Roast Beef and Potato Chip Chicken

How about some easy recipes? I thought I heard through the wave ways of the vast Internet a resound 'yes', so I will continue.

First we have the Potato Chip Chicken. Now I know this sounds a little odd, but it complete the trifecta: cheap, easy and good. The recipe says that you may use any kind of chip that you want, so I let me inner fat kid do the talking and I ended up with BBQ and Cool Ranch Doritos. I am really excited to try other flavors in the future...sea salt and vinegar, black pepper, sour cream and onion, do you have any ideas?

My mom's pot roast. This recipe is also a breeze (it goes along the lines of put in crock pot and cook). It is amazing how the tenderness and the flavor come out together. You can also cut up some carrots and potatoes and throw it in the crock pot with the roast for a whole meal. A+ Mom!

Potato Chip Chicken

• 1 bag chip (any flavor)
• Chicken breast (boneless)
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• Salt (to taste)
• Pepper (to taste)
• Butter, melted
Melt butter; set aside. Smash chips; add flour, salt, pepper. Dip chicken in melted butter, then roll in mixture until all sides are coated. Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Pot Roast
• 1 roast
• ½ onion slices
• Crushed garlic – ½ tsp.
• 2 tsp. beef bouillon
• Salt and pepper
• ½ cup water
Put roast in crock-pot. Add rest of ingredients on top. Cook on low 8-10 hours

Virgilio's Pizzeria & Wine Bar

There is a new restaurant in Littleton, CO and it is good, always packed and well worth your visit. Virgilio's opened in the empty building that used to be Johnny Carinos on Kipling and C-470. Jeff and his family are convinced that Virgilio's has the best pizza.

Garlic Knots, soft on the inside, crispy on the outside with a strong taste of fresh garlic

Spinach Mozzarella pin wheels, YUM!

B&B, bacon and basil. The bacon was crispy and the basil was fresh. The crust consistency was perfect.

Jeff's Margarita Pizza, beautiful and delicious

They also serve gluten free crust!

Three-Bean Chili and Fried Rice

I was invited to celebrate my coworker Sherry's birthday at a potluck. My other coworker and friend Rose, gave me a three-bean chili recipe for the book and I decided to make it for the potluck. I didn't mention to her that this was my plan, but she told me she was making chicken wings so I wasn't worried. I show up with my big crock pot and send her an email telling her that I made the chili and I would see her at lunch. She calls me up and says, "its been a day!" After telling me about how a singing card came to the office for Sherry, she also told me about her dish for the potluck. She made the chicken wings and put them in the oven, then she woke up 2 hours later to find that her poor little wings were burnt to a crisp! So as backup, guess what she brought....three-bean chili! So we ended up with two big crock pots of the chili, but I don't think anyone minded as it was so good.

I cooked up some fried rice to have around the house. I left out the ham because I was feeling a little ick about the packaged ham at the store. The flavor was very good and I can see how this dish would go well with all kinds of dishes.

Three-bean Chile

1 yellow pepper
1 small onion
3/4 cup of salsa
1 cup of chicken broth
2 cans of stewed tomatoes
1 can each of three different types of beans (chili, black, kidney-red or white)
1 teaspoon cumin
Brown pepper and onion. Then, add the remaining ingredients, mix and heat. Garnish with cheese and/or green onion.

Fried Rice

• 2 Tbsp. cooking oil
• 2 beaten eggs
• ½ cup diced fully cooked ham or port strips
• ¼ cup finely chopped fresh mushrooms
• ¼ cup thinly sliced green onion
• ½ tsp ginger
• Dash pepper
• 3 cups cooked rice
• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
In a large skillet heat oil over medium heat. Add cooked meat, mushrooms, onion, ginger, and pepper in hot oil for 3 minutes. Stir in cooked rice and add egg, stir over medium heat until eggs are cooked. Sprinkle with soy sauce and 1 Tbsp. water. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until heated through tossing gently to coat with soy sauce.
Vegetarian: Prepare as above except add ½ cup veggie instead of ham.

Fall Dinner: Orange-Lavender Chicken with Parmesan Potatoes

Here is something from a few months ago...

You know those beautiful fall evenings when the air is a little crisp, you light a cinnamon candle, cook dinner and watch a movie with a loved one.....I just had one.

I will admit it, I am terrible about having really high expectations and I let life pass me by sometimes. For example, if Jeff and I plan to go on a date I have a unrealistic image of how the night should go...he arrives just on time with a rose, whisks me away to a wonderful dinner and we catch a inexpensive funny movie later, there is no traffic and the weather is just perfect...OK maybe I am not THAT bad but close. So this week I decided to consciously make an effort to no have expectations...to let the pieces fall where they may. I relaxed! Amazing huh? So due to this relaxation and letting go of the desire to plan EVERYTHING....I had a great night. Jeff cooked his meal (even though I was sceptical of the ingredients) we ate later than I usually do (I ate chips so dinner wasn't such a rush) and everything just fell into place. So here is what resulted in me "letting go"...

We took the short walked in the cool crisp Autumn air to the grocery store. We had a rough plan, but let the images at the store help add to the recipes. Our total was under 20 dollars and we walked home. Jeff cooked up lavender-orange-tarragon chicken with carrots and I made Parmesan potatoes (recipes at bottom). Leave it to me to use potatoes and cheese...I am not surprised.
So this is where the story gets really good....we cooked in about 30 minutes and finished at the same time with our individual dishes....and then (Gasp!) we only had 2 pots to clean.  It felt like the Twilight Zone. Jeff and I usually can't keep it together in the kitchen....my potatoes are burning...his chicken is taking forever to cook and we are left with 10 dishes to clean (mine even have things burnt on them).

So we sat down to a WONDERFUL dinner. We were pretty surprised about how tasty the food was and couldn't believe that it came together so well. These dishes are seriously good! The colors of the food reinforced the fall theme. Have I told you that I love fall yet? Then we watched a fantastic movie, Milk.

Jeff's cooking base of  fresh orange juice, shallots, garlic, tarragon and fresh lavender

Now with the chicken breasts

The fresh lavender

Sparkling water to drink (to keep the Candidas at bay, I opted out of wine)

My Potatoes....MMMM Cheese!

Jeff's Lavender, Tarragon, Orange Chicken
-2 cloves chopped garlic
-2 cups chopped carrots
-1 cup chopped shallots
-2 tablespoons tarragon
-2 tablespoons lavender
-Juice of 1 orange
-2 chicken breasts
-Salt and pepper to taste

Sautee garlic, carrots, and shallots in a bit of olive oil and add half the tarragon, lavender, and orange juice. Clear room in the middle of the sautee pan for the chicken breasts and add the remainder of the tarragon, lavender, and orange juice while the chicken breasts cook.

Toasted Parmesan Potatoes
-5 little red potatoes
-shredded Parmesan (none of that powder stuff!)
-2 cloves fresh chopped garlic
-olive oil
-salt and pepper

Slice the potatoes and coat in olive oil and put in a microwave safe container. Cook the potatoes for 4 minutes, then stir and cook for 4 more minutes. Top with 2 cloves garlic, salt and pepper to taste and a hefty layer of cheese. Bake in a glass container in the oven at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Then broil the potatoes on high for 5 minutes to slightly brown the cheese. Don't leave the potatoes unattended...the broiler will burn them pretty quick.

Pumpkin Cookies

What is the best way to spend your Halloween?

A. Watch your friends Devon and Luke try to make a flour explosion in a backyard

B. Bake pumpkin cookies and drink soy eggnog

C. Watch Gothika

Answer: All of the above!

I stumbled upon this pumpkin recipe on the Internet. These cookies are seriously amazing! They are so soft, almost like pumpkin cake. Jeff has already requested that I make this into a cake with cream cheese frosting. I have no problems doing so because I want to make these again!

By the way, have you ever tried Silk (soy) eggnog? I thought it would be gross and 'healhty' tasting but it wasn't at all. It still had that thick eggnog flavor with a lot less sugar/calories/fat.

In-N-Out

And this is it...the last post from California. How could I go to CA and not try In-N-Out? We walked in and I told Jeff I would need a few minutes to look over the menu and decide, he then proceeded to look at my strangely and point out the obvious, "there are only three choices Jenna, it can't really be that hard." I didn't realize that In-N-Out kept it simple and stuck to what they were good at: a hamburger, a cheeseburger and a double cheeseburger (fries as well, of course).

We decided to get the full effect...two doubles, two fries, two drinks, BAM! In-N-Out has good quality food as far as fast food goes, they try to keep most of the processes in house and serve fresh cut fries! I definitely noticed a difference in this burger. Unfortunately, my stomach did not agree but Jeff offered to drive the whole way and let me rest when I needed to.

Goodbye California, we had a great time and we will visit again!

The Caprice

This was hands down the best restaurant of our trip. The food was good but the view made this night absolutely unforgettable. The Caprice is a restaurant in Tiburon...across the bay from the Golden Gate bridge. If you would like to stare across the water at the bridge as the sun sets while eating really good food, please come here! Thank you so much to my dad for this recommendation!

