tomato cream sauce with fettuccine

Lauren3 Comments

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I have come to learn that I should not future publish posts that are not yet ready. Oops! I have done it a couple times now setting it to future publish, believing I will finish it before it publishes. I will have my recipes all typed out and the pictures just where I want them. But then I’ll postpone writing the intro, which I usually write last as I always think “divine inspiration” will hit me with something terribly witty and insightful that will land me in some great book of quotations, but, of course, this is very hit or miss. And today, it was a miss, so I  will leave you with my promise to not future publish a post until it’s good and ready!

Do you ever feel there was a dish made just for you? After tasting this, I wonder where this dish has been all my life. Tomato sauce AND cream? Sign me up! I am literally scarfing this down as I type. I have tucked a hand towel into my glaring white top as a bib because I remember what I think is Newton’s Law that states “For every sauce, there is an equal and opposite stained white shirt” or something like that.  I was never good at science; I prefer to think the world is run on magic. But I remember the important scientific platitudes, or did I just make that up? Anyhoo, this dish is good. I did not add a protein to dish, but feel free to add chicken or shrimp. Happy cooking!

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corned beef and hash

Lauren2 Comments

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Phew! What a whirlwind last month was! I hope everyone survived the holidays and at least made it out the other side mostly unscathed. Even if you haven’t thoroughly recovered (financially or mentally).

Justin and I spent Christmas with his family. We totally enjoy doing the one by one gift opening and seeing what everyone gets (though it does take all morning, I love it). After eating a big turkey dinner, we played Hallmark bingo.

For those not familiar with the game, you fill the spaces with things that would happen in a Hallmark movie instead of numbers. You watch a Hallmark (or a facsimile thereof) movie, and as things happen in the movie; you fill in the spaces. The spaces can say things like “Interrupted kiss” or Making cookies” or someone saying “Just like mom!” I got the idea from a co-worker. We originally anticipated someone having a bingo every 15-30 minutes, but that turned into an hour and a half before anyone got a bingo. Everyone liked the game so much that I think it’s going to become part of our Christmas tradition. There was so much laughter and rooting for specific things to happen in the movie, like “a family sits in front of an Xmas tree.”

I must have been good this year, because I got some great thoughtful Christmas gifts. One of my favorite gifts was an oil diffuser. Though I haven’t quite figured out which essential oils complement each other. I first used Eucalyptus, but by itself, it smells like Vicks! So my living room smelled like a sick room for about an hour before I mixed in other oils to help dilute it (Haha!). I did look up some inspiration for what oils to mix and am now loving the spa-like scents, much to Justin’s dismay (though I think he secretly likes it, because he is always in the living room when the diffuser is on).

So, you may have noticed that I have started posting every other week instead of every week. It was after much thought and discussion with friends and family, that while I love blogging, cooking, and writing, I find that it’s hard to post every week with all my other engagements: writing club, volunteering, work, family commitments. However, that being said, I’m excited about my upcoming posts! And I have a little something special planned for Valentine’s Day.

Ok, so Justin and I were asked to bring brunch for Christmas morning, and decided that corned beef hash and blueberry ricotta pancakes would be good options has one is savory and the other sweet. Justin made the corned beef hash while I made pancakes, and it turned out that the hash was way better and more popular than the pancakes. I mean, wow. The Irish really got this soul food thing down. Continue reading “corned beef and hash” →

warm german potato salad

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This warm German potato salad is da bomb! No, really, the zangy, sweet, and spicy flavors mesh together well to make up this tasty dish. And yes, it did make our kitchen smell of vinegar for a couple hours afterward, but it was well worth it. And in the style of Paula Dean, add the bacon drippings to the dish. Enjoy!

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slow cooker sauerkraut soup

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With Christmas just around the corner, we’ve been cooking up a storm! For this year’s Christmas menu, I thought why not feature cuisine from one of the Christmas capitals of the world: Germany.  For inspiration, I conducted “research” by eating lots of German food at the Bavarian Inn in Eureka Springs, Arkansas over Thanksgiving. There, I was introduced to the unique sauerkraut soup—I admit I was skeptical at first, but my skepticism quickly faded after the first slurp. The soup was almost like a German version of French onion soup. The broth is clear and full of sauteed onions.  I thought having sauerkraut in the soup would make it taste pickled, but to my surprise, it didn’t taste pickled at all. If anything, the sauerkraut added sodium and texture to the dish. The dish is so popular at the restaurant, they make it seven days a week!

