New Years Eve Dinner

It is really nice to have friends who get a discount at New Seasons, love amazing food and really know how to cook meat!  How does the first slice of a rib roast look to you?  Amazing?  Well, if you'd actually gotten to enjoy it, you would know that amazing doesn't even start to describe it.  I'm not exactly sure what all went into the rub...  I know there was EVOO, salt, pepper and paprika but also a couple of other things as well.  The crust was the best I've ever tasted - super crispy and flavorful! 

Of course, we didn't just eat the most amazing beef ever...  we also enjoyed perfectly sauted brussel sprouts and smashed red potatoes with lots of garlic.  Served with some good beer, it was the perfect New Years Eve dinner with great friends.  After dinner, we turned on Episode 7 of Game of Thrones and half of us promptly fell asleep... 

After a long ten hour sleep, we all awoke famished...  so Ty whipped up a little leftovers breakfast of steak bites, smashed potato patties and garlic Romano bread.  Yeah, it was all just as good the next morning with a fresh cup of piping hot coffee.  Could 2012 have gotten off to a better start? 

Snow Day!

In honor of today's snow day, Ty made chicken enchiladas and I made mocha-cinnamon pudding.  The enchiladas came from Ty's noggin but the pudding came from a recipes in Runner's World magazine.  

Mocha-Cinnamon Pudding
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons instant coffee mix or espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch salt
2 cups low fat chocolate milk
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, very finely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk the sugar, cornstarch, coffee, cinnamon and salt in a large saucepan.  Whisk in milk over medium heat then cook for about five minutes, stirring occasionally at first, then frequently and constantly at the end, until mixture thickens to pudding consistency.  Remove from heat; add chocolate and vanilla, whisking until chocolate is smooth.  Serve warm or pour into containers, placing plastic wrap directly on the pudding surface to keep a skin from forming.  Refrigerate up to five days.

The recipes says that this serves five but I disagree.  I filled four ramekins about half way each.  Next time I make this, I'll be doubling it so that it fills all four completely.  It would also look great in martini glasses and the picture in from the magazines shows it garnished with fresh raspberries which looks completely delish!   

This actually doesn't look that great but, trust me, it is AMAZING!

Twice Baked Potatoes

Any fans of Sunny in Philadelphia out there??  We recently had some friends over for a Sunny marathon - they don't have cable and we had about 8 episodes saved up on our DVR.  I wanted to do a bar food type of menu so Ty whipped up chicken wings (someday maybe I'll get him to post that recipe) and I made twice baked potatoes for a heartier spin on the classic bar potato skins.  

Twice Baked Potatoes

4 large russet potatoes, scrubbed and dried
2 to 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 to 6 slices of bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled
1/3 cup sour cream
1 scallion, finely chopped
1/2 cup (or more!!) shredded sharp cheddar
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place the potatoes directly on the rack in the center of the oven and bake for 30 minutes.  Pierce each potato in a couple spots with a fork and continue to bake until tender, about 30 minutes more.  Remove potatoes from oven and turn the heat down to 375 degrees.

Hold the potatoes with an oven mitt or towel and trim off the top to make a canoe-like shape.  Carefully scoop out most of the potato into a bowl taking care to leave enough int eh skin so the shells stay together.  Mash the potato lightly with a fork along with the butter and sour cream.  Stir in the scallion, some of the cheese and bacon and season with salt and pepper.  Refill the shells with the potato mixture, mounding it slightly.  Sprikle remaining cheese on top of the potato filling.

Set the potatoes on a baking sheet or in a baking dish and bake until heated through, about 20 minutes.  Serve!  

Comfort Food

I'm sick so Ty made me my favorite sick meal - hot tea, soup and grilled cheese!  

And here's a picture of my view:

My teddy bear tree!

Udon Soup

Wow - Ty just whipped up this udon soup with lots of veggies and shrimp.  Apparently, he looked at a couple of recipes online but we didn't have all the right broth ingredients so he just made something up.  It was delish!  His culinary skills never cease to amaze me... 

Fall Dinner

While I do eat soup year-round, there is something special about enjoying a good, hearty, home-made soup that evokes the feeling of Fall.  On Tuesday night, Ty whipped up a rich and delicous tomato soup.  He'd grabbed a bag full of brussel sprouts when we were at the store with no real plan - just because we love them, they are currently in season and they looked yummo!  So, these were a side dish to the soup.  And, just to round the meal out, he also added a garlic romano sharp cheddar grilled cheese to the plate.  Let the mouth watering begin: