Veggies Galore!

While on vacation in Charleston, we decided to cook in one night (we had a beach house out on Folly with a decent kitchen.) We made quite a feast which I will eventually post about, as Lindsey has all the pictures. Anyway, last night I decided to remake one of the dishes we made that night, but made some changes. This is a roasted chick peas, cauliflower, and potato dish that was really delicious. The picture is from the leftovers I just finished eating at lunch. Here is the recipe:

1 can chick peas
1 head of cauliflower, broken up or chopped
3 russet potatoes, cubed
1/4 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons minced garlic
salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and cayenne pepper to taste (I just sprinkled the whole pan with each spice)
1/4 cup parmesean cheese
1 package crumbled feta.

1. Preheat oven to 425. In a large baking dish, combine all three vegetables. Toss with oil, garlic, parmesean, and spices. Bake for 1 HOUR*

2. After the dish is cooked, add the crumbled feta, and serve!

*The potatoes take the longest to cook. While baking, stir the vegetables every 15 minutes to make sure the cauliflower doesnt get too brown.

Enjoy!

Our favorite eats in Charleston!

So, as I mentioned before, I spent 4 days in Charleston over my spring break, and we spent a majority of the time eating at our favorite restaurants. I thought I would write a post about my favorite places to eat and drink in Charleston (where I lived from August 2008-August 2009). So here goes.

1. Fuel
http://www.fuelcharleston.com/

Fuel is hands down one of our favorite places in Charleston. Its in downtown but not in a touristy area, so it feels more like a local hangout. It is Caribbean-influence food and they have a really diverse menu. My favorites are the Braised Pork Tacos, the Sweet Corn Bisque, and the Chicken Nachos. I've never had a meal at Fuel I didn't love, but those are definiely my favorite menu items. Also, they have the best sweet potato fries in town, making them a must-order side.

2. Moe's Downtown Tavern
http://moestaverns.com/cgi-bin/p/awtp-home.cgi?d=crosstown-tavern

Moe's was just as popular a hang out spot for me in Charleston as Fuel was. Moe's Tavern has 2 locations in Charleston, but the downtown location is my favorite. They have a great happy hour with half priced wings, but their burgers are the best thing on the menu (in my opinion). Their BLT Burger is my personal favorite. It's got bacon, mixed greens, pesto mayo, and a fried tomato on top of an delicious burger. We went to Moe's so often that while I was in Charleston this past week, a waitress recognized me a Moe's local while we were at a bar in Folly Beach.

3. Juanita Greenbergs Nacho Royale
http://www.juanitagreenbergs.com/

Now, I really wasn't expecting to visit Juanita Greenbergs this time in Charleston. I havent been too much of a fan of this place, especially after one particularly frustrating night of waiting an hour for a table only to be told to "come back another night." But we decided to have lunch there anyways. Their nachos are their signature dish, but they arent traditional nachos. They are more like a pizza. I got a chicken Nacho Royale, which chicken, black beans, cheese, pico, and lettuce, and it was so good! We also enjoyed some margaritas there too, which were equally delicious. I recommend this place for a nice lunch outside (they have a fantastic outdoor patio in the back.)

4. Tattoed Moose
http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/tattooed-moose-brings-back-the-duck-club/Content?oid=1826817

The Tattoed Moose is a brand new hang out in Charleston that just opened last week. While looking to get some late night food at the Recovery Room, we were told their kitchen was closing and they suggested that we try the Tattoed Moose. The place is small but the waiters/bar tenders were incredibly friendly. Our waiter introduced himself to us and even asked our names. Their signature menu item is their duck club sandwhich, which Amy L. and I split. The sandwich was delicious and one of the best things I ate in Charleston all week. They also fry their fries in duck fat, so it was sort of a duck overload, but totally worth it. This place is a must-visit as far as my Charleston recommendations go.

I'd also like to thank the following bars and restaurants for being equally amazing as I remember them: Johnson's Pub, Big John's Tavern, Wet Willies, ACs Bar and Grill, O Malley's, East Bay Deli, King Street Grille, Vikcerys at Shem Creek, Kudu Coffee (not a bar, but still awesome), and the newcomer Midtown.

Well, hello again!

