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Heh. And eye thought eye had lost my mojo. Well looky what’s in store for you guys! [Read more →]

Tags: appetizers, chicken, halloween, holiday, italian, poultry, recipes, sauces by nikki
46 Comments »

What could be better than a meatball sub? [Read more →]

Tags: beef, breads, quick breads, italian, mushrooms, onions, peppers, recipes, sandwiches, sauces, tomatoes by nikki
33 Comments »

Oh my freakin gawd you guys!  Bacon! Mayo! I was reading a post by Mark Bittman recently that involved rendering the fat from bacon to make homemade mayo.  [Read more →]

Tags: burgers, mushrooms, recipes, sauces by nikki
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Wanna bite?

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Tags: appetizers, asian, beef, blogging events, pork, recipes, sauces by nikki
32 Comments »

“So what in the Sam Hill is Nikki doing making meatloaf and mac and cheese in the summer for?” you ask? Well. Even though the temps are soaring, and the sun is blazing, I braved the house heating oven. For One Reason. Michelle, at Thursday Night Smackdown posted her oh so decadent creamy cheesy rotini. Did you see that stuff?! I may have slobbered all over myself. And cried with envy at that dish. She is such a fabulously funny writer, making *thee* most amazing of foods. I mean, this gal makes $55 sticks of butter for recipes, folks. Michelle is also the poached egg Master (Madame? Mistress?).  I bow down to her talents, people.  Seriously. 

So back to the Cheeeese….the Rotini and Cheese…I followed Michelle’s recipe pretty closely, though I did make a few changes, which I’ll note here:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds (750 grams) rotini
1/2 cup butter
a few saffron threads
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 quarts (1 1/2 liters) milk
2 cups grated white Cheddar
1 cup grated Gouda
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Regiano
1 tablespoon garlic powder
plenty of freshly cracked black pepper
a spoonful of sweet Spanish paprika
a generous grate of nutmeg
2 chicken bouillon cubes, crumbled
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Preparation:

First, preheat your oven to about 350ºF/175ºC and get your pasta water boiling.
While this is getting started, get your sauce going.
Heat butter over medium heat.
Remove from heat and add saffron threads.
Stir this around a little bit so the saffron releases it’s color and aroma.
Add flour and whisk until creamy.Add the bouillon (be sure it’s pretty powdery, and whisk it through)
Add a bit of milk and whisk until thoroughly combined.
Add remaining milk and return to heat.
You’re going to have to whisk this pertnear (that’s a Minnesotan word, guys…it means “almost.”) constantly until it heats through and begins to thicken.
This will happen after about 10 minutes or so.
When the sauce is just beginning to thicken, add the remaining seasonings and stir through.
Now it should really start to thicken up.
Remove from heat and add the cheeses.
Taste a spoonful (or 5) to make sure the seasonings are right.
You might need to taste some more spoonfuls to be sure.
Once you’ve gotten the sauce right, cover and set it aside.
Your noodles should be about done by now, right?
Drain them and add them to the sauce.
Stir it all up.
Pour this into an oven proof dish.
Now, melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in the mic quick.
Add the melted butter to the bread crumbs and mix it up really well with a fork, until it has a sandy texture and appearance (yum! let’s eat sand!).
Sprinkle this all over the top of the noodles and cheese.
Bake about 20 minutes or until browned and bubbly.
See that?

“So what about this so called ‘gaw-jis’ meatloaf?” you ask…”And anyway, who the hell has ever seen a beautiful meatloaf?”  No one has.  It just isn’t possible, because meatloaf is ugly assed food.  But I don’t care, because it is really, REALLY good.  Meatloaf may not be beautiful on the *outside,* but it sure is gorgeous when you take that first tender bite, seasoned just so, with a kick of Sweet Baby Ray’s slathered over the top for good measure. 

Now that’s good eatin’.

Ingredients:

2 pounds (1 kilo) ground beef
1 egg
2/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 cup milk
garlic powder…lots, at least a tablespoon
1/2 envelope of Knorr Onion soup mix
a bunch of cracked black pepper
a good splash of Worcestershire sauce
a good splash of HP Sauce (or Heinz 57, or A1)
Sweet Baby Ray’s bbq sauce to cover the top

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350ºF/175ºC.
In a large bowl, mix everything except bbq sauce really well.
You may need to use your hands for this, it’s just easier.
Spread the meat mixture into a loaf pan, or make a free form loaf on a lipped baking sheet or jelly roll pan.
Cover with bbq sauce.
Bake for about an hour, until cooked through.
Drain off excess liquid and allow to rest, covered for about 15 minutes.
Slice and serve.

I decided to serve this with some steamed asparagus, bathed in butter and lightly seasoned with sea salt and cracked pepper.

Man. This is living. So THAT, my friends, is why I made rotini and cheese and meatloaf in the summer. I bet you anything you want to do the same right about now. LOL

Proximamente…las recetas en español.

Tags: asparagus, beef, cheese, pasta, recipes, sauces, side dish by nikki
32 Comments »

Doing my morning blog rounds I was over at Peter’s site (Kalofagas) longingly looking at his Eggs Benedict recipe (by the way, go and check that out you guys…it is seriously killing me I want it so badly), and realized there was a post just below that one that I hadn’t seen!  WHAT?  He had posted a delicious Chinese Take-out menu, and mentioned that it was part of a round up to be found at Mochachocolatarita’s Website.  I am SO glad he posted that, because her website is fantastic!  It’s so cool how we bloggers network and find each other through others’ blog posts.  I had never seen Mochachocolatarita’s site before.  That is a sin right there…her site is awesome.  No, more like AWESOME!  And Right now she’s hosting an event celebrating her 88th post, called, “Chinese Take-Out Party,” where each entrant submits their take on Chinese take-out. 

