Kale with Portobellos, Onion, and Red Pepper

Over the years, I've noticed how much my TV-watching habits have changed. When I first started out watching TV on my own, I would watch Looney Toons. I would wake up early and if my dad came in and saw Looney Toons on the TV, he wouldn't change it to the news, sports, etc. From there, I switched to Nickelodeon, Disney, MTV, TLC, and finally, Food Network. Basically everything I watch has something to do with food. Before this year, I never put much thought into watching Rachael Ray, Barefoot Contessa, Giada at Home, or Paula Deen. I never understood why someone would watch them cook a meal for half an hour. I always wondered how anyone was supposed to keep up with what they were doing. I'm not sure when it clicked for me, but I'm now well aware that just about everything they make is online, complete with directions and ingredients. I know which shows are on when I come home from school and what order they are in. Rachael, Ina, Giada, Paula. I usually can't catch all of Rachael Ray, but one day I flipped the TV on and saw her finishing her "Cauliflower Sauce with Whole-Wheat Penne" with a side of "Kale and Portobellos." I had just had kale for the first time the week before and thought the dish would be a good thing to try out. 

After putting a little thought into it and considering what was in my fridge, I decided the kale would taste better with onion and red pepper. This is because I'm not a huge fan of mushrooms and I wanted to add a few more flavors to the kale.
Personally, I enjoyed this recipe. Hopefully, anyone that gives this recipe a shot enjoys it too.



Kale with Portobellos, Onion, and Red Pepper

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 of a small onion, sliced
1/2 of a red pepper, sliced 
2 portobello mushroom caps, sliced
1 pound of kale, stemmed and chopped
salt and pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup dry red wine

Directions
In a large skillet, heat the extra virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until they begin to get soft. Then add the peppers and saute until they begin to soften. Add the mushrooms and heat until tender. Add the kale, turning until it begins to wilt. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add wine and stir. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, for 5 minutes. Serve warm with any bread you prefer.

Source
slightly adapted from Rachael Ray

And Now For a Story...

Do you see that picture up there? Well, DO YOU? That, my friend, is a Triple Double Neapolitan Oreo. See that halo of light around it? There's a reason for it. These cookies are heavenly. Now, personally, Golden Oreos are my absolute favorite type of Oreo. Normal Oreos are good too, as long as I have a jar of chunky peanut butter or a glass of milk to go with them, but I could eat Golden Oreos all day long without any accompaniment. There's actually a story about how this lovely cookie ended up in my possession...

Awhile back, a friend of mine posted a picture on Facebook of a package of Triple Double Oreos (the regular kind). I immediately ventured over to the closest Walmart to find the crazy cookie but was at a loss to find it. I asked my friend about it and what do you know, he knew a person that was a test person for new products...in other words, he was one lucky guy who got to try the Triple Double Oreos before anyone else. So not fair. Well, I had to wait for the cookies to pass taste-testing and hit the market. The wait was a long and painful one. Finally, one day another friend of mine mentioned the cookie and said it was at Walmart. Three minutes later I was there. And I saw the cookie. And I was happy. And I went home. The End.

But not really...see, for some strange reason I loved just showing the stupid packaging to anyone that was at Walmart with me. I would say "Have you seen the Triple Double Oreos yet?" They would respond with a "No." I would immediately drag them five aisles over to where the immense selection of Oreos were kept. "Look," I would say, "Oreo, cream, Oreo, chocolate cream, and ANOTHER OREO!" It was a beautiful sight that nearly brought me to tears each time. Now this is where the Oreo in the above picture came into my life.

My dad and I were at Walmart and, of course, I asked him if he had seen the wonderful Oreos yet (I had been there two days before with my boyfriend and we had seen them right before the fire alarm went off, but that's another story.) I was about 95% sure that he had already seen the cookies, but once again, I just wanted to look at them. He wanted to buy them before we even saw them. "NO." I said, "No way. If you buy those cookies, I will eat all of them. And then I will be very mad at you. Very mad." I told him this as we made our way over to the Oreos. I took a look at them and was pretty sure I'd be perfectly fine with not eating them even if my dad did buy them. I became more okay with the idea. Then fate took over. I glanced up, for I had noticed the unmistakable yellow packaging of the Golden Oreo, and laid my eyes on the one, the only, Neapolitan Oreo. "Oh. My. Gosh." I thought, as a pool of drool formed around my feet, the skies parted, and the angels began singing. I looked at the picture on the packaging. Golden Oreo, strawberry cream, Golden Oreo, chocolate cream, Golden Oreo. I would have been fine with just one cookie, but of course, you can't do that. We walked out of Walmart that day with a marvelous package of Oreos. It was opened before we made it out of the parking lot and was half gone by the time we got home. That's not saying much, considering there were only eighteen cookies in the entire package, but each cookie is the equivalent of 5/3 of a normal Oreo. So, applying my super-mega-awesome math skills, nine of those monsters equal fifteen normal Oreos. Nevertheless, they are sacrément délicieuse. According to Google Translate, that means "damn delicious" in French, which makes me wonder what people were thinking when they named Sacramento. Just a thought.

