Comfort Food Has a Life of its Own

So graduation rolled around and as predicted... I'm still in school. Summer school to be exact, which is not the most fun way to learn, but each of us has to do what we have to. My girlfriend recently returned from Italy which has encouraged me to get back on my blogging high horse and start cooking more frequently again. What better to cook then comfort food? Oh yeaaaa

So I tried my hand at lasagna for the first time, seemed easy when I read the recipe but I didn't realize what I had in store for myself. I had to half cook the noodles and then dip them in ice water to stop the cooking? Well... as you all know I've got fairly good coordination but zero focus so... It went a little hay wire, burned some of my fingers but I got the job done. I decided to use a cream sauce instead of a heavy bolognese and I used turkey meat instead of beef.

Turkey Lasagna

The process..

Ready to bake!

Crispy!

Dig in!

The recipe I used is from the book that I forgot I had bought "Live, Love, Eat" by Wolfgang Puck, I altered his recipe only slightly.

Recipe:
6 Cups Hearty Beef Bolognese
2 Cups ricotta cheese
3/2 Cups fresh grated Parmesan
1/4 Cup Marscapone cheese
1 large egg beaten
1lb dried lasagne noodles
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (I used 2 cups)
Chopped fresh Italian parsley
Fresh ground pepper

I went back up to my grandma's the other day and went back into the shop that sold all those amazing cook books, ya know the one where I was going to buy the salad dressing book but opted for the home cooking? Well I bought a new one! Yes thats right... more cook books. This one is called "Sunday Soup" a number of soups, sorted by season with easy and delicious recipes to maintain my apparent need for soup in my life. I decided to try out a recipe called "Spring New Potato and Garlic Soup". It sounded promising for sure, so I began my journey down potato soup lane. Easy and successful. Not gonna lie though, make sure your ready for dairy, dairy and more dairy.

Spring New Potato and Garlic Soup

Creamy...

Recipe:
12 oz new red-skin potatoes (I used yellow)
2 tsp salt
2 Cups half and half (I'd advise for you just to use 2% milk)
One 5 oz package 5 oz Boursin cheese with garlic and herbs
Ground which pepper to taste
4 tsp Parsley
4 tsp fresh chopped chives

First cup up the potatoes and boil them until soft. Then add the rest of the ingredients and keep burner on low, make sure the soup doesn't boil. Make sure all the cheese is melted and add the potatoes and warm through. Then eat!

Alright so lets see a show of hands, who loves meatloaf??
Thats what I thought everyone... and if you dont, have you even tried it? Or does your mom make really bad meat loaf? Well my pseudo Greek mom made amazing meatloaf and I recently asked her for the recipe.

Oh Meatloaf..


Mix mix mix! Its the most fun with your hands..

Forming the loaf is an art form.

Load that baby up with ketchup

Eat with delicious green beans.

It was really hard for us to stop eating it... Its all gone now. It left quick.

So recently it was a friends birthday and we went to Napa and went wine tasting and by the time lunch rolled around we were all... drunk. Well at least I was, and we ate this delicious curry chicken that my friend Lianna made. I couldnt stop eating this delicious little concoction so I asked her for the recipe. It was a Giada recipe. Knew there were no faults. Now I dont really like cabbage too much, not that I've had very much of it... I made the chicken salad the night before and ate it the next day for lunch, another thing we couldnt put down.

Chicken Curry Salad with Cabbage

Recipe:
8 ounces thinly sliced pancetta, about 8 slices (I didnt use this)
1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
2 teaspoons honey
1 1/2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
3 1/2 to 4 cups diced/shredded roasted chicken
1 1/2 cups shredded radicchio (or red cabbage)
4 ciabatta rolls

I could eat it all day...

Soup, Curry, Fish and a little baking.

I have not done as much cooking as I wanted this week, I was away for the weekend and tormented myself by watching the food network while staying in a Bed and Breakfast with no kitchen for me to cook in. Eventually I made my way home and decided to make some soup since a storm was supposed to come in that week, and its been colder and colder these days. I used to work at Noah's Bagels back in high school and they always had this broccoli cheddar soup that I loved to eat and so I decided to make my own this time. I've noticed that a lot of soups start with an onion base and some delicious butter. It was fairly easy to make though pretty time consuming. It involved some half and half, chicken stock, flour, cheddar, carrots, broccoli and some salt and pepper. Turned out really delicious, a comfort food not to be missed!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Recipe:
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half-and-half
2 cups chicken stock or bouillon
1/2 pound fresh broccoli
1 cup carrots, julienned
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
8 ounces grated sharp cheddar

Once again I was ready to start baking and I was determined to try and make something with puff pastry dough. What shall I make? Turnovers!
So I started in on making them and I didnt want to make just one kind, so i made 3 different kinds. I made strawberry, cherry and banana chocolate caramel. Delicious? I think so. Now I did have some troubles, when I took them out the first time I bit into one and it was still doughy on the inside. Gross. So I put them back in until they were fully done, and once they were, everyone in the house ate them. Now they arnt as good as the ones my grandma used to give me, but they're a start towards it.

