So, unfortunately there are no pictures this time around. I was hungry, and in focusing on the food I was planning to eat, I forgot to take pictures for you. Bummer, right?
Technically, one of those food items isn't actually food. It's a drink, because I'm hormonal and was having cravings that couldn't be denied. (That's a lie, they could be, I just didn't feel like it.) I was craving a chocolate peanut butter milkshake. However, as usual, we lack ice cream. So, I made chocolate peanut butter MILK.
(I would like to take this moment to state that blenders are AWESOME.)
Chocolate Peanut Butter Milk (because people can't figure this out on their own)
Serves 1.5
a lot of peanut butter
a lot of chocolate syrup
a lot of milk
Directions:
1. Combine and blend!
Don't you love one-step beverages? Unfortunately, now that I've discovered this, we're going to go through peanut butter reeeeeeally fast and I will no longer be on a HFCS-free diet (Hershey's Chocolate Syrup has HFCS, unfortunately. This is among the many things I love to hate about it). Add a banana and swap out the milk for soy milk and you can KIND OF pretend that it's healthy. Kind of. Not really. But we can dream, right?
Okay, so, onto something healthier.
We all know that I am a devout lover of mozzarella, yes? Well, I am. I've been drooling over this recipe for months (minus the capers, not big on capers), and decided today that I was going to roast some leftover peppers that were about to go iffy. So, in an act of bad judgment, I decided I was going to roast them over a stove burner. Like a marshmallow. (I can hear family members laughing already.) Well, let me just say that is the wrong technique and we're not going to try that again. So instead I took a different approach and ended up with something completely different from what I was aiming for.
Mixed Pepper Saute, Without Capers
Serves 2
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
1/4 yellow onion
2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
black pepper
1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
grapeseed oil
Directions:
1. Dice all peppers and toss into a lightly oiled pan on medium-high heat.
2. After about two minutes of occasional mixing, added diced onion, and sprinkle liberally with black pepper. Stir gently and then ignore it for a minute or two.
3. Smash two cloves of garlic, dicing as fine as possible. Add to the pan and stir, lowering heat to medium-low.
4. Continue moving veggies around until the garlic is aromatic and slightly cooked and golden yellow, but not brown. Brown means your garlic is burnt, and therefore terribly bitter.
5. Remove from heat, serve on two plates, and top with mozzarella as desired (you know I'm a little heavy-handed with the mozzarella), or eat plain.
Now, this is very different from Smitten Kitchen's dish in a lot of way. No vinegar, more garlic, different oil (no big deal there), no capers, and no parsley. If you don't like your food to be very garlicky, one clove of garlic is fine, but I'm a total garlic junkie. Parsley would have been a good idea, but I was winging it and didn't think of that. If I have fresh parsley to work with next time, I will definitely consider the addition. For now, I'm happy with it.
My audience (Carolyn) rated this as a "cook again" dish.
Considering that she isn't big on peppers or onions, that's a high compliment.
Showing posts with label peppers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label peppers. Show all posts
August 24, 2011
July 20, 2011
Something AMAZING
Guess what I'm making?Okay, so I confess. The egg obsession continues.
I like eggs. I like adding things to eggs. I like all the possible combinations (my computer is insisting that combinations is not a word), and I like eggs every way I've ever had them. Omelets clearly being my favorite.
Doing four miles of biking every day, though, my body craves protein, and drives me towards the nearest protein-y foods (like peanut butter. And eggs.) and demands that I eat. Who am I to say no?
As some of you may have noticed, I bought basil yesterday for that failure of a smoothie. Thankfully, awesomely, I had some leftover for today and didn't really feel like giving the V8 a second chance. It's just a waste of good basil (well, goodish, the Co-op's selection wasn't great) and garlic. So, I decided to spoil myself with another omelet.
What makes this omelet different from the others is that, while the others are entirely edible and delicious, this one takes the cake. In fact, this is possibly the best omelet I've ever had, and easily my FAVORITE omelet now. However, there is one thing that could make it better. See that white square in the upper left hand portion of the photo? Yeah, let's replace that with a pile of mozzarella, please. Preferably fresh.
This omelet was smooth, and bright with little dark notes. It's well suited for anyone who'd happily just sit in front of the TV with a bag of basil leaves, nomming away. Or anyone who's favorite sandwich is just basil pesto smeared on bread. Or anyone who would rather have a bouquet of basil than a bouquet of roses for Valentine's day. Eh, I'm just talking about myself here.
The Princess Omelet
Serves 1 really greedy princess.
1/2 small onion, diced
1/10 red pepper, diced (I wasn't in a peppery mood, but still wanted pepper)
1 handful of basil leaves, fresh and chiffonaded
1 slice American cheese (or a handful of mozzarella)
2 eggs
black pepper
butter for the pan
Directions:
1. Dice all vegetables and basil, set aside while enjoying the delicious fragrance of basil filling the kitchen and even overpowering the onion (is my onion lazy?).