Hello again readers! It's been a long time since I've last posted, but it's been business as usual in Clemson and school has been pretty busy. Today is my second to last day of Spring Break, so I am catching up on posts while avoiding doing studio work. I have sort of lost track of the meals we have been cooking at home, so for this post I am featuring a new dish that I have made 3 times in the last couple weeks because it has been such a hit. This is a recipe for Chicken Artichoke Casserole by Paula Deen that is delicious! I'll give you the recipe as I made it the first time then tell you about the changes I've made since. I think the first time I made it was definitely the best, so here it goes...

1/2 cup of butter (2 sticks)
3 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 chopped white onion
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons water
5 oz. grated parmesean cheese
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese
10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed, drained, and patted dry
1 14 oz. can of quartered artichokes, drained
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cooked and chopped into cubes
2 cups cubed french bread
2 tablespoons butter, melted
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Add onion and garlic and let simmer for 3-4 minutes. Add heavy whipping cream and water and let simmer 3-4 minutes.

2. Add cream cheese and parmesean cheese and stir until combined into a thicker sauce. Then add spinach, artichokes, and cooked chicken and stir to combine.

3. Pour mixture into a casserole or other baking dish. In a separate bowl, toss the cubed french bread with the melted butter. Arrange the cubed bread on top of the casserole. Bake for 25 minutes or until bread on top is golden brown.

Now, some WORDS OF ADVICE:
1. The second time I made this, I used a rotisserie chicken that I shredded up to make the dish more like a dip. I served it with sliced french bread. I also tried making some crostinis with it. I sliced the french bread, put a dollup of the cooked dip on top, sprinked some parmesean on top, then popped them back in the over for about 7 minutes. They were equally delicious.

3. The third time I made this was on vacation in Charleston, and to save some money I used 2 cans of canned chicken. It wasn't as good, but still really tasty!



Here is Paula Deen's recipe. She uses a few different ingredients...http://www.pauladeenmagazine.com/recipe_results.php?id=1041

An Ode to Beer Bread

My mom sent me this beer bread mix in my care package because she knows how much I love it. This is a mix from Tastefully Simple. All you do is add 1 can or bottle of beer (I of course used a can of PBR) to the packaged mix and then bake for an hour. It makes the best bread ever! I forgot to take a picture of the final product, which is sitting at home already half eaten. I'll upload a picture of the bread later!

Night 12 2/24/10 Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Burgers and Potato Pancakes

Hello again! I will start this post off by saying that this was probably my favorite meal so far, and definitely the one I am most proud of. Yesterday when discussing what we would have for dinner, Lindsey said she didn't want any chicken dishes. As someone who doesn't eat much red meat, and definitely doesn't eat steak, this proved challenging. So, this eliminated a lot of dinner ideas, and we agreed on burgers. But not just any burgers...a roasted red pepper and goat cheese burger! One of our favorite restaurants in Charleston, SC is Moe's Downtown Tavern (in no way affiliated with Moe's Southwestern Grill) and they do this burger, and its delicious. So I sought out to recreate it at home. I also stumbled across a Martha Stewart recipe for potato pancakes that seemed to be pretty easy (it was not.) Here is a picture of the final meal...



First we will start with my burger recipe:

1 lb ground beef (the leaner, the better)
1/4 cup chopped red or white onion (I prefer red)
3 tablespoons worstershire sauce
salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste (I always due 2 parts garlic powder, 1 part salt, 1 part pepper)

(This makes 5 burgers)

I bought a little package of goat cheese and a jar of marinated red peppers. I was skeptical about the jar of red peppers but they turned out to be delicious and something I will absolutely buy again. I also bought onion buns. So, spread the goat cheese on the bun and top with burger and red peppers. I personally dont think you need any other condiments (other than ketchup of course). We used our community grill at HC, which is obviously the best way to cook burgers, but cooking them on the stove top isn't bad either.

So now on to the potato pancakes. That Martha Stewart! This recipe sounded so easy when I read it online, it was probably the most difficult recipe I have had to follow since. I will try my best to walk you through it, but I will also include a link at the bottom. Here we go:

4 peeled Russet potatoes
1/4 chopped white onion
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup beer (I used PBR, cause it's classy)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
freshly ground pepper
vegetable oil, for frying

(This recipe makes 10 pancakes)

1. Using a grater, shred potatoes into a large bowl of cold water. Then drain potatoes, keeping the liquid that you drain out. Make sure the potatoes are drained really well. Let the retained liquid sit for about 10 minutes (the potato starch, which is a milky white substance, will sink to the bottom.) Carefully pour the liquid from the bowl, making sure the starch stays at the bottom. Add the shredded potatoes back into the bowl, tossing them so the starch gets added back in.

