Break for Breakfast

I love breakfast foods. Everything from pancakes, to omlettes, and of course that old southern staple, a nice big hot creamy bowl of grits. For me breakfast is meal that most allows you to have a little bit of the salty and a little bit of the sweet , which for me makes the perfect flavor combination. Unfortunately for my taste buds, but maybe fortunately for my waistline, I don't get to eat the delicious breakfast foods I love that often. During the weekdays it seems that I am always rushing in the morning to get ready and get out the door on time to get to work that I usually end up grabbing something quick like a cup of coffee and a bagel or either just not having breakfast at all. However on the weekends, I like to treat myself. I turn on some music, tie on my apron, and get to cooking.

When I'm craving more savory that sweet for breakfast, my go to meal is an omlette. Now I must admit, in my beginning cooking days my omlettes may not have quite been the prettiest, but they tasted good. Now matter how hard I tried I could never flip that damn omlette without breaking it. If I'm being honest, my earlier omelette attempts were probably more of a scramble than an omelette. But like with most things practice makes perfect and I've finally gotten my omelette flip down pact. A couple of year ago I was watching some cooking show and the host was talking about the easy of making an omelette without the hassle of having to flip it. Now even though I had by this time conquered that particular hurdle I was intrigued. And that's when I was introduced to the omelette's easier to make and just as delicious cousin the fritatta. The fritatta is the omelette without the flipping and baked in the oven. You just throw all the ingredient together in a pan and let it cook, what could be more simple than that? So for all of you who can't quite get your omelette to cooperate or you just want to try something new, here is a simple to make frittata dish for you to try at home.

Potato Crusted Steak, Spinach, and Tomato Fritatta

　

　

Ingredients:

1 6-8oz steak cooked and chopped into bite sized pieces

1 small onion diced

1/2 cup frozen spinach thawed and drained

3/4 cup grape or cherry tomatoes sliced in half

1 tbsp garlic

3 medium potaoes sliced thinly

6 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup half-n-half

1/2 cup italian cheese blend shredded cheese

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp garlic and hearb seasoning

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes


Directions:
Preheat ove to 450 degree. In a large bowl place sliced potatoes, 1 tbsp of oil, 1/2 tbsp of garlic and herb seasoning, 1 tsp of salt, 1/4 tsp of black pepper and mix together covering each potato. Liberally spray 10-12 inch oven safe pan( make sure its's oven safe) with cooking spray, layer potatoes in pan until entire pan is covered, place in oven and cook for 8-10 min until they start to brown lightly then remove from oven and lower oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium pan heat remaining tbsp of oil. Add onion, garlic, crushed red pepper, let cook for 2-3 mins. Add spinach and cooked diced steak and cook for 2- 3mins longer. Turn off pan let cool slightly.

In large bowl mix eggs, milk, and half and half with whisk until fully incoporated. Add cooled steak mixture, remaining 1/2 tbsp of garlic adn hearb seasoning, 1 tsp of salt, 1/4 tsp of black pepper, and cheese to egg mixture and stir.

Pour egg mixture over potatoes in pan and place tomatoes on top of egg mixture sliced side down, distrubute evenly throughout pan. Place in oven adn cook for 30-35 mins until eggs are set. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 min before serving.

*Optional:

While the fritta is certainly delicous all on its own, I served mine with a small salad made of butter lettuce, dried cranberries, apple slices, glazed pecans, and a champagne vinegrette along with a piece of grilled bread.

Hope You Enjoy and Keep SIMPLY COOKING!!!!

What No Meat???

I was initially going to post a breakfast recipe this week, however I received a comment on my blog regarding previous post that took me in a different direction.  I received a comment stating that although my recipes look delicious and the writer of this comment wanted to try them, all of the recipes I have posted so far were seafood recipes and the person who posted of this comment detest seafood( I know shocking right!!!!) Until I read this comment, I hadn't realized that I had only posted seafood recipes.  However I do realize that there are some out their who do not enjoy the delicious delicacies of the sea , (BTW you don't know what your missing ;-) ). So in light of this, I decided to switch things up a bit and share a meaty pork chop dish.  Now I know that there are many people who do not partake of the other white meat, however I chose this recipe specifically for the person who posted the comment as I know that she is a pork lover.  But fret not all my non pork eaters, you can easily swap out the pork in this recipe with chicken and have just as tasty of a meal.  I know because I actually do exactly that when I make this meal for my dad who is among the legion of non pork eaters.  So pork eaters and non pork eaters alike, I hope you try out this recipe.







Apricot Chipotle Glazed Pork Chops w/ Mashed Sweet Plantains and Sautéed Green  Beans

Ingredients

For the Pork Chops:

4 6-8oz bone-in pork chops(1 inch thickness)

1/2 cup apricot preserves

1/2 cup chicken stock

1chipotles in adobo sauce chopped plus 1tbsp of the sauce

1 shallot minced

1/2 tbsp. chopped garlic

2 tbsps. oil

For the Mashed Plantains:

3-4 ripe sweet plantains

2 cups of chicken stock

1 tbsp. of chopped garlic

1 small onion thinly sliced

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/8 cup of sugar

1/8 cup of honey

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 tbsp of oil

3-4 tbsp of butter or margarine

salt & pepper to taste

For the Green Beans:

1 bag frozen whole green beans

1 tbsp oil

1 tbsp chopped garlic

1 small onion sliced into thin slivers

1 tsp crushed red pepper flake

1 packet of Goya vegetable and salad seasoning

Directions

For the Pork Chops:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Heat the oil in a large oven safe pan.  Season pork chops to your taste and place pork chops in pan sear on each side for 3-4 mins until the pork chops are nicely browned. Place pork chops in oven for 15 mins. While Pork chops are cooking, in a small saucepan add 1 tbsp oil, garlic, and shallot, cook 2-3 min until fragrant and shallots start to become translucent.  Add apricot preserves, chiles in adobo plus sauce, and chicken stock.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and let simmer for 10-15 mins until is become syrupy.  Brush apricot mixture over pork chops and bake in oven for another 5 mins then remove and let sit for 2-3 mins before serving.

For the Mashed Plantains:

Peel and chopped plantains into 1 inch pieces.  Place plantains in a medium pot , add chicken stock and garlic.  Cover pot and let boil for 20-25 min until soft.  Drain plantains reserving liquid.  Add plantain back to pot, add butter and mash.  Continue to mash plantain and adding reserved liquid slowly to plantains until they become the consistency of mashed potatoes.  Once desired consistency is obtain cover to keep warm until serving. While plantains are cooking in a small sauce pan, add oil and sliced onion.  Cook onion until they start to brown slightly, add  crushed red pepper flakes, balsamic vinegar, sugar, and honey and cook 15-20 min until it becomes thick and syrupy. When ready to serve drizzle onion mixture over mashed plantains.

For the Green Beans:

Heat oil in medium sauté pan.  Add garlic, onion, and crushed red pepper.  Cook 2-3 mins.  Add green beans to pan, sprinkle Goya seasoning and mix to evenly cover all green beans.  Place cover over pan and cook 15 mins.  Stir during cooking to prevent burning and get even cooking.

Place all components on a plate and eat.

Hope You Enjoy and Keep SIMPLY COOKING!!!



College Days Budget Gourmet

So I would love to say that my culinary juices have been flowing since I was a little girl, unfortunately that wouldn't quite be the truth. While I've always had an interest in cooking I wouldn't exactly say I had that certain "touch" in the kitchen especially during my college days. 

During my college days due to my limited finances, time, and space I was strictly a microwave chef. When I was in college my roommates and I used to throw down on some microwave Tuna Helper Cheesy Pasta, and that's when we were splurging. However our go to meal, as well as every college kids food staple was Ramen Noodles aka oodles and noodles. Now one would think that with the amount of Ramen Noodles I ate during college I wouldn't want to see a package of Ramen noodles ever again after I graduated, and while this was the case for a while as time went on I found my self missing my old familiar friend. However I felt that I was too adult now to just eat ramen noodles so I wanted to try and find a way to make them a little more refined. So that was the inspiration for the next dish I want to share with you all. So if your feeling a little nostalgic for those old oodles and noodle days with a little refined flair give this a try.

Asian Noodle Soup w/ Shrimp



Ingredients:


1 pack of shrimp flavored Ramen Noodles


1/2lb large shrimp


3 cups of shrimp or chicken stock


2/3 cup of sliced carrots (cut diagonally)


1 medium onion cut into medium to large horizontal slices


1 tbsp chopped garlic


1tsp of grated ginger


2 tbsp chopped cilantro


5-6 basil leaves


2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce


2 tbsp of chili garlic sauce


1 tbsp oil


1 lime


scallions

How To Make:

Heat oil in large pot. Add sliced carrots, onion, garlic, and ginger to pot and saute for 3-4 mins. Season shrimp with seasoning packet from ramen noodles, add shrimp to pot and cook for 5-6 mins until shrimp turn pink. Remove shrimp from pot. Add stock, soy sauce, and chili garlic sauce to the pot, let it come to a boil and add the ramen noodles. Cook for 4-5 mins. Add cooked shrimp, cilantro, and basil leaves to pot, cover and let steep for 1-2 min. Serve immediately garnish with squirt of lime juice and sliced scallions.

