food – Page 9 – Well Dined

17
Aug
2015

Food ‘n Flix – August: Osage County (Biscuits and Gravy Casserole)

categories: Recipes

It’s Food ‘n Flix time again! Where we watch a movie and then make something inspired by that movie. This month’s flick is August: Osage County, hosted by Elliot’s Eats, and boy is it a doozy.

I could tell immediately from the dialogue that this was a play adaptation, and I was right. The movie portrays the funeral of the patriarch of an extremely dysfunctional family, set in the desolate plains of Oklahoma. The cast (including Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Juliette Lewis) acted the crap out of some very dark and intense material – addiction, depression, suicide, abuse, and incest. This is not a feel good movie (you know it’s bad when incest is the best scenario), but it is very good and it will make you think.

As for the food inspiration – there was a ton! Many of the most tortured scenes revolved around food, including the horrible funeral dinner and the infamous “eat the fish!” scene. The moment that I was drawn to was Meryl Streep’s character talking about her last interaction with her husband over biscuits and gravy. She must have said the phrase “biscuits and gravy” ten times. I’m not even that big a fan of biscuits and gravy, but that was what I wanted to make.

I wanted to make something special, not basic, so I went to Pinterest thinking I would find an herbed biscuit recipe or something. But what came up were a ton of recipes for biscuits and gravy casseroles. I had never heard of that before and it sounded awesome! Some were just biscuits, gravy, and cheese; but I liked the look of one that included eggs (kind of like a strata). (more…)

12
Aug
2015

Salty Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

categories: Recipes

I have said it before and I will say it again – I am not much of a baker. I feel much more comfortable with the flow of cooking, than the rigidity of baking. But I want to get better, and a large part of that is experience. So my friend Melissa, an excellent baker and author of Smells Like Brownies, is helping me learn.

We decided to start with some peanut butter swirl brownies, with the knowledge that we wanted there to be plenty of saltiness to contrast the sweetness. So we made sure that the peanut butter layer was salted, then finished the brownies with flaky sea salt – yum. (more…)

10
Aug
2015

SRC – Lemon and Basil Chicken Salad from Renee’s Kitchen Adventures

categories: Recipes

It’s my first Secret Recipe Club post!!! I had been wanting to join the SRC for a while, but wasn’t sure that I met the posting requirements, because I don’t always post every week. I also didn’t have a recipe index for a long time, so that is something that I have been working on. I finally felt like the time was right and asked to join, and here I am with my first post! Yay!

My assigned blog was Renee’s Kitchen Adventures, and I had such a great time looking through it. Renee is a stay-at-home mom and former nurse (labor and delivery – what a special unit!), and her story reminded me a lot of my mother. She talks about trying to be healthy and lose weight, and posts healthy recipes based on Weight Watchers points. I, too, am trying to be healthy and lose weight, so I loved that about this blog. Even though our ideas of what constitute healthy food are a bit different (I think fat is healthy), I think this blog will be a great resource and inspiration for me. I also love how accessible and family friendly Renee’s recipes are. I think I tend to only post about the really complicated stuff, which maybe isn’t so great.

As I was reading through Renee’s most recent recipes, I saw a lot that I wanted to try. I love that she has a lot of s’mores recipes, and especially that she made s’mores krispy treats – because I did the same thing! I also really liked the sound of this Almond Joy Poke Cake made with coconut oil, coconut oil is the best! She writes that she isn’t ashamed to use boxed cake mix as a shortcut, and I feel the same way! I don’t post about them much, but I love to make poke cakes or dress up cake mix in other ways (pro tip: use 1 extra egg, milk instead of water, melted butter instead of oil).

I’ve been baking way more than usual lately, though, and what jumped out at me the most was this Creamy Lemon and Fresh Basil Chicken Salad. It has been super hot and humid lately, so this is exactly the kind of thing I want to be eating right now. (more…)

06
Aug
2015

Crab Quinoa Salad with Lemon Butter and Avocado

categories: Recipes

Everyone knows that crab legs go perfectly with drawn (melted) butter, especially if it had lemon and garlic in it. But what do you do if you are craving that combo in a lighter dish? Melissa and I decided to make a quinoa salad incorporating those flavors, along with fresh avocado, to keep things nice and light. Yum.

Step 1 – acquire crab legs. I got a pretty good deal on pre-cooked king crab legs at Costco.

