Lost in translation...or thankfully not...

So I was browsing through the cookbook selection at Borders last week as I was waiting to go to my class at the gym (ironic, huh:P) I always seem to be really hungry right after school, and on the days I go to a 5:30 class, I have about an hour to kill. I usually go to Borders and grade, but I just was not in the mood to look at tests that particular day. I found the bargain book stand and there were all these $4.99 cookbooks, so I started browsing. I found one called 30 Minute Meals: A Commonsense Guide. I thought, 30 minutes, great! I flipped through quickly, saw that it had chicken, fish, beef, and pasta recipes, so I bought it.

Well, after I got home that night and was looking at it in detail, I realized the thing was British! The measurements were metric (but had standard ones after them, thank goodness), and there were words like "flavour" and "yoghurt" in the recipes. They also kept referring to this one salad green as "rocket!" Thankfully, there was a handy glossary in the front. And there were pictures if all else failed! 

Yesterday I found one recipe where I recognized all the ingredients and decided to try it out. It was about 90 degrees outside, so I didn't want something with a lot of standing over the stove involved, and this one looked nice and cool. And it tasted pretty good! Here ya go...

Fusilli with Roasted Tomatoes, Tapenade and Bocconcini

(don't be intimidated--there is a translation--and I won't include the metric measurements :)

1 lb 12 oz cherry tomatoes (I just got 2 12-oz bags)

1 lb fusilli (this is the spiral pasta)

About 10 oz (I used a half pound, or 8 oz) bocconcini, a.k.a. fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced

1 T chopped thyme

1 1/2 T capers (these are little green things you can find in the Italian section)

2 small garlic cloves

1 1/2 cups sliced black olives

3 T lemon juice

4-5 T extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO for you Rachel Ray fans ;)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Place the tomatoes on a baking tray. Season well (they didn't really explain this one so I just dumped some pepper on them!) and roast for 10 min, or until slightly dried.

2. To make the tapenade (fancy word for sauce stuff that goes in the pasta), put the capers, garlic, olives and lemon juice in a food processor and mix together. Gradually add the oil and continue to mix in the processor until the mixture forms a smooth paste.

3. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain well and return to the pan to keep warm.

4. Toss the tapenade and mozzarella cheese throughout the pasta. Serve topped with the tomatoes and thyme.

Yum yum! 

A frightening recipe, beware!

Dinner has been more of a theory than reality this week in the Kozusko apartment. One night we did Cold Stone and a bowl of cereal and called it a night. Another night... pretzels, a little bit of leftovers, some carrots... completely subpar for a real meal. Last night, pizza. I was really just in the mood to make something good tonight, and what I was really craving was a cheeseburger. And not just any cheeseburger, a stuffed cheeseburger. It's a recipe I've had for a long time now from my mom that I had never tried.

You make 2 patties out of ground beef, salt and some pepper, and cover one of them with this sauce mixture of ketschup, dijon mustard and mayo, a slice of cheddar and a slide of provolone, then top it with the second patty and pinch the edges together to make a yummy burger filled in the middle with yummy goodness :) Oh how excited was I.

I had the patties all ready to go, but one problem- I don't have a grill. My recipe suggested if you don't grill the burgers, you can broil them, about 6 inches from the top, for 7-8 minutes on each side. Sounds easy enough, right? DO NOT TRY THIS!! We came sooo close to a grease fire! A little flame popped up in the oven (and went back out), hordenous smoke, sizzling, in less than 3 minutes of them being in there. I was scared to death and am yelling to Matt to come "fix it" lol The fat from the ground beef I guess was the problem... oh my gosh I thought I was going to burn our little apartment to pieces.

So we took the burgers out and I pulled out my handy griddler to finish them off. A MUCH SAFER OPTION! They turned out delicious in the end.

So just a word of warning: beware of broiling burgers in the oven! Frightening experience, my friends, frightening. Chesseburgers, especially stuffed cheeseburgers, are just too good to frighten you!

Quickie!

Ashley, way to blow some dust off the good ol' Domestic Blog! Hi ladies! It's been a while.

Cooking has taken on a whole new dimension now that I am working. It now must fit into TIME. Before I entered this wonderful world of employment (and I truly am loving it), I could go ingredient shopping during the day...chop and measure before hand, then cook at my leisure. If we didn't feel like doing dishes that night, I'd just do them in the morning. Oh not anymore!

Now I'm pretty beat when I get home at 5:30. Tired but STARVING and if we leave pots and pans out overnight, they will remain dirty for the entire week! So what's a hungry ameteur cook to do? Plan ahead, I suppose! The past month or so now Matt and I have figured out a new cooking routine that has been working pretty well. We cook two days a week, usually Monday and Wednesday. Other days consist of leftovers and usually one night of some random thing we decide to make ourselves. It has been working out pretty well! It just takes some planning ahead to get ingredients over the weekends and get things ready as much as possible beforehand.

This is a really simple recipe. And the picture looks really good! And measurements can be eye-balled, depending on preference!

Fast Chicken and Rice

1/2 - 1 cup frozen peas
minute rice- about 4 servings
vegetable oil
about 1 pound chicken breast tenders, halved crosswise (I used chicken breasts and just sliced them)
1/3 cup bottled Stir-fry sauce
Toasted sliced almonds

1. Stir frozen peas into rice and cook rice according to stove top directions.
2. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add chicken to skillet; cook and stir until chicken is no longer pink.
3. Stir in rice/peas mixture. Stir in stir-fry sauce (eyeball it so it's enough). Heat through. Sprinkle with almonds.

Very simple and takes less than 30 minutes! My original thought was to make my own "stir fry sauce".... like a sweet and sour sauce or something (one of my recipe books has several sauce recipes), but when I was at the grocery store I spotted the bottle of "Stir Fry Sauce" and just couldn't pass up the simplicity.

The most creative side dish I could come up with was a salad. You may be able to come up with something more exciting than that, and if so, let me know! :)

Skillet Tamale Pie

Serves: 4 to 6

Ingredients: 

10 ounces store-bought cornbread, crumbled (about 2 1/2 cups)

      *You can also use a packaged cornbread mix, like Betty Crocker. It takes a little longer to   bake--just follow the instructions on the package.

3 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend

Salt and pepper

1 T vegetable oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 t minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo (pretty much any canned chopped green chiles work)

1 1/2 lbs 90 percent lean ground beef

2 (15-oz) cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed

2 (10-oz) cans Ro-Tel tomatoes, drained, with 1/2 cup juice reserved

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Combine cornbread, 1 1/2 cups cheese, 1/4 t salt, and 1/2 t pepper in a bowl.

2. Heat oil in a large heatproof skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Cook onion and chipotle chiles until softened, about 5 minutes. Add beef and cook until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in beans, tomatoes, and reserved tomato juice and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in 2 T cilantro and remaining cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Arrange cornbread mixture evenly over filling. Bake until cornbread is golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes (or longer if using an unbaked package mix). Sprinkle with remaining cilantro. Serve.

Note: 

This recipe can also be made by combining the ingredients in the skillet and then transferring the beef mixture to a casserole pan, then pouring the cornbread mixture over the top and baking as directed.