2. Crack eggs into a bowl, whisking with a fork. Add a very generous amount of ground black pepper, and whisk some more.
3. Heat pan, preferably teflon (I'm too scared to use the cast iron pan for eggs, even though I've seen Will and Julia [Ms. Child] do it easily), buttering the bottom. Users of canola spray or Pam, just go away. Don't look at my blog again, you're a disgrace to foodies everywhere.
4. Pour in eggs.
5. Wait thirty seconds after adding the eggs, shaking the pan gently. Add filling. I, refusing to stick to omelet protocol, cover the whole surface of the eggs, rather than just half or one third. I also added my filling in this order (first item at the bottom, last at the top): cheese (in strips), basil, red peppers, onions.
6. Gently poke around the edges of the pan to make sure your eggs are not sticking and to make sure you'll be able to get your spatula under the damn thing. If you make a mess, that's okay, it's still edible. When the bottom has solidified slightly, attempt to flip it in half. I made a mess of this as I always do.
7. After cooking for another minute or so, flip the entire thing over to cook the other side somewhat.
8. When done, flip your omelet out onto a pan and bask in its glory for a moment before diving in with great greediness and vigor.
For those of you getting tired of my egg obsession, don't worry. We only have three eggs left in the carton until Friday. There's a good reason why my mother buys 18 eggs a week. Hopefully soon I'll be able to do something interesting as a main dish. Some things in the garden are ready to be harvested (lettuce mostly, but if it's more than Boston lettuce or iceberg I have an idea, sort of), so maybe there will be a post with some fresh veggies.
I like eggs. I like adding things to eggs. I like all the possible combinations (my computer is insisting that combinations is not a word), and I like eggs every way I've ever had them. Omelets clearly being my favorite.
Doing four miles of biking every day, though, my body craves protein, and drives me towards the nearest protein-y foods (like peanut butter. And eggs.) and demands that I eat. Who am I to say no?
As some of you may have noticed, I bought basil yesterday for that failure of a smoothie. Thankfully, awesomely, I had some leftover for today and didn't really feel like giving the V8 a second chance. It's just a waste of good basil (well, goodish, the Co-op's selection wasn't great) and garlic. So, I decided to spoil myself with another omelet.
What makes this omelet different from the others is that, while the others are entirely edible and delicious, this one takes the cake. In fact, this is possibly the best omelet I've ever had, and easily my FAVORITE omelet now. However, there is one thing that could make it better. See that white square in the upper left hand portion of the photo? Yeah, let's replace that with a pile of mozzarella, please. Preferably fresh.
This omelet was smooth, and bright with little dark notes. It's well suited for anyone who'd happily just sit in front of the TV with a bag of basil leaves, nomming away. Or anyone who's favorite sandwich is just basil pesto smeared on bread. Or anyone who would rather have a bouquet of basil than a bouquet of roses for Valentine's day. Eh, I'm just talking about myself here.
The Princess Omelet
Serves 1 really greedy princess.
1/2 small onion, diced
1/10 red pepper, diced (I wasn't in a peppery mood, but still wanted pepper)
1 handful of basil leaves, fresh and chiffonaded
1 slice American cheese (or a handful of mozzarella)
2 eggs
black pepper
butter for the pan
Directions:
1. Dice all vegetables and basil, set aside while enjoying the delicious fragrance of basil filling the kitchen and even overpowering the onion (is my onion lazy?).
2. Crack eggs into a bowl, whisking with a fork. Add a very generous amount of ground black pepper, and whisk some more.
3. Heat pan, preferably teflon (I'm too scared to use the cast iron pan for eggs, even though I've seen Will and Julia [Ms. Child] do it easily), buttering the bottom. Users of canola spray or Pam, just go away. Don't look at my blog again, you're a disgrace to foodies everywhere.
4. Pour in eggs.
5. Wait thirty seconds after adding the eggs, shaking the pan gently. Add filling. I, refusing to stick to omelet protocol, cover the whole surface of the eggs, rather than just half or one third. I also added my filling in this order (first item at the bottom, last at the top): cheese (in strips), basil, red peppers, onions.
6. Gently poke around the edges of the pan to make sure your eggs are not sticking and to make sure you'll be able to get your spatula under the damn thing. If you make a mess, that's okay, it's still edible. When the bottom has solidified slightly, attempt to flip it in half. I made a mess of this as I always do.
7. After cooking for another minute or so, flip the entire thing over to cook the other side somewhat.
8. When done, flip your omelet out onto a pan and bask in its glory for a moment before diving in with great greediness and vigor.
For those of you getting tired of my egg obsession, don't worry. We only have three eggs left in the carton until Friday. There's a good reason why my mother buys 18 eggs a week. Hopefully soon I'll be able to do something interesting as a main dish. Some things in the garden are ready to be harvested (lettuce mostly, but if it's more than Boston lettuce or iceberg I have an idea, sort of), so maybe there will be a post with some fresh veggies.
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