refrigerator magnets

refrigerator magnets

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Pizza Stone Happiness

I got a pizza stone! Ya know what that means... PIZZA IS COMING!

Just got a little excited and wanted to share.

Yippie!

Friday, May 20, 2011

Polenta and Ground Beef

I don't cook a lot of beef. Honestly, I don't cook beef at all. I've spent most of my life not eating beef. One day when I was 7 my dad just stopped eating it, so my mom stopped cooking it and as a result I stopped as well. Recently over the past few years, I've picked it up again. Beef is really delicious. I don't think I could eat it every day but once a week is good.

Last night, I cooked ground beef. Yep. I sure did. I cooked it all by myself. Yay! Not really that hard... but if you've never cooked it before, it's ok to pat yourself on the back once in awhile. *pat pat pat*

It was a very simple recipe - I had some polenta lying around that I had been iching to cook as well. I love polenta - it's so easy to cook! It comes in a wonder tube that you just slice open and cut up! Yum!
Polenta and Ground Beef Lasagna-Casserole-Thing! HA! I need a better name - suggestions welcome.
Here's there recipe - very simple, not too terrible for you either (always an added benefit.)

Ingredients:
1 Shallot - (or you could use a small onion)
5 Garlic cloves - diced
8 Baby carrots - diced (or 1 large carrot)
1/2 cup Peas
1 pound Lean-ground beef
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 18 oz tube of polenta - cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 cup cheese - shredded cheese

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. In a frying pan, on medium heat, plop a little olive oil and add in the shallots, peas, carros and garlic. 3. Let that get a little soft then add the meat.
4. Cook the meat till it's no longer pink and add in the Worcestershire sauce and tomatoes
5. Let that cook for about 10 minutes till the sauce reduces and thickens
6. In a pan - I used a 6 x 12ish pan? You could probably use a 8x8 as well - 9x13 may be a bit big... either way in a pan, put about half of the meat mixture on the bottom, a layer of polenta with a little cheese, then the rest of the meat and top with the rest of the polenta and cover that sucker with cheese!
7. I baked mine for about 25 minutes - I wanted the cheese to get a little crispy then I let it cook for about 10 - 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Funny Man's Buffalo Chili Chicken Pizza

My other half Matt and I have different eating habits. Not a bad thing, but just different. I do a lot of experimenting with my cooking while he's got his tried and true recipes he sticks with. One of my favorites is the Pan-Seared Chili Chicken. He whipped up some for dinner the other night and we were left with a few extra pieces that we just couldn't stuff into your full bellies... leftovers!

PAN-SEARED CHILI CHICKEN
By Matt Coan

Ingredients: 

3 chicken breasts
1/2 stick of butter
2 tablespoons McCormick Chili Spice

Steps
:
1. Get a large frying pan
2. Heat it up and melt a half stick of butter in it
3. Add two table spoons of McCormick Chili Spice to the works
4. Add 3 chicken breasts (preferably from Trader Joe's b/c they taste great)
5. Cook until Golden Brown
6. Serve over instant mashed potatoes

What to do with Chili Chicken - why not make Buffalo Chicken Pizza! Glorious. I'm not a huge buffalo-flavor fan but Matt does have an awesome recipe in his arsenal for that as well. Cooking together - how wonderfully romantic. HA! Ok here we go... this is by far the best pizza I've (and we've) ever made. Ever. Period.

BUFFALO CHICKEN PIZZA


Ingredients:

Leftover chili chicken - we used 2 pieces which was enough
Pizza dough (homemade or store bought)
Pepperoni - enough to cover the bottom of the pizza
1/2 package of Low-moisture Mozzarella
Salt and pepper to taste
Ranch Dressing - to dip (you could do blue cheese as well if you like)
Buffalo Sauce:
   - Franks Red Hot Sauce
   - Philadelphia cream cheese - 1/2 8oz package

Steps:
1. Prep your pizza dough - if it's store bought:
   - Snag a medium sized bowl and coat with olive oil - lightly
   - Remove from package and place into a bowl
   - Cover with damp cloth and place in warm place for about 15 minutes to let rise
2. Chop up your chicken into bit-sized bits
3. In a small sauce pan - heat up the philly cream cheese & the franks red hot till they are mixed together
4. Add the chicken and stir till covered
5. Snag your dough and stretch out onto cooking surface
6. Cover the with a light layer of cheese
7. Top with layer of pepperoni then the chicken mixture
8. Top with cheese, salt and pepper
9. Pop into the oven for about 20 minutes - we like ours a little crispier so we left it in for about 30
10. Let the pizza rest for about 5 minutes before you slice it up
We also liked to dip ours in Ranch Dressing. Who doesn't love Ranch Dressing?

PLUG TIME!!!
Matt has a blog too! Check it out - stand-up comedian and IT professional shares his thoughts on life... http://halfassedramblings.blogspot.com/