Mindylynns Kitchen

July 26, 2009

I wanna cook Pork butt

Filed under: Food — Mindy M. @ 11:06 am

doesn’t it just sound fun? I really want to try it. Something sweet? spicy? I mean pork…hello. get in my belly!

July 20, 2009

My lady lotsa lox Bagel

Filed under: Food,Seafood,Snack — Mindy M. @ 10:06 am

Rememeber lady lovely locks?  Come on, the cartoon with the girls with long lovely bountiful locks of hair? Still not ringing the bell? she had pixies hiding in her hair that would help her save the day…no?  You must not have been a kid in the early eighties…bad style and weird (but great) cartoons. 
Moving on…this bagel is wonderful, and not at all an origonal, bagels with lox and cream cheese have been enjoyed for years…but here on the west coast it’s just not eaten very often.  and why the heck not?!?! it’s amazing.  I don’t keep cream cheese in the fridge that often anymore because I prefer marscapone (the italian version) but I’m sure either is yummy. 

One bagel (a good one from a bagel shop would deffinitely be a plus)
smear of marscapone/cream cheese
lotsa lotsa lox (cold smoked salmon, you know the kind that isn’t flaky)
thinly sliced red onion
dill
some fresh lemon juice
coarse fresh ground pepper

toast bagel (duh) smear on your creamy goodness (marscapone in my case) top with lox, load ‘er up, squeeze just a few drops of lemon juice, top with onion & dill and grind some pepper on top.  OOOOOOOhhh

*side note*
the lox (a.k.a smoked salmon) from costco is quite yummy and you can portion it out into sandwich bags and freeze it.  It gets a little bit mushier, but ins’t terribly noticeable.  YUM

July 15, 2009

Menu Planning for the 3rd month of July

Filed under: Menu Planning — Mindy M. @ 2:05 am

Well, I started out with a plan.  And then I decided I was sick and tired of grocery stores so I tossed out that plan.  I want fresh food.  I want to eat healthy.  Ever since I had lea I’ve been feeling like crap.  Well, having a gall bladder stuffed full of blueberry sized stone’s didn’t help, but even after having it removed I haven’t begun to feel better.  SO, off to the farmer’s market, and a healthier life style. 

Our (my four month daughter was along for the ride) loot consisted of:
Basil
Dill
Cilantro
Chard
Beet (one only for the parrots)
baby carrots
a multitude of squash
fingerling potatoes in a variety of colors
lemon cucumbers (my absolute favorites)
and the crowning glory of my veggie treasure trove…Squash blossoms!

So what shall I make…

Smoked Salmon, zucchini & dill Frittata
I purchased a package of cold smoked salmon (also known as lox or nova) from costco, I then divided it up into manageable portions and froze it.  I love it with brie on ritz, but I’ve been meaning to add it to a frittata with fresh dill.  Which I picked up from the farmer’s market so yummo. I’ll also add some zucchini just to round it out.  *tip* add a little bisquick to your frittata egg mixture for a nice texture. 

Mustard Tango Sockeye with Mashed Potatoes
Sear fish, then deglaze the pan with white wine, add lemon zest, a little lemon juice, course ground mustard and chopped fresh dill, maybe a little garlic.  For the mashed potaters…after boiling them in salted water place them back in the empty but warm pan ontop of the burner (which is off now but still warm) and let them sit for a few minutes…this will make your mashed potatoes fulffy.  then smoosh them with a potato masher with sour cream, butter, cheddar cheese (not to much), a little milk and crushed garlic…salt and pepper to taste.  Yet another recipe that my husband prefers to all others…take that all other mashed potato recipes, picky picky food hater kevin loves my mashed potatoes best! 

Ginger crusted pork loin with fingerling potatoes
Costco love…3 vaccuum sealed porkloins for under $15.  I froze them and I’m gonna whip one out, defrost it then roll it in crushed crystalized ginger, paprika, a little garlic and tiny bit of brown sugar.  rotiserie cook it and baste it with apple juice.  toss the fingerling potatoes with olive oil salt and ginger and roast until soft.  try some ginger garlic onion chard. 

Lemon Cucumber Sunomono with shrimp
So Lea and I had lunch at a sushi restaurant, and this salad was so good I wasn’t just seeing stars I was seeing comets.  It was delicious.  So I’ll be making it for kev and me to keep in the fridge. 

Chard rolls
Sushi rice, pine nuts, raisins (preferably golden) maybe some rotiserie chicken.  Good snack possibilites maybe a little feta?  I’m just kind playing with ideas here.  There’s a lot of chard.