Soft Pretzels

Walking through the mall in my town has created a problem. The mall isn't very big and the food court is at the center of it all, which means no matter where I go, I can smell Auntie Anne's pretzels. The smell is to die for and tempts me everytime I pass by. Occasionally, I will give in and buy cinnamon sugar pretzel sticks to share with my friends, but I think the raisin and icing pretzels may be the best.

This made me think about making my own pretzels at home. I hadn't made a baked good of this sort before and was curious as to how it was done. The pretzels need to be boiled in water with baking soda before being baked. I wasn't sure what the purpose of this was, so I did a bit of research to find out. The baking soda is what gives the pretzel its brown, shiny crust. Without that crust, what would the pretzel be? Twisty bread. Not very exciting if you ask me. These pretzels are very yummy if made the right way and are delicious with cinnamon sugar sprinkled over the top. If you are confident enough, you can try adding raisins and icing to the pretzels for an even sweeter treat.



Soft Pretzels

Ingredients:

 For the dough:
1½ cups warm water (110-115° F)
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. kosher salt
2¼ tsp. instant yeast
22 oz. all-purpose flour (about 4½ cups)
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for greasing the bowl
For finishing:

 Cooking spray
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp. water
Pretzel (or kosher) salt
Cinnamon sugar (optional)
(1/4 cup sugar and 4 tsp cinnamon)


Directions
To make the dough, combine the water, sugar, salt and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed to dissolve the yeast. Add in the flour and melted butter and mix just until the dough comes together. Switch to the dough hook and knead on medium speed until the dough is smooth and clears the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes. Transfer the dough to a bowl lightly greased with vegetable oil, turning once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place, about 50-55 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Preheat the oven to 450° F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray. Bring the water and baking soda to a boil in a large saucepan.

In the meantime, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.

Working with one piece at a time, roll a segment out into a 24-inch long rope.
Make a U-shape with the rope. Holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and onto the bottom of the U-shape to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 or 2 at a time, for 30 seconds. Remove from the water with a slotted skimmer and return to the baking sheet. Once all the pretzels have been boiled, brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle lightly with salt (or cinnamon sugar). Bake in the preheated oven until dark golden brown, about 12-14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving. Wait until the pretzels have cooled completely before putting them in a bag or container.

Source
Annie's Eats

Cuban Sandwich

So in case you end up with leftover roast pork, here's the recipe for you! I don't know about you, but there's just something about a hot sandwich that screams "YES!" to me. The combination of melty cheese, generous amounts of meat, and a good homemade bread makes for a deliciously hearty meal. And hey, what better way to use leftovers?

I planned ahead and prepared a starter for the Cuban bread two nights ago, because it had to set in the fridge for 24 hours. The bread was a little bit dense (in a good way) and very yummy. The bread soaks up butter and juices beautifully. If you have a panini press or anything of the sort, making this sandwich will be made that much easier for you. I, on the other hand, used a pot to press down on the top of the sandwich. Pressing the sandwich really wasn't hard at all, but it's just a matter of convenience. Make sure you use enough butter for grilling the sandwich, it makes the crust nice and crunchy. I am also including the recipe for Cuban bread in this post, but you can use a French baguette as well.

Cuban Bread

Starter

Ingredients:

3/4 tsp active dry yeast(1/3 envelope)
1/3 cup warm water
1/3 cup bread or all-purpose flour

Directions
The day before baking; mix the starter ingredients, dissolving the yeast in the water first. You want a thick paste when you add the flour. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let "ripen" in refrigerator for 24 hours. Leftover starter will keep for several days in the refrigerator and can be frozen.

I only made half a recipe of the starter and it worked just fine - the dough recipe only calls for half of a starter recipe

Dough

Makes 4-6 sandwiches

Ingredients:

4-1/2 tsp active dry yeast - (2 envelopes or 2 cakes of compressed yeast)
1 Tbsp sugar
1-1/2 cups warm water
3 to 4 Tbsp lard or solid vegetable shortening, at room temperature
1/2 batch starter (see above recipe)
1 Tbsp salt
4 to 5 cups bread or all-purpose flour

Dissolve yeast and sugar in 3 tablespoons of water in a large mixing bowl. When the mixture is foamy (5 to 10 minutes), stir in the lard, the remaining water, and the 1/2 batch of starter.

Mix well with your fingers or a wooden spoon. Stir in salt and flour, 1 cup at a time. You want to get a dough that is stiff enough to knead. You can also mix and knead in a mixer fitted with the dough hook or in a food processor fitted with the double blade, as the processor dough hook will not handle this job easily.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes, adding flour as necessary. The dough should be pliable and not sticky.

Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles its' bulk, about 45 minutes. Punch down.

