Visit my newly redesigned blog - Pancakes & Paella

Welcome to the newly redesigned blog, Pancakes & Paella!

I started this blog almost 3 years ago after taking a vacation of a lifetime with my husband to Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Napa Valley in 2010.  We made it a point to eat new and exciting food, gourmet and simple.  The blog was my husband's idea, a way to chronicle our dining experiences on the trip.  At that time I wasn't quite sure what else I would do with the blog, but soon we both started chronicling dishes we were making at home as well as nights out to local restaurants.  Since its inception, the name of the blog has been "Adventures in Food", because, well, we really were having adventures eating new dishes, trying new ingredients, learning new cooking methods, mostly successful and tasty but sometimes disastrous. The mission for the blog remains the same - chronicle the culinary adventures of the McCrary family, both good and bad.   I came up with the new title based on the range of dishes we like to eat, from the epitome of comfort food for me, simple pancakes, to new and exciting dishes like paella (with saffron, something we'd never cooked with before).  So thank you for stopping by, and I hope by reading my blog you are inspired to have your own culinary adventure!

Paella - April 2009

Turkey Sausage and Spinach Ragu over Parmesan Polenta

I recently discovered a food blog call Eat.Drink.Smile.  The blog post for that particular day was regarding the sad state of hunger in America, and the new documentary film "A Place at the Table: A Call to Action" that was just released.  The recipe on that day's post was focused on a simple, healthy, and inexpensive dish for a typical family of four - turkey sausage and spinach ragu on parmesan polenta.  Sounded tempting, and last night we made the dish.  It is delicious!  We like to make this type of dish, but would typically put the ragu on top of pasta (which would also be good). But the variation of using polenta as the base was a good change, and something we will repeat from now on! I put ALOT of cheese in the polenta, probably 1-1/2 cups vs the 1 cup in the recipe.  Can't have too much cheese (except it does make it a little less healthy).  We served it with sliced French bread drizzled with EVOO, salt, and pepper, and put under the broiler for a couple of minutes until brown.

As promised, this was a very easy dish to make, I had everything on hand already except the polenta (I do have grits, could have used those instead).  I started the polenta first becuase I bought Red Mills regular yellow corn polenta, and not the instant kind. Cooking time for the regular variety was 30 minutes, which worked out perfectly with the rest of the dish.  While the polenta was cooking, we chopped, cooked the sausage, sauteed the onions (and I added a shallot I had on hand), and simmered the ragu.

Recipe, copied from Eat.Drink.Smile website:

turkey sausage and spinach ragù on parmesan polenta

Serves 4. Adapted from Cooking Light and http://www.eat-drink-smile.com/2013/04/a-place-at-the-table-a-call-to-action.html

ingredients:

3 (4-ounce) links sweet turkey Italian sausage, casings removed
1 cup finely chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups marinara sauce
2 1/3 cups water, divided
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup instant polenta
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
4 cups coarsely chopped fresh spinach

directions:

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage; sauté for 8-10 minutes, until no longer pink, stirring to crumble. Remove sausage from pan; drain all but about 1 tablespoon of liquid. Return to medium-high heat. Add onion, and sauté 4 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Stir in sausage, marinara, and 1/3 cup water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes. With about 3 minutes remaining, add chopped spinach to the ragu. Stir to combine.

Bring remaining 2 cups water and milk to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat; reduce heat to low. Gradually add polenta, and cook for 3 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in cheese, salt and pepper. Serve with sausage mixture.

Poached Salmon with Saffron Rice - Recipes by Thomas Keller

Sunday afternoons are our favorite time to cook, especially new recipes using ingredients or new cooking methods we may not have used before.  Last weekend was no exception.  We enjoy looking through our cookbooks by Thomas Keller, and we zeroed in on his Poached Salmon dish and Saffron Rice.  They are both in his cookbook Ad Hoc at Home.

The poaching liquid for the salmon is Court Bouillon, a relatively easy quick vegetable stock with wine. The court bouillon consisted of carrots, leeks, fennel, onion, and a sachet with herbs, peppercorns, and garlic. 

After the court bouillon is made, strain and lower the heat to approx 200 F.  Now it is time to poach! Put the salmon in a large heavy pot or pan so there is enough room to cover with the liquid.  Chef Keller has many suggestions in his book on poaching for serving the fish hot or cold.  We chose hot.

While we were making the salmon we also cooked Chef Keller's Saffron Rice.  The recipe calls for a short grain rice that I could not find at my local supermarket, so I had to settle for risotto style short grain rice.  

Overall poaching turned out to be a very easy cooking method, kept the fish very moist, and infused the fish with flavor!  

We served the fish over the rice, with some of the court bouillon vegetables and fresh peas on the side.  Delicious!

 

Roll Tide! Slow-cooker Chicken Taco Chili

Tonight the University of Alabama plays Notre Dame for the National Championship. As avid Alabama fans, our house is hoping for a 3rd National Championship in 4 years. I thought a nice warm bowl of chili would kick off the night right.

Chicken Taco Chili - serves 6-8

Ingredients:
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can white corn kernels, drained
16 oz tomato sauce
28 oz diced tomatoes, no salt added
1 packet low sodium taco seasoning
1 tbsp chili powder
3 boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size cubes
1 avocado
shredded pepper jack cheese

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker.  Mix to combine.  Cook for 6 hours high or 10 hours low.

Serve with shredded pepper jack cheese and sliced avocado. 

Roll Tide!!

Goodbye 2012 - Cake Pops, Mummy Dogs, Biggest Flop, and Much Much more

There is only one more day in 2012.  So, in the spirit of starting fresh in 2013, I'm devoting this post to all the things in 2012 that I had great intentions to blog about but never did. I'll start off on a sweet note with two sweet treats we made recently - Cake Pops and Meringue cookies.

Cake Pops

For Christmas I received a Babycakes Cake Pop maker.  With the help of my husband we successfully made three dozen chocolate cake pops with vanilla glaze (some colored red), and some with sprinkles.  I'll say the cake part was very easy, and I definitely want to try other things with the Babycakes maker other than cake pops. The candy coating part was a bit trickier, but we had an efficient assembly line going and it turned out well.

Meringue Cookies

I attempted to make meringue cookies recently for the first time in 8-9 years.  The previous time (my first attempt) did not go well, and so I decided making these light and airy cookies was not for me. My mom makes them and they always turn out so well that I decided maybe my first attempt was a fluke.  Based on my recent results, maybe I'll be making more of these cookies again soon!  (And actually promised them as a gift, so I better be getting to it....).

Finished cookies

Finished cookies up close and personal

Recipe courtesy of my mom:
Ingredients
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup semi- sweet chocolate mini morsels (optional)

Directions: Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. Gradually add in sugar. gently fold in chips. Drop mixture by teaspoonfuls onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Place in a 400 degree oven and turn the oven off. Leave in oven overnight or eight hours. Store in an air tight container. 

Mummy Dogs (Halloween 2012)

Thanks to Pinterest I decided to get creative with my dish for our office Halloween party.  The most creative I've gotten in the past is to bring "Devil"-ed eggs, but they looked just like regular deviled eggs.  So I really just got creative on the sign up sheet. This year I made Mummy dogs and I must say I was quite impressed with how well they turned out.  Steps: cut crescent roll dough into strips, cut sliced cheese of your choice into strips, and cut hot dogs in half.  Wrap hot dogs with cheese, then dough, bake, and dot some eyes with mustard.

Biggest Flop of 2012

Yes, we get some flops of dishes around here from time to time. Sometimes by no fault of our own, just ends up being a not so tasty or incorrect recipe.  Then other times, it's just not meant to be no matter how highly the recipe is rated and how exact you measure the ingredients.  The biggest flop award for 2012 goes to....German Chocolate cake I made for my mom's birthday.  Not only did it not come out of the pan, it really didn't taste that great either. So, thankfully I had a backup box of devil's food cake mix on hand, so I still was able to arrive at her party with a nice "homemade" cake! (Oh, and the homemade icing did turn out great!)