Hope You Enjoy and Keep SIMPLY COOKING!!!



Out with the Sweet Treats and in with the Good Eats

I started by posting a dessert last week, and while I am certainly a fan of desserts and will likely be sharing quite a few more on this blog, unfortunately we cannot survive on sweets alone. So this week I'll be sharing a delicious and simple meal to prepare with you all.

As I am sure, many of you have already made the well intentioned, although seemingly difficult to follow through with New Years resolution to lose weight and/or get healthy or as I like to say "Get it Right and Get it Tight". Unfortunately, the prospect of eating salads everyday all day is what leads many of us to abandon our well intentioned plans to eat better by week three in January in favor of that burger, chicken wings, big bowl of pasta(my personal weaknesses), or whatever your personal food vice is that you've been craving in the quest to get healthy. Well I'm here to share a little something with you all, you can eat healthy without having to subscribe to eating only salads. You can eat real food, with real flavor and lose weight. To prove this I'm going to show you how to make a simple and delicious healthy fish dinner that will leave you feeling satisfied. Since this blog is all about simple cooking, I will put out a disclaimer now that while the meal is simple to make in terms of cooking techniques, it does have a quite a few steps involved to produce the final product, but I assure you it is well worth it.

Sweet Chili Glazed Tilapia w/ Orzo and Sautéed Zucchini

 

Ingredients:

For the Tilapia:
4 Tilapia Fillets

1/3 cup of apricot preserves

1 tbsp of chopped garlic

2 tbsp of low sodium soy sauce

2 tbsp of chili garlic sauce

2 tsp of grated ginger

2 tbsp of canola oil


For the Orzo:
1 1/2 cups of orzo

1 small onion diced

2 tbsp of chopped cilantro

1/4 cup diced red or green bell pepper

1 tbsp of chopped garlic

2 cups of low sodium chicken broth

1 1/2 cups of water

1 tbsp of canola oil


For the Zucchini:
3 medium to large zucchini sliced into ribbons(use a potato peeler)

1/2 a large onion sliced

1tbsp of chili garlic sauce

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp of Goya salad and vegetable seasoning

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 cube of chicken bullion

1 tbsp of oil


To Make:

For the Tiliapia
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Season the Tilapia fillets to your taste (be mindful of amount of salt used). Heat 1 tbsp of oil in large frying pan. Place tilapia in pan and cook on one side for 8-10 mins or until mostly opaque in color, flip fish and cook on the other side for 4-5 mins. While fish is cooking in a small saucepan heat the tbsp of oil, then add the garlic, ginger, chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, and apricot preserves. Cook until sauce starts to bubble lightly. Place tilapia fillets on a baking sheet brush tilapia with sauce and place in oven for 2-3 mins.

For the Orzo: *Tip start the orzo before cooking the fish*

Heat the tbsp of oil in a medium saucepan on medium high heat. Add the diced peppers, onion, cilantro and garlic to the oil, cook for 2 min until onions start to become translucent. Add the orzo and stir to coat the orzo in the oil let orzo toast for 1 min continuing to stir to avoid burning. Add the chicken broth and water, let it come to a boil then lower the heat and cover. Cook for 15-20 min (you have to continue to stir the orzo while cooking to prevent sticking). If there is any water not absorbed drain the orzo and return to pot.

For the Zucchini: * Tip, I would also prep the zucchini ahead of time for smoother cooking process*

In a medium frying/sauté pan heat 1 tbsp of oil. Add the onion let cook until it starts to become translucent. Then add the chili garlic sauce and bullion cube and stir until bullion cube disappears. Add the zucchini ribbons and season with the Goya seasoning and black pepper. Stir and cover and let cook for 8-10 mins until zucchini starts to wilt and become translucent.

Put all components on a dinner plate and serve.

Optional: Serve a little pineapple salsa over the fish

Combine 4-5 slices of pineapple(fresh or canned) cut into small cubes, 1/2 tbsp chopped garlic, 1/2 a small jalapeno diced, 1/4 cup of diced bell peppers, 1 tbsp of chopped cilantro, 1 tsp of Goya salad and vegetable seasoning, 1 tbsp of olive oil, and 1 tbsp of lime juice in a medium bowl. Serve over fish. Tip: the longer you let the salsa sit the more the flavors marry together.

Hope You Enjoy and Keep SIMPLY COOKING!!!