2. Add onion, flour, eggs, salt, and pepper to the potatoes.

3. In a deep frying pan, heat 1/2 inch of vegetable oil. Next, form the mixture into a pancake about 3-4 inches in diameter and about 1/2 inch thick. Each pancake will be about 1/2 cup of the mixture. The mixture does not stay together easily, so form the pancake several times to get it to stay as best as you can.

4. Now for the frying. Carefully add the pancakes into the hot oil, and cook for about 5-6 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Only put about 3 pancakes in the oil at a time, because you don't want to overcrowd the pan when frying. Remove the pancake from the oil, and place it on a paper-towel covered cooking sheet.

Here are some of the frying process pictures:





The bottom picture is what they will look like when done. I served them with sour cream (Martha suggests serving them with caviar as well, no thanks), but we also ended up eating them with ketchup.

I was extremely proud of how these pancakes turns out. My brother went to preschool at the Jewish Community Center, so instead of the Christmas pageants like we had at my Catholic school, they had Hanukkah celebrations where they would serve potato pancakes (aka latkes). Although they looked different, these tasted exactly like them! And although it was difficult dish, it's something I will definitely make again. Here is Martha's recipe: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/potato-pancakes

Night 11 2/22/10 Cornbread Casserole

I want to start this post by declaring my love for Paula Deen and her amazing cornbread casserole recipe. As my roommate Lindsey said today, "Thank you Paula for making it okay to add a stick of butter to everything." I have had a couple boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix on hand for a while, so today I googled cornbread recipes and found this one. It is an original Paula Deen recipe, and believe me when I say it is incredible! I followed the recipe almost exactly. Here is the link to the original recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/corn-casserole-recipe/index.html

Here is my slightly adjusted recipe:

2 boxes of Jiffy corn bread mix
1 stick of melted butter (1/2 cup)
1 cup of sour cream
1 can of whole kernel corn
1 can of creamed corn
1/2 cup shredded cheese.

Note, the only thing I changed was adding a second box of cornbread mix.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix together, corn bread mix, 2 cans of corn, sour cream, and melted butter. Spread the mixture is a 13x9 greased baking dish.

2. Bake for 45 minutes. Add the shredded cheese on top, then bake for an additional 10 minutes.

WORDS OF ADVICE:
1. I served the casserole with a can of beef stew I had on hand. I bet it would be really good with some homemade soup or chili.

2. To serve it, I put the casserole in the bottom of a bowl, then poured the soup on top. It was amazing. Hands down one of my favorite recipes so far.

Thanks for reading and catching up on our recipes! More to come very soon!

Night 10 2/18/10 Tortellini Pasta Salad

So about a week ago my mother sent me a care package from back home in Ohio. She knows about this little cooking experiment, so she themed her care package in accordance with the HCSC! She sent me a little recipe box, which some of her signature recipes included, and then the canned or bottled ingredients necessary to make them. Thanks again Mom! This recipe was one of the ones she included. It's super easy and really delicious!

I should also note that I am way-behind in my blogging, and this dish was made about 5 days ago, so I dont remember the accurate sizes of the ingredients I am mentioning. But hopefully, you'll understand what I mean.

Here we go:

1 bag of uncooked cheese tortellini
1/2 bottle of italian dressing
1 can of sliced black olives
1 bag of romaine lettuce
1 container of feta cheese
1/2 bottle of ceasar dressing

1. Prepare the tortellini in advance the night before. Cook the tortellini as specified on bag (just like any pasta, cook in boiling water.) Toss the tortellini in the italian dressing, and let marinate overnight.

2. The next day, simply add the olives, feta, and romaine, and toss with the ceasar dressing. And ta-da, it's ready to eat!

This takes just minutes to assemble when you are ready to eat it, so consider this meal when you need a quick dinner. We had a busy day in studio and came home and had dinner ready in minutes!

A big thanks to my mom! Keep sending the yummy recipes!

Night 9 2/17/10 Pad Thai!

So I originally was going to make pad thai from scratch tonight, as it is something that I have been wanting to do for a long time. However, in wanting to save money, I decided to buy the box pad thai, which comes with the noddles and sauce. On most boxes of pad thai, there is the detailed recipe on the back, so that is generally what I followed to make it. I also used my roommates wok for the first time, and it makes cooking so much easier! The size and shape makes tossing together the ingredients so much easier. I am now a permanent wok user for all my stir-fry/pasta dishes. Here is my pad thai recipe:

1 box of Pad Thai (comes with noodles and sauce pouch)
sliced green onions (use 2-3)
2 eggs
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly slided
1 can of bean sprouts (or 2 cups of fresh ones if your store has them)
1 tablespoon of olive oil

1. In the wok, scramble the two eggs, then set aside. In the same wok, next heat the olive oil. Cook sliced chicken breasts in oil.

2. Add in sliced green onions and bean sprouts and cook for about 4 minutes. Add the eggs back in and stir all ingredients together.

3. In a large saucepan, boil the water to cook the noodles. Once cooked, add the noodles and sauce pouch to the wok, and mix everything together.

4. Garnish with chopped peanuts and lime wedges.

WORDS OF ADVICE:
1. The sauce that comes in the box will never taste just right. We added some soy sauce and teriyaki sauce to enhance the flavor.

2. Don't skip the peanuts! It's my favorite part of the pad thai, and the little bit of crunch is really good in the dish.



One of these days, I'll make the sauce from scratch. One of these days...

Night 8 02/12/10 Chicken Parmesean Dinner Party!

Tonight was the first official Harts Club Supper Club Dinner Party to celebrate the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. In addition to myself and two roommates, Lindsey and Pat, we had Tara and Shawn W., Kyle K., Chris and Evan M., Heather B, Amy L. show up for dinner. It was my first chance to prepare the main entree for all my friends, and it turned out amazing! I made two trays of chicken parmesean, which is a recipe my mom Rosanne gave to me. Here is the pic and recipe:



This recipes is to make 1 pan of chicken parm, which feeds 4-6.

Boneless skinless chicken breasts (it takes about 8 thinly cut chicken breasts to fill a pan so use as many as needed to feed your party; I always butterfly cut my chicken breasts to make them thinner)
3 eggs
1 cup grated parmesean cheese
2 cups bread crumbs (this can be reduced, but always use 1 part parmesean cheese, 2 parts bread crumbs)
1 jar of pasta sauce
sliced provolone cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, beat together eggs. In a separate bowl, mix together parmesean cheese and bread crumbs. Then heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet.

2. Dip chicken breasts into the eggs, coating both sides. Then toss in the bread crumb mixture, again making sure both sides are covered. Brown breaded chicken breasts in the skillet on the stove, adding the 2nd tablespoon of oil when you turn them.
(You aren't trying to cook the chicken all the way through, just make sure to brown them on both sides.)

3. Pour the jar of sauce into a 13x9 baking dish. Place the browned chicken breasts on top of the sauce. Cover the chicken with the sliced provolone. Bake at 400 for about 25 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly on top.

WORDS OF ADVICE:
1. This dish is really simple, but potentially easy to screw up. Make sure to add additional oil when you flip the chicken, because the breading will soak up the oil quickly.

2. The dish is filling, so serve with a thin noodle. I serve the dish with angelhair pasta (my favorite). I made 2 boxes of angelhair for an expected 10 people. It was a little bit too much, but we ended up with leftovers.

Here is a picture of the whole spread:



A big thanks to Tara and Shawn for bringing the salad, and to Kyle for making the garlic bread! It was a great night with great food, and with even better friends!

Night 7 2/11/10 Pasta with Clam Sauce

Ok all caught up with the dinner postings! I'll start this one off by talking about the care packages my wonderful mother and grandmother sent me! My grandma sent me a package of all Valentine's Day treats, snacks, and other goodies! She sent a lovely Valentine's Day card along too (complete with the 20 spot). Thanks Grammy! And then my mom, Rosanne, also sent a package. My mom knows about the HCSC project and the blog, so she sent me a little recipe book and some of her recipes, and all the non-perishable food items required to make them! It was seriously the most thoughtful care package ever! Thanks so much Mom! I'm so excited to start making some of her dishes, even though they probably won't be as good as her originals. So tonight, in honor of my wonderful mother, I made one of her recipes, Linguine and Clam Sauce (although I didn't have linguine noodles, I made it with spaghetti.)

Here is the recipe:

2 10 oz. cans of whole baby clams
1/4 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons butter or margarine (I used margarine of course)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup minced parsley (I had to skip this, because I didn't have any)
1/2 box of linguine (or whatever noodle you have)
salt to taste
parmesan cheese

1. Drain clams and set liquid aside. In a medium sauce pan, combine butter and olive oil. Cook the garlic in the mixture for about 2 minutes. Add the clam liquid and parsley and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 10 minutes.

