Teaching Chris to Cook

Internet friends, meet my wonderful friend, Chris.

{He's holding the latest in Italian hot sausage.}

Chris is a fantastic friend from undergrad, and now that we're back in Nashville, we live in the same city as Chris again!  Super pumped.  Chris has many excellent qualities: intelligent, witty, well-employed, great style, but unfortunately, Chris cannot cook... yet.  In my overbearing, pushy-mama way, I declared a few weeks ago to Chris that I wanted to teach him to cook.  Thankfully, he's a good sport and agreed to let me boss him about in the kitchen in the name of helping him.

Confusingly, this man's name is also Chris, and he joined in on the fun of being bossed by me.  {The things boys will do for food!}

{Being bossy.}

I thought teaching Chris (& Chris) to cook would be a fun series for the blog- you can learn alongside the Chrises and get some simple meal plans!  This week's plan was cooking for a crowd: an easy Italian dinner.  The first Chris {yes, differentiating in the kitchen became a little complicated.  To make it more confusing, their last names both start with C, so I couldn't even do the elementary school thing of making them go by Chris C!} will be attending law school in the fall, so I wanted him to have a dinner plan that he could use for a big study group of law friends {because food = friends and my vision of law school runs along the lines of Elle Wood's experience}.

We started with a very simple appetizer: spicy, roasted pecans.  Fresh pecans, sprinkled with Tony Chachere's {say it with me: sssaacheries} and roasted at a high temp for about 6 minutes.  

Then we sautéed some hot italian sausage, minced garlic, oregano, and dried basil, deglazed with some red wine and poured in crushed tomatoes.

Pasta can be the easiest {and cheapest} way to serve a crowd, but Ragu-business is not allowed in my kitchen.  It only takes a few more ingredients to make an infinitely better sauce.

While the sauce simmered, we peeled and sliced fresh peaches for dessert {my peach obsession continues}...

And made fresh whipped cream!  {The bossy hovering continues as I invade Chris's personal space to micromanage cream pouring. Sorry, Chris.} 

I enjoy adding some fresh spinach to the sauce, because it offsets all the carbs in the pasta and makes it healthy.  Duh.  This sauce is also finished with a splash of cream and nutmeg!  Surprise!

Chris is diligently chiffonading basil for our garnish.  Check out that focus.

Supper time!  And a big thank you to Nick for taking all the pictures :)

Italian Dinner for a Crowd

Serves 6, but is easily multiplied

Appetizer: Spicy Roasted Pecans

1 cup whole pecans

1/2 teaspoon Tony Chachere's seasoning

Preheat oven to 450.  Sprinkle seasoning over pecans in a cookie sheet or other small pan.  Roast for 5-6 minutes, or until they smell roasted and nutty, but not burned!

Main Dish: Pasta Bolognese {my version}

1.5-2 lbs hot italian sausage {you can also use mild or a mixture of the two}

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes {optional}

1/4 cup red wine

2 28oz cans of good quality crushed tomatoes

1 cup fresh spinach, torn {optional}

1/4 cup heavy cream or whipping cream

1 teaspoon nutmeg

2 lbs papparadelle pasta 

1. De-case {take it out of the casings} the sausage and sauté in a large pot over medium high heat.  Break the links apart into small pieces as it cooks {about 10 minutes}

2. Fill a large stockpot with about 8 quarts of water.  Salt the water and add 1 tablespoon oil.  Heat over high heat.

3. When sausage is cooked through and a few pieces have a crusty brown edge, add in the garlic, oregano, basil, and red pepper flakes.  Stir and allow to cook for 1 minute, or until garlic becomes fragrant.

4. Pour in the wine to deglaze the pan and stir up all the little bits of things stuck to the pot.  Then pour in both cans of crushed tomatoes and reduce the heat to a simmer.

5. While the sauce is simmering, cook the pasta according to package directions.  Add the torn spinach to the sauce and stir.

6.  As soon as the pasta finished cooking to al dente, drain, then add the cream and nutmeg to the sauce and stir.  

7.  Serve with a garnish of fresh basil and parmesan!

Dessert: Peaches with Fresh Whipped Cream

Fresh peaches {1 per person}

1 cup blueberries {optional}

1 cup whipping cream

1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons sugar

1. Peel and slice the peaches and place into a large bowl.

2. Pour whipping cream into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.  Add in vanilla extract and sugar.  Whip on medium speed until the cream resembles whipped cream and does not have any runny parts (about 5 minutes).

3.  Serve fruit on a plate with a large dollop of whipped cream!

Note: whipped cream can be made a few hours ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until served.

Don't you hide from that natural talent, Christopher.  

Summer Peaches Caprese Slaad

Don't you just adore summer peaches?