Cherry, Strawberry and Banana Caramel Chocolate Turnovers

They disappeared very quickly.
I have been thinking about cooking halibut for awhile now but I bought some awhile back an defrosted it and it smelled bad. I was decided to cook halibut with some spinach and I really wanted some sort of gravy on it. I was going to make a tomato gravy and I started to make it but it turned out funky, it did not taste like it would go on a halibut. So I restarted and took some chicken gravy (I know chicken gravy on fish sounds controversial!) I thinned out the gravy and added some garlic and a little butter and some water. Now I dont know how to cook halibut, I dont know when its done (I assumed when its flaky) and I dont know what to cook it with to give it flavor. My aunt was telling me about how my mom would pan sear halibut with lemon juice and butter and so I decided to make some garlic butter, and once infused added a little lemon juiced. It really gave the fish little kick, less plain then most halibut. I then cooked some spinach in the same pan and put the dish together. One of the best halibuts I've even had.

Garlic Butter Halibut with Spinach and Gravy

I hope to make it again soon.
Last night I really wanted some Japanese curry. My girlfriend always makes it for me and I pleadingly tried to convince her to come over and make it for me. No luck. I had to make it myself. I went to the store and bought some Japanese curry, not the same kind we usually eat but same brand I figured it would do.
Oh! Also I tend to fail at making rice on the stove. And I hoped this time, because I really needed it for the curry, I would make it a little more cautiously. I cooked everything up, the chicken, onions potatoes and carrots and finally made the curry from the strange curry blocks that were in the curry package. And I was trying to do 4 things at once and i forgot the rice was cooking! Damnit.
Mid email I remember that my rice was almost done last time I looked at, it which was awhile ago. So I ran to the stove and turned it off, tried the rice and it was perfect! How could this have happened?
Im not going to question it.
It wasn't as fantastic as my girlfriends curry, but it was really good none the less. AND it was spicier then her curry, and everyone knows I like spicy foods.
I waited for my roommate to get home and we feasted!

Spicy Japanese Curry

Gotta practice making my Japanese curry but so gooood.

Fried Chicken, Bake Sales and Curry.

This week i did a lot of cooking. Most of my things are experimental with some helpful sources such as, google and the Joy of cooking cook book I found when i was drunkenly wandering down the street and came upon a box of free things. Currently i have a potato in the oven and im waiting for that evil thing to cook. It always takes so long.

So we live in SF, on a highly trafficked street populated by pedestrians and bikers, in a fairly nice neighborhood next to a park. Reminiscing about grade school I remembered how fun it was to have bake sales with your friends...and then the idea was born. Why not have a bake sale in front of our house and see what happens?

The bake sale contained:
Brownies
Cookie Bars
Weird ass circle cookies
Rice crispy treats
Chocolate rice crispy treats
Chocolate Cup cakes
Funfetti cup cakes.
































We started about 45 mins later then expected but overall sat on our stoop till pleasantly tipsy and having a hard time doing the math for peoples change. We sold almost all of our baked goods and made about $65 dollars in profit. I'd say an amazing turn out.

Cant wait for next time.

But i did a lot more cooking this week then JUST a bake sale.

This first thing i made this week was...

Gorgonzola chicken with caramelized onions, green beans with onions and garlic, and rice.

Highly delicious and a classic in our household. I've recruited most of my roommates to be in love with this tasty dish.

So in our household we have a staple in our lives.... Fried chicken. Now we usually hit popeyes on Tuesdays for their 99 cents for two pieces deal. Now i know we sound like fatties, but i swear its all in moderation. Recently i've really wanted to start making fried chicken at home, but for the life of me i dont have that much free time on my hands. I barely have enough time to write this blog, I should be studying for a test, writing a paper proposal and reading a play for a presentation...but alas, i love food more.

So... i made my first attempt at friend chicken, and we only have green beans for a vegatable so i made the green beans my girlfriend has so greatly taught me how to make.


So... to say the least it was DELICIOUS. And i will start making more fried chicken at home. But.... it still isnt as good as popeyes. But i will beat you popeyes.... someday.

Also i've been told that i need to try some more spices, so yesterday i went to the store and stood in the spice aisle for about 20 mins reading about all the spices. I bought some curry powder and it turned out to be really tasty. So i was going to make some curried halibut but... the halibut smelled really strange. So i opted out of that, especially since i recently had food poisoning from some tacos in the Mission. So i got out my default that i always know is delicious and chose to make curried salmon instead. Though the recipe for the curry required some things i didnt have i made some evaporated milk and threw some onions and garlic in there.

Curried Salmon And Rice

It was fairly dense and i didnt eat the whole thing, but luckily my roommate fell in love with the dish and finnished it off easily for me.

So that damn potato is finally done. Its been in the over for almost 45 mins to and hour... *sigh* i wished they baked quicker. Anyways i've been making this strange creamy potato thing. Basically i take heavy cream, butter and salt and cover the potato in it and bake it till it's soft. Lets just say, if i ate this everyday i'd probably loose about 10 years of my life.

Well... thats it for now.
Time to start my hw...

...I wish cooking was my homework.