Monday, August 29, 2005

making it up as i go along

Exibit A:

Last week I had the following: can of garbonzo beans, small leftover nub of feta cheese, Ajvar and some past-thier-prime pitas.

So I mixed up the beans, cheese and some avjar with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and garlic powder. I cut the pitas into 4 wedges and toasted them in the oven. And had me a delish dinner of garbonzo gunk on crunchy warm pitas!

Exibit B

Over the weekend I had low-fat cinnamon ghraham crackers, honey spread* and some plums. I merely spread honey on a cracker and topped with a plum wedge. It was suprisingly wonderful.

*Honey spread is new to me. There are no ingredients listed, so I guess it's just kind of honey that's been put through some kind of crystallizing process.

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

you spin me right round baby right round

Like a chicken, baby, right round, round round!

Last week Jack and I got a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store deli. Instead of just eating it plain, jack shredded off the meat and added a little olive oil and some dried mint, oregano, garlic, salt & pepper. We used that to fill wheat pitas, along with spinach and tomatoes and a sort of Tzatziki sauce Jack whipped up real quick (sour cream, yogurt, dill, pickle juice). It was such a good meal. Healthy, as well, and with plenty of leftovers.

Then I saw this not martha entry about an article for other things to do with rotisserie chicken. So I went on a quest to find some neat dinner ideas for these convenient, affordable birdies.

This article (requires a simple little free registration) has some good basic tips and ideas. It includes some quotes from the author of this book, which is currently "in transit" to my local library branch.

Sara Moulten on the food network apparently had a whole show dedicated to the wonder of rotisserie chicken uses. There's a few recipes, but this Butter Chicken (Indian Chicken with tomato cream sauce) looks especially dee-lish.

Chicken Scarpariello and Chicken soup w/latin flavors, both good ideas from Good Housekeeping.

Another general article featuring some really good tips (like take the meat off the bone when it's still warm...it comes off easier that way) and also some links to recipes.

Chicken chipotle tamales...there's not a thing about that phrase I don't like :)

3 yummy recipes from New York chefs. Yeah, real chefs eat 'em too!

With all these possibilities, I may have to consider getting my own Roncno rotisserie! Set it....and forget it!!!

Friday, August 05, 2005

back on air

for this one meme, at least.

this meme has traveled halfway round the world!

what is your first memory of baking/cooking on your own?   
I used to love making scrambled eggs. Experimental scrambled eggs, especially. I would ad leftover pasta sauces, salsa, mushrooms...all kinds of stuff. I thought I was such the gourmet.

who had the most influence on your cooking?   
My dad was the cook in the family. Mom's specialties were along the lines of hamburger helper and Old El Paso taco kits. My dad made spanish rice, pasta, and when guests came over fried zuccini & eggplant.

do you have an old photo as “evidence” of an early exposure to the culinary world and would you like to share it?
I have the quitessential picture of me as a baby with spaghetti all over me. I'm not sure of a cooking one. Maybe I'll flip through albums while I'm at my mom's tonight...

mageiricophobia - do you suffer from any cooking phobia, a dish that makes your palms sweat?
bread. it's so scientific and precise.

what would be your most valued or used kitchen gadgets and/or what was the biggest letdown?
I'm very low-tech. Not many "gadgets" get used around my household. It's all knives and graters and spoons and spatulas. Does a mortar and pestil count? I use that quite a bit.

needs improvement: We never have use for our toaster oven. The broiler is just as good. Garlic presses don't impress me. I had one completely break on me. Metal shouldn't break! If I'm two lazy to chop my garlic, I just use the cheese grater.

name some funny or weird food combinations/dishes you really like - and probably no one else!
tater tots and sriracha sauce (actually people probably do like this, they just haven't tried it!), Pretzels on ice cream,

what are the three eatables or dishes you simply don’t want to live without?
beans
rice
ice cream

your favorite ice-cream.
that varies greatly from week to week. I'm partial to low-fat ice creams with lots of caramel in them. I liked edy's grand light new slow-turned caramel swirl.

you will probably never eat.
I like to think I'll try anything. And who knows where future travels will take me. Balut eggs are rather scary. I don't think I could handle that. But anything else, I'm pretty open.

your own signature dish.
burritos (black beans, jalepeno cilantro rice, sometimes cheese, sometimes chipotle chicken, always tons of salsa.)

you got tagged by.
No one. I only get a couple hits a week. But I snagged it from mipmup.

three people you'd like to pass this meme onto.
"no tags, but would love to have the link if you do post."...that's what mipmup said. dtto for me.