MDW/MKE

A few weekends ago, I took a brief but fantastic journey to visit friends in Chicago and Milwaukee.  We ate a lot of delicious things, and I can't help but share some of the pictures.

Pequod's Pizza- amazing.  If only Pittsburgh had good Chicago-style deep dish.

:(

Not pictured: Late night stop at Cheesie's, where I ate a sandwich involving cheese (duh), bacon, french fries, and chives! 

En route to Milwaukee- purchasing of cheese curds.

After a brewery tour at Milwaukee Brewing Company, we stopped for dinner and liters of Spotted Cow.

The giant-est pretzel.  Quarter shown for scale.

Fried cheese curds with a dusting of parmesan on top.  Wisconsin is serious about cheese. (We also ate brats on pretzel rolls with cheese sauce, which were great but not so photogenic)

Comet Cafe breakfast, rounding out a weekend of gluttony with the special titled "Breakfast in Your Face".  French fries, sausage gravy, sausages, egg, cheese.  

I can't wait to go back!

Hasselback Potatoes

These things have been absolutely blowing up Pinterest.  Yet every single time, without fail, I read it as "Hasselhoff Potatoes."

So I decided to see what all the fuss was about- to be honest, I'm still not 100% sure.  It was good, I suppose a fancier alternative to a baked potato.  I'd still opt for garlic mashed or roasted, but this was easy enough and would look nice if you're having company.

I couldn't just cut it and bake it.  So here's what I did:
- Thinly slice potato (not all the way though! and if it rolls a lot place it on a wooden spoon)
- Take a clove of garlic and thinly slice (or run through your magical garlic crusher/slicer)
- Place garlic slices in between every other potato slice, or however much you want
- Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper
- Bake @ 400 degrees for 30-50 min (depends on potato size)
- Sprinkle generously with parmesan cheese (could also add some melted butter here)
- Eat.  Enjoy the garlic breath that may follow.

Black Bean Soup

Now that it is cold out, it's time...for soups! And slow-cooker recipes.  This satisfies both, and is quick to throw together (then it just cooks for awhile).

Not the most beautiful photo, but I promise it is delicious!

Inspired by recipes in the Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook.

Serves 6-8 as a main dish

Ingredients:

1 lb dried black beans

1 lb pork tenderloin, cut into approximately 1-inch cubes

2 medium onions, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 (or more) serrano peppers, stemmed and diced (I threw the seeds in as well)

1 10-oz can of Rotel (tomatoes + green chilis)

6 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped

1 T dried oregano

1 T cumin

3/4-1 T chili powder

2 C chicken broth (I used bouillon cubes for this)

1 C water

1 15-oz can black beans (optional; I added because the ratio seemed off to me but it doesn't matter much)

Garnish ideas: cilantro, cheese, sour cream, corn chips

1. Soak black beans overnight in a large pot filled with water.
2. The next morning/around lunchtime:  in a pan on the stove on medium-high heat, brown the pork tenderloin pieces in 1-2 T of canola oil.  Then put the pork in your slow cooker.  Keep the canola oil and juices in the pan, or if there seems to be a lot of fat then drain off about half of it.
3. Cook the onions, garlic, and red pepper in the pork juice/oil over medium-high heat until onions are translucent.
4. Dump onion/garlic/pepper and juices into slow cooker Add the black beans that you soaked, as well as the serranos, Rotel, cilantro, spices, broth, water, and extra can of black beans (if desired).
5. Cook on high for 5-6 hours until black beans are tender.  About a half hour before you plan to serve, either take a potato masher to the soup (less to wash this way) or spoon out some of the beans (avoiding pork chunks) into a food processor/blender and blend.  This will give the soup a thicker consistency.
6. Serve- garnish with cilantro, cheese, sour cream, chips, etc.  This would also be good over some rice!

Grilled Cheese

I'm not going to post a recipe for grilled cheese.  But I wanted to share this gem:

Why?  How can a cracker be "grilled"?  Why not just "cheese crackers"?  It makes no sense.

But I did make a real grilled cheese today with the bread I made on Tuesday.  Great success.  And no weird crackers were involved.

Cilantro-Ginger-Garlic Dressing

One of my hobbies is buying bunches of cilantro at the grocery store (it is the same price or cheaper as the silly little plastic boxes with a few sprigs of cilantro) and then only using half of it for the recipe I had planned.  So then it sits there for awhile until I give up and throw it out.  This week I put my foot down- I would not waste the rest of the bunch!  Salad dressing it is.

Ingredients:
1/2 to 3/4 bunch of cilantro
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T minced ginger
1/2 C olive oil, more if needed
1 T sugar
2 T red wine vinegar
crushed red pepper
pinch of salt

Pulse all ingredients in a small food processor until it is at your desired consistency.  Someone around here doesn't love vinegar too much, but you could certainly do more vinegar and less olive oil.

Where did fall go?

Seems like Pittsburgh went from this...