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Back in my Texas kitchen, I set to work at re-creating the soup. The recipe I found online was much heartier than the dish I’d had in Arkansas as an appetizer. The recipe I used called for bratwurst and potatoes, making the dish a meal in itself. It is a spectacular dish that even sauerkraut haters will enjoy! Prost!

Sauerkraut Soup  from The Bavarian Inn (pictured below)

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The Bavarian Plate from The Bavarian Inn (pictured below). This dish has bratwurst, smoked pork slices, and sauerkraut and is served with herbed potato pancakes.

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pasta e fagioli soup

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I hope everyone had a great, fun-filled Thanksgiving. If you’re anything like my family, you ate and then ate some more! And now you need to detox from all the eating. Look no further. This hearty soup is the cure. (Don’t ask me how eating more food cures holiday overeating, but in my humble opinion, soup cures pretty much everything.) One of my foodie co-workers introduced me to this soup, and I am so grateful he did. Now it’s hard for me to imagine my life without this dish in it. It’s so good with its medley of flavorful herbs, beans, pasta, and last, but not least, cheese!

There are a couple things to note with this soup. One, do not, I repeat, do not add the pasta until right before you are ready to serve the soup. In fact, you may want to add the pasta to the individual bowls right before serving. The ditalini pasta will absorb the liquid and become soggy. And two, my foodie co-worker suggested substituting Italian sausage for the ground beef, which I am going to try next time I make this. I used ground beef because I already had some on hand, but I think the Italian sausage would turn a delicious soup into an out-of-this-world, where-have-you-been-all-my-life kind of soup. But really, whichever kind of meat you go with, you can’t lose making this dish. Buon appetito!

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pumpkin spice bundt cake with buttermilk icing

Lauren5 Comments

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With Thanksgiving less than one week away, I hope everyone has their Thanksgiving menus planned and their stretchy pants ready! I am not hosting this year, and after hosting last year’s Thanksgiving, I doubt anyone will complain! Last year was Justin and my first attempt at making a turkey. Before the big day arrived, I asked all the cooks in my life how I should cook the bird, and much to my chagrin, everyone had a different strategy, many of which even conflicted!

You should baste the bird.

Oh, don’t baste the bird. It’ll dry the bird out. 

Cook the bird in a bag. It will be so moist. 

Never cook the bird in a bag. The bag will melt. 

Don’t truss the turkey. Just roast it.

Put it in the crockpot. 

Really the only thing that everyone could agree on is that some kind of stock (whether it be beef or chicken) is needed, as well as some kind of vegetable. We ended up using chicken stock and adding onions, carrots, and celery to the middle of our turkey, who we named Bertha incidentally. Justin was in charge of the bird. and well, being rather intimidated of the bird myself (and being not at all helpful in this instance), I was delegated to the side dishes (thankfully). Our cooking session started off so well—after a few hours, the thermometer said that the turkey was done, and all the side dishes weren’t far behind. But when we sliced up the turkey, the middle was bright red. Argh! So we put the turkey back in the oven, and as it has become our custom, we served our guests the holiday meal a couple hours late. Needless to say, we have not mastered the turkey yet. But I can say with great confidence, we have mastered this pumpkin dessert.

This pumpkin spice bundt cake has that delightful cinnamon allspice goodness paired with the sweet slightly crunchy buttermilk icing.  And if you’re not a fan of  Starbuck’s pumpkin spice latte, have no fear; this cake doesn’t taste like that at all. As one of my co-workers put it, the cake tastes “more authentic.” You can make this ahead of time as it keeps for three days. And it will be a great addition to your Thanksgiving feast.

As for the bundt pan, the pan itself was easy to use. My brother bought me this bundt pan for my birthday this year, and this was my first attempt using it, to great success.  With bundt pans, they recommend you wipe them down generously with butter and flour instead of spraying them with oil as it’s hard to evenly coat all the nooks and crannies of a decorative bundt pan.

Regardless how you make your turkey this year or which desserts you choose to serve, I hope you all have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving! Gobble Gobble!

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pumpkin cheesecake bars with streusel

Lauren1 Comment

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Justin and I went to our good friends’ wedding this weekend in Lawrence, Kansas. Our friends are Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones fans so they decided to have elements from both series in their wedding much to our delight! For example, when it was time to exchange wedding bands, the groom relinquished The Ring to Rule Them All he was wearing by tossing it into a mini fuming paper mache-looking volcano two groomsmen brought out just for the occasion. And as is the wedding tradition in Game of Thrones, the groom draped his bride in a necklace and a fur cloth bringing her under his protection.  Instead of a unity candle, the couple mixed two different types of wine they had made themselves, and at the end of the ceremony, the couple got on horses and rode off into the sunset, or perhaps in this case, the parking lot. Later on in the evening, they had a wooden catapult robot made to launch the bride’s garter for the garter toss. Needless to say it was a cool wedding. The wedding was also a mini college reunion for me, as many of my college friends and their spouses and members of the fraternity house I used to frequent were there.

It was a little surreal being back in my college town after eleven years. I was astounded to see what had changed since I’d been there. Restaurants that were new when I had lived there had since gone out of business. Old staples of the town had been replaced by new trendy stores and coffee houses. Sometimes I wish I could bottle up places and people in a time capsule so that I could revisit them periodically for nostalgia’s sake. But I recognize that most of the change is for the better. Other places around Lawrence looked completely unchanged like much of the campus itself. And downtown, I saw many familiar faces of people from my past—one girl had lived on my floor in the dorms, and I ran into the man who was the assistant orchestra conductor in the short stent that I was a music major.

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Well, you can’t turn back time, but you can make this delicious multi-layered cheesecake. I took it to work, and within an hour, it was gone. The bottom layer is homemade graham crack crust, the middle layers are made up of the regular and pumpkin cheesecake, and the top is the crunchy cinnamon streusel. It’s an impressive dessert, and if you are inclined to share it with others, it travels well. I feel like you can’t go wrong with cheesecake, ever, but this version is especially good. Before you begin to combine the ingredients, keep in mind the cream cheese needs to be at room temperature and that takes a full hour. And then once out of the oven, the cheesecake needs a couple hours to set. Enjoy!

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pumpkin custards with cardamom crumble

Lauren2 Comments

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My brainstorming ideas for what kinds of recipes to post for Thanksgiving have been all over the darn place. I thought about trying to re-create the first Thanksgiving feast, but then I read the meal predominantly consisted of seafood and vegetables, and that there was no green bean casserole, or any kind of potatoes, or butter (no butter! I can’t even!). I mean, can you imagine Thanksgiving without all the carbs? I don’t think it counts as Thanksgiving if you don’t go into a full-on post-meal sleep-induced food coma.

Then I thought, what about Thanksgiving foods from eras, like the 60s, 70s, or 80s, but that’s when I discovered lots, and I mean lots, of Jello and aspic. Don’t get me wrong, I get Jello deserts, but aspic? Think savory gelatin with chunks of meat, egg, or seafood. I’ve never tasted it, but if my stomach’s reaction to the description is any indication, I am good. Certain foods, especially ones that aren’t sweet, just shouldn’t jiggle. Maybe I should look into joining a non-jiggly food therapy group, but I digress…

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Anyhoo, this year, I thought I’d keep it simple by making a bunch of unique pumpkin-based desserts (much to Justin’s delight!). There’s nothing wrong with classic pumpkin pie, but why not change it up this year like trying these cute little pumpkin custards with cardamom crumble?  While these still taste like pumpkin pie, the custard is denser and creamier than normal pumpkin pie. The cardamom adds an almost gingerbread-like flavor to the crunchy crumble. To say these are good is an understatement. I made eight of these like the recipe calls for thinking I’d take some to work… and Justin and I unapologetically ate them all instead. And after we finished the custards, we licked the ramekins, the spoons, and then the ramekins again just to be sure there was nothing left.

