Best Guacamole Ever

Okay, I don't usually make grandiose statements like the one above. But by now I hope you can trust that I wouldn't mislead you. And I feel pretty secure in the truth of the title of this post. One of my great tastebud pleasures is guacamole, and this recipe comes from my favorite guacamole purveyor, Chipotle. Yes, I said Chipotle. No, not some fancy authentic Mexican restaurant, nor some shack in the Yucatan. I heart lots of guacamole, but my favorite comes from the local fast food burrito bar. So, when I wanted to make guacamole I wanted to know that I was going to love it. I searched the interwebs for the Chipotle recipe, and I found it. And to my great pleasure, it's just as good as the stuff I get with my burrito bowl. So, if you have any faith in me, give it a shot. I really don't think you'll regret it.

Guacamole
Recipe from Chipotle Mexican Grill; Makes appx. 1 cup




















1 large ripe Hass avocado, peeled and pitted
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup finely chopped red onions
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 serrano chili, seeded,chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt

• In a bowl, mash avocado with fork (or potato masher, like me). Add lime juice and mix. Add all other ingredients and blend well. Serve with tortilla chips. If preparing in advance at all, be sure to place plastic wrap directly on surface of guacamole to help prevent discoloration, and store in refrigerator.

My notes: Confession time- when I made it Monday night I totally forgot the garlic. Result? Still totally delicious. Josh and I ate it all that night, despite that we were practically out of chips. We scooped with tiny shards of tortilla to try and not waste any of it. Make sure you've got plenty of chips when you make it (unlike yours truly), because you won't want to waste any of it either. Also, be sure you don't accidentally throw away your one lonely serrano when you get home and unload the groceries. Not that I'm speaking from previous experience or anything. But they are so small, and can easily wander off.

Cornmeal Crusted Tilapia

That is what our Monday evening looked like, and let me just say that it was even more beautiful in person, not to mention delicious. Please, don't try to nibble on your computer screen, it won't taste as good. it had sadly been awhile since Josh and I sat down together at our own table and ate dinner together. We rarely eat dinner together as it is during the week, since he works late most days. And then we are frequently distracted by the talking boxes and laptop computers. But Monday night I made us the lovely meal above and we sat down and enjoyed it, just the two of us. Well, and David Bowie spinning round on the turntable. I'll fill you in on the guacamole later, this post is about the main course. I bought some frozen tilapia fillets at Target a couple weeks ago and really wanted to use them. These turned out to be great. They thawed easily, were easy to handle, and easy to cook. Definitely going to get these again, I can't imagine how invaluable they could be for last minute meals. Especially this meal which consisted of so few ingredients, it's almost diabolically simple. And let's remember, that's me saying it. The girl who has trouble with almost everything in the kitchen, ha.

Cornmeal Crusted Tilapia
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4












1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons paprika
Coarse salt and ground pepper
4 (6-8 oz. each) skinless tilapia fillets
3 tablespoons olive oil

• In a shallow dish, combine cornmeal and paprika; season generously with salt and pepper. Separate fillets into thick and thin sides. Dredge each piece in cornmeal mixture, patting it on to coat completely.
• In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Cook as many pieces as will fit (without crowding) until golden brown and firm, about 2 minutes per side for thin pieces and 4 minutes per side for thick ones. Transfer to a plate; sprinkle with salt, if desired, and cover loosely to keep warm. Wipe skillet with a paper towel. Repeat with remaining oil and fish.

My notes: I halved the recipe so I could only prepare enough fish for the two of us, and I still had a little bit of cornmeal mixture leftover. Really, I think it's pretty clear just how easy this recipe is. And it's equally delicious, so give it a shot! I'll be back with a post about the guacamole-love-of-my-life.

Skillet Potato Salad

After we had that Warm Spinach Salad I kept thinking about the flavor of the potatoes with the dressing. It was haunting my taste buds and just had to be re-visited. So last week I made a little something I've dubbed Skillet Potato Salad. I'll probably continue to tweak it, as I'd like it to be more colorful, but it was perfectly delicious just as it is.

Skillet Potato Salad
Adapted from Everyday Food Recipe; Serves 2-4 depending












2 baking potatoes (about 1 lb.), scrubbed and diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse salt and ground black pepper
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 tablespoon dijon mustard
1/2 shallot, minced
Parmesan cheese, grated

• Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes; season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing occasionally, until potatoes are tender and browned, 12 to 14 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a bowl combine the other tablespoon olive oil, vinegar, mustard, and shallot. Season with salt and pepper. Finely grate Parmesan cheese into dressing to taste (follow your personal preference here).
• When potatoes are done cooking, add to bowl and toss with dressing. Serve.

