Tomato/ Mozzarella Panini

November 17, 2012 by adayfromscratch Filed Under: Poultry, Recipes Leave a Comment

This past week at Le Cordon Bleu I started my baking and pastry class. This is quite a change from the protein class, one day I’m braising lamb and the next baking some brioche. We started off baking french baguettes, brioche rolls, and focaccia. With all of the bread that we made I thought, what better use of the leftovers than to bring it home and make some sandwiches, or in this case a panini.

What you’ll need: Focaccia bread, sliced vine ripe tomato, mozzarella, cooked chicken, basil, olive oil.

To assemble your panini: just layer chicken, tomato, basil and mozzarella, drizzle with a little olive oil and some S&P. Simple as that.

Now here’s the kicker: I do not have a panini press, I do however have a grill pan and a secret weapon. I have a heavy candle dish that I wrapped in foil that will act as my “press,” but if you have a brick laying around at your house, just wrap that sucker up and you’ll be good to go.

On a heated grill pan just add your sammy, and your secret weapon. After about five minutes flip the panini over and cook another five minutes.

You will want to press down a little to help the “press” out.

When the panini is all done you will be left with beautiful grill marks on each side, with a crispy edge. This is just delicious!

I hope you’re having a great Saturday! I’m off to watch the Rebels beat the Tigers.

Hotty Toddy and happy eating!

How to: Pomegranate Arils

November 15, 2012 by adayfromscratch Filed Under: Recipes, Vegetarian Leave a Comment

One of my favorite fall fruits is pomegranate. They are sweet and juicy and super versatile. The only downside to buying pomegranate arils at the grocery store is that they are SO expensive. For a long time I was intimidated to get the juicy arils out of the shell by myself, but once I saw them at the store this year I was determined to do it myself! There is definitely nothing to be a afraid of, they are simple to de-seed and you get so many more than you would from a store batch. Check it out:

What you’ll need: 1 pomegranate, a sharp chef’s knife, a bowl of cool water, a strainer.

Start by cutting the butt end off, shown above.

Then with your knife score the skin three times.

Into a bowl of cool water, just start lightly pulling the seeds off the membrane and letting them drop into the water.

Keep doing this until all of the seeds are into the bowl.

Strain the arils into a bowl and you are ready to rock and roll

There are so many things you can do with the arils; you could eat them as is, drink the juice, make a pomegranate martini with the juice, garnish a desert or salad. Let you imagination run wild.

To get the juice out of the pomegranate just put the seeds into a plastic bag, with a rolling pin or the butt of your hand pop the seeds to release the juice and then cut a tiny bit from the tip of the bag and drain the juice into a glass. There is nothing better than fresh squeezed juice!

Happy drinking!

First Taste of Fall

November 14, 2012 by adayfromscratch Filed Under: Recipes, Vegetarian Leave a Comment

It’s been cold in Austin for the past few days and it’s made me have quite the hankerin’ for some warm soups. Now this isn’t really a soup, but it does the trick. I have been making this for a few years now and I just love it. It’s hearty, comforting and super healthy.

What you’ll need: 1 can of garbanzo beans- rinsed and drained, 1 Tbsp olive oil, 4 cups spinach or arugula, 1-2 cups of tomato sauce, 2 cloves of garlic minced, 1/4 tsp cumin, pinch of red pepper flakes, 1Tbsp red wine vinegar, 1/4 tsp smoked paprika, juice of 1/2 lemon, a few sun-dried tomatoes for extra flare.

This is super easy! Just add all of the ingredients into a big sauté pan and heat through, about 10-15 minutes. Once it’s warm add the spinach or arugula (I used a mixture of the 2) until it wilts and serve warm. You can also top this with any cheese that you may have, I recommend parmesan or ricotta.

I love how simple, yet delicious this meal is. It’s prefect for a cool fall weeknight, and the leftovers are even better!

Grab a bowl and dig in!

Happy eating!

My favorite place & sautéed duck breast

November 13, 2012 by adayfromscratch Filed Under: Gallivanting, Home, Poultry Leave a Comment

This past weekend some friends of mine, my parents, and I went down to my favorite little spot in Texas. When my mom was in high school my grandparents bought and fixed up a house down on the bay. Since then it has been a cherished place in my family and I have countless memories of family, friends in high school and college enjoying our time on the bay and the memories just keep coming.

The bay in 1973, when my grandparents bought it.

This was taken this past weekend. There is so much to do at the bay, we wakeboard and ski, tube, hang out on the beach, drink many adult beverages, and this past weekend we did some fishing and duck hunting.

After spending an afternoon hanging out on the beach, the guys decided it was time for duck hunting. There is a lot that goes into duck hunting at the bay, you have to scout out a good spot, set up decoys and blinds and wait and wait and wait for the birds to fly. I had never been duck hunting and neither had my two girlfriends, so with lots of convincing that we wouldn’t get in the way the boys agreed to let us tag along (something I think they now regret!) So we(the boys) packed up the gear and we were off in the boat to find a spot to do some hunting.

Here’s Brit and me in our blind! Let me tell you, it was muddy! We were sinking in the mud left and right, falling all over each other and making quite a mess while the boys were trying to set up. The most skeptical about this hunting extravaganza was my friend, Meghan. Her husband assured her that she would be fine, and wouldn’t get that dirty.

He was wrong…

Once we all got situated it wasn’t long until we were laying down and the boys were getting all set to shoot.

Brittani’s husband John and their new baby, Pipin!

Eric’s all ready…

The boys shot 4 ducks real quickly, so we decided to pack it up and go back to the house for some happy hour, a staple at the bay. Many beverages were consumed before we decided to start cooking dinner. We decided we should grill up the ducks that the boys shot in addition to the delicious pork tenderloin that was already planned. By this point we were having so much fun that no more pictures were taken, maybe next time. Blame it on the al al al al alcohol.

Although I didn’t take any pictures, I do want to share this amazing Sautéed Duck breast with Cherry Glaze for your next duck hunt!

For the duck: score the skin of the duck breast, be careful not to cut into the flesh. Then season the duck breast with S&P and carefully place the breast skin side down in a pan, medium to low heat to render and crisp the fatty skin. You won’t need any extra oil, as the fat from the skin works great. Baste the duck with its own fat, cooking slowly until internal temp is 130-135. Flip over about 1 minute before its done.

For the sauce: you’ll need 1/4 cup dried cherries, 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar, 2 Tbsp granulated sugar, 2 Tbsp water, S&P, 6 oz veal or duck stock(you can also use water). In a dry sauté pan add sugar and water to moisten, heat and wait for most of the water to evaporate. Once it’s at an amber color add the red wine vinegar and give it a swirl. Add the cherries and let it reduce a touch. Add the stock and let it reduce to a syrup consistency.

Slice up your breast and serve with the sauce and any sides you fancy!

I had such a blast this weekend and can’t wait to go back. I hope you had a great weekend too, happy eating!

Red-Wine Tomato Sauce

November 7, 2012 by adayfromscratch Filed Under: Pasta, Recipes, Vegetarian Leave a Comment

I told you I’d be back with my yummy Red-Wine Tomato Sauce. I am a HUGE fan of making my own sauces, and really haven’t purchased jarred in a really long time. It is so simple and can stay frozen for about 4 months or in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks. Once I make a batch of this stuff I get a little carried away with eating it, but hopefully you’ll see what I mean.

What you’ll need: 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, 1 medium onion-diced, 1 Tbsp chopped garlic, 1 6oz can of tomato paste, 2/3 cup of red wine, 2 12oz cans crushed tomatoes, 4-5 ripe Roma tomatoes-roughly diced, 2 tsp dried oregano, 2 tsp dried basil, 2 bay leaves, 1 Tbsp raw or ungranulated sugar.

In a medium-sized pot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat and when hot, sauté the onion and garlic until they begin to soften, 2-3 minutes.

Stir in the tomato paste and cook 1-2 minutes longer. The tomato paste add such a great richness that complements the red wine so beautifully.

Now for the main event…. add the red wine! Bring to a boil and cook down for about 2-3 minutes.

Reduce the heat to a simmer and add the crushed tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, oregano, basil, thyme, bay leaves and sugar.

Stir well and season with S&P. Adjust the heat and simmer the sauce until the flavors meld and the sauce thickens slightly, 30-40 minutes.

Remove the bay leaves and with an immersion blender or handheld electric mixer, blend the sauce until smooth.

Serve immediately or refrigerate, covered, for up to 2 weeks. You can also freeze it. Now you can go and make yesterday’s naked lasagna!

Happy eating!

Naked Lasagna

November 6, 2012 by adayfromscratch Filed Under: Pasta, Recipes 1 Comment

No, I did not cook this lasagna while naked… you’d have to google something else to find that. However, I did skimp on the pasta. I love a decadent and hearty meal just as much as the next gal, but I also love to make my favorite dishes with a healthy twist. It’s about balance, right? This lasagna is fantastic, and all of the veggies make it super-healthful. You won’t even miss the noodles.