So here is our table up against a window, looking at the bridge

Some sort of green concoction with Madori liqueur in it.

Looking great, as always!

Ahh, I am wearing black and grey...what a surprise!

The restaurant was pretty small which allowed for almost every table to have a view of the bridge.

So here is where it gets good. The bridge, the sun setting and a few local fisherman...beautiful!

Jeff chose our wine and it was so good. A really crisp white, not to sweet or acidic.

Another view of the sunset. So calming!

The City

Jeff ordered escargot. Yuck! I will admit I tried some and it actually tasted really good but I could not get over the texture thing.

Since Fall rolled around I was craving butternut squash soup. The spider-web design was beautiful.

Night on the city

Mussels

Pork Medallions and potatoes sides. I will admit the dinner was not the best thing I have ever had, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

~Comfort~

Best dining experience I have ever had :)

Dipsea

After a beautiful tour of Muir Woods, home of some redwood trees, Jeff and I were ready for some food. Our host, Marcia, recommended Dipsea as a good place to eat and we were glad we tried this comforting country cafe.

Water, water everywhere in CA.

I felt like this is a place where everyone knows your name. Very quint.

Chocolate malt...Jeff's favorite!

Jeff got the Reuben with salad instead of fries (way to make me look bad!)

I had a turkey and caramelized onion sandwich with fries, of course!

And by the way...HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I hope you are wearing your stretchy pants

Oranges and Eggs

I realize that this breakfast is really nothing special. Eggs and oranges; but the serenity of this picture makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :)

Poor Pairing

Baseball, a nice glass of wine and....caramel corn? What the heck was I thinking? Congrats to the S.F. Giants for winning the World Series (shouldn't it really be called the U.S. Series...just saying). What are odd food or drink pairings you make?

Gelato - Ferry Building

Happy Monday to you. Has anyone been to the Ferry Building in San Francisco? It really is a pretty neat place to eat. It is pretty much an indoor farmer's market with shops and restaurants. They had fresh baked breads, local cheese, grass-fed beef and GELATO! Yum! Now I can't remember what Jeff got, but mine (the bottom picture) was a malt ball flavored. Amazing, right? The flavor of malt balls with a few actually malt balls to add texture.

Italian Night

Happy Friday!

Is anyone going to see Harry Potter tonight? I am going tomorrow and I can't wait!

Last Friday I hosted an Italian night at my house to get through some of the recipes that are hard on my stomach. Jeff and I cooked through most of the recipes Thursday, so Friday was a breeze. There were two crock pots going and two dishes ready to go that just had to be thrown in the oven. We ended up with about 12 people, all chatting, drinking vino and scotch, eating some good Italian eats and generally having a good time. The best part of the evening is when my guy friends decided that they were going to ban me from the kitchen and put the food in tupperware, do the dishes, clean the stove top, and take out the trash. Amazing guys!

The first dish was a lasagna from Rose. I know you are suppose to let lasagna set a little before cutting but I couldn't resit. The blend of spices used in the sauce really makes for a great dish!

Not Your Average Green Salad - from Kathleen. I have a feeling that this is one of those recipes when someone had a fridge full of random items they needed to use up. It is kind of a kitchen sink recipe but all of the ingredients go so well together.

Stuffed Flank Steak - from Rose. This recipe was so good and so easy to make. You just buy a flank steak, make a simple filling, put it in a crock pot and let it cook. The meat was so tender and full of flavor from the Italian bread-crumbs. This was the only dish that was completely gone by the end of the party (and we even had 3 vegetarians!)

Eggplant Parmigiana - from Rose. I have actually never had Eggplant Parmigiana and I was really happy I got to try some. The Eggplant is fried in breadcrumbs and then baked in a homemade sauce with cheese and homemade meatballs, sounds great right? I was also really pleased to learn how to make a meatball. They are SO simple and I am wondering why I haven't been making meatballs all along.

Baked Mostaccioli - From Aunt Jean. So once again, I made some mistakes. I had never heard of mostaccioli, so I assumed (you know what happens when you assume) that perhaps it was just a spelling error and it was actually manicotti. So I go to the store, buy manicotti noodles and get started on the recipe. I read through it and realized that nowhere does it say stuff pasta...so I got to thinking, maybe this isn't manicotti. I googled mostaccioli and it turned out that it is a fancy name for penne pasta. Jeff was already out and about picking up dinner, so I called him and asked if he could grab some penne...crisis averted!