2. Add clams and heat through, stirring periodically. Add salt to taste (I added only a pinch.)

3. Prepare pasta and pour clam sauce over top. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over top.

This dish was a hit! I loved it and it reminded me of home. This was Lindsey and Pat's first time eating clam sauce, and they said they liked it. This dish was really easy and will definitely be made again.

I don't know what our weekend dinner plans are, but all I know is I've got some more Shovlin family recipes to try out!

Happy eatings everyone!

Night 6 02/10/10 Chicken Enchiladas

Since these are all catch up posts, this is actually about last night's dinner. I made chicken enchiladas for the HCSC, and they were made in quite the hurry. I don't have any pictures, but these are something I make pretty often, so eventually I'll make it again and take a picture.

Here we go:

1 small rotisserie chicken
1 block of cream cheese
1 4.5 oz. can of chopped green chiles
1 can of green chile enchilada sauce
1 package of tortillas (8 count)
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Break down chicken and shred or chop up the meat. In a large skillet, combine the meat, cream cheese, and chopped chiles. Stir the mixture together. As the cream cheese melts, it will make the enchilada filling.

2. Spray a large casserole pan with non-stick cooking spray. Spread some of the mixture into each tortilla, roll up, and place into casserole dish with the seam down. After all 8 are assembled and in the dish, pour the can of enchilada sauce over top. Then sprinkle with shredded cheese.

3. Bake for 25 minutes, or until cheese melts and tortillas get crispy.

Normally, I make these with regular chicken breasts. For 8 enchiladas, use 3 chicken breasts. Cut into chunks and cook in the skillet, before adding cream cheese and chopped green chiles. I wanted to try this dish with a rotisserie chicken, and I think it was equally good.

This is one of my favorite dishes, and I recommend everyone try it!

Superbowl Party Pics at HC 512!

Everyone cramped into HC512



Some of the delicious appetizers! Ryan F.'s buffalo chicken dip, Jonathan and Lindsey Edens homemade salsa and cheese dip, and Colleen's pizza rolls



The dessert table! Those are my chocolate cream cheese cookies in the back on the red and white plate (turns out I did have a picture!), Amy L.'s magic cookie bars, Heather B.'s cheesecakes, and some Elmo cupcakes

There were plenty other yummy dishes too, including Adam J.'s bacon wrapped shrimp, Kyle K.'s corn chowder, Tara and Shawn W.'s homemade guacamole and fiesta dip, and Yan M.'s pork and cilantro dish. A big thanks to everyone else who brought chips and drinks! The party was a great success. We at HC512 love having people over, and I'm sure there will be more parties to come!

Night 5 2/07/10 Superbowl Party

Well hello everyone. So it's been almost a week since my last posts, and although I haven't been posting, I have indeed been cooking. As promised, HC512 delivered on a superbowl bash! We had a total of 30 people cramped into our apartment, with some even standing in the kitchen throughout the game. The party was appetizer pot-luck, and there were some delicious dishes pulled off by our friends. I'll start with what I made: buffalo chicken pizza, margarita pizza, and chocolate cream cheese cookies. Normally, I would make my famous buffalo chicken dip, but I've grown a bit tired of it, so I made buffalo chicken pizza instead. But no worries, because studiomate Ryan F. made the buffalo chicken dip, and it was amazing! We'll talk about that later...

So here is the first dish: Buffalo Chicken Pizza



And here is the recipe:

1 pre-made pizza crust (I buy mine at Wally World for the low price of $2)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup Franks Red Hot Sauce
1/2 ranch dressing
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 stalks of celery, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice raw chicken and cook in a skillet with just a drizzle of olive oil. Toss the chicken in the hot sauce.

2. Arrange the cooked chicken on the pizza crust. Drizzle the ranch over top of the chicken (and make it look pretty.) I also added a few more squirts of hot sauce on hot.

3. Sprinkle cheese and celery on top. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and crust is crispy.




The picture above is of both pizzas before they were cooked. I cut the pizzas in half because I don't have a baking stone or cookie sheet big enough for the entire pizza, but you wouldn't need to do this if you are better equipped than I am. The other pizza pictured above is my margarita pizza (which is a recipe from my mother, Rosanne.)

That recipe is as follows:

1 premade pizza crust
2 tomatos (any kind)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
fresh chopped basil
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon italian seasoning (a must have in your kitchen)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a bowl, mix olive oil, minced garlic, and italian seasoning. Spread over pizza crust.

