Prime Rib: Don’t be scared! August 31, 2009

Prime rib is one my husband’s favorite dishes.  For a while now, I have been wanting to try to make it. But I was scared. I didn’t want spend that much money on a dish only to mess it up. I decided to give it a try and hope for the best.

And am I ever so ecstatic I got over my fear and ended up making one of the best meals ever!  Sadly, restaurant prime rib will no longer be so glamorous.  And to top it off, I roasted it in the toaster oven! Oh yes, the mighty toaster oven wins a point against the oven once again.

When purchasing this meat from the butcher, you will not be able to buy a “prime rib” cut. You will need to ask for either eye of rib, rib roast, or standing rib roast. These cuts may be both bone in or boneless. The “prime” in prime rib described the grade of meat as in Prime, Choice, or Select.  Very confusing, I know, but once you roast it, cut it, and serve it, only then does it becomes a prime rib cut.

Roasting and baking are considered the same method of cooking. The only difference is the item you are cooking. Think baked ham, roasted turkey, baked cake, roasted almonds.  It’s just the nuances of the English language.

Serves about 5

Ingredients:

• 1 (4 1/2 pound) prime rib roast
• 4 tablespoons of minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons of oil
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon thyme

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
• Preheat your toaster oven to 350 degrees. (I live where it’s HOT, so running an oven for 2 hours is not something I want to do.)
• Place the fat side of the roast up in the pan.
• Mix the remaining ingredients together and spread over the roast.
• Cook the roast in the oven for 20 minutes.
• Remove roast and place a meat thermometer in the center of the roast.
• Now place the roast in the toaster oven and bake until the thermometer reaches 145 degrees for medium rare, about a hour and 45 minutes.  Remove roast and let it rest for 10 minutes.
• Or if you are slightly more daring and want a better medium rare, remove the roast once the temperature reads 135 degrees, about 95 minutes.  Let the roast rest for about 15 minutes until the meat reaches 145 degrees.

Hint: Once the meat is removed from the oven and you let it rest, the meat will continue to cook. So taking the roast out early will allow the meat to rest and come up to optimum temperature

Due to the garlic being so close to the heating elements in the toaster oven, it did burn a bit. But this made no ill affect on the out come of the over all taste of the prime rib. The garlic was actually quite enjoyable toasted like that.

Rating:

Hubby- 4 stars all the way!

Me- 4 stars absolutely. Way more easy than I ever thought it would be.

Extending Your Fruits and Veggies Shelf Life July 9, 2009

In these times, when we are all looking to cut costs and save a little extra money it becomes harder to spend your extra money on something, well, extra.  Sometimes you have to spend money to save money.

There is no need to tell you that fresh fruits and veggies are some of the fastest items in our refrigerators to spoil.  Well, in my kitchen, they now have a longer shelf life.  I am a skeptic about most everything.  But, I trusted my friend and took a leap of faith on Tupperware’s Fridge Smart collection.  And now I loved them!  Yes, they are on the pricey side for my tastes but they do more than make up for it.  I only buy Tupperware when it is on sale. These items are currently on sale until Friday.  These containers typically (I believe so) go on sale each year during the months of April or May. So I am surprised to see them on sale right now.

How they work, I don’t know.  But they truly do. Maybe it’s a little magic.  I have had spinach in the large container for over four weeks.  Strawberries in the medium one for two weeks.  I put anything and everything in them.  They even come with a handy guide on the side of each container stating how many vents to open or to close.

I would highly recommend you take the leap of faith like I did and try these containers out.

Oreo Sunflower Cupcakes with Bubble Bees June 28, 2009

These cupcakes will impress any company you have and get them thinking you spent a great deal of time on them.  But in reality, frosting these cupcakes doesn’t take very long at all.

Bubble bees and regular sized Oreos adorn the large sized cupcakes while mini Oreos top the mini cupcakes.

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

• Bake as directed according to the box. Makes about 24 large cupcakes or about 48 mini cupcakes.
• 24 regular sized Oreo cookies or 48 mini Oreo cookies.

Frosting:

• ½ cup of green frosting
• 1 cup yellow frosting

Directions for Frosting:

• Frost cooled cupcakes with a thin layer of green frosting.
• To help center each flower, take one Oreo and lightly press it into the frosting just enough to make an impression. Remove the cookie.
• Using either a leaf tip or star tip, start the frosting of each petal just inside the rim of the cookie impression. Make the length of each petal as desired.
• Twist each cookie apart removing one of the cookie sides.  Place the remaining cooking and filling on top of frosted cupcake.

Hint:

• Clustering 2 to 3 mini cookies together to make a small bouquet of flowers adds a nice touch to the over all finished cupcakes.
• These cupcakes can be made a day in advance.  Keep in a tightly sealed container so that the cookies don’t become to moist.

Directions for Bubble Bees:

• I highly suggest using your sister’s highly talented clay creation making niece to make the bubble bees, as I did.  But if you don’t have one then follow the instructions below.
• Make 8 ounces (half a can) of gum paste according to the directions.
• Remove about an ounce from mixture for the white stripes and antenna.
• Color the remaining gum paste with yellow food coloring.
• Using the yellow paste, roll 24 small heads and 24 bodies.
• In the smaller head balls, poke long blue sprinkles into each head for eyes.  Role a small amount of white paste and curve it for the antennas. Attach by poking a small hole in to the head with a toothpick, then placing the antenna in each hole.
• Take the remaining white paste, spread it out into a thin layer.  Place two strips on each of the bodies for stripes. Trim as needed.
• Attach the heads to the bodies with a small amount of frosting.
• Attach the bubble bee to the cupcake with a small amount of frosting.

