Ready For Santa

 Homemade Oreos....enough said.

Three 30 Minute Dinners and One of my Favorite Things

I have an obsession with cleaning.  It is pitiful, I know.  I am a cleaning product whore who is constantly on the look out for new items, preferring those with natural ingredients and delicious smells.  In keeping with the seasonal theme of fall scents throughout our house I found my current obsession at Target .  It is Caldrea's Plum Nutmeg Countertop Spray.  All of Caldrea's products are dreamy, but I can't seem to stop incessantly spraying everything I can find with this one.  I may even be guilty of being a little messier than normal purpose!

I wasn't feeling my best this past week, and didn't quite have the motivation to take on any really complicated dishes.  I think my body may have been anticipating the time change and my circadian rhythm was playing tricks on me.  Anyhow, these three quick meals were made with ingredients from the kitchen and no trips to the store. Simple, quick and tasty!

French Onion Mushroom Chicken and Roasted Radishes

Yes, I used french onion dip.  Classy.

But, added a touch of class with a good Pinot.

Mixed greens with feta, baby cucumbers and sun dried tomatoes.

Sauteed Balsamic Rosemary Chicken with French Onion Mushroom Sauce (leeks, mushrooms, garlic, french onion dip, milk & chicken stock)   Roasted Radishes and Crescent Rolls

Classic Steak & Baked Potatoes

Mixed Greens with Raspberries, Goat cheese, Pecans and Champagne Vinaigrette

Grilled NY Strip

And Loaded Baked Potato

Alex's Pineapple Jalapeno Burger

Like I've said before, I'm a super lucky girl.  He stuffed these burgers with bacon and ground pecans and topped them with grilled pineapple, jalapeno and homemade BBQ sauce. 

Sweet Potato Fries

 

Hauntingly Delicious Nightmare!

I am a total sucker for holidays.  The decorations, the festive foods and the childlike spirit they evoke in us all.  If I could get away with putting my Christams trees up today, I would.  I love Halloween, but unfotunately missed out on the festivities of Saturday night to watch Texas get slaughtered (how fitting) and since it fell on a Sunday this year there was no getting too crazy on a work night (um, yeah - I'm getting old).  To capture the spirit I decided to create a spooky themed dinner nightmare menu.  Most of the Halloween recipes I came upon were way too gross to eat with basically enedible ingredients so it took a bit searching to find inspiration for these dishes that were haunting, healthy and delicious.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:  Cabbage, Beets, Apple Chipotle Brined Pork Tenderloin, Dried Cranberries, Dates, Radishes, Red Potatoes, Limes

Bloody Eyeball Margarita:  Margarita rimmed with salt and red sugar, Eyeballs mad of hollowed radishes stuffed with green olives and drops of red food coloring

Cockroach and Dried Scab Salad:  Mixed Greens tossed in Lemon Vinaigrette, Dates stuffed with goat cheese and pecans, and Dried Cranberries

Yummy!  Cockroaches!!!

Buried Alive Potatoes Colcannon:  Okay so not that spooky of a dish, but a true Irish Halloween tradition. "Colcannon, a traditional Irish dish associated with Halloween, is made with potatoes and savoy cabbage and served with a well of butter in its center. It's simple and delicious and comes with folklore that's sure to please the curious or superstitious. The tale, as told to me, concerns the fate of unmarried women who would put the first and last spoonfuls of Halloween Colcannon into a stocking and hang it on their doors. Their shared belief was that the first man who walked through the door would become their husband."  It is also traditional to serve the Colcannon with rings and prizes of small coins hidden inside.  I didn't find any jewelry inside and sure didn't put the leftovers in my stockings, but they tasted amazing.

Flesh Worms with Coagulated Blood:  Grilled Pork Tenderloin wrapped in Bacon, Raw Spaghetti teeth and Roasted Beet and Red Onion Puree

Ground Beef Wellington

Okay...so this does not sound like the most elegant of meals, I know.  The thing is, I have this amazing aunt that many of you know and we all love.  I am the youngest, so anytime she comes to town she still brings me everything a college kid would ever need to live off of (although I have been out of college a good 8 years now - SCARY).  You know,  the basics: dish soap, paper towels, TP, and tons and tons of frozen meat.  I am not complaining.  I think I am actually putting off getting married for fear of this treat coming to an end :-)  Suffice to say, I have found myself with a suprlus of ground beef.  So I present you with Ground Beef Wellington.

Mushrooms, yellow onion, baby cucumbers, leeks, parsnips, blue cheese, cherry tomatoes, blue cheese and yes crescent rolls.  I did not have time to make homemade puff pastry or to let store bought defrost.  I figured, I was already making ground beef wellington, so when in Rome!

Pastry rolled out with mushroom duxelle  and blue cheese layers.

My wellingtons.  Big mistake...I totally forgot an egg wash.  Oops - they were not quite as glossy and crispy as I would have liked.

Best part of the meal. What I drank while I cooked, and my secret ingredient to the sauce for the wellingtons.

Roasted tomato on rosemary skewers for salad.

Tada.  Not too terribly bad.  Parsnips and Leeks & Ground Beef Wellingtons with Vanilla Porter Balsamic Reduction

It's Raining Pecans!

It's Raining Pecans! Hallelujah!
It's Raining Pecans! Every Specimen!
Small, round, large and lean
Striped and brown and smooth and green!
Okay...enough with my tribute to the Weather Girls' hit.  BUT I am super stoked about the pecans that are seemingly being dumped by the truckload into our yard this time of year.  It's the first year the trees have fruited since we have lived here.  Our neighbor says they look like Burkett Pecans, but I really don't know the difference.  Nonetheless,  with a few other treats from our garden they made the perfect nightmare ingredient.

A few of the pecans I am picking up each day right now.  My dogs will not stop eating them - do you think that is a problem??

Fresh ingredients straight from the garden - various peppers, pecans, sage and one of the two pitiful tiny melons we grew this year.

Minced pecans for Pecan Crusted Veal.

Whole wheat gnocchi with grilled peppers and brown sage butter.

Arugula and spinach salad with (you guessed it) pecans, cranberries, goat cheese and roasted radishes.

Pecan Crusted Veal with Orange Agave Butter & Whole Wheat Gnocchi with Grilled Peppers and Brown Sage Butter

I took the juice of green grapes, lemon and the tiny watermelon and boiled with some water, sugar and Gran Marnier.  Then I froze for several hours to create a Watermelon Grape Granita.