Spanish Rice

I have discovered a simple way to make Spanish rice a little healthier.  Now this is definitely not as good as the real thing, but it doesn’t take too much effort and there is no lard involved so that's a plus.

½ green bell pepper, diced

½ small yellow onion, diced

1 clove garlic

1 cup brown rice (or white if you prefer)

2 cups water or chicken broth

1 tsp cumin, ground

1 can rotel tomatoes with chilies

Salt to taste

1 tsp olive oil

Heat the olive oil in a medium pot to medium-high heat.  Add the onion and cook until softened, then add the bell pepper and garlic and cook until the pepper is softened.  Pour in the water/broth and bring to a boil.  Add the rice and return to a boil.  Cover the pot and reduce the temperature to medium.  Cook for 15 minutes then remove the pot from the heat but leave the lid on.  Allow the rice to sit, with the lid on, for another 15 minutes.  All of the water should be absorbed by then and you should have fluffy rice.  Add the cumin, rotel and salt to taste.  The seasoning is kind of what makes this dish, so if it’s under seasoned it won’t be good.  Add more cumin if you think it needs it and don’t be afraid with the salt, add a little at a time and taste, I think I used about ½ tsp.  You can return the rice to the burner on medium for a couple minutes to cook out some of the tomato juice if it looks soupy.

Serves 4, 200 calories, 3 g fat

Fish Tacos with Jicama Slaw

I don’t really eat much fish but I know I should.  So every once in a while I buy some and then end up having to put it in the freezer because it never actually sounds good.  I am going to tell on my husband right now.  Yesterday he went out for lunch and ate oh probably 2000 calories in one meal.  So needless to say, he didn’t need much for dinner last night.  Since he is the one that usually vetoes the fish, I went ahead and cooked it last night since he wasn’t eating much.  

2 tilapia filets

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

1/3 cup jicama, julienned

1/3 cup carrots, julienned

¼ cup red onion, thinly diced

2 tbs cilantro, chopped

Juice from 1 lime

Small handful of shredded cheese (I am still using that dang Manchego cheese, it is like never ending)

4 corn tortillas

Heat olive oil in a skillet to medium-high heat.  I like to use a cast-iron skillet that has ridges in it, that way I can get char marks on the fish.  So depending on what type of pan you use will determine how much oil to add.  For this type of pan I add enough oil so that the ridges are able to get oiled by tilting the pan a bunch first, but the fish won’t be sitting in oil while it’s cooking.  Season both sides of the fish with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper then cook in the pan until flaky.

For the jicama slaw, I prefer to cook the red onion for a couple minutes to take the bite off, but if you like raw onion then that isn’t necessary.  I do it in the same pan I will cook/cooked the fish in.  Mix the julienned vegetables, red onion, cilantro and lime juice.  Season with salt to taste.

Slice the fish and assemble in 4 warmed tortillas with the slaw and cheese. 

Serves 2, 335 calories, 8 g fat

This turned out pretty decent, but I think I overstuffed the tortillas.  This may have been more lady like to eat it in 3 tortillas each and the tortillas I got were only 35 calories each so no biggie.  I have noticed sometimes diets make you forget to eat like a lady, good thing I am already married, sorry J.

Savory Polenta

Last night I indulged in one of my guilty pleasures, sausage.  Now I know sausage is super bad for you, which is why we eat it maybe 3 times a year.  For anyone unaware, cured meats like sausage and bacon contain sodium nitrite, which is a preservative, and when consumed with foods high in protein, like meat, the sodium nitrite can form nitrosamines which create cell damage.  So in short, studies show that consuming foods with sodium nitrite increase your risk of colon cancer.  So don’t feed your kids hot dogs routinely and check that theur lunch meats are sodium nitrite free!  And hey, I’m a chemist, feel comfortable blindly believing everything I have to say, but I do encourage people to do their own research.

So anyway, off my soapbox, with my sausage I decided to make a polenta.  I tried a new recipe for it, this one is from Alton Brown and it was really simple and turned out pretty good.  It was not at all pretty though, in fact it was so unappetizing looking I didn’t even bother attempting at taking a picture.  I am really working on trying to take better pictures, but this one was hopeless. Give me some time I’ll get there, it’s not as easy as it looks.

¼ cup red onion, thinly diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp olive oil

2 cups chicken stock

½ cup polenta

1 tbs butter

1 ½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1 oz cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Heat the olive oil in an oven-safe skillet to medium-high.  Cook the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent.  Add the chicken stock and polenta and stir to break up any lumps.  Transfer the skillet to the oven and cover.  Cook for 35-40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to break up any lumps.  Remove from the oven and stir in the butter, salt, pepper, and cheese.  I used Manchego cheese since I had some in the refrigerator leftover from a recipe last week, but you could use pretty much anything.  Maybe a parmesan, gruyere, or gouda.

Servings, 2 sides, 260 calories, 13 g fat

I know this is a crazy thing to say, but I actually thought this was too rich.  I actually couldn’t eat it all it was so rich.  I think next time I will cut back on the cheese and maybe the butter.  J didn’t think it was too rich, he had no problem eating his portion and what I couldn’t eat of mine, so maybe 1 oz of cheese won’t be too much for you.

So a couple days after making this I went to a restaurant and had the most amazing polenta that put me to shame, so I will be trying this again.

Classic Chocolate Buttercream

When I try to think of my “signature dish” the first thing that always comes to mind is my chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream.  I absolutely love chocolate cake and I have developed what I think is the most perfect chocolate cake imaginable.  It’s light, fluffy, and moist with a really good flavor.   The “crack cake” is what one of my girlfriends calls it because it’s so addictive.  A coworker asked me for the cake and buttercream recipe so I thought I would make it.  Now I am sorry I am not going to divulge my secrets to the interwebs for the cake but I will tell you how to make the buttercream.