Complete flop of a cake. Don't we all agree using a box mix tastes just as good?

Successful finished cake (box mix, homemade icing)

Ranch Marinated Steaks - Publix Aprons Recipe

I do a majority of our grocery shopping at Publix.  They have an area of the store where someone makes food, lets you sample it, hands out the recipe card, and has all the ingredients you need in a case right there next to them.  Most of the time this is what happens: I see free food, I eat the free food, I comment how good it is and take a free recipe card, then promptly never look at the said recipe again or buy any of the required ingredients.  However, one day this summer they had Ranch Marinated Steaks.  I decided to make them since it was rather good, the ingredient list was short, and it looked rather quick to make.  It was a success!  Will save this for when we are craving a big juicy slab of meat.  Recipe can be found at the Publix website here. 

Baked Oatmeal

I discovered Baked Oatmeal earlier this year. It's so good and easy!  The recipe I use is from the blog Stacy Makes Scents.  Sometimes I throw in fresh blueberries if I have them on hand (which is basically all summer).  I like to make this on Sunday afternoon, then wrap up some for breakfast each morning as I run out the door for work.  Good with or without syrup on top! 

Crockpot Meals

Two new crockpot meals I discovered this year and love are Mexican Chicken and Beef Pepperoncini sandwiches. For the Mexican Chicken, I didn't take a picture. Here's what you do - take one package of boneless chicken breasts and put them in a crock pot.  Sprinkler 1 envelope of taco seasoning over the chicken, then top with 1 jar of your favorite salsa. Cook on High for 4-6 hrs or Low for 6-8 hrs.  When it's done shred the chicken with a fork.  Use for tacos, nachos, or however you'd like!

Next up is the Beef Pepperoncini sandwiches.  I found the recipe on the Krazy Coupon Lady website. Great to make when the beef goes on sale! When the meat is done, shred it up and put on rolls of your choice with a slice of cheese. 

All the ingredients for the beef sandwiches

Coconut Cream Pie

Since I started off this 2012 summary/hodgepodge post with something sweet, why not wrap things up with something else sweet!  I am a huge fan of anything coconut, including coconut cream pie. I've made this recipe a couple times and both times it turned out perfectly. The recipe is from Cooking Light (love this magazine!), so you don't feel too bad about having a 2nd helping!  Just looking at this photo again makes me want to go make one now. Except I really might make some baked oatmeal later, need some breakfast for this week.....

Happy New Years!

Rigatoni with Vegetable Bolognese, Recipe by Giada DeLaurentiis

Earlier in December we made this rustic no-meat pasta dish from the cookbook Giada's Kitchen by Giada DeLaurentiis.  Lots of mushrooms made it hearty with carrots, onions, garlic, and red bell pepper rounding out the vegetables.  Oh and lots of herbs.  This would also be great in the summer with fresh herbs and bell pepper from the garden! Marscapone cheese makes it creamy and delicious.

The recipe is also found at FoodNetwork.com

Rigatoni with Vegetable Bolognese

Ingredients

• 1-ounce dried porcini mushrooms
• 1 1/2 cups hot water
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano leaves
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 5 ounces assorted mushrooms (like shiitake, cremini, and brown), stemmed and chopped
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
• 1 pound rigatoni pasta
• 1/4 cup Parmesan

Directions

Place the dried mushrooms in a small bowl and cover with 1-1/2 cups very hot water. Set aside and let the mushrooms soften. Place the carrots, onion, bell pepper, and garlic in a food processor. Pulse the vegetables until finely chopped but still chunky. 

Place the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped vegetables, thyme, oregano, salt, and pepper and cook until tender, about 6 minutes. 

Strain the porcini mushrooms, reserving the porcini mushroom liquid. Add the porcini mushrooms, fresh mushrooms, and tomato paste and continue cooking, stirring to dissolve the tomato paste, until the mushrooms are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the porcini mushroom liquid and red wine. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and let the mixture simmer until the liquid is reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Add mascarpone cheese and stir just until the cheese is incorporated.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid and add to the vegetable mixture. Add some of the reserved pasta cooking liquid, if necessary, to moisten the sauce. Toss with Parmesan and serve.

