Excuse me, Miss, is that meat in your purse?

I've been a bit remiss at posting lately, but I'll have you know we've been demolishing our bathroom and dressing up like 80s rockstars, which requires a lot of energy.

I did get a short burst of motivation this past weekend, and cooked up a couple of recipes out of Cooking Light, which I'll share here.

1) Spicy Turkey Meatloaf, which I had in my purse for a brief stint this morning on my commute into work. And, which I used in scrambled eggs with some provolone tonight.

2) Whole wheat and flax banana bread, which I made into muffins since I don't have a loaf pan. At least I didn't use the Wok, people.

This is a quick one, but we'll be back soon with something more creative!

Orecchiette Pasta with Sausage and Zucchini

We found ourselves in a situation where we were out of almost anything it would take to make an acceptable meal, and finally went to the store earlier last week. We've been pretty busy this week (John's birthday!) so haven't had a ton of time or motivation to blog. But don't worry, we're still here. 

In San Francisco, John worked at Scala's Bistro, a restaurant in the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in Union Square (If Tara is reading this she remembers the free dinners we used to get. The girlfriend of a chef doesn't get to actually hang out with her significant other, instead she gets appeased with free food. I guess the mentality is that chewing prevents one from bitching?)

Anyway, one of the best dishes at Scala's is the orecchiette pasta (pasta from my family's region of Italy, which means "little ears" in Italian - love or leave that visual when you actually eat this dish.) Here's a loose interpretation of it:

Red pepper (1/2)

Zucchini (1/2)

Balsamic vinegar (3 tbsp)

Olive Oil (2 tbsp)

Garlic (2 clove)

Spicy italian sausage (4)

White wine (enough to deglaze pan)

Chicken Stock 1 cup

Spicy red pepper flakes (pinch)

Butter (2 tbsp)

Flat-leaf parsley (1/4 cup diced)

Parmegiano Reggiano (grated)

Orecchiette (dry, 1 lb.)

Sauce: Dice the red pepper and zucchini and toss them in a pan with the balsamic vinegar until they're almost fully cooked. Then add the garlic, olive oil, and sausage (removed from casing and broken up into small pieces) and cook until the sausage is done. Add enough white wine to deglaze the pan (just to get the crispy bits off the bottom of the pan). Then add chicken stock and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes and allow it to simmer down a bit. Once it's cooked down, add a few tablespoons of butter to make the sauce nice and creamy. Stir in the parsley (always add fresh herbs at the end!) Toss in the pasta and finish with some Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

Pasta: Also, you should have been boiling the pasta while this was going on... Man, I bet you're kicking yourself now!

Holy Pancake Batman! (Starring: apples)

There are many things in this life I've never done. Among those things, I'd count jumping out of a plane, actually cleaning vertical blinds, and making pancakes without the presence of Bisquick. Luckily John's there to change that. 

This could be breakfast. This could be dinner. It's how us poor people (and not the "New Poor" for those who watch Always Sunny) have always disguised using low-cost pantry ingredients as a fun activity called "Breakfast For Dinner." Tonight we made a souflee-inspired pancake with caramelized apples. 

Mix the following in a large mixing bowl. In our case the Joyce Chen wok made another appearance.

1/2 c. flour

2 tsp. sugar

2 eggs

1/2 milk

Pinch of salt

Then, sear the following ingredients in a large frying pan until the apples become caramelized:

1-2 Apples, sliced thin

Cinnamon 

2 tbsp. brown sugar

2 tbsp. Butter

Place the pancake batter over the sizzling apples and just flip it (flip it good!)

Warning: Split this with someone because it's massive!

Apples Day 3: Mulliga-WHAT?!

Using the leftover Chicken Normandy, brown rice, and spinach, we decided to make an improvised version of a popular soup. Mullagatawny is a curry-flavored soup, which means "pepper water" when translated into English. I am not making this stuff up, even though I tend to do that sometimes. OK, I do that a lot. But I always try to sound smart.

Here are the pantry/fridge ingredients we already had and used to make this soup:

Green apples (1)

Chicken broth (almost a full box)

Curry that we got from Chateau Felice Wine Club - oh hey, wine snobs! (a few teaspoons)

Onions (about a quarter of a medium onion)

Garlic (1 clove)

Celery (about 2 stalks)

(Salt and pepper to taste) - always implicit (except in desserts, smartass.) and I sometimes forget to say it.

We purchased:

Coconut milk - $2.50 (1/2 can)

Carrots - $1 for a bunch (2 carrots)

When making a soup, make sure to dice everything small enough so it can fit on a spoon - that's John's rule of thumb. Nothing tees John off worse than a huge carrot on his spoon. Like the Incredible Hulk, you wouldn't like him when he's angry. 

First dice the apple, carrots, celery, garlic and onion and sautee for a few minutes in a stock pot. Then add the leftover chicken, spinach, and brown rice. This is super simple - just add all of the liquids and spices and just let it simmer for a while. 

We should win the Nobel Prize for innovation. Do they have one of those?

Chicken Normandy

So, remember when I said we weren't vegans? This recipe involves bacon. 'Nuff said. 

After a long day of bringing home said bacon, I arrived home to John feverishly slicing two of the Red Delicious apples we'd picked the day before. 

He found the following leftover ingredients in our fridge and pantry: 

Brown rice

All-purpose flour

Apple cider

Fresh thyme (we used it in a previous recipe, and wrapped in a wet paper towel so it would keep)

Onion

Skim milk

Bacon (which we froze after making for breakfast awhile ago)

And went to the store for these ingredients: 

Brandy (which we don't typically have because we're not 75-year-olds) = $10

Chicken breasts (3) - $6

Fresh spinach - $2

He started by dicing up what probably would be the equivalent of 2 or 3 slices of bacon into tiny pieces and sauteeing them in a grill pan. He took the bits out after they were browned and left the grease behind (like any good man conscious of his woman's desires to lose 5-1o lbs, he proceeded to cook the rest of our meal in bacon grease.) An extra few miles on the treadmill for me.

Cut the chicken breasts in half to make 6 pieces. This will maximize your leftovers, and you really only should eat half anyway. Dredge the chicken in flour and fry it in the bacon grease until its just almost done. Then remove and drain the grease on a paper towel. 

Throw about 1/4 of an onion, diced, into the bacon grease. Then add the apple slices and sautee for a few minutes. 

Listen to me here, because you could lose an eyebrow if not. Let me say this again - WARNING - if you don't listen to me kiss your eyebrows goodbye. Remove the pan from the flame, STAND BACK, and then add 1/2 cup of brandy to the pan. Put it back on the stove and STAY BACK! It will set on fire...

After the brandy cooks down, add about a cup of apple cider, some fresh thyme, salt and pepper. Reduce that and add a touch of milk. If needed, throw a little extra flour in the sauce to thicken it up. Don't forget to add the bacon bits at the end for that nice little touch of salt for this otherwise sweet dish.

We'll probably be able to eat this meal 2-3 more times, depending on how hungry we are... Not to mention, we'll have to start drinking Brandy, and maybe playing shuffleboard.