Remy’s Ratatouille Fondue
A fellow mommy-blogger and high school friend of my hubby’s, Nikki Bull Pollard (http://myfootinmymouth.blogspot.com/), is currently working on an article about family movie nights and asked me to contribute some food pairings with the movies. Which I am SOOO honored to do because Nikki’s blog is an overwhelmingly successful blog that absolutely cracks me up and she also contributes to www.ksl.com. The two movies she asked me to pair with are the fabulously entertaining movie, Ratatouille (which I secretly love to watch with Buggies and Pixie because it is all about cooking!) and the movie Enchanted, which stars McDreamy and that adorable Amy Adams.
Roasted Garlic
Here’s the deal. Garlic is amazing. If you don’t think so, you haven’t had it made for you the right way. Roasted garlic is one of our favorite starter appetizers. We love serving it with some crusty French bread. Spread it across the bread, sprinkle it with some kosher salt and black pepper and take a bite. It’s beyond delicious. Take it one step further by drizzling some white truffle oil over it. Or even placing a slice of avocado on top of the garlic and then drizzling with oil, salt and pepper. Mix it up peeps! Make it the way you like it – as long as you make this garlic.
Grandma Josie’s Chile (Salsa)
Ofrasina (Josie) Avila-Preciado was born in 1930 in Michoacan, Mexico. She was one of fourteen children. As a baby, she was smuggled into the United States under her aunt’s dress. She put her roots down here in California, got married, and started a family of her own. Her son Steve is my best friend Jessica’s father. Grandma Josie was one of the most selfless ladies to have ever lived. She loved her children and worked everyday to provide everything for them. One of those things she provided, was of course food. And Josie loved to cook. She would cook all day for her family and passed many of her recipes on to them.
She had a heart of gold and if she liked you, you were blessed. If she didn’t like you, well let’s just say I’d advise you change your name and move to Canada. Grandma Josie passed away in 2002 but her life continues to always be celebrated. The stories about Josie still make her family laugh, cry and relive her life all over again. It is my great honor to post the recipe (with her family’s blessing of course) for Josie’s amazing “salsa.” Please make this as soon as you possibly can. It has become a favorite in my family as well but it will always carry Josie’s name on it.
Hubby’s Note: My wife has been known to put this salsa out when I have the guys over to watch a game or for poker night. Any one of my friends that has had it once, will inivitably ask for it the next time they are over. It’s so fresh tasting. It’s the perfect mix of spicy and sweet and fresh. The only thing that improves it is a dollop of Guac on the chip right along side it. Thankfully, I’m always asked to be the taste tester while it’s being made. Does it need more of this? Of that? No honey, it needs more tortilla chips in my hands to eat it with.
Kelli’s Vegetable Panini
This summer I had a dear friend, Kelli, come visit me from Arizona for a few days. We met our senior year at UCLA and ended up taking some Sociology classes together.
Italian Quesadillas
I’m not gonna lie. It takes some planning to keep new recipes coming every few days. And my past two weeks have been crazy so my posts have dwindled for just a moment. But I’m proud to say that I’ve been stockpiling. I’ve got some ammunition that I’m ready to release people! That being said, I had a very ambitious night where I decided to make six (SIX!!!) new recipes for a casual dinner party. And of course because I hadn’t spent a few days in my kitchen and I’m pretty sure my Kitchenaid hummed to life on its own, I needed to cook. I was also craving mushrooms and because Ryan won’t eat mushrooms, I thought I could add them to an appetizer and get my fix. That’s one of my favorite things about entertaining friends, we outnumber my picky husband so I can make some really yummy dishes!
Oh! And these are vegetarian 😉
Hubby’s Note: Yes. I’m picky. But I’m really cute. So…I’ve got that going for me…which is nice.
Apricot and Ricotta Cheese Crepes
As I’ve told you, in my previous life I worked for a pretty fabulous international restaurant chain. I was their Director of Human Resources. It was a job that evolved over the years and I was self taught for. I almost felt like Superman leading a double life though. By day: HR. By Night! Cooking. My fabulous Molly came up with the perfect idea of me and Jessica, one of the 4 partners in crime, to start a catering business. And we did. And we were busy. I would spend my entire day processing payroll, dealing with health benefits, employee complaints and what not. By night, Jessica and I would come up with menus and marketing, recipes and recruits. A few months into the business we catered a baby shower at this gorgeous ocean view mansion in Santa Barbara. I’m going to get off topic for a sec. They had these walls in their house with zero texture to them. Smooth as a baby’s…. And then they acid washed them. These walls made this house look like it was floating in the clouds. If I ever hit those 6 little Super Lotto numbers, my house must have those walls. Back to the crepes. One of the menu items for the shower was these crepes. We seriously could not whip them up fast enough before the platters were empty again. After catering that event, I was talking with my sweet (strawberries!) co-worker Alisha who fell in love with these crepes. This is another recipe she’s been asking for and I’ve slacked on. YIKES!
Here is my thought. It’s Labor Day weekend. Four years ago it was 120 degrees and I was close to going into labor. So let’s celebrate and have brunch Sunday. Make these with my Green Chile Breakfast Casserole, serve up a bottle of champagne and let’s call this a relaxing weekend.
It’s My Birthday and I’ll Give YOU presents if I want to
Yes sir, today is my birthday. Well, that’s a white lie. It was actually on August 24th but due to the state of health in my household, I spent 6 hours in the ER with my little angels on my birthday. Everyone is finally feeling healthy again. So, I say today is my birthday because we are finally going to celebrate my birthday tonight. Good friends, good food, healthy kids and….cocktails. I was fine skipping my birthday this year but Ryan insists I get one year older. Meanie.
Filet Mignon with Whiskey Cream Sauce
This past weekend I had my first mommy getaway in almost a year. My brother in law is getting married in October and I went on the bachelorette party for my soon to be mini sister-in-law. I say mini because she’s a beautiful petite woman. I was so excited to spend the weekend with her, her friends and of course my other sister in law, Kellie.
I don’t know what it is about when Mom’s go out of town but Murphy and his damn law inevitably show their faces and the children get sick. Here I am sitting on Descanso beach in Catalina with 12 really fabulous ladies and my brand new iphone gives its legendary ring of a new text message. Excited to see a picture of my darling girls, I am instead greeted with, “Buggies has a fever of 102.” Ugh. Really? 102??? Several hours and several text messages later, I’ve decided to stay on the island rather than helicopter myself for a bazillion dollars to my doorstep. As the night goes on, she’s not feeling better and my guilt level starts to rise. My downright out of this world husband insists he’s got everything under control through the cries from the girls and the panic in his voice.
Chicken Parmigiana Arrabiatta
I LOVE Chicken Parmigiana. I know, I know, I’ve said before that I’m not a fan of chicken breast but seriously? When you bread it, fry it, cover it in delicious arrabiatta sauce and mozzarella; it makes my heart swoon. It’s kind of my standby plan when I’m not exactly sure what to do for dinner. It doesn’t take much time, it’s GREAT for leftovers and my family digs it. Nuff said.
Oh and because we all have busy lives, I’ve also included a shortcut version with store bought sauce.
Hubby’s note: For the record, anything is good when you fry it. Just ask the Chinese. (ducks feet anyone?) I don’t share my wife’s boredom for chicken. Especially when it’s on culinary steroids like this one is. This chicken is REALLY good. I can only guess that “Arrabiatta” is italian for “Kick-Ass”. I’m always the envy of my co-workers come lunch time as my delicious leftovers waft through the air. And this dish gets me more glances than usual.
Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Parmesan Polenta and an Herb Cream Sauce
I go through these kicks where I want to literally empty everything in my fridge and freezer and start anew. By that I mean, cook everything we’ve got. I HATE wasting food – especially produce – so I try to be very conscious of what we have lying around to make. One night I said to Ryan, “Choices are: Potstickers with fried rice, Ramen Pad Thai (I got VERY creative in college) or pork and polenta.” He chose the pork and polenta and… alas! A new recipe was born.
Hubby’s Note: Herb Cream Sauce! Herb Cream Sauce! I want to bathe in it!