We also served with some French bread, sprinkled with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and toasted in the toaster over for a few minutes until golden.
 

 Ready to eat!

Chicken and Mushroom Posole Soup, Recipe by Bobby Flay

A couple of years ago we went on vacation to Las Vegas and the San Francisco/Wine Country area.  I posted about our trip and all the food adventures we had (a lot!). Check out our restaurant experience here.   While in Vegas we ate at Bobby's Flays Mesa Grill at Caesar's Palace, a 1 star Michelin Restaurant.  Here we are outside the restaurant: 

A couple of days ago we tried our first recipe from Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Cookbook. Since it's so cold outside, a soup sounded like a good idea. We made Chicken and Mushroom Posole Soup. The soup is very simple to make, all in all probably taking an hour or less, with most of that time allowing the soup to simmer or vegetables reconstitute.  We had a little trouble finding the ancho chilies; surprisingly no chain grocery store in town had them.  Zac finally found them at an Hispanic grocery store in Montgomery about 25 minutes away.  The porcini mushrooms also were hard to find, but a local Publix ended up having some in stock. 

We followed the recipe and oven roasted the boneless but skin on chicken breasts.  I bought bone-in chicken breasts and simply removed the bones.  You could also use leftover rotisserie chicken.

Most of the ingredients from our local Publix. This was our first hominy-cooking experience. It made the soup very hearty. 

While the chicken roasted in the oven, we reconstituted the chilies and mushrooms for about 30 minutes, then chopped them up. Once the chicken was cooked, we removed the skin and shredded it:

stemmed, seeded, then chopped ancho chilies

We also used our enameled cast iron pot for the first time too! It's 7-quart, quite heavy, but destined to get used quite a bit. Here we are bringing chicken stock up to a boil. 

After the chicken stock was boiling, the chilies and mushrooms were added, and simmered for a few minutes. Then, the chicken, herbs, and hominy were added and left to simmer.

Then it's time to plate! The soup is topped with chives, a squeeze of lime, white cheddar cheese, and blue tortilla chips.  The recipe includes instructions on how to make your own blue corn tortilla strips, but we opted for the store bought chips to make our life a little easier.  It worked out well.

Looking forward to making more recipes from our Mesa Grill cookbook! 

Donald Link's Spicy Crawfish Fettuccine

I just finished eating leftovers of our dinner last night - Spicy Crawfish Fettuccine.  The recipe is from Donald Link's cookbook "Real Cajun", which we've made several recipes from in the past, all successes.  Click here for my post on other recipes we've made from this cookbook. This fettuccine is so creamy and flavorful and just all around good.  There is even a suggestion if you want to make it "light"!  We did not take that suggestion, by the way.  

I have consumed crawfish on many occasions, from taking heads off freshly steamed ones at crawfish boils (quite messy I must say), to eating crawfish etouffee at our local Cajun restaurant, but I've never cooked with it before. I was personally not feeling adventurous enough to buy whole crawfish and pull out the tail meat, so I bought frozen tail meat to use in the dish. I realize if this were Top Chef, I would be scolded and likely kicked off for this.  

Also, this was our first time buying and using a poblano pepper. Thankfully Zac isn't as affected by the pepper aroma as I am, so he did all the chopping.  Plus he's just a great chopper!  Here are all the things he had to chop, well except the lemons, I juiced those. 

Poblano, chives, lemons (for the juice), plum tomatoes, onion, garlic,
jalapeno pepper, and basil

 The mise-en-place:

plum tomatoes

Getting pan ready to cook the vegetables, followed by sauteing the vegetables and chopped ham. Oh, and no tasso ham to be found at our local Publix. So I just got regular old ham. Again, another offense not overlooked if this were Top Chef.

crawfish tail meat

mixture cooking down, juices reducing

good stuff (heavy cream) has been added, after adding flour and butter

final step of mixing in the basil leave

Ready to Eat!! Served with Parmesan cheese and chives on top

We can't wait to make more recipes from the cookbook "Real Cajun"!