Goat cheese, marscapone, basil stuffed squash blossoms over steamed polenta
So as soon as I saw the squash blossoms I just KNEW that I had to stuff them with goat cheese and basil, a little marscapone to cut down on the “tang” of the goat cheese, basil because I love basil and I got a beautiful bunch at the farmer’s market, and some chopped pine nuts for their wonderful texture.  dredged in egg and flour then fried.  Served over polenta, made with milk a wee bit of sugar and some whole corn, just before the corn meal is fully cooked, steam it until the corn meal is soft.  Maybe top with a little cream sauce.

Mindy’s bruschetta & bruschetta salad
So, I want what I want…and what I want is fresh made crostini topped with chevre, sliced tomato, fresh basil, and olive oil and balsalmic vinegar…I still need to go to the local coop and pick up a couple of things tomatoes being one of those things otherwise I’d be eating this RIGHT now.  Also I love a bruschetta salad…spinach, tomato, goat cheese, crumbled miltons crackers or homemade croutons toss with olive oil and balsalmic vinegar.  YUM

 Minestrone/tortilla soup
I know this sounds CRAZY.  But it’s smart…I swear.  Carrots, celery, onion, garlic, sauted and the pan deglazed with chicken stock.  Add three kinds of beans, I like kidney, white bean and black bean or garbanzo (it depends on whats in the pantry) and a bottle of marinara sauce, at this point devinde the soup into two parts.  In the minestrone pot add squash and pasta at the end, and some basil if you got it.  In the tortilla pot, add chicken (I’ll be using chunks from a rotiserie costco chicken), corn & cabbage.  Garnish the tortilla soup with tortilla strips (or tortilla chips if you are feeling lazy) avacado chunks, and sour cream.  Both freeze pretty well, although I prefer to freeze them with out the fresh veggies. 

 Chicken Dumpling Soup
Let’s use the rest of that rotiserie chicken from Costco.  Recipe to follow. Another FAVORITE of my family, of ALL of my family. 

Stuffed mushroom caps
I got a package of baby bellas at costco so let’s stuff ’em with bacon, goat cheese, basil…spinach?

Mushroom Omellete
oooooo….

Smoked Salmon eggs benedict
with fressh dill in the sauce.  goose bumps.  Sounds so good. 

Let’s get cookin’

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 22, 2009

rice reincarnated

Filed under: Food — Mindy M. @ 2:43 am

So I’ve been contemplating how to use left over rice to make yummy foods.    I attempted a rice pudding using left over steamed rice from chinese…I didn’t get the ratio right…way too much rice.  I’ll be trying that one again. But the one that I loved was a tortilla soup.  I used leftover spanish rice.  I used chicken stock salsa and diced fire roasted (canned) chilis to make the rice which I then used to make chicken chimichangas.  So with the leftover rice I had some fun.  I used a chicken stock that I flavored with a little of a tortilla soup packet (I think what I did next would have been enough) then I added some fire roasted salsa and some fire roasted (canned) peppers and brought it to a boil for a few minutes.  In a bowl I added 3/4 cups of rice, a handful of rotisserie chicken chunks, and some shredded (raw) napa cabbage and laddeled the broth on top.  I let it sit for a few minutes giving the broth a chance to bring all the ingredients to the appropriate temperature and to cook the cabbage.  I then topped it with a generous amount of fresh diced avocado, pico de gallo and crushed tortilla chips.  YUM

June 18, 2009

What’s for dinner this week

Filed under: Menu Planning — Mindy M. @ 9:09 am

Tuesday:
Applesauce Salmon, roasted Asparagus, and tomato basil bisque
-well my origional plan was to make the tomato bisque, but the safeway select brand was on sale when I was grocery shopping so I cheated…Unfortunately I still haven’t perfected cooking fish in my stainless steel pans so it stuck pretty badly.  I think part of the problem is the pans I have, have rather steep sides so Im not able to get underneath my fish without damaging it

(more…)

May 23, 2009

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Filed under: Food,Soup — Mindy M. @ 4:57 pm

8 Cups of chicken stock
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
4 tbsp. olive oil
1 jar of marinara sauce
1 bottle of strained tomato
1 cup of sour cream
1 1/2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. of crushed garlic
10 chopped basil leaves
salt
Pepper

saute carrots, celery, onion, in olive oil until soft. Deglaze pan with stock and add tomato and marinara simmer until desired thickness.  Using a stick blender or a regular blender puree 1/2 the soup and return to the pot.  Add sour cream, basil, garlic and vinegar.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

serve with parmasean cheese and freshly chopped basil leaves

May 22, 2009

Shopping=Fun

Filed under: Food — Mindy M. @ 6:43 pm

So we all know that women (most alteast) love to shop.   Well, I am no exception.  However, I never have enough money to buy even a fraction of what I would like to.  So, in order to keep track of stuff that I would like to purchase, and some fun random things I started a kaboodle account.  It’s online wishlist/shoppinglist.  And I have to say it is soo much fun.  I have lists of everything from things I want for my kitchen to what I’d buy if I won the lotto.  I keep track of places I want to go on vaction too and places I want to eat at.  I put gift ideas on there….gift ideas for people to give to me and gift ideas for me to give to other people.  You can have friends and see what they are adding to their lists and even create a poll so people can vote and tell you which shoes are cuter.  So when I’m broke, I shop online…I just don’t buy anything, atleast right away. Check out my list here.