2. Arrange sliced tomatoes around pizza crust. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese and chopped basil on top.

3. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and crust is crispy.



Now unfortunately I do not have any pictures of my third dish, the chocolate cream cheese cookies. But, they are crazy simple to make in a mini-muffin tin. Here is the recipe:

1 box of Pillsbury Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookie mix
1/2 block of cream cheese
2 tablespoons sugar

1. Make the cookie mix as directed on the box (I think it calls for 1 egg, some oil, and water.) In a separate bowl, mix the cream cheese and sugar.

2. Spray some non-stick cooking spray on the muffin tin. Put a very small amount of the cookie dough into each one of the muffin spots (just enough to cover the bottom.) On top of that, add a small dollup of the cream cheese mixture. Then on top of that, add some more of the cookie mixture (enough to cover the cream cheese.)

3. Bake at the specified heat on the box for about 15 minutes.

So, 3 very easy party dishes! Stay tuned for the next post to see what everyone else brought!

Night 4 02/04/10 Nachos!

Hola mis amigos! Tonight was nacho night at the HCSC and they were pretty darn good and really easy to make! If I had a difficulty scale (it's been suggested I do) this dinner would rank as a 2 on my hypothetical 1-5 difficulty scale. The nachos tonight are an original recipe (which doesn't say too much, because let's face it, anyone can make nachos.) But here is my original recipe for you:

Beef mixture:
1 lb ground beef (the leaner, the better)
1/4 white onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 dash of each of the following spices:
paprika
garlic powder
salt
pepper
cayenne pepper

Cheese Sauce:
3/4 lb Velveeta
1 10 oz. can of Rotel
1 4.5 oz. can of chopped green chiles

1 bag of tortilla chips
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream

1. In a large skillet, brown the ground beef. Add in chopped onion and minced garlic and cook for about 3 more minutes. Add all the spices, and boom, beef mixture is done.

2. In a medium sauce pan on medium heat, heat the Rotel and green chiles. Cube the Velveeta and add it, continuously stirring. Keep the heat on medium or the Velveeta will burn on the bottom of the pan.

So, technically you are done after that. I put the tortilla chips into a pan, spooned the beef over top, then poured the cheese sauce on top. I sprinkled the cheddar cheese on top, and placed it in the over on 350 for 6-7 minutes. You can skip this step if you want. If you aren't eating all of it right away, I would skip this step and make individual servings as you need them, skipping the sprinkled cheese. The dish is good enough with just the cheese sauce. But since we all ate at about the same time, I baked it for a hot minute so the added cheese would melt. Then we added a little bit of sour cream on top...a little bit of added deliciousness.

WORDS OF ADVICE:
1. Tonights dinner could have easily become taco night. If you have tortillas on hand, pop them in the microwave for just a little bit (the package will specify) and serve the beef mixture and cheese sauce with additional toppings, like lettuce, tomatoes, or salsa.

2. If doing the last step of baking, do not overbake. The velveeta sauce will make the chips soggy if you over do it. Bake just until the sprinkled cheese on top melts, and not a second longer.

Well, tonight's post is short and sweet, just like dinner was. I'm not sure what the weekend dinner plans are but I doubt I will be cooking a big meal until the Superbowl party this Sunday, where we will be making different appetizers. I personally am making 2 kinds of pizza (mozzarella/fresh tomato pizza and buffalo chicken pizza) and also chocolate cream cheese cookies.

Also, a quick thank you to Jonathan Edens and Robin Asire, who have been my first comments. I will continue to do WORDS OF ADVICE, because Jonathan likes them. And yes Robin, I love allrecipes.com! It's so easy to find awesome recipes, and the comments section on each recipe fine tunes each one so it's even better. If you guys have any dinner suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Happy Eatings! Much Love!

Night 3 02/04/10 Chicken Florentine

Hey guys! I'm stoked that I have 4 followers on my blog already! Thanks both Lindseys, Laura, and Jonathan! Tonight was night 3 of the HCSC and I made Chicken Florentine with fettucine. I wasn't sure what to cook tonight, so I googled "chicken recipe" and one of the first links was for this recipe. The recipe I made and am posting is different from the one I found, but I used the general idea of the dish, and the sauce recipe, to make it my own. The recipe had some flaws, so I'll give you what I feel to be the corrected recipe.