To this...

So quickly.  Or maybe it's just me.

Shepherd's Pie

Thanks to a multiple-day internet hiatus that involved multiple hours of phone calls to get fixed, this post has been a very long time coming!

I'm rather partial to meat and potatoes, if you hadn't guessed that already.  Shepherd's Pie is just that, with a few vegetables thrown in for color/to feel like one eats more vegetables.  According to Wikipedia (source of all that is fact), a Shepherd's Pie is supposed to contain lamb as shepherds work with sheep, and Cottage Pie is the name for a similar beef-containing dish.  For some reason I had thought its name came from its ability to be a hearty meal in one dish that shepherds could eat while out and about on the fields.  Also, it seems rather cruel for shepherds to be consuming a meal with lamb in front of the sheep they are herding.

Regardless, this recipe calls for ground beef rather than lamb.  So you're set to eat it around sheep, or lab rats, or whatever animals you may work with other than cows.  And you may call it whichever name you prefer.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

For the topping-

4-5 medium-sized potatoes, peeled

1/4 C or more milk, as desired

2-4 T butter, depending on your family history of heart disease

salt and pepper

Parmesan or cheddar cheese

For the filling-

1 lb ground beef

2 T canola or olive oil (or butter)

2 T flour

10 oz beef broth

3-4 cloves minced garlic

1 small onion, diced

1/2 C frozen corn

1/2 C frozen peas (could sub other vegetables!)
Herbs/seasonings: ground black pepper, 1 tsp dried thyme leaves, sage, whatever you prefer.  I used some Penzey's mix I had on hand.
Parsley for garnish

(it's hard to make ground beef look too pretty here...)

1. Peel potatoes, cut in half or thirds, and place in cold water.  Bring to a boil and continue to boil for 20-30 minutes until fork tender.
2. While the potatoes are boiling, you'll assemble the rest of the pie.  Start by browning and draining the ground beef in a large pot.
3. With the ground beef set aside, put the pot back on the stove and add the 2 T oil or butter over medium-high heat.  Once hot (or when butter is melted), add the onion and garlic and sauté until onions are translucent but garlic is not yet brown.
4. Add the flour and stir rapidly (you've got a rue here) or use a whisk to stir.  Cook, stirring frequently, for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the beef broth a small amount at a time, and continue to stir.  Bring to a simmer- it should start to thicken here.
6.  Add herbs/spices to taste and lots of ground black pepper.  Once the broth is starting to thicken into a gravy, add the ground beef, corn, and peas and continue to cook for 4-5 minutes (or longer to thicken gravy).
7. Pour ground beef mixture into a round dish (I used an approx 9-inch diameter glass dish).

-Turn on your broiler-

8. Now back to the potatoes- drain these, and return to their pot.  Add milk, butter, salt and pepper, and mash away until they are the consistency that you like.
9. Spread potatoes on top of beef mixture, being sure to get all the edges so the gravy doesn't bubble out.
10. Sprinkle parmesan or other cheese on top of potatoes.
11.  Place your dish in the oven a few inches below the broiler, and broil 5 or more minutes until the cheese is melted and slightly browned on top, or to your liking.  Parsley garnish would be great too.
12. Eat! 

Impulsive purchases this weekend

1. Multiple bottles of nail polish.  Including this kind:

Yep, the magnetic stuff that's been all over pinterest.  A friend gave me a coupon for Sephora, though that doesn't fully justify buying it.

2. Inspired by other blogs, and because I obviously need it:

I'm now ready for cold weather.

A Tuesday Story

Once upon a time, a few weeks ago, my mother and I ventured into the Strip District for a meal at Kaya.

And then this burger happened:

And it was absolutely amazing.  Egg, bacon, burger, cheese, mysterious sauce, and all.

The End.

Teriyaki Beef Stir Fry

I still remember the best teriyaki beef I've ever encountered- it was in 2006 at a small roadside diner named Tex Drive In.  It is in Hawaii on the Big Island, and famous for its malasadas (Portuguese donut-like sweets).   It wasn't fancy (we ordered at a counter and ate outside), but the food was amazing.  If I ever make it back to Hawaii I will hunt it down again.

Sadly this is not the same teriyaki beef as at Tex Drive In, but it is an easy, tasty alternative.  The sauce also works well as a marinade for grilling beef or chicken.


