bucket list – kristilynk

Culinary Bucket List 2014 ~ June

It’s Friday night…I did NOT want to cook. I wanted to go out for dinner. This is an extremely rare want. I almost never want to go out to eat. It seems, to me, to be a waste of money. 98% of the time, I can’t help but think.., “Jason and/or I could have made a meal just as good..if not better than this.”

Now, I understand the whole dining out experience might be more about the social aspect — and bonus…there is no clean up. However…contrary to my drunken self..I am not that social of a being 😉

Back to point… I didn’t want to cook, ended up cooking because the mister had band rehearsal…**Oh the woes of being married to a musician ** 😉

Somehow I came across this recipe and thought it would be good to try out! I am all about eating clean and healthy these days..

I stopped by the grocers on the way home from a stupid day at work and picked up all I needed (and of course a bottle of Rose)

I really had like three projects going on here. 1st was salmon patties…2nd was parsnip fries and lastly was a fresh spinach/Parmesan side.

I started with the parsnip fries first. I’ll be honest..I’ve NEVER tasted a parsnip..ever.. in..my..entire..life..

At this moment..I still don’t even have an idea as to what they are or what they are good for. EH..well I mean obviously…they’re some sort of root?? Like a potato..but not?

Anyway..I started with those.. They suck to cut. I was not sure if I was supposed to leave the core in the mix or not..so some pieces had core and some did not..

This is the recipe I used :

Jason did not like the parsnips.. I am still thinking about them..Not so sure.. I think I needed to have baked them for longer than 12 minutes. Maybe 20. Interesting is the only word that came to mind.

After that experiment was done I moved on to the salmon patties.

For the most part, I followed the recipe..But CLEARLY..did something wrong..

I started Quinoa then moved on..

Chopped the green onions, cilantro tossed them into the blender and added some lemon zest. The recipe called for Herbamare..I didnt have any..so I googled an alternative (serisouly…what the hek did stupid people do without the internet????) I found this… I only had..sea salt, parsley, oregano, rosemary, thyme and basil (but I forgot to add the basil..nbd)

Blended then added the cooked quinoa, blended again..added salmon (Canned wild caught salmon)

Hey guess what??!! This is a public service announcement..DO NOT..STICK A KNIFE INTO A MOVING BLENDER.. I almost lost my eye.. I have NO idea why I thought it was OK but yea..I stuck a knife into the blender..while it was blending and a piece of plastic from the top busted off and ricochade off the side, came out and almost stabbed me in the eye… mmhmm..

At that point I decided it was best to just put everything in a metal bowl and just hand mix.

** This is pre-knife in blender**

After all was mixed, I made the patties –

So they didnt work out THAT well..Super hard to flip. I figured out at the end..I made them too big..easier to flip and cook when they are half the size.

Those being as done as they are going to get…I started the spinach..

Same pan…splash of avocado oil I threw in the fresh greens and cooked until wilted.. Done..tossed into a mixing bowl and sprinkled with fresh grated Parmesan.. This..I have to say…was my favorite part of this dish.

I can’t say..” You MUST try this” It’s OK..not amazing BUT..It’s healthy..clean and with some work, thought and manipulation…it could be something delish!! I just might..think on some adjustment and may try again.

Culinary Bucket List 2014 ~ March

Stuffed Bell Peppers!

Holy macaroni these were easy!!! 🙂 I followed the directions of good ‘ole Martha Stewart. Love her or hate her I tell you what..this woman has some really great recipes.

http://www.marthastewart.com/339288/stuffed-peppers

Pre-heat the oven to 400F

While the oven is preheating, dice your onion, grab a few garlic cloves, get out your ever so useful cast iron skillet (if you dont have one you can use any skillet but I HIGHLY recommend investing in a cast iron skillet..I LOVE mine!!) heat it up, add a tablespoon of olive oil, wait until the skillet starts smoking a teeny bit then toss in the diced onion. I use a garlic press to squish into the onion mix..cook until the onions are soft and browning a little. ** SMELLS SO GOOD!

**Add the turkey sausage ~ or whatever other meat you want to use.. I went for the lighter white meat.

Let this cook up for about five to seven minutes then add diced tomatoes and a cup of water. Here is a spot where I strayed from Marthas instructions. She calls for canned tomatoes… I don’t do canned tomato so I diced up two fresh ones. Yes, this makes me feel like I have a leg up on the queen of the kitchen Miss Martha 🙂 and look how pretty!!

Simmer for about five minutes to let the liquid thicken up ~ remove the skillet from the burner ~ then add 3/4 cup of plain cous cous (I get mine from Sprouts..it’s reasonably priced and you can load up a bag with as much as you like).

