Eat to the Beat!! Another Blog Challenge!

Last week after completeing my first blog challenge, I started to look for others and stumbled upon the Eat to the Beat challenge hosted by Elly of Elly Says Opa - you pick a song or a band or lyrics and relate it to a recipe.

I started really listening to songs on the radio and let's face it, most songs have a common theme of love. As I listened more I realized that so many of these love songs had another common word in them besides the word love: heart.

Think of it, there's a band named Heart. There's also "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion, "Cross My Heart" by George Strait, "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler, "Unbreak My Heart" by Toni Braxton, "Heartbreaker" by Mariah Carey, "Open Your Heart to Me" by Madonna, etc. Obviously I could carry on about songs with the word heart in the title, nevermind the word heart in the lyrics - I'm sure there are thousands of those!

So while I hadn't chosen one particular song, the common thread of the word "heart" in so many songs, and song titles (and even one band name!) led me to making a heart healthy main dish.

First I had to do some research on heart healthy foods and was easily able to find a great list on WebMD. The first food on that list is salmon. Salmon immediately struck a chord with me because I haven't had salmon in a long time. However, I really didn't want to just make a boring piece of salmon so I started searching for ideas. On Martha Stewart's food site I found a recipe for salmon cakes that piqued my interest but, per usual, I wanted to make some of my own modifications to it.

To help the cakes stick together, instead of using breadcrumbs in the mixture itself, I used oatmeal which is also on WebMD's heart healthy foods list. The recipe already called for some finely diced red bell pepper (on WebMD's list again) but I decided to add another veggie from the list - carrots. So, in the salmon cakes alone, I had 4 heart-healthy ingredients that you can Eat to the Beat with!

Check out the results and eat your heart out! I was really pleased with how these came out in the end - a nice crunchiness on the outside of the cakes and lots of great flavor inside. I served the salmon cakes atop some orzo tossed in olive oil and pepper. Unfortunately I was so consumed with the blog challenge that I hadn't put any thought into a side dish at all. Oops! Luckily this entry is about the salmon cakes!

Salmon Cakes
(inspired by Salmon Cakes recipe on MarthaStewart.com)



2 - 6oz pouches of salmon (I used Bumble Bee which was already de-boned)
1 small red bell pepper (or half of a large pepper), seeded and finely chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped carrots
¼ cup grated onion
3 large egg whites
1 large egg
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of ground ginger
½ cup quick cooking oats
½ cup bread crumbs
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

In a bowl, combine salmon, bell pepper, onion, egg, egg whites, mustard, paprika, celery salt, pepper, and ginger, and oatmeal. Using hands, combine well.

Pour bread crumbs into a shallow bowl. Form salmon mixture into 8 three-inch patties. Coat patties in bread crumbs; place on prepared baking sheet. Cook for 15 minutes and flip cakes and return to oven another 15 minutes (for a total 30 minutes of cook time). Serve warm.

Nice Matters Award

I received the Nice Matters Award the other day from Dell of Cooking and the City! Thanks, Dell! Now it's my turn to make a tag!

Danielle of Make No Little Meals

Katerina of Daily Unadventures in Cooking

Diana of D.S. Brennan Photography

Beef Stew

I had a cold all last week complete with nasty hacking cough. By later the middle of last week, my husband felt like he was coming down with the same thing (sans hacking cough). We passed on our original plans for Saturday night and stayed in so we didn't get anyone else sick. The last thing anyone wants to do is hang out with a hacking germ-ridden friend and her potentially just has germ-ridden husband.

I had bought ingredients to make beef stew later in the week in the crockpot but since we stayed in Saturday night I decided to make it then. I always make stew in the crockpot but I'd had this Martha Stewart recipe tagged for quite some time and decided to go this route instead. It was delicious! I didn't make any modifications really except for the fact that I thought I had tomato paste and only realized after I opened the can that it was actually tomato sauce. I used it anyway and the only effect it probably had was to make the liquid part of the stew a little more liquidy (which I actually prefer). Oh and I left the bay leaf out - otherwise I pretty much followed this to a T. This one is definitely a keeper!

Beef Stew
(from marthastewart.com)

3 lbs beef chuck, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1/3 cup tomato paste
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pound medium onions (about 2), cut into 1-inch chunks
1 pound small white or red new potatoes (about 6), well scrubbed, halved if large
1 pound carrots, cut into 1 1/2-inch lengths
6 garlic cloves, smashed
2 bay leaves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a Dutch oven (5-quart) with a tight-fitting lid, combine beef, tomato paste, vinegar, and flour; season with salt and pepper.

Add onions, potatoes, carrots, garlic, bay leaves, and 3 cups water. Bring to a boil. Cover, transfer to oven, and cook until meat is fork-tender, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Remove bay leaves and if desired, season with salt and pepper before serving.

Crockpot chicken

Whole chickens were ridiculously inexpensive on sale at the supermarket last week. After reading up on a variety of recipes in my "Fix it and Forget It" cookbook and on allrecipes.com I determined I should try one in my crockpot. It came out so juicy and tender. The recipe is mostly a fusion of various recipes I read. I did stuck mostly to how I'd typically season a chicken going into the oven with a few tweaks.

And... let me just say that the Reynold's Slow Cooker Liners are so worth it - they cut my cleaning time down of my crockpot significantly! I use them all the time since I discovered them a few months back.

Crockpot Chicken

1 whole 4-5 lb chicken

1 medium onion

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon celery salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 tabelspoon butter

1/2 can chicken broth

Rinse chicken thoroughly and pat dry. Be sure to remove any innards.

Chop the onion into large hunks. Mix onion in a small bowl with 1 teaspoon minced garlic and 1/4 teaspoon celery salt. Stuff this mixture into the empty cavity of the chicken.

Season chicken with remaining minced garlic and remaining celery salt as well as pepper, paprika, and Italian seasoning. Dot top of chicken with small pieces of butter. Pour 1/2 can of chicken broth into the crockpot.

Cook chicken on low for 7-8 hours or until done. (p.s. I made a gravy with the broth/juices from the chicken by adding about 3/4 cup of water mixed with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch).

And if you don't believe me that the chicken was tender, just check out this picture! The chicken literally fell apart when I removed it from the crockpot. This made it oh so much easier to clean it all off of the bone!! (p.s. On top of the chicken those are the onions that were stuffed into the cavity).

My First Blog Challenge: Master Baker!

I am happy to report that I am participating in my first ever blog challenge. I've been eyeing a few lately but I wanted to find one that I thought I could handle my first time out, some of them are a bit intimidating. That's when I found the Master Baker blog challenge. The rules were simple - create something with the featured ingredient in it, and that ingredient was cinnamon.

So I set out to create up a cinnamon-esque concoction of some sort. My mind immediately went to something with apples and I began brainstorming a plethora of different desserts using apples - there's apple pie, apple sauce, apple cake, apple cobbler, apple tarts, apple turnovers. Wait, I thought to myself....apples are a little too obvious and mundane, how about another fruit? After some careful thought, I decided on pears. They were similar to apples in texture and I knew they'd work well with the cinnamon. So I began replacing my list above withe pears. Pear pie? No. Pearsauce? Nope. Pear cake? Eh. Pear cobbler? Feasible. Pear tart? Maybe. Pear turnover? Yes!

I love turnovers. Delicate layers of puff pastry wrapped around fruity goodness is my idea of delicious whether it be for breakfast or dessert. But, I couldn't just made a plain ole pear turnover- enter almonds for a little extra oomph. I also needed a yummy icing - enter inspiration from the Peanut Butter Cupcakes I made a couple of weeks ago. I had modified that cream cheese icing recipe by adding a little peanut butter. I decided I could modify it again (sans peanut butter of course) to fit the overall theme. My husband, aka my guinea pig, was my fellow taste tester of the final product. Knowing that a blog challenge was riding on this taste test, I was giddy that he gave the final product an overwhelming two thumbs up.

And so I introduce to you the results of my first blog challenge.....

Pear Almond Turnovers with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing



1 sheet puff pastry, thawed according to package directions
2 medium pears, sliced thinly in 1/4 inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup slivered almonds + 2 tablespoons (for garnishing on top of finished turnover)

Icing*
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
(This makes enough icing for 2 batches of turnovers)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Cut puffy pastry sheet into 4 squares.