I think that this might be sheer luck on my part, because I had planned to post this anyway, but to come in just under the wire like this and be able to participate in a fun event?  Even better!

This recipe was something I came up with after having taken out a loin roast, and began wondering what to do with it.  The weather has been pretty warm, so regular roast with mashed potatoes didn’t really seem to fit the bill.  Avocados are currently at over 11 euros a kilo (that’s like $8-9 a pound), so Tex-Mex was out (you know it’s illegal to eat Tex-Mex without guacamole, don’t you? )…what to do?  Hmmm.  Why not go Asian with it?  Yes!  That was the answer I was looking for. 

Ingredients:

2 pounds (1 kilo) pork loin roast
1 cup mango juice
1/2 cup sweet soy sauce
1/4 cup regular soy sauce
2-3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons grated ginger
2 tablespoons grated garlic
4 spring onions, white bulbs only (we’ll use the greens later)
pepper to taste

Preparation:

Whisk together all marinade ingredients in a roaster with a lid.
Coat loin roast completely and allow to marinate for a couple of hours in the fridge, turning occasionally.
Heat oven to 375ºF/160ºC.
Roast loin (covered) for about 4 hours.
Shred meat and toss with the juices/sauce that became of the marinade while roasting.

For the Sesame Slaw:

Ingredients:

1/2 head cabbage, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped green onion (the ones we used the white parts from before)
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
1/4 cup sweet soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
pepper to taste

Preparation:

Toss all ingredients together.
Yep, that’s it. lol

To make the wraps, you’ll need:

12 flour tortillas
3 cups steamed rice
1 recipe of sesame slaw (posted above)
fresh vegetables and herbs to garnish…I used italian pepper, spring onion, fresh cayennes, cucumber and cilantro

Preparation:

Fill each wrap with some rice, pork, slaw and vegetables.
Slap some hot sauce on that sucker, too.
Have lots of napkins handy, this is better to be eaten with your hands.
 

Now, onto the dumplings.

I have posted this recipe before, so I will direct you to this post for the ingredients and instructions on how to form the dumplings. However, I have prepared them a little differently today, and changed up the sauce just a little.

To make the sauce:

1/2 cup sweet soy sauce
2 tablespoons regular soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
**just whisk all this together and your sauce is ready. Garnish with green onion if you like

Preparation of dumplings:

Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a saute pan.
Saute raw dumplings until golden on the bottom, then add enough water to come about halfway up the dumplings.
Cover and steam for about 10 minutes, or until cooked through.
Serve with sauce.

Y en español (*nota* 1 vaso = 1 vaso de nocilla):

Ingredientes:

1 kilo cinta de cerdo en una pieza
1 vaso zumo de mango
1/2 vaso salsa de soja dulce
1/4 vaso salsa de soja normal
2-3 cucharadas vinagre de arroz
1/4 vaso salsa hoisin
1/4 vaso miel
2 cucharadas de jengibre recién rallado
2 cucharadas de ajo rallado
4 cebolletas, solo la parte blanca (la parte verde se utiliza después)
pimienta negra al gusto

Elaboración:

Mezclar todos los ingredientes excepto la carne en un recipiente de horno con tapa.
Cubrir la carne con la salsa y dejar macerar en la nevera durante unas horas.
Calentar el horno a 375ºF/160ºC.
Hornear la carne (tapada) durante unas 4 horas.
Desmenuzar la carne y mezclar con la salsa que se ha formado.

Para la Ensalada de Sésamo:

Ingredientes:

1/2 col rallada
1/2 vaso cebolleta (la parte verde que reservamos antes)
1/4 vaso semillas de sésamo tostadas
1/4 vaso salsa de soja dulce
3 cucharadas de vinagre de arroz
pimienta al gusto

Elaboración:

Mezclarlo todo.
Sí. Solo eso. jiji

Para hacer los “wraps” necesitarás:

12 tortillas de harina (obleas)
3 vasos arroz cocinado al vapor
1 receta de la ensalada de sésamo
verduritas y hierbas para adornar…Yo le puse pimienta italiana, cebolleta, pepino, guindilla fresca y cilantro

Elaboración:

Rellenar cada “wrap” con arroz, cerdo, ensalada y verduritas/hierbas.
Ponerle algo de picante también.
Tener muchas servietas a mano, porque esto se come con las manos.

Ahora las empanadillas.

Ya he puesto esta receta antes, así que les dirijo a este post para los ingredientes e instrucciones para formar las empanadillas. Sin embargo, las he preparado un poquillo diferente hoy, y he hecho una salsa distinta.

Para hacer la salsa:

1/2 vaso salsa de soja dulce
2 cucharadas de salsa de soja normal
1/4 vinagre de arroz
**Mezclar todo esto y la salsa está lista. Adornar con cebolleta si te parece.

Elaboración de las empanadillas:

Calentar un poquito de aceite en una sartén.
Freirlas hasta que estén doraditas, y a continuación añadir agua suficiente para llegar a la mitad de las empanadillas.
Tapar y dejar cocinar durante unos 10 minutos o hasta que estén cocinadas.
Servir con la salsa.

Tags: appetizers, asian, blogging events, cabbage, cucumbers, onions, peppers, pork, recipes, rice, salads, sauces, vegetables by nikki
30 Comments »