While the stuffing mixture was cooling off, I cut the bell peppers in half and emptied their guts. Then stuffed them and placed them in a baking dish ~ I had to use two baking dishes because I made eight halves. In each baking dish pour a half cup of water ( I assume this creates moisture so as not to dry out your dinner!) You’re also supposed to put tin foil over the dishes too BUT guess what….???

I did not have any sooooo out in the open they go!

Can you see how CLEAN the oven is???? I cleaned it for the first time – using the self cleaning method – in four years. It is like a brand new range!! 🙂

I baked for thirty five minutes and then grated monterey jack cheese over the top and baked for another five minutes to melt.

Luckily…the lack of tin foil was not a deal breaker and the stuffed peppers turned out pretty and tasted even better…even the finicky daughter loved them!

Culinary Bucket List 2014 ~ JANUARY!

Hey there and Happy New Year! As usual, it’s been a while since my last post..you know..holidays, family and life has kept me away BUT..one of my goals this year is to visit you all more often. 🙂

My friend, Kim, came up with a brilliant idea of Culinary Bucket list for this year. She and I will be making one or two dishes every month this year..each of these dishes has to be something we have never made before. Fun, right?? 🙂 I am excited about this and can’t believe it took me three weeks into the first month to get started!

Check Kims blog out ~ she started with Chinese ~ mmm mmm delicious!! http://tryingforbabys.wordpress.com/2014/01/21/culinary-bucket-list-january/

Me? I started with Swedish Meatballs. I have been wanting to make these bad boys since I read this blog: http://www.thelondoner.me/2013/12/swedish-meatball-recipe.html

Looking at the pictures from this blog you can see why I was so excited to start here! The color and the texture of these photos you can just TASTE how amazing those balls must be!! 🙂

On the way home from the office I stopped at a local butcher shop ( http://site.themeatshopaz.com/Home.html ) I have been meaning to try for the past few months. What better excuse to actually stop in today?? I needed 1lb of ground beef (I opted for the local grass fed beef) and 1lb ground pork (apparently they don’t grass feed the pigs because that was not an option but…it was local pig).

I was greeted and served quickly BUT I was disappointed. The meat was FROZEN! I said, “Oh..it’s frozen, you don’t have anything fresh”? “No, always frozen”.

Noted…

I got home around 17:30, unwrapped the meat, set the meat in the cast iron pan (I was told setting the meat in a metal pan helps defrost meat faster) and waited and waited and waited. While I was waiting, I set the produce and what not on the counter, washed up the potatoes, cut them up and threw them in a pan.

Here’s the meat…STILL FROZEN!

Once I had the potatoes cut up, in the pot of water and set to boil..I decided…”Kiah, do you want to go for a run?”

We went for a run, or rather WOG (walk/jog). Just a short one, we couldn’t go for too long..I was cooking! When I got home the potatoes were done and Jason had taken control of those.

I hate to admit THIS but…he also had to put the meat in the microwave to defrost. THE HORROR!!! Oh well, what’s done is done..

Back from the wog, I washed up and got to chopping up the onion, melted the butter and cooked the onion for a couple of minutes.

Back at the mixing bowl, I added nutmeg, two eggs, cooked onion and sea salt to the meat. I used an electric mixer to whip the meat (I read, using a mixer makes the balls smoother).

After it is all mixed I used my hands to make the meatballs – next time I think I will use an ice cream scooper. I forgot about that tip until just now..

In the cast iron skillet I melted 1 TBSP of real salted butter. Once I the butter was melted I placed the balls in the pan to brown.

It took about 10-12 minutes for me to feel like they were cooked ~ because I mixed pork in the meatballs ~ I felt it was NOT ok to have ANY pink..That’s just me..pork and chicken I tend to over cook in fear of getting sick. Just sayin’

OH! While the meatballs were cooking..I heated the oven to 200F

After the meatballs were done, I placed them in an oven safe (aka another cast iron skillet) pan and placed them in the oven to keep warm.

To make the gravy, I used the butter and fat that was left over from the meatball cook, added 1 tbsp of flour, 10oz of chicken broth, 2 tbsp of Worcester sauce, 1 tbsp of mustard and 1 tbsp of honey boiled and stirred for a few moments and then added a pint of heavy whipping cream.

After a few minutes I took the meatballs from the oven and added them to the gravy.

Voila!

DINNER…is served 🙂

It was good. Not the best I’ve made and will need some practice in regards to spices. My opinion..needs more salt. The meatballs were not as soft as I had expected. I will, one day, figure out how to make them smooth.

Feel free to give me advice!! 😀