This is almost not a recipe, since all I really did was slice some beautiful produce from the farm stand down the road.  I have a feeling I'll be visiting that farm stand verrry frequently.  It's conveniently located across from the library, and with my summer habit of devouring books {and peaches}, that's my go-to corner this summer.  Peaches and fiction, ahhh.

Do yourself a favor and invest in some spectacular balsamic vinegar for all your salads this summer.  This one is a glaze I found at Whole Foods, and I use it on caprese type salads, because it's thicker and easier to make designs with over the salad.  But I'm also a huge fan of the Olive This balsamic that's been aged 20 years.  The longer it's been aged, the less acidic.  Meaning, I would eat that stuff with a spoon.

Watch out, peach paparazzi!  And y'all, I was taken in by a beautiful basil plant at Trader Joe's the other day.  Only $4!!  So now we have fresh basil.  At least, until I possibly accidentally kill it by being out of town for a week and leaving it in the blistering sun.  Oops.  But I'm optimistic.  {As long as none of you saw what happened to my herbs last summer.  They were more like dried herbs in a pot.}

Peach Caprese Salad

Serves 2

2 large peaches

2 large tomatoes

1 handful fresh basil

About 1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar {or glaze}

Salt & Pepper to taste

Skin and slice the peaches, and slice the tomatoes.  Salt and pepper both.  Slice the basil into strips {or tear it for that rustic feel}, and layer tomatoes, peaches, and basil.  Sprinkle balsamic over the plate of peaches, tomatoes, and basil.  Voila!

Someone please remind me to water that basil plant.

Secret Ingredient Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

These muffins are the bomb.com {or fill in your own more up-to-date lingo for AWESOME}

They are {almost} HEALTHY.  What??  Yes.  They do NOT contain: flour, sugar, oil, or butter.  In fact the main secret ingredient IS... 

Wait, first, I have to apologize for not having actual pictures of the muffins out of their pan.  Sooooo, we are renting an old house, which is very very charming.  But the oven is also old {excuse me, vintage} and charming.  And baking these was an experiment in testing out the oven's temperature regulation.  Guess what?  There's not really any regulation...

It takes a while to heat up, but then just keeps heating!  I set the oven at 350, and by the end of the baking, it was at 450.  Yikes.  Don't worry, the oven-fixer-man is coming today, so hopefully we can figure out a more workable situation.  However, because of my beautiful, vintage, extra hot oven, these muffins were a little unattractive on their bottoms.  So they were much more photogenic in the pan.

So now for that secret ingredient... bum bum bum bahhhhh: Chickpeas!  Can you see them all smooshed in the food processor?  Chickpeas {or garbanzo beans, if you prefer} are the substance of these muffins, along with a banana and some eggs.  Ok, there is honey in there too.  

And if you're feeling sassy, you can throw in some chocolate chips.  But they're totally optional {sort of}.  I advise eating these for breakfast and dessert!  Because, y'all, there's no flour- it's all chickpeas!  I got 16 muffins out of this recipe, and after figuring out the nutrition facts, they are 100 calories each {with chocolate chips they are 150}, 3 grams of protein and 1 gram of fat per muffin.  For a tasty little snack with all natural ingredients, that's pretty good.

Plus, it's all made in a food processor, which means easy clean up!

Secret Ingredient Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Makes 16 muffins

1 15oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2/3 cup honey

1 normal ripeness banana 

3 eggs

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

2/3 cup chocolate chips {optional}

Preheat your {awesome, self-regulating} oven to 350.  Whirl the chickpeas in a food processor until they are all crumbly.  Then add in honey, banana, eggs, cinnamon, and baking soda and whirl again until well mixed.  Stir in chocolate chips at the end, if desired.

Fill cups in a muffin pan to 2/3 full.  Bake for about 15 minutes.  Allow to cool, then enjoy!

Ok, here they are: brown, crumbly bottomed muffins.  But they taste way better than they look! Promise.

I'm a Parrot!

Have you heard of the Myers-Briggs?
In graduate school I took just about every {legitimate} personality test there is.  Partly to increase my own self-awareness, and partly to have experience with assessments I might use with clients.  One of those assessments was the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which categorizes personalities into 16 types.

Source

So you are either: an introvert or extrovert, more into sensing or intuition, more about thinking or feeling, and judging versus perceiving.  I find the first and last codes most helpful.  Do you get energy from being with people {extravert-ME! Hey friends!} or being by yourself {introvert}?  And are you super organized, structured, and efficient {judging-oh boy, not me} or spontaneous and unstructured {perceiving}?

This website takes the MBTI codes and puts them with animals, which I find somewhat funny.  I'm an ENTP, so I'm a parrot!  And the description is dead on.  {How can five sentences define me?!} Nick is an ENTJ, so he's a lion.  Again, dead on.

Which animal/code are you?  Does it fit?  What about your friends/family members/ significant others?  I think it can be so helpful in understanding things like why Nick puts all the details of our whole lives into spreadsheets...