This recipe does require a roasting pan, and trust me when I say a regular baking pan does not work. This is because you have to have boiling water half way up the ramekins to properly bake the custard. I think it’s easier to add the boiling water to the roasting pan once the pan is set on the oven rack, but you must pull it out enough so you can pour the water into the pan. Be very careful when adding the boiling water as it can splatter and being that close to the hot oven is a worry as well. I wore oven mitts and still got splattered, so please heed my oops! Lastly, and just as important, is that this recipe has to set a couple hours so please plan accordingly. Bon Appetit! Continue reading “pumpkin custards with cardamom crumble” →

justin’s slow cooker chili

Lauren2 Comments

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Y’all are in for a treat! I didn’t have to be the cook this week since Justin decided the weather had gotten cool enough for chili. Since this has become a staple of cool/cold weather in our house, I asked him to take pictures and document what he was doing (we really work on measuring and not over seasoning over here!).

A few weeks back, a discussion was started on a favored social media site about chili versus stew, what the difference is, and, of course, the usual banter about the “right” way to do it. One of Justin’s friends at work, Scott Bibbee, makes some fantastic worldly meals, regularly posts photos of his creations (we already have our favorites), and he is one of those people who can tell what the ingredients of something are just by tasting it (so jealous!). I asked if he would write something up about the different ways chili is made around the U.S. Here’s what he said,

Many folks, mostly Yankees, believe strongly that they can add whatever they want to a chili and still call it “chili”. Never mind that “chili” is short for “chili con carne”, that it originated in San Antonio, TX more than 150 years ago, and certainly did not contain frijoles or any other additions when it was invented. The addition of anything other than meat, chiles, and spices is a culinary appropriation of a regional specialty with a long, well documented, and distinct history. Here’s the simple fact – all chili is stew, but not all stew is chili.

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slow cooker barbacoa tacos (or nachos)

Lauren1 Comment

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Up until recently, I just assumed everyone loved leftovers. I mean, it’s already prepared food you just have to reheat or assemble. It saves so much time and prep especially on weeknights when you’re tired from the day and don’t feel like cooking. I know some people don’t want to eat the same food two meals or days in a row. Other people think that leftovers aren’t as good the second day, and for a lot of foods like salads with dressing, I wholeheartedly agree. The lettuce becomes soggy and it affects the integrity of the salad. But there are other foods like pasta that I believe are better the second day because the flavors have had time to sit and coalesce.

In fact, liking leftovers is one of the first things that first attracted me to Justin. We were on an early date at a cocktail bar that served artisan pizza, and while trying to decide whether we should split a pizza or I should get one of my own, Justin said, “Why don’t you get your own so you have leftovers?” And I thought, Hey, this might work out!

These barbacoa tacos are easy, tasty, and make for great leftovers! The original recipe called for the roast to be cooked in an instant pot, which we don’t have, so we repurposed the recipe for the crock pot to great results. We literally dropped all ingredients up through the bay leaves into the crock pot and let it cook for 6 hours on high. The chipotle chile in adobe gives the barbacoa a spicy and smoky flavor, which is awesome! We added salsa and pico de gallo, as well as the cotija cheese, which is tangy! It makes for one delicious taco!

Update: The second night, we tried the the barbacoa on nachos, and we actually liked it even better than the tacos. We liked the crispy, salty chips with the spicy barbacoa. Give it a try!

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ugandian ginger tea

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One of the fiction stories I’m writing takes place in Uganda. I decided to check out Ugandan recipes, and that is how I stumbled upon this delightful tea recipe. The ginger is what makes this tea amazing. It is a soothing tea with the creamy milk. You can make it with fresh ginger or with powdered ginger. For the black tea, I used loose leaf English breakfast, but you can use any kind of black tea you’d like. Now that it’s FINALLY  getting cold outside, this tea will help warm you up! Enjoy!

