A Finer Frozen Pizza

I have had a CRAZY weekend. My boyfriend's band, Son of a Bad Man, held their CD release parties on Friday & Saturday night (BOTH of them sold out!), and my duo project, Flagship Romance, had a show last night with Mason Jennings. Needless to say, I DON'T feel like cooking this evening... Especially since I'm about to throw on some makeup & head out to yet another concert this evening!

On a night like tonight, Whole Foods' 365 Brand frozen pizzas are the way to go. This pizza is SO surprisingly good, it's healthier than your normal frozen meal, and it's pretty cheap, at $4.99 on average. I like to 'spice' mine up a little bit before throwing it into the oven. Fresh basil leaves, sliced jalepeños, and dried pepper flakes are easy additives that make the pizza come alive! About 15 minutes in the oven & voila! Dinner is served.

Oven-baked Potato Chips

These were so easy! I was intimidated because I had NO idea what was going to happen when I stuck the potatoes in the oven! I like really crispy, browned potato chips, so I ended up leaving them in the oven for a few minutes longer than I listed below.

You will need:

• 1/2 Idaho potato, sliced from end to end very thinly
• Olive oil to drizzle
• Kosher salt

Directions:

Move oven rack to the second to the top slot, and turn broiler on low. Arrange thinly sliced potato on a baking sheet & drizzle lightly with olive oil, moving slices around to coat evenly. Sprinkle with salt. Broil on low for 15 minutes, or until potatoes are browning nicely. Remove from oven & transfer the potato chips to a paper towel lined plate to cool. I liked serving these with a Vegenaise lemon-pepper sauce (mix 1/4 cup Vegenaise, squeeze of 1 lemon wedge, and freshly cracked pepper). Yum!

Sloppy #9

I rarely use a slow cooker, but I do think that using a slow cooker is the easiest way to make barbecue-like dishes without using a smoker. My boyfriend LOVES pulled pork, so I decided to get my slow cooker out, dust it off, and experiment with some fun spices yesterday! I was inspired by a recipe for Kilkenny Corned Beef that my mom & I made years ago to put on homemade Rueben sandwiches. I was also inspired by my favorite beer as of lately, Magic Hat #9. If you don't have all of the individual dry spices listed below, I'm sure that using a pre-made blend of pickling spices would do nicely. This recipe has an awesome savory-sweetness, and along with the spiciness of the Sriracha, it touches many different places on the palate. Serve with potato chips to make it an All-American meal! I made homemade potato chips with it last night & it was perfect.

Ingredients:

• 3.5-4 lb. Boston pork butt
• 1 bottle of Magic Hat #9 beer
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 med. sweet onion, sliced
• 1 whole Cardamom pod, slightly cracked
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cinnamon stick, broken into 3 pieces
• 1/4 tsp. ground Allspice
• 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup creamy yellow mustard
• 2 tbsp. Sriracha pepper sauce
• Kosher dill pickle slices
• Good seeded hamburger buns

Directions:

Place half of the sliced onion in the bottom of your slow cooker, along with the garlic. Set pork on top of onions & garlic. Pour the entire Magic Hat #9 beer over the pork. Mix together dry spices (cardamom, ginger, cloves, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, Allspice, salt, and pepper). Rub all over pork. Turn your slow cooker on high, cover, and cook for 4.5 hours. 

Remove pork from slow cooker, remove any hard pieces of spice (cardamom pod, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, cloves) and drain liquid. Replace the pork back into the slow cooker, and add brown sugar, mustard, and Sriracha sauce. Mix around in slow cooker. Cover and continue to cook on high for 1 hour.

Serve the meat on top of seeded hamburger buns, and top with sliced onions & dill pickle slices. Add more Sriracha to the sandwich for extra heat. The Sloppy #9 is delicious with Oven-baked Potato Chips. Enjoy!!

Wild Mushroom & Sage Pork Chops with Crispy Sage Leaves

For Christmas, my friend Barbara gave me a bottle of Harissa olive oil from a new place in Jacksonville, FL, called The Olive Oil Store. As soon as I opened the bottle, I knew there was something special about this new find. The olive oil is so fragrant and high-quality! Within a couple of days, I made a trip, myself, to The Olive Oil Store to explore, and after spending way too much time tasting almost every infused oil & vinegar they carry, I left with six 6 oz. bottles of olive oils & Balsamics - and a little tummy ache from consuming so much oil!

Later that evening, I chose to begin experimenting with the Wild Mushroom & Sage olive oil to marinate the pork chops in, and what better accompaniment than crispy sage leaves? This meal was a huge hit, and I can't wait to make it again! I paired the pork chops with a delicious salad - I'll post that recipe soon. I recommend making a simple, fresh salad along with this dish.

Ingredients:

• Thick-cut bone-in pork chops
• Wild Mushroom & Sage olive oil from The Olive Oil Store (or any other good-quality savory infused olive oil)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Kosher Salt

Directions:

Place pork chops in a baking dish. Pat them dry with a paper towel. Generously drizzle with Wild Mushroom and Sage olive oil (or whatever infused oil you have), and sprinkle with salt & pepper. 

Cover, and let marinate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Begin making crispy sage leaves (see recipe below for timing).

10 minutes before you are ready to cook the chops, move the baking rack to the second to the top position in the oven, and turn the broiler on high. Broiler should be ready after heating up for 10 minutes. Place pork chops on a broiling pan, and place in the oven. Broil the chops for 8 minutes (don't worry, there will probably be a little bit of smoke coming out of the oven). After 8 minutes, if the pork chops are beginning to brown nicely, turn them over & broil them for another 8 minutes. At this point, they should be nice & crispy on the outside, and perfectly moist on the inside. Use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature, just to be sure. The inside temp. should read 150 degrees. When the chops are finished cooking, let them sit for 5 minutes before serving. Top with crispy sage leaves (recipe below) and ENJOY! 