February 2, 2009

Mindy’s Naughty Baked Macaroni

Filed under: Entree,Food,Pasta — Mindy M. @ 1:46 am

Most of the time when I’m cooking I try and avoid too many fats, but every once in awhile you have to have something naughty…The first time I made this the hubby went back for seconds.  Everytime he asks me to make he asks for more and more bacon to be added.  I usually end up adding an entire package now and it still isn’t enough…he likes his extra bad for you. 

1 pckg. of elbow noodles
2 cups each of shredded cheddar, fontina & smoked Gouda
8-12 slices of bacon chopped
flour
Milk
Potato chips, thicker is better (I use kettle chips)

Boil noodles until just before the al dente stage.  Fry bacon pieces until crispy and drain, reserving 2 tbsp. of drippings.  Add flour to drippings until it makes a soft paste (roux), do not add so much flour that the paste forms a ball or clumps.  Add 1 cup of milk to your roux and stir until creamy.  Add fontina and gouda and half of the cheddar, stir until melted.  Laddel a little of the sauce into the bottom of the baking dish, mix remaing sauce and noodles together and pour into the baking dish.  Top with the remaing cheddar the bacon bits and crumble the potato chips on top.  Bake at 350 degrees for at least 30 min.  Baking time will vary depending on the dimensions of your baking dish.  Enjoy!

November 12, 2008

Zucchini

Filed under: Food,Vegetable — Mindy M. @ 9:00 pm

Growing up I was always a weird kid…I loved my veggies.  Then again maybe I wasn’t so weird.  My family is full of great cooks and I grew up eating veggies from grandma’s garden that were well cooked.  This simple way of cooking zucchini or really any squash is so simple that it’s often overlooked. 

Ingredients:
Zucchini sliced thinly
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
Heat olive oil in a stainless steel pan over medium high heat.  Add zucchini, and flip when lightly browned.  Season with salt and peper and remove when the zuchini are a little firmer than al dente pasta. 

Italian Sausage & Roasted Garlic Sauce

Filed under: Entree,Food,Sauces — Mindy M. @ 8:44 pm

My mother’s family is primarily of Italian descent, and food was a big part of my childhood.  Grandpa ran a restraunt and everyone considered themselves a self employed food critic.  It’s no wonder that as an adult I equate love and caring with food.  Shortly after my husband and I set up our own household I contacted my mother for a family recipe for marinara or meat sauce.  Amazingly to me at the time, my mom told me that I already knew the recipe…add meat to a can of prego, toss some seasonings in, and simmer….WHAT!!!  I suppose that fits into my mom’s frame of mind; She loves Sandra Lee’s semi-hommade mind set.  Let me say my mom’s pasta sauce rocks,  She’s a great cook.  But, that being said, it’s not my favorite approach to cooking.  I think that most dishes can be simply prepared and cooked and deliver great results while still be created from scratch.  I also think that “recipes” should be easy to adapt to different ingredients, portions and servings.  Which usually means that the recipes I create are guidelines rather than hard and fast rules.  Remember in cooking you can usually do whatever you want…it’s in baking that you really need to follow the rules.  I suppose that’s why I LOVE cooking I can break all the rules I want.  I exasperated my mom growing up…she tried to tell me that there was only one way to do something.  She was wrong. 

Ingredients:
6 Italian sausages (removed from the casings)
1 large yellow onion halved and sliced
1/2 cup of red wine
1 package/can of STRAINED tomatoes
1 cup of roasted garlic puree
1/8 cup of parmasean cheese
1 TBSP balsalmic Vinegar
Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper

Directions:
In a stainless steel pot, brown and chop sausage, pieces should be small bite sizes.  When meat is browned add onions and cook until the onions are completely soft and carmalized. Deglaze the pan with wine and add tomatoes and garlic.  Simmer for atleast 30 minutes or as long as you want (longer is usually better with sauces and soups). 10 minutes before ready to serve add vinegar, cheese and season to taste with salt & pepper.  Serve over noodles tossed with olive oil.  Yummmy.

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