What you’ll need: 4 zucchini thinly sliced lengthwise, 2 teaspoons safflower oil (you could also use canola oil,) 1-2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 pound turkey italian sausage, 1 medium diced onion, 2 teaspoons chopped garlic, 1 1/2 cups diced yellow squash, 1 1/2 cups diced portobello mushrooms, 1 tsp dried basil, 1 tsp dried oregano, 6 cups tomato sauce (you can use jarred, or stay tuned for my homemade red-wine tomato sauce) 4 cups ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup grated parmesan, 2 cups mozzarella cheese.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Then slice up your zucchini lengthwise and spread them out on a baking sheet. Spread a little safflower oil on each side and bake them for about 4-5 minutes. Since these will take the place of the noodles try to slice them in even cuts.

brusha, brusha, brusha…. anyone seen Grease? Love that movie!

There are many benefits to using safflower oil instead of canola oil or other vegetable oils. Safflower oil is high in polyunsaturated fats which help with the strengthening of cell membranes, it’s also good for lowering cholesterol, can boost your immune system, is great for skin and hair. But like all fat, you still shouldn’t consume too much. Enough of the nutrition lesson, back to the grub.

After the zucchini have been in the oven for a few minutes let them rest on a paper towel. Raise the oven temp to 375 degrees. Get your mise en place ready, dice up your squash, mushrooms, onion and garlic.

In a medium sauce pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When hot, remove the italian sausage from the casing and add to the pan until lightly brown, stirring and breaking it up to ground consistency.

Add the onion and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring.

After 1-2 minutes, add the squash, mushrooms, basil and oregano. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables soften (about 10 minutes or so)

Once they are tender, remove from the heat and set aside.

Now, let’s assemble. I am using homemade red-wine tomato sauce, which I will feature tomorrow, but you can also use store-bought sauce of your liking. In a greased baking pan ladle about 1/ 1/2 cups of tomato sauce and spread it evenly. Layer a third of the zucchini over the sauce evenly and top it with half of the sausage mixture. Then ladle another 1 1/2 cups of sauce over the mixture in an even layer.

Spoon the ricotta cheese into a pastry bag, or a plastic bag with the corner snipped off. Pipe the cheese evenly over the sauce.

Top with another layer of zucchini slices. Repeat layering with sauce, turkey mixture, more sauce and ricotta. Once you get to the top sprinkle with the parmesan cheese and some mozzarella.

Bake this bad boy for 40-45 minutes or until the lasagna is bubbling hot. Let it cool slightly and then serve. Man oh man this is yummy and you won’t even miss the noodles! Trust me, I will not steer you wrong.

Happy eating!

Stay tuned for my red-wine tomato sauce.

Homemade Granola Bars

November 5, 2012 by adayfromscratch Filed Under: Home, Sweets, Vegetarian Leave a Comment

I love a good granola bar, they are perfect for a grab and go snack, and in my crazy life right now that is perfect. The only problem with store bought granola bars is that they are full of chemical crud and ingredients that our bodies don’t need. Aside from that there are the expensive-organic bars, but who wants to shell out money on that; I’d much prefer to spend mine on a bottle of vino. So, I thought, why wouldn’t I try and make homemade granola bars. There are so many different variations you could choose but I decided on a “superfood” granola bar.

What you’ll need: 2 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats, 3/4 cup whole raw almonds, 3/4 cup dried cherries (not pictured,) 3/4 cup unsweetened finely shredded coconut, 1/2 cup roasted unsalted sunflower seeds, 2 Tbsp. Flaxseeds, 1/2 cup of honey, 1/2 cup light brown sugar, 1 tsp. salt, and coconut oil.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Mix the oats and almonds on a large baking sheet and bake, stirring once, until they are golden brown.

When they are just about done, add the sunflower seeds to the pan to allow them to slightly roast.

Once everything is golden brown, remove them from the oven and let them cool. Turn your oven down to 325 degrees.

Meanwhile, brush a large bowl generously with coconut oil. Place coconut, cherries, and flaxseeds (I used ground because it’s what I had, but if you have whole those would work great too.)

Once the oat/almond mixture is cool add them to the bowl as well.

In a medium saucepan bring 1/4 cup coconut oil, honey, sugar and salt to a boil.

Only let it boil for about 1 minute and then immediately pour over the oat mixture.

Using a heat proof spatula, stir the mixture until everything is evenly coated.

With coconut oil, grease down a baking pan 13×9 and carefully pour the mixture and spread evenly. Make sure there aren’t any gaps.