Enjoy!

T-minus 10 days June 27, 2009

10 more days until I return to my kitchen after 3 months of being away.  Oh how I miss my kitchen, my house, and my bed.

Traveling half way around the world to eat this again??? May 5, 2009

So here I am back in California for the next two months from my temporary home in Japan.  We are visiting my family and introducing our 4 month old to them for the first time.  But what I really want is to eat all the food I miss oh so dearly.   So my brother and his wife decide to take my hubby and I to dinner.

AND WHERE DID THEY HAVE THE BRIGHT IDEA TO TAKE US????????

To their favorite restaurant of course!!

And this is what we ate…

and…

YES THAT’S RIGHT JAPANESE FOOD.

Rolls, rolls, and more rolls, edamame, tempura, and garlic fries.

But hey I love ‘em and so I gladly eat the food I can get back home.

At least it was good.

Chicken Milano May 5, 2009

Oh my goodness this is one of our most most favorite dishes.  Whenever we go to restaurants I know I can always count on this dish to be good.  So when I found this recipe I thought I’d give it a try and I hoped for the best.  And heck ya it is one of the best ever.  Although, I swear it changes flavors every time I make it, it still is yummy. So why not give it a try and tell me what you think.

Rating out of three stars: Hubby- 3 ½ stars Me- 3 ½ stars

Serves 2  Ready in 40 minutes
Ingredients:

• 1 pot and 2 pans (yup it’s dishes time! Who ever eats it will gladly do the dishes for you).
• 1 cup of bowtie pasta per person
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• ½ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon of fresh basil (or to taste, but please don’t use sweet basil and don’t use the finely chopped stuff either)

Directions:

1. Get the pot of water for the pasta started now.
2. Heat the butter in a large sauce pan.  Once melted, add the garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and chicken broth.  Simmer this concoction for about 10 minutes.
3. Your pasta pot should be boiling by now, so put those bowties in to cook.
4. Go back to the other pan and add the heavy cream to the concoction and bring to a boil. Simmer over medium heat until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.  I like ours thick so it might take 10-15 minutes.
   
5. Now on to the chicken.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides.  In the third pan, warm the oil over medium heat and saute  the chicken.  Cook until the inside is no longer pink.  Sometimes, this is when I cut the chicken into bite size pieces and throw them into the cream sauce.  But only if your sauce is getting thick but now.
6. By now your pasta should be done cooking.  Drain and mix with the cream sauce.  Add the basil and stir everything together.
   
7. Enjoy!
   

Tortilla- Cooked over the open flame. April 23, 2009

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!  Do you even really realize how good one of those tastes?  Well, you might if you only get to have one every few months I like do.  I get to right now because I am back in California introducing our four month old to our families for the first time.  While doing this, we get to eat at all our favorite places and the ones we miss oh so much.  I just can’t wait until I get to eat fresh never-before-frozen chicken, ah yummy.   But for now I will revel in the fact that I just had an awesomely fantastic cooked tortilla over the open gas range.

Oh the simple pleasureful flavors in life.

Foods from Travels. April 6, 2009

Inspired by my families recent and upcoming travels.  I think this blog needs some of the stranger and not so strange meals we have eaten over the years.  Now, I just need to hunt down those pictures…

Singapore March 30, 2009

Well, we are currently in Singapore.

I begged my hubby to bring the little one and me along on his business trip.  And after much thought he caved.   So here we are in a strange land.  But at this moment I am watching the little one waking up and seeing how she always manages to get her left arm out of her swaddler.  Sneaky little child…

Until we get our kitchen back…

St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast Mini Bites March 16, 2009

These was one of the easiest versions of quiche that I have made.  Also, so cute using a three leaf clover to cut out the biscuit dough and using it as the cup.  It fluffs up nice and still keeps the shape.  I might use a larger cookie cutter next time so to make a bigger and cuter clover.  Until next year…

Rating out of three stars: 3 stars

Serves 1 Ready in 15 minutes

You can make this on a lager scale using crescent roll dough or any other refrigerated dinner roll dough.

Ingredients:

• Two eggs
• 5 piece biscuit tube
• Any veggies you see fit.
• Zucchini, about 4 inches sliced and quartered
• mushroom, 4 small ones chopped
• carrot, about 4 inches sliced and cut into 8ths
• garlic, as much minced as you want
• cucumber, about 4 inches sliced and quartered
• slash of heaving whipping cream or milk

Directions:

1. Pre heat oven to the cooking degree of the dough.
2. Grease the mini cupcake pan.
3. Separate the biscuits, smash them, and cut using a 3 inch clover cookie cutter.  Smash the dough again making it bigger if needed.  Place each finished clover shaped dough into a mini cupcake well.
4. Mix all of your ingredients together.
5. Use a ¼ measuring cup, fill each dough well about half full.
6. Cook about 7 minutes or until the eggs are cooked through.
7. Enjoy!

Comments:

Use this cookie cutter idea for other holidays year round.