Teriyaki Beef Stir Fry
Serves 5-6

Ingredients:
1.5 lb flank steak
1-2 T canola oil
Green beans, snow peas, or other vegetables as desired (may consider steaming or microwaving until partially cooked, depending on what vegetables you choose)
Green onions for garnish
Rice for serving

Marinade:
1/4 C soy sauce
1 T sherry
1 T cornstarch

Teriyaki Sauce:
1/2 C soy sauce (I use low sodium)
1/4 C red wine vinegar
2 T brown sugar (could substitute honey)
2 inch ginger root; peeled and minced
4-6 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 T crushed red pepper (we like it hot around here and add even more on top)

1. Slice beef into thin strips against the grain
2. Mix ingredients for marinade in a bowl and stir in the beef.  Cover and allow it to marinate for at least 30 minutes
3. Mix teriyaki sauce in a separate bowl and set aside
4. Heat oil in large skillet or wok over medium-high heat
5. Add steak and cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally
6. When steak has lost most of its raw red color, add vegetables and teriyaki sauce
7. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until desired doneness
8. Serve with jasmine rice; garnish with green onions


The boyfriend would like credit for cutting all vegetables in the above photos.

Meat Sauce (with sausage)

Spaghetti sauce, meat sauce, tomato sauce, ragu, bolognese- so many names for variations of the same thing.  This one better classifies as a ragu (meat sauce) than a bolognese (specific type of ragu), and it doesn't require the day-long cooking that a good bolognese does.  Pasta sauce is a common occurrence in this apartment, as it's easy to make in large quantities and freeze for later.

Meat Sauce with Sausage

Serves 8-12

Ingredients:

1 lb bulk Italian sausage (ideally without fennel)

1 lb ground beef

1 large onion, diced

6-8 cloves garlic, minced

28 oz whole Italian peeled plum tomatoes

2 cans of tomato sauce, one 28 oz and one 12 oz (my family always uses Dei Fratelli)

At least 8-10 large leaves fresh basil, more to taste, torn or cut into smaller pieces

2 Tb fresh chopped oregano

pinch salt

generous freshly ground black pepper

¼ to 1/3 C olive oil

1.  Brown sausage and beef in a large pot over medium-high heat, then drain and set aside

2.  In the same pot, add the olive oil and heat over medium-high.  Then add onions, garlic, and a pinch of salt.  Cook until onions are near translucent.

3. Add beef and sausage back to the pan, and add plenty of black pepper.  Cook for 1-2 minutes.

4. Add tomato sauce and peeled tomatoes, and break the tomatoes with a spoon.

5. Add basil and oregano.

6. Bring to a simmer then lower heat to low so that an occasional bubble pops through.

7. Simmer uncovered on low heat, stirring occasionally, for 1.5-2 hours.

Serve with pasta (we're partial to penne here) and freshly grated parmesan!

Eggs!

Eggs have a lot going for them.  Cheap, healthy (if you toss out some of the yolks), and fast.  But plain scrambled eggs are so...boring.  In case you've been stuck in a rut with boring eggs, here are some other ideas.

1. Scramble them in olive oil, add some fresh or dried herbs, salt, and freshly ground black pepper.

2. Cheesy Buffalo Eggs

To make: Scramble eggs (or egg whites), add some cheese (I used American, but Cheddar would probably be even better).  Drizzle with buffalo wing sauce.  Some green onion garnish or some shredded chicken would probably be delicious as well.

3. Put some garlic salt and Penzey's "mural of flavor" on them.  (No, this is not an ad.  I just love this mix of herbs on eggs.)

4. Pesto Egg Sandwich
To make: Toast English muffins and spread both sides generously with pesto.  Consider adding a swipe of butter before the pesto if you're feeling risky.  You deserve it.

Then, scramble/fry/poach (whatever you prefer) 1 or 2 eggs.  Season with salt and pepper.  A few moments before removing from the pan, top with parmesan or mozzarella cheese.  You can get creative here with other toppings (tomatoes, spinach, arugula).  Assemble your sandwich and enjoy!

5. Sriracha on eggs.  Sriracha on everything.  Do it.

Food and drink in the City of "Points" (Washington, D.C.)

A weekend trip to Washington, D.C. was a great success in terms of friend-time, food-time, and drink-time.

(obligatory panda photo)

Our culinary adventure began with pupusas at a Salvadoran restaurant. They were a somewhat inexplicable cross between a quesadillas/corn tortillas/pork tacos. We tried cheese pupusas and pork pupusas; all were pretty good and came with a side of slaw.

Our next adventure was an unplanned visiting of bars "on the way" to the places we were walking. The weather was rather miserable so avoiding the outdoors was key. Some of the highlights included a delicious trippel, a stop at a local brewery/restaurant, and some stops in Chinatown.

Dinner included delicious chicken pesto pizza, a pizza with Spanish ham and oven-dried tomatoes, and red wine at a chic/multi-level restaurant in Chinatown. With an amazing fruit beer on the way.

("point" photo)

Things you should NOT eat today: Caterpillars

I've learned something big today: don't. eat. caterpillars. I also got some practice in species identification.

For more information look here, but some highlights include-

1. Caterpillars can be venomous

2. There is no antivenom (though so far no known deaths in the US are due to caterpillars)

3. Caterpillar spines can get embedded in your tongue/mouth/esophagus on down, requiring sedation/scopes to remove.

So when you see one of those oh-so-appetizing little guys, just say no.

PS don't let your children eat them either.