing around:

1.  A blueberry torte...with a sponge made of dried blueberries and hemp seeds...filled with blueberry mousse. (And maybe a cream cheese mousse...I'm not sure yet.
2. A blueberry angel food cake
3. A chiffon cake with blueberries

We shall see. It's always an adventure in Dr. Frazier-stein's kitchen laboratory. Ha! :)

Blueberry Hemp Cake

Blueberry Hemp Cake-An Inside Look

Tex-Mex Chicken Breasts with Rockin' Red Sauce

Annnnnnd....we have yet another success story from "Dr. Frazier-stein's" lab!! This recipe is fast and easy and will surely please lovers of Tex-Mex!

Click the link below to view this yummy creation:

 Tex-Mex Chicken Breasts with Rockin' Red Sauce

Very Tasty!!

Michael Angelo's Chicken Piccata: Product Review

Yes, it's been a while but I'm still here! Please enjoy this product review and then run out and buy some for yourself....(just click the link below):

Michael Angelo's Chicken Piccata

Michael Angleo's Chicken Piccata served over fresh pasta.

 

Roasted Kale, a Good Dish Indeed...

Roasted Kale: I've never eaten it and certainly never prepared it. That has changed because I ended up doing both in one day. This was the lovely food that was dinner, which also included a beautiful salad (not pictured).

Broiled Swai with a Shrimp-n-Mushroom Topping, Roasted Kale garnished with Caramelized Onions, & Mashed Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic. 

Another successful evening in the laboratory. Yahooooooo!!!!! :)

DO Try This at Home!

A Carrot Craving Turns into a Darn Good Side Dish

The word "craving" can be viewed as negative, if  you're on a diet and craving chocolate. It can be a positive thing, though. I was craving glazed carrots one day. By the time supper rolled around and it was time to cook, my brain had added a few more things to the carrots. The recipe is at the link, if you'd like to try it.

Carrot & Turnip Saute with Mango Glaze 

Carrot & Turnip Saute with Mango Glaze--Garnish: Spicy Toasted Sunflower Seeds

Eat More Salad!

I have to mangle Forrest Gump's quote a bit: "Salads are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get."

Very true when you are dining out: Salads can be very good, very bad, or any point between the two.

They can also be very ugly, but as long as the ingredients are fresh, I'd chow down! But, if they are ugly as in: Rusty lettuce, dried out vegetables, looks like someone took them out to the parking lot and ran over them before service, well....Run, Forrest! RUN! 

Keep a good supply of veggies and fruits at home--that's your best bet. It takes minutes to throw a salad together and it's definitely worth it in the long run.

The stars of this yummy salad are: Leaf lettuce, baby greens, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, turnips, zucchini, carrots, red bell pepper, red onion, grape tomatoes, black olives, avocados & fresh mushrooms.

Go make yourself a salad right now!

Another shot of this kick-ass salad.

Fun Food, Fast Preparation

Here's a little something I whipped up that turned out to be interesting visually, so I decided it needed to be on the blog.

The taste was excellent, too.

Story is: I had some leftover spaghetti sauce that I made for us the other day. I didn't feel like eating pasta, but wanted to have more of a pizza-type dish instead. But not pizza. I also had some of that delicious rolled mozzarella left over, (the one with prosciutto & basil). 

So...I just needed some bread. French bread or baguettes. I didn't feel like baking any of those and driving to Katy was out. Wal-Mart was definitely out. That left the local grocery store, which is where I buy the majority of food items between trips to H.E.B. and other good stores in Katy & Houston. Support your local merchants!

Okay, the grocery store, Bill's, used to have a bakery but after they moved back to their old location a few years ago, they didn't have the room or the equipment. They purchase baked goods from a bakery in Houston. The items from this bakery are okay. I don't buy them that often. When I decided on this little endeavor, the baguettes that were available were in horrendous shape. They were under-baked and had weird looking spots on them, as if something was dripped into the baguette pans before the dough went in. So those baguettes were out.

Next best thing? At Bill's, that would be: Alexia's Garlic Baguettes. These baguettes are really, really good. They are partially baked and you do the rest at home. Bill's started carrying these...let's see....last year? The year before? It wasn't terribly long ago.

First, they had single baguettes. I noticed that they were almost always low on these when I went through the frozen section while shopping. Now they have double packs of this bread, plus some Alexia Dinner Rolls (the whole grain version). Good! Maybe we'll see even more Alexia products at Bill's in the future!