Combine pears, lemon juice, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, sugar, and 1/4 almonds in medium bowl. Place about 2 - 2 1/2 tablespoons of mixture onto each puff pastry square. Dab water edges of pastry with a little bit of water. Fold pastry over pear mixture to form a rectangle and seal by pressing edges together. Place on baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until pastry is puffed and golden.

Meanwhile, make icing: Combine cream cheese and butter and mix on low speed with hand mixer. Add vanilla and continue mixing. Add confectioner's sugar gradually. Then add cinnamon continuing to beat on low until well combined.

When turnovers have cooled for about 5-10 minutes. Place a generous amount of icing in a plastic resealable bag. Knead icing down into one corner of the bag and snip the tip of the bag off with kitchen scissors. Use the bag to drizzle each turnover with icing. Sprinkle each with extra slivered almonds. Serve warm.

I've been Meme'd again

My blogging buddy from Australia, Dell of Cooking and the City, has tagged me for a fun meme...so here it goes!

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Hmmm....10 years ago I was a junior in high school trying to figure out life probably, stressing over things that would probably seem weird and inane now, and trying to figure out why I didn't have a boyfriend yet. Little did I know that in a few short months I would be meeting who would turn out to be my future husband!

What were you doing 1 year ago?
I do believe a year ago today was my friend Denice's bridal shower so I think I, along with the other bridesmaids and Mrs. H., were probably trying to get everything in order.

Five snacks you enjoy
1. Chocolate
2. Chocolate
3. Chocolate
4. Chocolate
5. Chocolate :-)

5 Things I would do if I was a millionaire
1. Travel to my heart's content
2. Get involved in some volunteer work, help with my money if I could
3. Buy a summer home on Cape Cod
4. Buy a boat, I love boats
5. Get new cars

5 Bad Habits
1. I bounce my leg up and down when I'm anxious/excited/stressed/nervous
2. I hate running the dishwasher too often so I'll jam pack as much in there as I can
3. I'm clumsy
4. I can't think of anything else, I'm pretty perfect I guess (HAHAHAHA)


5 things you would never wear again
1. Neon anything (ahhhh to be a child of the 90's!)
2. Shoulder pads (I'm stealing this from Del...what were we thinking?)
3. Blue plastic framed glasses (ahhh to be 10 again!)
4. MC Hammer-esque pans (yup...90's again)
5. Opaque pantyhose (all set with those unless they make some kind of crazy comeback)

5 Favourite (kitchen) Toys
1. Cusinart mini-prep
2. Sandwich maker
3. Cookie scoop (I have a few in various sizes)
4. Bread basket with warming stone (comes in so handy when you have guests over!)
5. Keurig Coffee maker!

And I tag....
Danielle from Make No Little Meals
Erin from Erin's Eats
Kayte from Kayte's Kitchen
Samantha from Our Sub Life

E for Excellent!

I am so happy that I've been given an award from the very sweet Dell of Cooking and the City! It was such a pleasant surprise.

Now I guess the rule is that I get to tag 5 more blogs that I think are excellent!!! This should be fun!

My first tag has to be my friend Danielle from Make No Little Meals - now, you may say I'm partial since we are friends but just read her blog! Danielle's creations are nothing short of ordinary and I bow to her culinary expertise which blows mine out of the water! Oh and did I mention she is an awesome photographer too?

Second is Bridget from ...and a Cookie for Dessert. I just really love Bridget's cooking style, her willingness to try different meals and bake different goodies. I really enjoy reading her blog in general and I've made a few of her recipes myself.

Next up is Stephany from Realistic Eats, I "know" Stephany from my local nest board. Her blog title says it all, down to earth and wholesome. Just how I like it.

Lindsay and Taylor from Love and Olive Oil - I just love their recipes and the photography of their food makes my mouth water. Definitely a blog worth checking out.

And last but certainly not least, Amber from Amber's Delectable Delights. I love Amber's witty commentary about her recipes, nevermind that she has made some pretty awesome recipes along the way.