Not in the recipe book (because it is just beer) but I thought the foam on the top was just amazing looking.

Thank you to Jeff for putting up with an extra trip to the store, being there to do half of the cooking and prep, picking up dinner on Thursday, suggesting to put the meatballs on the cookie sheet instead of in "a thousand" tupperware like I wanted, and keeping me sane.

Thank you to Ryan for bringing me such a nice scotch to drink, cleaning up and just being a really nice guy.

Thank you Kevin, Mike and Pat for cleaning up. You guys are the best! For real :)

Recipes:

Lasagna

Sauce:
• 1 large can crushed tomatoes
• 1 can tomato sauce (approx. 15 oz)
• 1 can tomato paste (approx. 12 oz)
• Season to taste with onion, garlic, oregano, parsley, basil, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves.
Filling:
• 1 large pkg. whole milk ricotta (24 oz)
• 1 small pkg. skim milk ricotta (15 oz)
• 4 eggs
• ½ lb mozzarella cheese (½ lb more for layers)
• Salt, pepper, garlic and onion to taste
Mix 1 large package of whole milk ricotta (24 oz) and one small package of skim milk ricotta (15 oz)with four eggs, ½ lb mozzarella cheese, and salt, pepper, garlic and onion to taste. Spray 9 x 13 pan with olive oil. Spoon sauce into the bottom of the pan. Place cooked lasagna noodles in pan, cover with sauce and sprinkle with parmesan (or Romano or mixture of both). Add ricotta filling. Sprinkle mozzarella over the filling. Add a second layer of lasagna noodle; cover with sauce and sprinkle with cheese as above. Add third and final layer of lasagna noodles; cover with sauce and sprinkle with cheese as above. Bake approximately 1 hour at 350 degrees (325 if baking in glass). Cover with non-stick aluminum foil as necessary. Note: Use a total of 1 lb of mozzarella--½ lb in filling and ¼ lb sprinkled on top of each of the two layers of filling.

Not your average Green Salad
• Spring Mix Package (salad only)
• Cabbage (sliced thin) You can also use the packaged cabbage for coleslaw
• Angel Hair Pasta
• Basil
• Cilantro
• Grape tomatoes
• Pine Nuts
• Red Onion
• Paul Newman’s Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
Mix all the ingredients together in the amounts that appeal to you. Enjoy!

Stuffed Flank Steak

• Italian Breadcrumbs
• Milk
• Flank Steak
• Beefy Mushroom or onion soup mix
• Toothpicks
Wet Italian breadcrumbs with milk. Place in the center of flank steak. Roll the flank steak and secure with toothpicks. Place in crock-pot with beefy mushroom or onion soup mix. Add water to almost cover the meat. Cook until tender (6 to 8 hrs on low depending upon size).

Eggplant Parmigiana
Sauce:
• 1 large can crushed tomatoes
• 1 can tomato sauce (approx. 15 oz)
• 1 can tomato paste (approx. 12 oz)
• Season to taste with onion, garlic, oregano, parsley, basil, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves.
Meatballs:
• 1 lb ground beef or turkey
• 1 egg
• breadcrumbs
Mix in 1 egg. Shape into meatballs. Roll in Italian bread crumbs. Cook sauce and meatballs in crock pot on low for approximately 6 hours.
• Eggplant
• Egg
• Italian Bread Crumbs
• Olive oil
• Mozzarella
Peel and slice eggplant. Soak in salt water for ½ hour. Put a bowl on top to keep down. Remove from water and pat dry. Dip slices into egg and Italian bread crumbs. Fry in olive oil. Place on paper towel to absorb excess oil. Arrange in layers. Cover each layer with sauce and mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 degrees (325 if baking in glass). Cover with non-stick aluminum foil as necessary.

Baked Mostaccioli
• 3 jars spaghetti sauce
• 1 lb Mostaccioli
• 2 eggs
• 1 lb mozzarella cheese
• 1 lb ricotta cheese
• 1 cup parmesan cheese
• 2 Tbsp. oregano
Boil Mostaccioli for 5-6 minutes, drain, place in 9x12in baking pan (spray with pam). Mix ricotta cheese with egg – ½ cup parmesan and oregano – then mix in with the pasta, mix thoroughly – then pour in spaghetti sauce – mix ‘til no longer orange looking – it will be soupy. Grate the mozzarella cheese over you pasta, sprinkle remaining parmesan over the pasta. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350°F for one hour. (if you want to freeze, do it before baking and thaw completely prior to cooking).