My notes: We had these potatoes with tuna salad pitas. I'll write about the delicious tuna salad another time. I think these potatoes would be good for a brunch too, something a bit different from regular skillet potatoes or hash browns.

Dinner Tonight

So, you guys now how almost everything I make comes from my beloved Everyday Food magazine? Well I just found out that there is a new(ish) blog for the publication, called Dinner Tonight. Doesn't that just beat all? I would like a little more discussion about the recipes they are posting, but in general it's fun to peruse what they've got up so far and they seem to get something up almost every day. If you like Everyday Food as much as I do then maybe you should check it out!

Sweets for the Sweet

I know, I know- sure, I got our Valentine's Day dinner posted before too long after the day, but here I am almost a week later posting the dessert I made for us. But things kept me a little busy this weekend. Things like taxes. Blech. And a friend's wedding. Hurrah. Anyway, here I am with the goods, tardy but not absent. I worked with what I had in the kitchen, which included semisweet chocolate and half a bar of cream cheese. This recipe is supposed to turn out different than it did in my case, but that's because I decided I wanted more of a flavored topping than a completely marbled cream cheese brownie. So I sort of plopped the cream cheese mixture on top of the brownie batter and ran a knife through it to marble it just a bit, but keep most of the cream cheese sitting atop the chocolate. I liked it a lot, but I'll try it the regular way sometime soon too.

Super Fudgy Brownies with Cream Cheese Crust
Recipe from Everyday Food; Makes 16












Brownie batter:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for pan
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs

Cream Cheese batter:
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a 9" square pan with butter. Line bottom and two sides with a strip of parchment paper, leaving a 2" overhang on the two sides. butter paper, and set pan aside. In a small bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
• Place butter and chocolate in a large heat-proof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth; remove bowl from pan. Add sugar; mix to combine. Add eggs, and mix to combine. Add flour mixture; mix just until moistened. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
• Whisk cream cheese and butter. Whisk in sugar, egg, and flour. Spoon mixture over brownie batter, leaving some spots of brownie batter showing through. Run knife through pan to marble top.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached., 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan 30 minutes. Using paper overhang, lift brownies out of pan; transfer to a rack to cool completely. Use a dampened serrated knife to cut into squares. Store in an airtight container.

My notes: Doing it this way you will probably have a bit of the cream cheese batter leftover. Just an FYI.

Valentine's Day Dinner

I decided I wanted to put a little extra effort into Thursday night's dinner, since it was Valentine's Day. But at the same time I needed something not too difficult for a weeknight. In the same issue of Everyday Food and in fact just one page before the warm spinach salad below, I found my inspiration. The EF recipe for Open-Faced Cheeseburgers with Mushrooms and Onion was the starting point for my less-fancy sounding Mushroom Swiss Burger Stacks. The recipe called for fontina cheese and tomatoes, serving the mushroom and onion on the side, and resting your burger on a slice of sourdough. I canceled the tomato, substituted swiss cheese, and eliminated the bun altogether- instead choosing to place our burgers directly on the mushrooms and onion. Josh loves mushroom swiss burgers, and I'd never made them in any form before so I knew this would be a good Love Day treat.

Mushroom Swiss Burger Stacks
Adapted from Everyday Food; Serves 2












1-2 tablespoons olive oil
5 oz. white mushrooms, sliced
coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon red-wine vinegar
1 pound ground beef chuck
Worcestershire sauce
2 slices swiss cheese

• In a large skillet, heat 1/2-1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms release their liquid and start to brown, 5 to 7 minutes; transfer to a bowl.
• Add onion and remaining 1/2-1 tablespoon olive oil to skillet; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion starts to brown, 5 to 7 minutes (if bottom of skillet becomes too dry, add a little water and scrape up browned bits). Return mushrooms to skillet; stir in vinegar, and set aside.
• Season your beef with salt and pepper and several dashes of Worcestershire sauce. Very gently mix and form meat into patties. Season again with salt and pepper. Cook to your personal preference. Add swiss cheese slices several minutes before burgers are done to allow cheese to melt over top. Serve burgers on top of mushrooms and onion.