Balsamic Chicken & Chorizo Pasta

Greg: So what's for dinner tonight?
Me: I don't know....I am going to make something up as I go along....

And so, Balsamic Chicken & Chorizo Pasta was born.

I had a link of chorizo in the fridge, and 2 boneless chicken breasts. While I ruminated on what I could make for dinner last night, for some reason, mixing those two into some spaghetti sounded like a good idea. It was! Serve this up with some salad as a starter and you've got a fulfilling meal.

So here is my creation, with my best estimate of measurements (which I think are pretty accurate) and my best explanation of techniques! You could ,of course, add more spice to this recipe if you wanted. Overall I was really happy with how the flavors of this dish came together.

Balsamic Chicken & Chorizo Pasta

2 large boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 link of hot chorizo, cut into chunks
4-5 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
About 1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
About 1/2 of a medium onion, grated
2 - 2 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
About 1/2 cup white wine
About 1/2 pound spaghetti, cooked

Bring a salted pot of water to a boil. Cook spaghetti until al dente.

Toss chicken chunks in salt, pepper, and paprika Place about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add chicken and toss until almost cooked. Add chorizo, onion, and minced garlic. Add balsamic vinegar. Cook until chicken chunks are cooked through and garlic and onions are browned.

While still on medium heat, add about a 1/2 cup of white wine to chicken/chorizo mixture to deglaze pan. Make sure to get all of the brown bits on the side of the pan. Add spaghetti to skillet and toss in meat mixture and resulting "sauce" until well coated and pasta is heated through. Add an extra tablespoon or two or olive oil if you feel you need more of a coating on your pasta.

Monthly Muffin Challenge: February

It's Monthly Muffin Challenge time!

This month's muffin is a spiced carrot muffin a la Martha Stewart. I made a few modifications like replacing some of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour, using sour cream instead of yogurt, and cutting down on the carrots a little and adding raisins (I made some sans raisins for my raisin hating hubby). Overall, a good recipe, but not the best muffin recipe ever. I'm sure I'll discover that one at some point during 2008!



Spiced Carrot Muffins


1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin-pie spice
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups sour cream
5 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1 large egg
1 tablespoon milk.
1 ¼ cups peeled, shredded carrots, (about 2 medium)
½ cup raisins

Line 12 cups (each 2 1/2 inches wide) of a standard muffin tin with paper liners or spray each muffin cup generously with cooking spray; set aside. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, pumpkin-pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together yogurt, butter, milk, and egg. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add yogurt mixture. Stir until just combined. Fold in carrots. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for about 20 minutes.

Valentine's Day dessert

My husband and I had decided earlier in the week to just call for takeout on Valentine's night, since we rarely get takeout and did not want to deal with the Valentine's day crowds. I did want to make a special dessert nonetheless. So I decided to make this recipe that I'd been wanting to try for a Skillet-Baked Chocolate Chip Cookie that fit the bill (i.e. not very time consuming so I could kick back and relax).

Problem is, while at work on Thursday I realized I didn't have chocolate chips at home. I didn't want to make a supermarket run after work, especially since it's not a convenient trip (I actually have to drive past my house to get there). So I used my noggin and I stopped at a CVS downtown (which I could just walk to on my way out of work to the parking garage). I bought a couple of candy bars - one dark chocolate, one milk chocolate and cut those up to make more of a chocolate chunk cookie. Either way, the results were delicious. We served warm this with ice cream of course. Nothing better than a giant chocolate chip cookie on a cold winter's night!


Skillet-Baked Chocolate Chip Cookie
(from MarthaStewart.com)



2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (about 9 ounces) mixed milk- and semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla; mix until they are fully incorporated. Add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Transfer dough to a 10-inch ovenproof skillet (I actually used my 12-inch skillet and cut down the cooking time to about 30 minutes), and press to flatten, covering bottom of pan. Bake until edges are brown and top is golden, 40 to 45 minutes. Don't overbake; it will continue to cook a few minutes out of the oven. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, 15 to 20 minutes. Cut into 8 wedges. Serve warm; top each wedge with a scoop of ice cream.