{I like that my animal is so colorful and can FLY.  Dreamscometrue}

White Chocolate Lemon Truffles

Apparently, there are people who want dessert to be dark chocolate-free?!

I can respect that preference, though let's be real, I'll never understand it.  But in the spirit of equal opportunity dessert making, this recipe is for you, lemon lovers and dark chocolate-phobes.

Full disclosure: I do not eat white chocolate, so I haven't tasted one of these.  However, I made them for a party, and they got rave reviews from all the white chocolate and lemon fans.  I probably just lost all credibility in your blog-reading eyes, but I needed to be honest {and ensure that if any of you ever bring me a dessert, there is no white chocolate in it}.

A big bonus of making these {besides their sparkly-cuteness and my total disinterest in eating them, so more room for cupcakes!} is how easy they are!  Basically if you can melt things in the microwave, then roll stuff into a ball shape, you're set.  It's even easier if you have a melon-baller.  And people are very impressed.

As you can see, I'm not the most consistent ball-roller.  But I've learned to reframe "imprecise and lumpy truffles" into "handmade artisan truffles," and people really go for that.  You'd think with all the many years of practice rolling swedish meatballs for the Christmas smorgasbord, I'd be a little better at this.  Sorry, Grandmom.

White Chocolate Lemon Truffles

Makes about 30 truffles, recipe adapted from How Sweet Eats

10 oz good quality white chocolate chips 

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

6 tablespoons heavy cream

1 teaspoon corn syrup

1 drop lemon extract

The zest of half a big lemon

Yellow sparkly sprinkles for coating

Melt white chocolate and butter in the microwave, heating for 30 second intervals and stirring between heatings.  

Add heavy cream and corn syrup to a small saucepan and heat over medium until the mixture forms bubbles, which will happen quickly.  Immediately pour cream mixture over the melted chocolate mixture, and stir until well combined.  Then add lemon extract and zest and stir.  Place in the fridge for about an hour.  (If you leave them in the fridge for a while, the chocolate will get pretty hard and be difficult to scoop and shape.  In that case, give them about 15-20 minutes of sitting at room temperature or a quick heat up in the microwave)

Remove and either with a melon baller or with a spoon and your hands, scoop truffle mixture out and roll into small (teaspoon size) balls.  Roll them in the sprinkles and store in the fridge or at room temperature.

Perfect for picnics, or just filling up a pretty bowl on the table...

Embracing Awkwardness

Nick and I have a fantastic and witty friend, Banks, who gave a hilarious speech at Ignite Bolder.  He was allowed 5 minutes and 20 slides, and y'all, he killed it.

This is Banks.

And here is the video.

I Graduated!

It has been a whirlwind week over here.  Hooding, graduation, and we moved to Nashville!  I'm typing from our new living room, looking at our fireplace (!!) and hearing Moose run and slide on the hardwood floors.  There will definitely be more pictures of the house once everything is in place, hung up, and arranged.  But for now, I wanted to share some pictures from my hooding and graduation from Wake Forest University, if you'd like to see...

Getting my hood on...

Thank you, stranger, for this hood and handshake.

Nick found me through the crowd!  {School counseling bestie, Tal, featured just behind me}

With the hubs.  Thank you for carpooling me to school for two years!

Both my and Nick's families came to the hooding- thank you!  It was such a blessing to have so many people supporting and celebrating with me.

Mom just showing me how the hood works.

Picked up a diploma as well.

Most of my classmates, with our mother-overlord-professor standing above.

I can't believe how quickly the two years went by!

The Kitchen Registry Part 3: Knives

A few months ago, I started a list for people looking to overhaul their kitchens or those lovely newly engaged couples.  Here is part one {pots and pans} and part two {tools and essentials}.  Today is part three: knives!

Step one in the process of picking out knives: suppress your desire for one of those huge, expensive knife blocks that come with pre-picked out knives.  I will show you the knives you actually need and will use, and then if you want a huge block, you can get that separately.  But y'all.  Those things are hundreds of dollars.  Buy them individually, and you can just send me that extra money!

Step two: include the fiance {or male figure in kitchen overhauling}.  This is one area that men {who don't normally care about kitchen things} get excited about.  Because knives are like weapons!  {Please don't hurt anyone with your knives.  Don't let him either, mmk?}

Step three: look for two brands in specific, Wusthof {the expensive version} and Victoronix {the cheaper version}.  By the way, I'm not just making this up, Consumer Reports agrees with me about the brand business.  Actually about the big block business, too.

Picture Source

There they are!  Just four types of knives- disappointed?  Don't be!  You can get several of each kind.  But let's walk through them.