Bake for 10 minutes at 325 degrees, after 10 minutes rotate the pan and bake for another 10-15 minutes. When they are done your kitchen is going to smell deliciously sweet from all of the coconut. Mmmm Mmmm

Let it cool COMPLETELY, you want to make sure that everything holds together. Once they are completely cooled take a sharp knife and slice down into bars. I swear these are better than any store bought granola bar I have ever made. You could also crumble it up and just have plain ole granola to top over some yogurt. Just store them in an airtight container at room temperature.

Happy eating!

Makin’ Sausage at LCB

October 30, 2012 by adayfromscratch Filed Under: Culinary School, Pork, Beef, Lamb 1 Comment

For as many years as I have been hunting, or had breakfast with sausage, or sausage bites as an appetizer, or made it in a dish; I have never made sausage from scratch. Well I can officially take that statement back because today… I made sausage from scratch.

Our class today made sweet italian sausage, spicy italian sausage, and bratwurst. I was in a group of three and we were assigned the spicy sausage task. Let me tell you, this was fun!

We started by mixing together a bunch of seasonings: 3 tablespoons(T) fennel seeds, 2T ground coriander, 1T sugar, 2T sweet Spanish paprika, 2T hot Hungarian papricka, 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper, 4 T crushed red pepper and 1 T coarse ground black pepper.

We tossed all of our seasonings together with 5 pounds of pork meat and 2.5 pounds of pork fat and 1 cup of ice water.

We also put it in a large mixer and let it go a little while to make sure everything was all the way incorporated, but by that point I had so much pork gunk on my hands I figured I shouldn’t reach into my pocket to grab my phone for a picture.

Then started the fun part. We used a sausage stuffer, but you could also use piping bag to stuff the casings. We stuffed the top of the filler with the meat mixture and put the casing on the piper and started churning it out.

My friend Jen took this picture on her phone, that’s why it’s so small. Hi Jen!

Once we had it all stuffed we tied it up into links.

Then we put it in the smoker with some cherry wood for about 20-25 minutes or until an internal cooking temperature of 150 degrees.

Once we were done we all sliced up the links and got to tasting…

Now that I know that sausage making isn’t as intimidating as I once thought, maybe I’ll tackle the challenge in my tiny apartment kitchen someday soon. Any helpers?

BLT Chicken Wrap

October 28, 2012 by adayfromscratch Filed Under: Poultry, Recipes Leave a Comment

“Bacon is good for me!” If you haven’t seen the video of the little boy talking about bacon on Wife Swap, do yourself a favor and look it up – it’s hilarious. I for one agree with the kid, bacon is good for me, at least for my soul.

I found myself craving a BLT when I woke up this morning so I went scouring my kitchen, but I didn’t have any bread so I improvised. I had some left-over chicken so I decided to make a BLT chicken salad wrap. Let me tell you, these were simple, yet scrumptious!

What you’ll need: 1-2 cups shredded chicken, 1 tomato, bacon, Iceberg lettuce, and some mayo.

Start by slicing the bacon strips in half and cook ’em up in a skillet. Once they are good and golden on each side lay them on some paper towels to rest.

Then dice up your tomato.

In a mixing bowl add the shredded chicken.

Top with the diced tomatoes.

Dice up the crispy bacon and add that to the bowl.

Then add about 2 tablespoons of mayo.

Add some S&P and mix lightly.

Now into a piece of iceberg add the salad.

and chow down

It is a beautiful day in Austin today, so I am headed outside to do some reading. I hope you have a wonderful Sunday and as always happy eating!

“Hopeless Wanderer” Mumford and Sons

“I Don’t Want To” Ashley Monroe

“Making Circles” Christian Kane

Black Bean and Spinach Enchiladas

October 24, 2012 by adayfromscratch Filed Under: Home, Vegetarian 3 Comments

For the past three and a half weeks my days have revolved around learning about meat: how to select it, how to care for it, how to make it appealing and satisfying. Isn’t there a class like this for dating? No? Damn.

When I get home from school and begin thinking about what I’m going to cook for dinner the last thing I want is more meat. So I brought back into the kitchen rotation these yummy enchiladas. I have been making these enchiladas for many many years and they seem to be my go to meal when I want something easy and also healthy.

What you’ll need: 1 10 oz package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed; 1 15 oz can of black beans rinsed and drained, 1 package of taco seasoning mix, 1 cup of water, 1 cup of sour cream (I used greek yogurt as a sub) 8 tortillas, 1 can of enchilada sauce, 1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, sliced green scallions.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Then in a skillet heat the spinach, black beans, taco seasoning, and water. Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat and let it lightly simmer for 8-10 minutes.