So here goes:

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 bag frozen spinach
1 can on sliced mushrooms
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup margarine (or butter, but save calories with margarine!)
3 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 milk (the recipe called for half and half, but I used skim milk instead)
1/2 grated parmigiano cheese
1 teaspoon italian seasoning (you can buy a premade one in the spice aisle)
1/4 cup bacon bits
1/2 shredded mozzarella

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Cook the chicken in the skillet until it starts to get a little brown. (Don't overcook it because it's going in the oven soon.)

2. In another large skillet (or the same one) heat another 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the canned (or fresh if you'd like) mushrooms and let cook for about 3-4 minutes. Then add the bag of frozen spinach and 2 tablespoons of water. Let the spinach cook for about 5-6 minutes.

3. In a medium saucepan, slowly melt the 1/4 cup margarine and keep stirring. Keep the pan on medium heat. Once melted, add the minced garlic, lemon juice, italian seasoning, and cream of mushroom soup. Keep stirring until the cream of mushroom soup has thinned. Slowly add the 1/4 cup milk and 1/2 parmigiano and stir until it's a sauce consistency.

4. In a 9"x9" glass dish, spread the spinach and mushrooms on the bottom. Cover with half of the sauce mixture. Lay the chicken on top, then cover with the rest of the sauce. Sprinkle the bacon bits over top. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, then sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

WORDS OF ADVICE:
1.I served the chicken florentine over fettucini. For 3 people I ended up using half a box. Same serving rules apply (the size of a quarter) for fettucini, but remember it takes longer to cook than thinner noodles. I've been making a lot of angel hair pasta lately and under estimated how long it would take the fettucine to cook. It's about 8 minutes. Although it was good, I would try it with a plain spaghetti noodle. Fettucine was a little too thick, and angel hair would be too thin. Spaghetti noodles would be just right.

2. Do not put the chicken into the dish and into the oven raw. That's what the original recipe suggested and it didnt cook all the way. We had to throw it into a skillet to cook, then back into the dish. Cook the chicken in a pan first, then add it to the dish.

3. Try to find substitutes for ingredients you don't usually have. I do not keep half-and-half on hand, which is what the original recipe calls for. I used skim milk, so I didn't have to buy half-and-half and the sauce turned out just fine. I also used margarine where it calls for butter. In this dish, substituting saved calories and money!

Tomorrow is Mexican night at the HCSC, so we're either having enchiladas or nachos! Hasta manana!

Air Force Village Chapel Competition!

So tonight's post is not food related. An equal part of the blog will be about architecture and my life as a architecture student, as because that life is busy, I got take out tonight. But this post is some big news! Last semester, I entered a national design competition sponsered by the Air Force Village in San Antonio to design a chapel. We did this as a studio project and I worked with an awesome partner, miss Amy Leong. Anyway, results of the competition were just announced and we received second place! This was my first design competition entry and my first win! The cash prize was a cool $1000 to be split between the two of us. And the first prize went to our amazingly talented studio mates Kyle Keaffaber (yes the same Kyle that gave me the stir fry recipe) and Jonathan Edens! Good work boys! It is huge for both the first and second prize to go to Clemson University students!

I won't be posting any pictures just yet because we aren't sure if we are allowed to or not. But as soon as we can, I will post images.

Check back tomorrow for round 3 of the HCSC! What will we cook up next?

Meet Harts Cove Supper Club!

I forgot to introduce the eaters at the Harts Cove Supper Club (now referred to as the HCSC).



Lindsey W. (eater #1)



Patrick W. (eater #2)



Me, Natalie S. (the cook)

Night 2 02/01/10 Chicken Stir Fry in Peanut Sauce

Hello blog readers! So tonight was the second night of the Hart's Cove Supper Club and tonights meal was a little more complicated than spaghetti and meatballs! Tonights recipe came from a classmate and dear friend Kyle K. who cooked this stir fry for us as a dinner party.

This meal was quickly cooked after leaving studio at 4, only to return again at 6 to do some beloved group work. The whole meal took about 30 minutes to cook. So here is the recipe:

Stir Fry:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 bag of broccoli florets (I wouldn't recommend frozen broccoli for this one)
1 container of pre-slide baby portabella mushrooms
2 chopped green onions
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Sauce:
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup water
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon minced garlic
small dash of cayenne pepper

In a large skillet or wok, heat olive oil and minced garlic. Add the chicken and mushrooms together. (I found that if I add the mushrooms and then the chicken, the mushrooms are overcooked by the time the chicken cooks.) After about 5 minutes of the chicken and mushrooms cooking, add the chopped green onions and cayenne pepper. Keep stirring! Once the chicken is cooked through, add the broccoli and a small drizzle of olive oil. Keep stirring everything together to combine the stir fry. Let the stir fry all cook together for another 4-5 minutes.