Crispy Sage Leaves 

Recipe from Poulet

The caption under this recipe reads, "Fried sage leaves are better than candy." Who wouldn't want to make these?!

You will need:

• 1 cup olive oil
• 16 fresh sage leaves
• Flaky salt for finishing

Directions:

Pour the olive oil into a large frying pan over very low heat. Lay the sage leaves in the pan with the oil. They will cook slowly as the oil warms, becoming crispy and delicious in 25-30 minutes. Remove them from the oil gently with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. Sprinkle with flaky salt while still warm and serve.

Bloody Marie

While I was driving down the highway today, I was thinking to myself that I really need a new citrus zester. Somehow that thought turned into this... I decided to create a "fancier" version of the Bloody Mary, which I love so much, especially on a hazy, hungover weekend morning. 

This recipe was inspired, not only by my need for a new citrus zester, but also by one of the most infamous women in history - Marie Antoinette. I saw Sofia Coppola's film "Marie Antoinette" a couple of years ago, and although I was not pleased with the inconclusive ending, I absolutely adored all of the bright colors, intricately designed clothing, and most of all, the gorgeous champagne glasses! After seeing this movie, I went to Anthropologie and purchased a set of champagne glasses, as I have always used flutes before. Now, they are some of my most treasured pieces in my home. Garnished with Queen olives & a champagne floater, they are perfectly suited for a Bloody Marie {Antoinette} cocktail! I hope you like my take on the classic cocktail, the Bloody Mary. Here's the Bloody Marie...

Ingredients:

• 1 oz. vodka
• 3.5 oz. Clamato juice
• 1/2 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest
• 1/8 tsp. prepared horseradish
• 4 (or so) splashes of Worcestershire sauce
• A few drops of your favorite hot sauce (I like Tabasco in a Bloody Mary/Marie)
• A bit of freshly ground black pepper & sea salt
• Wedge of lemon
• Celery salt (to garnish the rim)
• Queen olives
• Champagne (for a floater)
• A champagne glass (a regular wine glass or your prettiest glass will do)

Directions:

Chill your champagne glass. Shake some celery salt onto a plate and set aside. In a separate glass, mix together vodka, Clamato juice, lemon zest, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, black pepper, & salt. Pour into an ice-filled shaker, and shake till chilled. Use the lemon wedge to rim the champagne glass & swirl in celery salt to make a thin, even salt rim. Pour mixture into the rimmed glass and top with a champagne floater. Garnish with Queen olives. This recipe is easily doubled, tripled, etc. Enjoy! 

 

Simple Ceviche

This recipe is from a friend of my family's that is from the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico... It is absolutely the best ceviche I've ever had, and to make it even more exciting - it's one of the easiest things I've ever made!

You will need:

• The freshest fish you can find. Redfish is amazing, so is Grouper or Red Snapper, but really any light white fish will do. Make sure that it doesn't smell 'fishy' at all.
• Lots of lemons to juice.
• Vidalia Onion (or white onion)
• 1 Datil Pepper (or any other hot pepper you can find...jalepeno, fingerhot, etc.)
• Fresh Cilantro
• Sea Salt & Cracked Black Pepper

Directions:

Cut fish into pieces about the size of the end of your thumb. Dice onion. Slice hot pepper into tiny slivers (you don't have to use the whole pepper). Place onion, hot pepper & fish pieces into a small shallow dish (2:1 fish to onion ratio). Squeeze lemon juice to just cover the mixture. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Mix & let sit till the fish is starting to turn white. Meanwhile, wash & soak the cilantro. When fish is turning white, mix again. Lightly massage & finely chop cilantro. When fish is completely white, mix-in cilantro and sprinkle with a little more salt & pepper. Serve with saltine crackers or tortilla chips. Enjoy!!!!

Note: Seriously, this is one of the best recipes I've ever made. After you've made it a couple of times, you'll probably want to experiment a little bit. You can use scallops, octopus, shrimp... Just make sure that any seafood you use is SUPER fresh. Also, it's fun to add chopped garlic, diced tomatoes, bell peppers, etc. Have fun! Let me know what you think in the comments!

Easy, Healthier Fajitas

My best friend, Amy, told me how to make these simple, and more-healthy-than-your-typical fajitas. The veggies & meat are broiled instead of pan-seared in oil. I love making them because they are so easy, but you can give them some pizzazz & they'll impress your guests! 

Ingredients:

• 1 Red bell pepper, cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 1 Green bell pepper, cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 1 Medium red onion, cut into 1/4 inch slices
• Whole baby portabello mushrooms, cut in half
• 4 Cloves of garlic (small bulb)
• 1/2 lb. Chicken breast tenders, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/2 lb. Beef, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (or just do 1 lb. chicken)
• 1 Lime
• Small sour cream
• Fresh cilantro, chopped
• Small flour tortillas
• Badia fajita seasoning
• Olive oil

Directions:

Arrange veggies on a foil-lined broiler pan or cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with fajita seasoning & drizzle with olive oil.  Broil on high for 6-8 minutes (about 4 inches under heat).

Arrange meat on a foil-lined broiler pan.  Sprinkle generously with fajita seasoning.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Broil on high for 5-7 minutes (about 4 inches under heat).

Serve with warm flour tortillas, lime wedges, and sour cream**. Make it look fancy by sprinkling some chopped fresh cilantro onto the cooked meat. :)

**I like to make a simple cilantro sour cream by mixing chopped fresh cilantro into sour cream.

Enjoy! ♥