Tomato Knife
Not just for tomatoes, kids.  Although this knife, as its name suggests, is perfect for slicing tomatoes, which need a serrated {wavy} edge.  You can also use this knife to slice smaller cuts of meat.  It won't be your most used, but it's very helpful.  I would suggest having one of these.

Bread Knife
Yes, great for slicing bread, but because of its length and serrated edge, also great for carving meat!  Turkey, chicken, steak- you name it, this knife can handle it.  I would just have one of these, too, unless you carve a lot of meat.

Paring Knife
This knife is great for smaller jobs, peeling things, and getting into little spaces to carve out.  I have two of these, which is always nice if you have someone else helping you in the kitchen.

Chef's Knife
This knife is your workhorse.  I reach for this knife 80% of the time because it is a fantastic all-purpose knife.  I would have at least two of these, if not three.  Sometimes I use it to cut raw meat and then need to slice some herbs and don't have time to wash between- that's when the second one comes in.  They come in sizes between 6in and 8in, and I would say to pick one up and see how it feels.  If you're a crazy chopper, look at the japanese brands, but they are far more expensive.  For my everyday use Wusthof and Victorinix work just fine!

There you have it!  Remember always to keep your knives sharp.  I don't have a knife sharpener preference, but it's good to have a sharpener.  As for kitchen scissors, I just have a regular pair of scissors, because most of the time I'm cutting open packaging.  However, if you use scissors to cut through chicken, it's nice to have a designated pair.

What knives are essential in your kitchen?

Summertime Thai Chopped Salad

I don't know about your town, but in my town it just got HOT.  And I love it.

Hot means warm summertime tomatoes from the farmers market, plunges into a crystal lake, sun-pinked cheeks, and daylight until bedtime.  Because on a good summer day, you're worn out by 9:30.  

And hot necessitates eating cool, crisp salads.  Salads that make you feel good about yourself for eating them and give you a satisfying crunch and fullness.

In other words, put this on your list of dinners to make.  Tonight.  

Now, I know the ingredient list is long, and normally I see more than six ingredients and think, no thank you, too high maintenance!  But this is a list where I had almost everything.  Peanut butter {check}, soy sauce {check}, garlic {double check- freak out if I don't have at least a head of garlic at all times}, vinegar, sugar, water, peanuts {check, check, duh, check}.  See? We can do this.

And if on this first day of hotness, you already cannot imagine turning on your oven or cranking up the stove- this is for you.  Ok, you do have to poach the chicken, but boiling water and dropping chicken in is about as low maintenance as cooking gets.  You can go sip iced tea under a fan somewhere for the twenty minutes it takes to cook.  {Even that last sentence makes me excited: cool tea!  on a hot day!  sunshine everywhere!  the pool!  yes, everything comes back to my obsession with sun+water in summertime.  I've already even achieved my inaugural, accidental sunburn.}

Summertime Thai Chopped Chicken Salad

Serves 4, from Pinch of Yum

2 chicken breasts {about 1 pound}

2 cups chopped cabbage {stuff in the bag is fine}

2 large carrots

1 cucumber

1/2 cup fresh cilantro

1/2 cup green onions

1/2 cup peanuts, roughly chopped

For the sauce:

2 cloves garlic

1 jalapeno, head cut off and semi de-seeded

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon oil

1/2 teaspoon fish sauce

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup water

Bring a large pot of water to boil and add chicken breasts.  Cover and cook for 20-25 minutes.  When chicken is cooked through, pull out and let cool.  Shred with two forks.

Shred carrots and cucumber {I did this with my food processor since its super fast, and then made the sauce in the food processor since it was already out.  But you can hand do both steps as well}.  Dump cabbage, shredded carrots and cucumber, chopped cilantro, chopped onions, and chicken into a large bowl.

Either combine all the sauce ingredients in the food processor or mince garlic and jalapeno and mix with the other ingredients.

Pour sauce over veggie/chicken mixture, top with chopped peanuts and serve!

Pool tomorrow, anyone?

The House

Where has my brain been lately?  On Nashville.  Not the TV show {well, mostly not the TV show}, but moving there!  And on our fabulous new rental house and everything I'm going to be doing in it!!  Because I'm so distracted by it, I thought you might want to see a few pictures of it?  Here they are, if you'd like to see...

Our very own porch swing to welcome you!

The living room {above and below pics} with lots of windows and a fireplace!

Dining room {below}, which is an upgrade since we have a living dining combo currently...

Below are some kitchen pictures.  The windows and light just lift up my soul!  And the vintage stove is pretty cute {I'm assured that it actually works}

Washer and dryer peeking out!

Bedroom one...

Bathroom one {and only!}

And bedroom two!  We can't wait to have guests come stay with us.

A certain furry member of the family is super excited about having his own backyard!  And I am loving this patio...

So there's where my mind has been!  And anyone in Nashville have an extra door laying around that I could take?  Or know where to get one?