While the stir fry is cooking, begin making the sauce. Combine the peanut butter, soy sauce, water, and garlic together and mix until it is a sauce consistency. You may need to add more water or soy sauce, depending on how thick or thin you want the sauce. I ended up adding about 2 tablespoons more of each. It also helps to pop the mixture into the microwave for 20 seconds to soften the peanut butter so it is easier to mix. After its all mixed into a sauce, all the salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste. I'd go easy on the pepper, as I always seem to add too much (but my roommate Pat thinks its got just enough heat.)

Once the sauce is made, add it to the stir fry and stir it all together. We ate it served over rice, but Kyle recommends it with lo mein noddles, which we will do next time.

TWO WORDS OF ADVICE:
1. Do not add the cayenne pepper to the oil while it is heating. This was suggested to me and somehow it stunk up the whole kitchen. It was hard to breathe without coughing because of how aromatic the pepper got. Pat literally walked in the door and started coughing. Don't do it.

2. Unless you are good at making stove top rice, microwave it. We at the Harts Cove Supper Club will be microwaving rice from now on, cause I suck at making it on a stove top. I got a little too ambitious with the stir fry, but now I humbly retreat back to microwave rice.

Tomorrow I won't be cooking because we have a night class on building economics! But I'll be back again Wednesday night! Don't know what we are making yet, but we just got a casserole and slow cooker recipe book, so get excited! Also, this weekend the Harts Cove Supper Club will be hosting its first annual Superbowl party, which will be a appetizer pot luck. I'll post my recipes and also some pics and details on what everyone else brings!

Cheers till then!

Night 1 01/31/10 Spaghetti and Meatballs

Tonight was not originally going to be the first night of the Supper Club, but I had a bag of frozen meatballs I threw in the slow cooker in the early afternoon, so that turned into a roommate dinner. As an Italian-American, I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I did not make the meatballs or the sauce from scratch, so maybe if I get the recipe from my mom or grandma, I'll make an attempt. Anyway, I spent today doing research at home, so I decided to try something in the slow cooker.

The meal was very simple tonight:

1 bag frozen meatballs
1 jar of spicy basil tomato sauce
angelhair pasta (for 3 people, I used about a 1/3 of a box)*

I put the frozen meatballs in the slow cooker with a whole jar of sauce. It took 3 hours for them to cook. I then made the angelhair and dumped it right in the slow cooker, mixed it together, and voila, easiest Sunday pasta meal ever.

Real simple. Real good. The kicker was the spicy basil tomato sauce. And if I hadn't killed my basil plant last week, I would have chopped some fresh basil and added it on top.

*Here is my tip for measuring how much pasta to cook, cause I find it to be a difficult thing to measure. When you bunch the uncooked pasta together in your hand, 1 serving should be about the size of a quarter.

Tonight's dinner was embarassingly easy. I promise something fancier this week.

Form, Function, and Food: The Mission

So here is the deal...I am an architecture student. For anyone reading this that is an architect or also in architecture school, you know all the implications of that little phrase. For everyone else, it means that my life is unapologetically dedicated to all things related to architecture and design. I am currently a 6th year graduate student at the Clemson University in South Carolina, in my last semester of school. With unapologetic dedication to architecture comes very little time for anything outside of school. So after almost 6 consecutive years of architectural education, I am taking advantage of a little bit of freetime in my last 4 months as a student.

I have recently discovered a new love of cooking, and I think I am somewhat talented at it. I also have hungry roommates, who often times don't like to cook as much as I do. After many meals cooked by me and enjoyed by the roommates, we've come to an agreement. They will pay me a small fee a week in exchange for me cooking dinner several nights a week. The fee isnt decided, nor is the amount of required meals a week, so more info on the exact terms of the arrangement will follow. Tonight marks night 1 of what I am calling the "Hart's Cove Supper Club," and this is the pilot week of the experiment. Armed with recipes from cookbooks, the internet, and my mom (and also a whole mess of dinners invented on the fly), I'll be cooking for 3 or 4 people, several nights a week, on a college students budget (which is almost nothing.) Posts will include info and recipes on each night's meal (failures and successes) and most likely updates on my life in Clemson, SC, as an architecture student who would probably rather be cooking.

Cheers!