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hatch green chile corn casserole

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Every year, my department has a hatch green chile competition in September. Contestants are allowed to make anything as long as it has hatch chiles in it. Most of us go to Whole Foods and pick up already roasted hatch chiles. For my entry, I made hatch chile macaroni and cheese. It was good, but honestly it didn’t even come close to this year’s winner: the hatch green chile corn casserole. Not only was it voted best dish by the judges, but it also won the popular vote. It may not look like much, but this little unassuming dish packs a punch and is full of flavor.  This corn casserole is spicy, creamy, and delicious! This dish is, of course, better with freshly roasted hatch chiles, but you can also use canned green chiles, which is what I used since Whole Foods is a bit of a drive for me. And it’s an easy dish to make: you literally add all the ingredients together in a bowl,  pour them into a baking pan, and put the pan in the oven for 45 minutes. This would be a good Thanksgiving side dish! Happy eating!

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lost in st. louis

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Recently I went to visit my friend and her husband who live in St. Louis. I’m notorious for being directionally challenged, but in a different city, I have absolutely no sense of direction. So when the cabbie shooed me out of the cab and told me my destination was just down the street and that he didn’t want to get any closer due to road construction, I believed him. My friend lives in an upscale neighborhood around lots of trendy restaurants and boutiques. Upon closer inspection of the houses I walked past, I noticed that a lot of the homes were boarded up with plywood or were in disrepair.  I thought, either I’m in the wrong spot or this place has gone downhill in the last year and a half since I’ve been here. I started walking faster, lugging my big orange suit case behind me. Nothing looked familiar, and I quickly realized I was lost. I wasn’t sure whether I was just on the wrong block or on the wrong street entirely. Then I smelled fried food and got excited. I followed my nose until I ended up in the Grove, a trendy part of St. Louis. And that’s when I stumbled across the Urban Chestnut Brewery, and thought, well, since I’m here…

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zucchini in spiced tomato sauce

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It is high time for my semi-annual haircut. I knew you’d want to know. I have this cave woman mop-like shag going on that is in desperate need of taming. I tend to wait until I catch an unsettling glimpse of myself in the mirror, and then I call my hair dresser in frantic desperation, pleading, “Can you get me in today?” My main goal is not necessarily to look trendy but to not scare children. Which is also why I always wear some form of makeup. I also struggle with coordinating my outfits. I once bought an outfit off a mannequin so I wouldn’t have to coordinate it. You do what you gotta do!

Justin and I have been attempting to incorporate more vegetables in our diet.  It is an ongoing battle. Just adding salt and pepper to vegetables is fine and dandy, but after awhile, it gets old. When looking for flavorful vegetable-based recipes, I took my cue from India because they are known for their flavorful vegetarian dishes; I was not disappointed.

This zucchini dish has layers upon layers of wonderful flavor.  You have turmeric and garam masala, which give the dish somewhat of a curry flavor. The chili powder makes it spicy, and the garlic, coriander, and cumin make up layers of delicious savory goodness. Then add the tomatoes and fresh cilantro, and you end up with a wonderfully complex tomato sauce. We ate this as a side dish with grilled chicken, but it can be paired with any kind of meat.

I first attempted this recipe in a wok, but I found it too small to really cook the zucchini. I quickly transferred it to a larger pot, which worked better. Vegetables cook best when they’re directly touching the pan to access direct heat. This recipe took 30-35 minutes to make, and it was well worth it! Enjoy!

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roasted salmon with dill sauce

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Are you all as ready for Fall as I am? And does anyone other than me think they’ve taken the pumpkin spice thing a little too far? I’m as much a fan of pumpkin spice as the next person, but they have pumpkin spice butter, cream cheese, creamer, lip gloss, TOOTHPASTE (ugh!), Pepto-Bismol, you name it. It’s taking over, and every year, there seems to be more products. But that being said, I am excited to try many pumpkin pie-alternatives for Thanksgiving this year. Stay tuned in the upcoming weeks for pumpkin recipes.

I had my wonderful parents-in-law over for dinner on Saturday and served this delicious salmon recipe with dill sauce. It was a hit! The creamy dill sauce with the tangy Dijon mustard is what makes this sauce delicious. Preparing the salmon is easy—I drizzled a little olive oil and then sprinkled salt and pepper over the fillets and then put them in the oven for 10-12 minutes. They come out tasting like you spent hours in the kitchen instead of minutes! And I baked a couple extra fillets so we’d have leftovers. Happy eating!

Don’t forget to follow the Speckled Spork for more delicious recipes!

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