I improvised on the steps below. Instead of dividing the dough into four pieces, I divided it into two. This resulted in two normal-sized loaves.

To form the loaves, divide the dough in 4 pieces. Roll out each to form a 14-inch long tube, with rounded ends (sort of like a long meat loaf) Put 2 of the loaves on a baking sheet, about 6 inches apart. Cover with dampened cotton dish towels and let rise in warm, draft-free spot until double their bulk, about 1 hour. If you want to let it rise at a slower pace, you can do it in a cooler spot and even in the refrigerator, but give it 3 to 4 hours instead.

Preheat oven to 350 F

Lay a dampened piece of thick kitchen string or twine (about 1/8 " thick) all along the top length of the loaf. Bake until the breads are lightly browned on top and sound hollow when lightly tapped, about 30 minutes.

Let them cool slightly and remove the strings. They will leave a distinct little ridge on top. Transfer loaves onto a wire rack for cooling.

I was curious about the reasoning for the string on the bread and this is what I found (history of the Cuban Sandwich).

Cuban Sandwich

Ingredients: use generous amounts of each

Butter for grilling, panini-style

Cuban bread

Roast pork

Ham

Dill pickle slices

Butter or mustard (optional)

Directions

Cut bread in half (like you would to make a sub). Spread desired amount of butter/mustard on inside of bread. Layer (in this order) pickles, pork, ham, cheese (The more the better!). This sandwich can be served hot or cold. For a hot sandwich, heat a frying pan and add butter - make sure its not too hot so you don't burn the bread before the cheese melts. If you're using a pot to smash the sandwich, make sure you have a firm grip on it and press directly down for a few minutes. You want to squish the sandwich so it's at least half its original size. Flip the sandwich and press again.  

Sources

3 Guys From Miami

Taste of Cuba

Cuban Roast Pork with Black Beans and Rice

A few days ago while I was showing my dad a few (a lot) of recipes on the internet, suggesting which ones I thought would be good for dinner this week, he was hit with an idea. Cuban! I began my search for a roast pork recipe. It didn't take long to discover "Lechón Asado (Cuban-Style Roast Pork)" on theKitchn. I didn't have to think very hard about what to serve with the pork. Black beans and rice was almost an immediate response. Once again, I searched for a tasty-looking recipe and discovered one on a blog I had just recently stumbled upon. "Arroz Congri (Cuban Rice and Black Beans)," from skinnytaste, I hoped would meet my expectations for an authentic taste.

These two dishes are very easy to make. Although this was my first time roasting pork, my dad and I agreed it turned out really well. I basted the pork with the marinade multiple times while it was cooking and the result was an extremely moist piece of meat. I have never had authentic Cuban roast pork before, so I won't be able to judge that part of the meal, but it was definitely a recipe to try again. As for the black beans and rice, the flavor was the closest that I've had to the black beans and rice I had in a Cuban restaurant in the Florida Keys a few years ago .

Lechón Asado (Cuban-Style Roast Pork)

Ingredients:

For the mojo marinade...
15 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups orange juice
1 cup lemon juice
1 cup lime juice
1 cup onion, chopped
1 teaspoon oregano
1 cup olive oil
2 pounds boneless pork shoulder or loin of pork

Directions
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl or container. Add the pork and let marinate 4 to 5 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place the pork and some marinade in a baking dish. Slowly roast in the oven until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 155 degrees F. Spoon marinade over it every so often to insure it doesn't dry out.
Remove from oven and let the pork rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

Arroz Congri (Cuban Rice and Black Beans)
Serves 5

Ingredients:

2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper, chopped
small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
15 oz can black beans (don't drain)
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 tsp cumin
1 bay leaf
pinch oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
In a heavy, medium-sized pot, heat oil on medium heat. Add onions, peppers and garlic and saute until soft, about 4-5 minutes.
Add rice, beans, water, cumin, bay leaf, oregano and salt and pepper.
Simmer on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the rice absorbs most of the water and just barely skims the top of the rice.
Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes. Make sure you have a good seal on your cover, the steam cooks the rice. After 20 minutes, shut the flame off and let it sit, covered, for another 5 minutes (do not open the lid).



Sources
theKitchn and skinnytaste

My Food Addiction

Anyone that knows me knows that I love food. I have countless food blogs and recipe sharing websites bookmarked on my computer and an ever-growing stack of cookbooks in my kitchen. I have spent hours flipping through cookbooks at Barnes & Noble. The idea of how many different dishes can be made with one food item fascinates me and the thought of foreign cuisines sends me out of this world. Over the past few years my love of food has grown from just seeing and eating to "I must try everything." It has come to the point that I will watch a chef on Food Network make a dish with food that I'm not too crazy about and I will go out of my way to make it just because it's something new. Because of this, I have become a firm believer that if you don't like a food or dish, it's because it hasn't been made the right way for you yet. There are infinite possibilities out there. Hopefully, I will bring some of the best to you.

Enjoy!
Tyler