I use Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Classic buttercream recipe from the Cake Bible.  This buttercream does take some work, and would be a pain without a stand mixer, but it is totally worth it.  It is very light and fluffy and not overly sweet.  A lot of people have the idea that the so sweet your teeth hurt icing on a grocery store cake is buttercream, but they are oh so wrong, and as soon as they have this they realize what they’ve been missing.  This is uber fattening, because well it’s basically just butter and sugar, but just ignore that for a minute.  Go ahead and add an extra mile to your run tomorrow just from reading this recipe.

6 large egg yolks

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

2 cups unsalted butter, must be softened

6 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Have ready a greased 1-cup heatproof glass measuring cup.

In a bowl beat the yolks with an electric mixer until light in color.  Meanwhile, combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan (preferably nonstick) and heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup is boiling.  Stop stirring and boil to the soft-ball stage (238 F).  Immediately transfer the syrup to the glass measuring cup to stop the cooking.

If using an electric hand-held mixer, beat the syrup into the yolks in a steady stream.  Don't allow the syrup to fall on the beaters or they will spin onto the sides of the bowl.  If using a stand mixer, pour a small amount of syrup over the yolks with the mixer turned off.  Immediately beat at high speed for 5 seconds.  Continue with the remaining syrup.  For the last addition, use a rubber scraper to remove the syrup clinging on the measuring cup.  Continue beating until competely cool.

Gradually beat in the butter followed by the cooled melted chocolate.  

A few tips

• The butter must be softened so let it sit on the counter for about an hour, do not put it in the microwave, melted butter and softened butter are not the same thing.  If the butter needs a little help softening and you are in a rush, hold it in your hands to soften it with your body heat. 
• Do not stir the sugar after the syrup comes to a boil or it will crystallize.
• This can be stored in an airtight container for 6 hours at room temperature, 1 week refrigerated, and 8 months frozen.
• If you store it let it come back to room temperature before using.  You can rebeat if necessary to restore the texture but do not rebeat chilled buttercream or it will curdle.
• When you separate the egg yolks and whites you can freeze the whites in a plastic bag for later.  Use in an omelet or in an egg white chocolate buttercream for a more airy and richer chocolate buttercream, I'll tell you how to make that another day.

You can use the basic recipe to make any flavored buttercream.  Instead of chocolate add 2-4 tbs vanilla extract for vanilla buttercream, 1/2 cup raspberry sauce for raspberry buttercream, or replace the water with freshly squeezed lemon juice and finish with 1/4 tsp lemon extract for a lemon buttercream.  Once you get the technique down you can do pretty much anything with this.

Gordon Ramsay's Shepherd's Pie

I have just recently discovered Shepherd’s pie. Growing up chicken pot pie was much more of a common thing for me, but when I discovered that there is something similar but with mashed potatoes, holy cow. I have tried a few different versions, but then one day I saw Gordon Ramsay make his Shepherd’s pie and thought that is the one for me.  I hadn’t ever had lamb before; I can’t eat beef or pork because they don’t agree with me so I pretty much just steered clear of all meats other than chicken and turkey because I knew those were ok.  But when I saw Chef Ramsay’s Shepherd’s pie with lamb, I thought well maybe I will just try it and see how it goes, and thank goodness it went well because oh man I am hooked.

1 package lamb chunks (0.88 lbs) or 1 lb ground lamb (I like the chunks but use whatever you like)

1 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 carrots, diced

¼ cup peas

2 tsp thyme

2 tsp rosemary

¼ cup red wine

¼ cup chicken stock

6 oz tomato paste

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Olive oil

2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes

3 tbs butter

½ cup milk

¼ cup parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Cook the potatoes in boiling water until soft enough to mash.

Heat one turn of olive oil in a large skillet or a dutch oven.   Season the lamb with salt and pepper and cook until browned on all sides, stirring constantly.  Once the meat is browned remove it to a plate.  Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion begins to brown.  There should be a sufficient amount of grease in the pan from the lamb but if not add more olive oil to cook the onions.  Add the seasoning, peas, and carrots and return the meat to the skillet. Mix well to coat the vegetables with the seasonings then add the Worcestershire sauce and continue to stir.  Add the tomato paste and wine and stir, add the stock and stir.  Allow to cook for ~3 minutes to boil off some of the liquid and cook the vegetables then remove from the heat.  If using a skillet transfer the lamb mixture to a casserole dish.

For the mashed potatoes, mash the potatoes with the milk and butter.  The potatoes should be light and fluffy.  This will be better achieved with the Yukon gold potatoes than with russet potatoes.  Chef Ramsay adds 2 egg yolks to the potatoes and I have tried it with and without the eggs and I see no difference other than extra calories, but if the eggless potatoes are lacking to you feel free to add them.  Season the potatoes with salt and pepper to taste.  Top the lamb mixture with the potatoes and spread over the top so there are peaks in the potatoes and they cover the entire dish.  Top the potatoes with the parmesan cheese and bake for 20 minutes to set the pie.  Allow to rest a few minutes before serving, it’s hot.

4 Servings, 580 calories, 20 g fat

I have seen a few recipes online that claim to be Gordon Ramsay’s Shepherd’s pie and they are all different, so I don’t know how close this is to his real recipe, but I think it’s pretty dang good so I stick with this one.

I am not a big wine drinker, especially red, but I really like to cook with it.  The flavor of this sauce with the lamb is just amazing.  I don’t know how anyone could eat this and not have a huge crush on Gordon Ramsay, he is amazing, and that’s not even considering his awesome hair!