Back to the original story:

Of course the garlic baguettes already have garlic and butter, but I thought they would be okay for some pizza action. I opened the package and one of the loaves was broken in half. Dang it! I was going to cut them lengthwise, even though they are partially cut into slices.

Okay, so I ended up with two slices and four sections cut lengthwise. No problemo, Ahnuld.

Added "pizza" sauce and a slice of the mozzarella roll on each piece, then popped them into the oven until the cheese melted pretty good.

So here is the result. With the Superbowl coming up and all, I figured, enh...why not post it? It's a fast, fun food for a party, even when it's not Superbowl time. It looks impressive and it's really easy to make. It only took.....(how many paragraphs now?)....a little bit of yakking on my part to finally get to the point. Ha ha!

I suggest doing this next time instead of wasting money on frozen pizzas or frozen french bread pizzas. Those things have a LOT of crap in them, and frankly, they aren't really that good, even the more expensive brands. And yeah, pizza delivery. Convenient, but not all places have French bread pizza and really, there's a lot of junky-monkey crap in those products as well. Make it yourself whenever you can! You'll be eating less junk (chemicals, etc.) and have more flavor, even if you use a bottled sauce (as long as it doesn't have a lot of junk in it).

Okay, I will shut up now. Here is the photo of the baguette pizza:

Baguette Pizza

Salad: Everything but the Kitchen Sink...

Did I go overboard with these salads? Nahhhhhh!!!

The salad base, which is almost completely covered, was: Romaine lettuce, kale, a mix of baby greens, cucumbers, zucchini, turnips, carrots & cauliflower.

Top layer: Cheddar cheese, boiled eggs, smoked turkey, tomatoes, avocados, Black Forest ham, mozzarella (rolled with prosciutto & basil), Muenster cheese, provolone, bacon & red onions.

Sprinkled some chia seeds on top as well. Do you think adding the chia was too much? NAH! :)

Then we had: t-bone steaks, loaded baked potatoes, sauteed green beans and New York cheesecake for dessert. Just kidding! We had the salad and that's it. Sure didn't need anything else!

What can I say? I didn't have time to eat all day so this covered 3 meals for me. :)

"Everything But the Kitchen Sink" Chef Salad

Salad Base

Yes indeedy! There were two. Each completely consumed.

A shrimp po-boy is a thing of beauty...

I don't dine out very often. Recently I had the opportunity to eat at "Antone's," and that opportunity was one I grabbed with both hands and with great enthusiasm.

It was hard to make a decision because Antone's has expanded its menu over the years.

The shrimp po-boy won the coin-flip this day. At first glance it appears that there isn't enough shrimp in the sandwich. Let me assure you, there was. It had the perfect amount.

It was DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEElicious!!! If the shrimp had been a little spicier, I would have been happy but the coating was still good. The vegetables were super-fresh and the French fries were nice and hot. They were generous with those puppies, too.

On this same day, I heard the sad news about Antone's closing its original location in Houston. I haven't confirmed this news yet, so don't quote me on that. However, I encourage you to stop in for lunch anytime you can, particularly at this location, which is at 610 and T.C. Jester in Houston.

Shrimp Po-boy

Let's Talk Salad for a Minute...

Salad...we should have at least one a day. Two would even be better. Even eating a simple salad made with lettuce & tomatoes is better than not eating salad at all.

Eating a simple salad can get to be monotonous, so let's jazz it up with plenty of colors, flavors, textures and extra vitamins.

Iceberg seems to be the most popular lettuce to use in salads but it is also the least nutritious. Check this link for some good information about lettuce: "Top Five Lettuce Types by Order of Nutritional Value."

Below is a salad made with a colorful assortment of vegetables. Did I go overboard? Yes. As I was building it, I said to myself: "I think we're going to need a bigger bowl!"

Here's what we ended up with in this salad: The base was Romaine lettuce and Kale.

Then the rest of the veggie gang marched in to join the fun: Turnips, stem of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, red onion, red bell pepper, cucumber, tomato and avocado.

I wanted to share this salad with you because I feel that sometimes people feel limited when deciding to make a salad...you know, like you HAVE to have only certain veggies or you'll be breaking a rule and the Salad Police will be beating your door down and calling for your arrest.

Not so! Never be afraid to throw different veggies in a salad--ones that aren't in "conventional" salads.

It certainly breaks the monotony and you get a lot of fun flavors and textures. If you're not a big fan of cutting vegetables up for salad, invest in a "Salad Shooter," or equivalent. Those things can greatly reduce preparation time. They're small and easy to clean, unlike a food processor.

Here's to healthy eating! BOOYAH!!!!

I started out trying to be neat about it but the vegetables got a little out of hand. There's actually quite a bit of the base under there. It just got buried.

Salad Gone Wild

This was the base: Kale & Romaine

More Fun with Sriracha: The Sriracha Chicken Sandwich

These Sriracha chicken tenders would make an excellent po' boy sandwich. I didn't have any baguettes on hand so I made a regular sandwich with them the day after I enjoyed the successful Spicy Sriracha Chicken Tenders recipe.

This sandwich is served graced with tomatoes, lettuce, black olives and spicy ranch. If I'd had some sliced avocado, it would have been the perfect finishing touch.

I think it would be worth it to butterfly the breast, then follow the recipe as usual. Use the butterflied breasts to make a sandwich using regular bread, ciabatta bread or toasted hamburger buns. Yum!!

Beats any chicken sandwich from any fast food joint any day of the week! 

Sriracha Chicken Sandwich

Spicy Sriracha Chicken Tenders

Chicken tenders marinated in Sriracha, then tossed in a spicy coating. Unlike the Colonel, I will share my recipe. There's no junk in it to hide from the public. Like, you know, msg and other bad crap you shouldn't be putting in your body.

Served with celery, avocado slices and spicy ranch dressing.

Most of the time spent for this dish is the preparation time. The cooking time is minimal.

Stay tuned for this recipe, I'll post it as soon as I can.

Spicy Sriracha Chicken Tenders

Spicy Sriracha Chicken Tenders

Fish doesn't have to be boring...

Fish is a healthier alternative to meat, unless of course, it's battered and fried or baked and covered with a rich, creamy topping.

Well, you want to keep it light, right? Fish doesn't have to be boring. Toppings don't need to be made with butter & cream (though it is okay to do this on occasion).

The picture below is a fillet of swai. I would say it's like tilapia or cod, mild in flavor. The texture is more like tilapia, though.

This swai fillet was broiled 4-5 inches from the heat source for 7-8 minutes. You have to be careful with fish...it's just not as good when it's overcooked. 7-8 minutes is plenty of time (just watch your oven...temps can vary from oven to oven). Remember that there will be "carryover" cooking after the fillet is removed from the oven, too.

Back to the swai: the topping here is made from sauteed onions, bell peppers, mushrooms and romaine lettuce. The lettuce is added at the tail end of cooking. Cook for about 2-3 minutes after adding it, then cover and turn off the heat.

An herb-infused sauce was also used on the fillet. Not a lot. It wasn't drowning in it. I simply drizzled it over the filet before topping it and drizzled a bit more on top of that.

I'll post the full recipe as soon as I can. The swai and the topping went well together served with Jasmine rice pilaf and steamed duo of broccoli and cauliflower.

It was a healthy meal and tasty, too!

Fillet of Swai with Vegetable Topping

Al Parfait

Here is "Al Parfait," so named because the base is part of the remainder of Al's birthday cake, which was homemade angel food cake. It's easy and fun to throw things like this together when you have guests for dinner and you want to make a dessert for them that isn't too heavy.

No fresh fruit was available for garnish so I used...what else? Sprinkles!!!! Yes, they aren't good for you and all of that, but you should always keep some in the kitchen to cheer you up.

Al Parfait

Blueberry Cookies

Blueberry Cookies

Blueberry Frosting

Garnished with Dried Blueberries

Need I say more? 

Dr. Frazier-stein's experiment was a success! It's alive...........ALIVE!! <<<(Pop-culture reference for horror movie fans.)

Click HERE for this yummy recipe! 

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Blueberry Cookies

Lucky 7 Shrimp Salad

I spent a long day reviewing empirical studies and peer-reviewed articles for a research project. I decided that doing a bit of work in the "lab" was in order...for rest and relaxation. Here is what was born in Dr. Frazier-stein's lab today (click on the link below for the recipe):

Lucky 7 Shrimp Salad

Shrimp kissed with a marinade of balsamic vinegar, sesame oil & ginger syrup, then lightly roasted.

Served on a bed of baby greens dressed with emulsified apple dressing and garnished with toasted sesame seeds.

Was it good? 

It was GOOOOOOOOOOOOD! 

This one's a keeper! 

Lucky 7 Shrimp Salad