Spinach and Mushroom Frittata

Yesterday morning I thought I'd whip up a special breakest to thank JoAnne for all the fun we had this past week while she was here visiting me and Michael. I wanted to cook her a special breakfast to send her on her way back to Wisconsin.

Here is the recipe that I followed and it turned out just wonderful!!

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon EVOO
1 shallot, chopped
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1 can diced mushrooms
5 eggs, beaten
2 cups shredded Mozz. cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft. Stir in spinach and continue cooking until excess moisture has evaporated.
In a large bowl, combine eggs, cheese, salt and pepper. Add spinach mixture and mushrooms and stir to blend. Scoop into prepared pie pan.
Bake in preheated oven until eggs have set, about 20 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!!

BLT Halftime Spread

I haven't tried it but I will and I will take pictures and all that good stuff. I am afraid that I will lose the piece of paper therefore I have to post this recipe.

Dice and fry 3lbs. of bacon - drain off fat.

In bowl mix one 16 oz. carton sour cream, one 15 oz. jar of Hellman's mayonnaise and 3/4 of fried bacon.

Smooth onto large platter. Cover with shredded lettuce, dice tomatoes and shredded cheddar cheese. Carnish with remaining fried bacon.

Enjoy with your favorite scoop chips.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

So for the Brewer's Home opener I wanted to make something delicious to contribute to the feast we would have. So I wanted to make chocolate peanut chip cookies for some time now so this was the perfect opportunity.

The cookies I am showing you look pretty good. I have learned my leason. DO NOT PUT FRESHLY BAKED COOKIES IN A PLASTIC BAG. They turned into cookie debris. They were still good though and fairly easy to make.

2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups of unsalted butter
2/3 cup of cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 cup of packed brown sugar (I think I used light brown)
3/4 cup of white granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups peanut butter chips
handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

in large bowl cream butter, brown sugar, sugar. Then add slightly beaten eggs and vanilla. in another bowl combine cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, and salt. Slow add cocoa flour mixture into the butter sugar mixture.

Fold in peanut butter and chocolate chips in mixture.

Refrigerate cookie mixture for 30-minutes to an hour.

Drop rounded spoonfuls (depending on cookie size you desire) onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool for a couple of minutes then transfer to cooling rack. Cool.

Enjoy.

Chicken Soup Question

Friday i made chicken soup for the first time using broth. In the past i've always been a purist and boiled chicken parts for hours on end to get the real flavor. This time i decided to cheat. Only ingredients i used were carrots, 3 stalks of celery,black pepper, broth cans, 1/4 of an onion and 2 bnls chicken breasts (originally frozen). Everything came out fine after simmering for about 1 1/2 hours which gave the soup plenty of time to let the flavors blend.

The only issue i had was that the chicken seemed dry. I baked the chicken breasts for 15 minutes and then chunked them up into the soup so they could finish cooking. Not sure if it's especially a good idea to toss in raw chicken when people keep on sampling the pot for flavor every couple minutes! ;)

My question is, why was the chicken dry? Is it because i baked it for a few minutes before tossing in the pot? Ot would it be because i used cheap frozen chicken in the first place?

In the past i traditionally use bone in chicken which of course adds to the flavor and is obviously more moist. I've never used bnls chicken before. I've baked my fresh bone in chicken and then tossed it into the pot with no negative side effects.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas?

Also looking for additional ingredients i could use to really spruce this up.....

BBQ!

http://milwaukee.citysearch.com/profile/41002945/milwaukee_wi/ashley_s_barbeque.html

Went to Ashley's on 15th and Center today for lunch with a friend of mine. His dad knows the owner and has raved about it for years. What can i say? Killer! My friend had rib tips and i had honey bbq wings. the rib tips were literally falling off the bone and yet had that charcoal flavor from proper cooking. The 12 piece wings i got were good but i should have gotten the 6 piece. Very filling of course but the flavor was interesting. It almost tasted like they had sweet n sour sauce mixed in with the bbq sauce. Don't get me wrong. They were damn good but after eating that many i noticed something was "odd". The regular bbq sauce is a custom recipe of course. I know they start off with Open Pit and then add stuff to it to make it killer. Excellent. Wish i had gotten ribs but i was craving wings at the time. No regrets really. Just itching to go back there and try something different!

Yeah the neighborhood ain't too great. Tell me something i don't know. The owner (Darnell) was super cool and talked to us for a few minutes after we ordered. Very nice guy and clearly a good salesman. His daughter was cute as a button and wound up getting hugs from both of us. Highlight of the trip was her looking at me and walking away when i was going to give her a hug! Even at the youngest of ages, the ladies seem to avoid me!!!

Grand total we both spent appx $8 a piece which was right on our mark considering we were starving and wound up stuffed! :) Very extensive menu for fried foods. Clearly not trying to be anything special aside from a take out restaurant that just serves up damn good food.

I look forward to going back there in the future. Every dollar i spend there is one less that goes to crummy money pits like pizza shuttle etc. It feels good spending a buck or two more than you normally would for a place where the owner and staff are friendly and are just trying to make an honest living.

If you get the chance to order food from Ashley's, i guarantee that you won't be disappointed with the taste. In this fast food world we live in today, you can find cheaper and faster food i would be shocked if you could find bbq that tastes better....

Potato Pancakes

Yeah I don't have pictures because my camera is broken and I don't have the funds to purchase a new one yet.

So last night I made potato pancakes.

Ingredients:
3 small potatoes (I used yukon gold) - shredded
1/2 small onion - chopped finely
1 egg
1/4 cup pancake mix
1 tablespoon of sour cream (I used low-fat I don't recommend consistency not that great)
parsley (I used a couple shakes of the dried stuff)
salt
pepper
oil

Peel and shred you potatoes set aside (I have a small handheld grated that I now loathe). Drain the water from the potatoes and press in a cheese cloth to remove as much water as you can.
Chop onion. As fine as you can. Put onions in a bowl with the potatoes.
In a frying pan add a liberal amount of oil heat on meduim.
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir like crazy. Combining the eggs well.

Salt and pepper to taste of course. Remember to salt your mixture now because its hard to properly season potatoes after the fact.

Once your oil is very hot. I used 1/4 cup measuring thing to ration out the mixture into the oil and flattening with a spatula. Turn once when the side is brown. When other side is brown. Drain on napkin.

Food Photography Tips

I came across this article and thought we could all learn something from it and use it towards our future posts.

http://www.slashfood.com/2007/09/26/food-photography-tips-from-a-pro/