Dinner Last Night

Last night thanks to a friend giving us a gift card we were able to go to Tria in North Oaks-Man was that a great dinner! I had a chicken breast with artichokes and sun dried tomatoes and Frank had a parmesean crusted chicken breast with a mushroom sauce-mmmmmmmm very good-I would highly recommend you checking this place out-it has always been one of our favorite spots. Especially in the summer when you can sit out on their patio!

Good Day

Yesterday afternoon my mailman brought me the new cookbooks I ordered. Today of course I have things to do but all I want to do is look thru the new cookbooks-this is when my creativity really starts to work-by seeing what others do in the kitchen-it makes me want to create!

So I will cook for a client today and then I will reward myself with "research" for the rest of this terribly cold and windy day!

What more can I ask for????

Update on Skinless Boneless Thai Wings

They have great flavor-but sometimes you just have to have the skin and bones to get the full enjoyment!

Skinless Boneless Thai Chicken Wings

I am sure you have guessed that since these are going to be skinless and boneless I really am not using chicken wings at all-I am using chicken breast cut into nugget size pieces.

The marinade has soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice and zest, chili powder, ginger, cumin, coriander, hot chilies to taste and chili powder. Oh ya and honey to make them good and sticky. Adjust amounts to the amount of chicken you are preparing and your flavor palate.

I like to marinade the chicken overnight or at least 8 hours.

For the boneless skinless wings I am going to toss them in Panko breadcrumbs and bake-that way you still get the crunch that you would with the skin!

Frank and I first had this type of chicken wing in Tampa a few years ago-they were so awesome that we visited the restaurant twice while we were in town.

With our plans bringing us to the St Pete area in March-maybe we will be able to visit this place again.

Man they are so wonderful with the sticky sweetness of the honey and the awesome salty heat of chiles and fish sauce!@

I know that I will be enjoying our food during the big game today-hopefully you all will be too

GO VIKES

Fun Frankless Meal Night

Last night I was craving Pizza-I know I crave pizza alot! Well with Frank out of town I got to do something kinda special for me. I made Roasted Butternut Squash Pizza.

I take a small butternut squash and cut it in half and clean out the inside seeds. Slice it in rings and season it up with salt, pepper, garlic salt and cayenne pepper-lots of cayanne pepper-drizzle with olive oil and roast until brown and crispy. Rmove the skin and place on your favorite pizza crust. I also use a little blue cheese, mozzarella cheese and fresh herbs at the end.

Outstanding little morsels.

Tomorrow being the big game day-tune in tomorrow morning for a new way to make Thai Chicken wings-wingless and skinless for those watching there weight-like us!

Roasted Cauliflower Revisited

20th of January 2010 and we are still watching our diet and exercising on a very regular basis. Soooo tonight I have decided to visit the many uses of cauliflower. For those of you who have followed for awhile you may remember that I made pizza sauce out of roasted cauliflower! Delicious is what I said then and I still say now-your loss if you haven't tried it yet.

Tonight I was craving mexican so I made a new version of enchilada sauce with roasted cauliflower and diced tomatoes blended.

For the rest of the story-you will need to tune in tomorrow to see if the creation was actually edible or not! Wish me luck as Frank was looking not so sure when he saw me making the dish!!!!

Yam vs Sweet Potato Tip

Yesterday while cooking for a client my recipe called for Sweet Potato-which by the way in my opinion is better tasting and is much better for you! Anyway, as I was peeling what I thought was a sweet potato to my surprise was a Yam!

Yikes I was disappointed-

I told my client later in the day that her meal of Vegetarian Enchiladas had yams in it instead of sweet potatoes and her response was "Oh that has happened to me before so now I always make a little scratch mark to be sure the flesh is that of a sweet potato the orangey color vs the white of the yam!

So I may have to try that going forward

Recipe Contest Time

It seems like this time of the year there are numerous recipe contests that crop up that interest me. Yesterday I entered my Hot Garlic Artichoke Dip recipe in a contest thru the Food Network Magazine.

Many of you know that I have entered contests in the past for the Rachael Ray Show and Texas Rio Star Grapefruit. Although I didn't win the contests, I consider them like brushes with fame. I was intereviewed by the Rachael Ray show and I placed top 5 out of 1500 people in the Texas Rio Star Grapefruit contest.

So my message to you today is-if you have some creative idea's why not take a chance and submit a recipe to a contest?

I will keep you posted on any progress of my latest submission.

Frank's Famous Burrito Dip Slimmed Down

So the diet continues-but that doesn't mean we aren't eating stuff we really enjoy having during the winter months!

This weekend we wanted burrito dip-for those of you that haven't had this before it consists of hamburger, refried beans, salsa and lots of velveeta cheese. Well not this weekend when I made it. Here's what I did.....

Replaced the burger with freshly ground chicken breast, made my own refried beans-so I knew it was all goodness in them with little fat, my own salsa and then for the cheese I used 2 % velveeta and only used about 1/2 cup which is at least 1/3 of what I usually use.

It had awesome taste-was it the burrito dip that we know and love-no but it was an awesome substitute during this diet time.

The other key to our enjoyment of this wonderful snack-moderation and portion control!

Try it when your hankering for something spicy and not sooooo fattening.

Soft Shell Crabs

Wow-thanks to my Chef friend Ross I was able to make soft shell crab last night for dinner!

It was fantastic-simple too a few of those wonderful little creatures in all their soft shell goodness, garlic, a Jalapeno pepper, fresh parsley and some good olive oil. Toss it around in a big skillet for a few minutes until the crab turn a little pink like shrimp and toss it with some pasta.

I have to say with the side of roasted broccoli and a nice glass of wine our dinner last night ranked right up there with an awesome fine dining experience without the price tag!

Enjoy

Sorry

I am sorry if you have been waiting for foody thoughts from me-computer crashing does not make it easy to post on my blog!

Up and almost running so-just a quick note on Greens-such as Mustard greens, Kale and just simply spinach.

Very cheap and easy to prepare-for 2 people a total of 1 bunch-I suggest combining the mustard and the kale with a couple of cups of spinach for a kicker.

Start with a large kettle with a tablespoon of garlic-add the greens and then 1 1/2 cups water. Allow to wilt down a little and then season with salt and pepper.

Cover with lid and cook on low for about 20 minutes-taste and be sure the texture and flavor is good-if still a little bitter cook longer. The longer you cook the more mild they get.

Serve as a side dish-Enjoy

By the way I warned you that I would be starting the year off healthy!!!!!!