My notes: The original recipe called for broiling the burgers. I cooked mine in my grill pan on the stove. This was easier for me since Josh gets home much later and I eat before him. Does your husband like to grill? Put him in charge of the burgers while you make the mushrooms and onion. However you'd like to prepare the burgers is up to you, but I highly recommend you prepare it all soon!

Back To The Future

The future of my cooking that is. Finally back to my usual cooking schedule after all the travel and other interruptions. Trying out two new recipes this week, the first one was made last night. I have had this on my menu once or twice in the past few weeks but it just hadn't happened for one reason or another. Last night my plans finally came to fruition. I really enjoyed this recipe, despite the fact that I was having a clumsy night in the kitchen. I think I'll definitely make some variation of this recipe again in the future.

Warm Spinach Salad with Fried Egg and Potatoes
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4












4 tablespoons olive oil
2 baking potatoes (about 1 lb. total), scrubbed and cut into 1/2" cubes
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 shallot, minced
2 bunches flat-leaf spinach (about 2 pounds total), thick stems removed, leaves washed well and roughly torn
2 ounces Parmesan cheese, shaved with vegetable peeler
4 large eggs

• In a large non-stick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add potatoes; season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing occasionally, until potatoes are tender and browned, 12 to 14 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine remaining 2 tablespoons oil with vinegar, mustard, and shallot; season with salt and pepper, and whisk to combine. Add spinach and Parmesan (do not toss); set aside.
• When potatoes are done cooking, immediately transfer to bowl with spinach and dressing (reserve skillet). Toss salad until spinach is slightly wilted, and divide among four plates.
• Heat skillet over medium, and gently crack eggs into skillet without breaking yolks. season with slat and pepper. Cook until whites are almost set, about 1 minute. Cover, turn off heat, and let stand until whites are just set but yolks are still soft, about 2 minutes more. Top each salad with a fried egg and serve immediately.

My notes: I accidentally over-cooked the eggs. Well, I was busy rinsing dishes and just wasn't paying too close attention. Our yolks were still soft, but not very runny so they didn't really mingle with the dressing and salad like I believe they are supposed to. Anyway, the real star of this salad is the combination of flavors from the potatoes and dressing. That was a really fabulous flavor and scent for me. I think this salad, minus the egg, would be a really great accompaniment to the quick and easy crust-less quiches I like to prepare for dinner. Also, I halved the recipe for just the two of us, and since I was doing that I took the easy way out and bought a ready-to-eat bag of baby spinach

Pots of Comfort

Well, after getting back from NYC on Monday there wasn't a whole lot in the pantry and fridge for making dinners. I was however lucky enough to have some frozen chicken breasts, along with the rest of the ingredients for a chicken pot pie I was going to make a couple weeks ago, but didn't. I tossed the chicken in the fridge to thaw and last night was actually able to make us a real dinner. I've made this Kraft recipe for Deep Dish Chicken Pot Pie before, but this time I decided to use my 10 oz. ramekins to make 4 individual pies. This worked really well except that I probably didn't vent my crusts well enough, cause they spilled over some. I anticipated that might happen and they were on a baking sheet, so no matter. Also, I could have added some more veggies. I had a big bag instead of a 10 oz. box, so I eyeballed it, and one of the pies ended up a little skimpy on the filling. To cut the crust to size I just pressed the upside-down ramekins onto the unrolled pie crust and cut the circles out. This way I even have a small ball of dough leftover that I'll probably make a couple of hand pies from this weekend. I was gonna do that last night too, but I was also trying to do laundry while cooking and all that multi-tasking was beginning to catch up with me. Anyway, this recipe is a great one to have because all the ingredients can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. Maybe you've even got the ingredients in your kitchen right now! Get to cooking!

Pizza Pie

Hey guys! I'm back from NYC. Unfortunately I don't really have a whole lot to post about food wise. We ate a lot of good food on our trip, but I was too lazy to take pics of most of it. While in the city though I was determined to eat at a certain pizzeria. John's Pizzeria on Bleecker St. in Greenwich Village was on my personal to-eat list primarily because of it's cameo in Woody Allen's Manhattan. In fact, when you watch the movie you can see the booth I sat in! But I also read good things about their pizza, so I was hoping it wouldn't be a disappointment. Which it wasn't. We ordered a simple pepperoni & black olive, as Josh and I can rarely agree on toppings past that. Boy oh boy, I wish I was eating this pizza right now! If you're ever wandering through Greenwich Village you should stop for a pie- no slices. You'd end up ordering an entire pie's worth of slices anyway, ha.