A Sign of Spring!

My wonderful mother surprised Marty and me by having her gardner plant hundreds of tulip bulbs in our flower beds before Christmas! Well, the tulips are coming up and I can't wait to see what colors they are!! Thanks you mom!!

Just some of the tulips in the backyard!

Some in the front!

An Alternative to Mashed Potatoes

Cauliflower puree!  It was tasty, but I will have to adjust to the grainy texture.  Plus, mashed potatoes are one of my favorite foods so this will take some time to get used to ;)

Cauliflower florets.

Boil the florets in chicken stock.  Adds more flavor than water!

Fresh grated nutmeg= a little pinch of hidden flavor.

Add a little bit of milk or cream and mash away!

Marty's Manhattan Cherry Sauce

Marty had Friday off and cooked dinner for me!  It was lovely coming home to a house smelling sooo good!  He braised short ribs and created his own Manhattan Cherry sauce.  He thought up this recipe because he wanted to cook with whiskey and sherry, which reminded him of the Manhattan drink! The drink can be garnished with a cherry, so he decided to incorporate cherries into the sauce.  It was very tasty, but we thought it would go better with a pork tenderloin rather than beef.

Adding the whiskey to the chicken broth, onion and garlic.

Adding the lovely cherries!

Simmering away.

Marty's Manhattan martini he drank while cooking.

Reserved drunken cherries.

Sauce goes into the food processor.

Straining the cherry grit.

This looks like a dessert, but its the short rib, cherry sauce served over a cauliflower puree.

Avocado Margarita??!

Yep, that's right!  Another one of Marty's creations...

Squeezing the avocado into the blender with the ice.

Gotta have the tequila!

Kinda looks like some weird health drink...

Lining the rim with cayenne pepper + salt.  Creative!

There you go!

Cheesy Chicken Parm

I love Italian food, so we decided to make a traditional dish- Chicken Parmesan.  Yummy!

Vibrant Red Sauce with fresh basil.

We put panko bread crumbs in the food processor to thin them out a little. [little tid bit I learned from the Barefoot Contessa]

Breaded chicken browning away!

Perfect!

Fresh mozzarella & grated parmesan.

Golden and bubbly!

Served over penne!

Our Life Outside of Food...

Lately we have had snow days, sunny days, dog days, Dallas days and an A-Day!

Sophie LOVES the snow.  She stays out there as long as she can!  [Obviously not in a big hurry to come inside.]

Marty's best fire yet!  There were many of them considering we were snowed in for almost a week!

And as the snow finally melted, the pretty sun came out and we celebrated with a Sunday Funday at Red Rock!

Lately the dogs have been learning how to use a Mac!

They loved watching the Westminster Dog Show.  Unfortunately our Westies do not look anything like the Westie that won 4th place!

I went to Dallas awhile back and had a fun time with Jeff, Jeff and my sis!

Beauty Bar in Dallas.  Jeff broke one of the dryers.

On February 4th we went to Othello's to celebrate my A-Day!

Oh, and we got a new dishwasher from Marty's parents for Xmas!  Yipee!



HUGS + KISSES TO.....

...My brother Ryan and his fiance Katherine!  They got engaged last weekend, so I thought I would write a little congratulatory post!  So happy for the two of them!



Good job on the ring little brother!





Inside-Out Chicken Pot Pie!!

I was in the mood to make a chicken pot pie, but didn't realize that the pie crusts in the fridge were too old to use!  [oops!] We had phyllo dough so thought, hmmmm why don't we try to make a different, creative pot pie?! So I went ahead and made the regular "soup" part of the pot pie with the veggies, cream and stock.  Then we made mashed potatoes [instead of using diced potatoes in the "soup"]. We sauteed smaller portions of chicken breasts.  Here were the next steps...

Stack the chicken + mashed potatoes on a few sheets of phyllo. 

Fold the sheets.

Brush on some egg and place on a Sil-Pat.  If you don't have one, use parchment paper, but I highly recommend the Sil-Pat!!

Bake until golden!

The "soup" simmering until thick.

Ta-da!!!

The inside!

Chicken + White Bean Chili

This chili recipe is courtesy of Giada.  I watched the episode and it looked delicious!  The main ingredients in the chili are ground chicken, white beans, swiss chard and corn.  I made it with her side of ciabatta topped with a cheesy, buttery, oniony concoction!

Chili simmering away!

Butter, cheddar cheese and green onions pulsing in the food processor until velvet smooth!

Spread on sliced ciabatta.

Baked until golden!

Chili topped with Parmesan and flat leaf parsley!

 Chili Recipe:

- 2 TBSP olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 pounds ground chicken
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 TBSP gound cumin
- 1 TBSP fennel seeds
- 1 TBSP dried oregano
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 3 TBSP flour
- 2 cans white beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 bunch Swiss chard, stems removed, leaves chopped
- 1 can corn, drained
- 4 C chicken broth
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- black pepper
- 1/2 C Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 C chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

In a large dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 mintues.  Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.  Add the ground chicken, 1 tsp salt, cumin, fennel seeds, oregano, and chili powder.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the chicken is cooked through, about 8 minutes.  Stir the flour into the chicken mixture.  Add the beans, Swiss chard, corn and chicken stock.  Bring the mixture to a simmer, scraping up the brown bits.  Simmer for 55-60 minutes until the liquid has reduced by about half and the chili has thickened.  Add the red pepper flakes and simmer for another 10 minutes.  Season with S&P to taste.
Lade the chili into bowls and spring with Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley.

Cheddar and Scallion Bread Recipe:
- 8 oz. shredded Cheddar cheese
- 6 oz. butter at room temp
- 4 scallions, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- S & P
- 1 loaf of ciabatta bread, sliced horizontally

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a food processor, combine the cheese and butter.  Process until the mixture is smooth.  Add the scallions and pulse to combined. Season with S&P to taste.  Spread the mixture on the bread and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden.