Friday, June 18, 2010

Blackberry and Apple Oatmeal

Now if those camp ladies had made oatmeal like this, I may have eaten it! This was so easy and speedy. If you use the quick cooking oats it really doesn't take much more time then one of those microwave packets. Really, give it a try! My sister LOVES oatmeal and different ways to doctor it up. I sent this recipe to her before I had even finished eating it, it was that good! This week I'm hoping to work through the other two oatmeal recipes but it will be hard to beat this one. Next up…Dark Chocolate and Orange Marmalade. Sounds more like dessert than breakfast…stay tuned!
Blackberry and Apple Oatmeal
for one serving...
One serving of quick cooking oats
cored and diced small apple
1/2 tbsp butter
small extra handful of uncooked quick oats
1 tbsp honey
handful of fresh blackberries

while cooking a serving of oatmeal according to package directions…

fry the apples in a pan with the butter until soft and golden while making your oatmeal in separate pot
add the uncooked oatmeal and honey to the apples and cook for 1 min, stirring and mixing
squash the blackberries into the cooked oatmeal
serve with the apple mixture on top

Recipes cooked: 35
Recipes left: 138
Days left: 262

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Fantastic Shrimp!

Operation Catch up continues...
Last night I made "Shrimp and Avocado with an Old-School Marie Rose Sauce" (pg. 31). This great dinner ranks among our top 3 of Jamie recipes now along with the Salmon Tikka and the Beef & Ale stew. Its a great thing to make for a light dinner on a busy summer night. It took about 15 minutes to make, start to finish. Jamie says it should take 12 minutes. I had a few set backs which could explain the extra 3 minutes. Note to fellow cooks…when Jamie says "high heat and hot pan" he doesn't mean super hot. I had to open the windows, turn on the vent over the oven and fan the smoke detector after I charred my first batch of garlic in about 2 seconds. I threw it in the sink (much to the dismay of my dish-washing husband) and started over in a new pan for a quick recovery.

Shrimp and avocado with an old-school Marie Rose sauce

From Jamie's Food Revolution

Serves 2

1 or 2 ripe avocados

1 or 2 large handfuls of sprouted cress or alfalfa

all-purpose flour

1/2 pound large shrimp, peeled and cleaned

olive oil

2 cloves of garlic

1 heaped teaspoon paprika

extra virgin olive oil

For the Marie Rose sauce:
1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons tomato ketchup

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon whiskey

1 lemon

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Carefully cut into your avocado until you hit the pit, then run the knife around it to halve it. Gently twist the two halves and pull them apart. Carefully remove the pit and discard, then peel the skin off and discard that too. Cut the cress or alfalfa.
2. Put a handful or two of flour into a bowl. Drop your shrimp into the bowl of flour and toss until they're completely coated.
3. To make your sauce, put your mayonnaise into a bowl with the ketchup, a small splash of Worcestershire sauce and the booze. Halve the lemon and squeeze in the juice from one of the halves. Cut the remaining half into wedges for serving. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and mix well. Give it a taste and add a touch more salt, pepper and lemon juice if you think it needs it.
4. Get yourself a large pan and place it on a high heat. When the pan is hot, pour in 2 good lugs of olive oil. Bash and break up your garlic cloves with your hand and add these to the pan, immediately followed by your flour-dusted shrimp. Toss them well to coat them in the hot oil. Count to ten, then add a pinch of salt and pepper, and the paprika for flavor and color. Keep tossing your shrimp, trying to keep them in a single layer in the pan, so they cook evenly, for about 3 to 4 minutes, until crisp and golden.
5. Divide your avocado halves between your plates. Divide the cress or alfalfa over the avocados and place the shrimp next to them. Drizzle a few good spoonfuls of your Marie Rose sauce over the avocados. Finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of paprika. Serve with wedges of lemon for squeezing over. Fantastic!

Recipes cooked: 34
Recipes left: 139
Days left: 263

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

"Mom, if we don't like something...."

"Mom, if we don't like something its just because kids can taste better than grown ups." Really? Is this really what she's using as an excuse tonight? Its Sunday night, my dinner is beautiful! Picture perfect. It went off without a hitch (if you don't count the minor squabble with the plastic wrap)...until it got on the table. Its ham and cheese over chicken. What's not to like?!!?
So here's the scoop on "Parmesan Chicken Breasts with Crispy Posh Ham" (pg. 242). I think I spotted Jamie making this recipe in one of the Food Revolution episodes. I watched the you tube video, had most of the ingredients on hand and pulled this together pretty quickly. Its a great recipe to try and I think MOST kids would really like it. I may try it again using a little less thyme on the kids' pieces, I think this is what she wasn't crazy about.
Here's the you tube video. I love watching the video on my laptop while I cook. It feels like he's right there!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2SWnvRiXO0
Here's the recipe.
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken-recipes/parmesan-chicken-breasts-with-crispy-pos_1
Let me know what you think!
Recipes cooked: 33
Recipes left: 140
Days left: 265

Operation "Catch-up"

Okay. I'm a bit stressed. My Food Revolution has come to a screeching halt in recent weeks. As work got busy the first thing to go was the cooking. I figured out last night that I'm behind by about fifteen recipes. Yes, 1-5. I knew I was behind but I would have guessed six or so, not fifteen.
Now, even though work is about to get even busier and school let out yesterday, I need to increase speed and catch up even if it means doing the "easy" recipes. So, for some encouragement and momentum I'm going to watch some Jamie cooking shows tonight and get a game plan together! Rally the troops!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

I Scream, You Scream…

We all scream for Fresh raspberry sauce with vanilla ice cream! (pg. 326) Well, don't you? Doesn't everyone love ice cream?
We had some fresh raspberries on hand and I thought this would be an easy dessert to whip up for an after dinner treat. Just raspberries, a tablespoon of sugar (to taste depending on how sweet your raspberries are) and a bit of mashing. I ended up using a mini processor but you could use a potato masher or your hands. The sauce was so pretty and looked kind of fancy despite its easy ingredients. I even had it on hand to put over Belgian waffles the next morning.
Recipes cooked: 32
Recipes left: 141
Days left: 278

Leftover Curry Biriani

Jamie says Leftover Curry Biriani is like an Indian lasagne. I used our leftover chicken tikka masala but you can really use any type of leftover curry. Be sure its something you've made though and not leftover take-out since you don't know how many times that curry has been reheated.
In this Indian lasagne, you layer your leftover curry with an onion mixture, almonds and rice. Oh no! I have to make rice!?!?
I carefully measured the water and rice and stood over the pot. Maybe neglect is why I have such a hard time with rice. The next thing I knew the rice was boiling over! And I was still standing right there! I turned down the heat quick and was able to salvage it. To everyone's amazement, it turned out nice and fluffy. A step in the right direction in my battle with rice.
This is such a great recipe! With this we were able to get three dinners out of the curry dish. This recipe isn't on Jamie's website so I can't link to it. If you STILL haven't gone out to buy the book, maybe this big thumbs up will carry you to the bookstore today :)

Recipes cooked: 31
Recipes left: 142
Days left: 280

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Chicken Tikka Masala

Before my Food Revolution we had a handful of dinners that we made over and over again. One of them was Chicken Tikka Masala made with a jar of Trader Joe's Masala Simmer Sauce. It was a real stand by and we usually kept a jar on hand for a night when we just didn't know what else to cook.
So, I was excited to try Jamie's Chicken Tikka Masala (pg. 82) to see how it compared and also just to say that I made it from scratch. Also, since making the last curry dish, husband has been begging for another curry recipe so I knew this would make him really happy too!
The nice thing about this recipe is that its pretty much a one pot thing which is great for clean up. In a large pan you first saute some onions, chile, ginger and cilantro stalks for about ten minutes in some peanut oil. Then you add the curry paste and chicken strips. This Patak's mild curry paste might be one of my new favorite things since it makes making curry so simple, anyone (even me) can do it. After coating everything really good in the paste you add tomatoes and coconut milk and some water and then it just cooks on the stove. So simple!
Husband and I both thought it tasted exactly like the simmer sauce from Trader Joe's. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. For a novice cook, I was quite impressed with myself that it tasted that good but at the same time it sure is a lot of work to taste like something that I could have just poured out of a jar.
Recipes cooked: 30
Recipes left: 143
Days left: 282