Step 2 – remove crab meat. This was both thrilling and frustrating. I felt compelled to extract every last shred of meat from those suckers – not an easy task, but very rewarding. This will take a while, so start cooking your quinoa in the meantime (Step 1.5? 2.5? I give up). We used a 3:1 mixture of white and black quinoa because we thought it would look pretty (we were right), you can use whatever you like. (more…)

30
Jul
2015

Vegan Three Bean Chili

categories: Recipes

I was making dinner for a vegan friend of mine and found this quick and easy recipe that sounded good. Using mostly canned products, I was not expecting it to turn out as well as it did (hence no preparation photos). We were both surprised at how much flavor this chili had. I added in some chopped leftover steak for Jasper, and he loved it too. This is definitely going into my records as cheap, easy, customizeable, and well-loved.

Vegan Three Bean Chili with Pesto
adapted from Real Simple
serves 4

1 tbsp plus 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes with Italian spices, including liquid
kosher salt and black pepper
1 15.5oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 15.5oz can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 15.5oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 clove garlic
3 tbsp pine nuts (you can use a less expensive nut)
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley

Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and carrots and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the tomatoes and their liquid, 2 cups water, 1 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper and bring to a boil.

Add the beans and cook until heated through, about 3 minutes.

Either finely chop the garlic, pine nuts, and parsley and combine with remaining 1/4 cup oil, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp pepper in a small bowl OR put everything into a mini food processor and pulse.

Divide the chili among individual bowls and top with the pesto.

One Year Ago – Greek Style Zucchini Salad
Two Years Ago – Meat Ravioli
Three Years Ago – 4th of July
Four Years Ago – CSA Week 9

13
Jul
2015

Springfield Town Center Restaurant Week

categories: Reviews

This week, July 12-19, is Restaurant Week at the newly renovated Springfield Town Center in Springfield, VA. You can check out the menus for the 5 participating restaurants here. As a member of the NoVA Yelp Elite Squad, I was invited to try out the restaurants ahead of time. We had such a fun time and ate SO MUCH FOOD, it was insane. Check out what we were served below, and make sure to stop by Springfield Town Center this week for great deals on yummy food!

Our first stop was Yard House, an American restaurant with a huge menu including a big vegetarian section, and tons of beers on tap.

They served us an Ahi tuna salad, mac and cheese, and a Moscow Mule. The tuna was really well seasoned and perfectly cooked, but I didn’t care for the greens. The mac and cheese was AWESOME – the pasta was the perfect texture and it was loaded with chicken, bacon, mushrooms, and truffle oil. So good – I definitely recommend it. The Moscow mule was light and refreshing, and really lovely on a hot day.

Next up was Chuy’s – OMG CHUY’S!!! Words cannot express my excitement. You see, I am from Texas and this Austin based chain is my jam. The fact that it has migrated with me to VA is just the best. The manager here was super on point and spent a lot of time talking about how they make everything fresh in house. And yes, that is a giant strawberry margarita and pina colada swirl you see there. (more…)

22
Jun
2015

Food ‘n Flix: Butter

categories: Recipes

I finally got my act together in time to post for Food ‘n Flix, ha! I really need to work on that! Anyway, this month’s movie is Butter – hosted by Cheap Ethnic Eats. This hilarious movie is about wealth, race, privilege, power, family, small town America, and (of course) butter. I’d seen it before, and enjoyed it so much that I didn’t mind renting it again just to look for food references. Which, by the way, are few and far between other than the ubiquitous butter.

So what was I going to make that would feature butter? I came up with a few ideas, but I kept circling back to these apple dumplings (even though I’d posted about them before). They really are perfect for this movie, though – a little bit redneck, totally unhealthy, and drenched in butter.

The dumplings are actually really easy to make. I like them best when they are fresh and the sugar on top is still crunchy, so I tend to make half a recipe one day and the other half the next day – which is why you will only see 4 dumplings in the photos. Start by peeling and coring an apple, then cutting into 8 slices. (more…)

18
Jun
2015

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

categories: Recipes

I give full credit to Melissa (Smells Like Brownies) for this idea. I’d heard of cauliflower pizza crust before and thought I should try it, but I never got around to it. So I was really glad when she brought it up and suggested we try it.

It turns out that cauliflower crust is really easy! It doesn’t taste or feel like traditional crust, but it is yummy and chewy – I liked it! I was surprised that I could actually pick up a slice and it held together. So whether you are gluten-free, looking for low-carb, or just like to try new things, I highly recommend this pizza crust!

The first step is to pulse the cauliflower in a food processor until very fine. Then place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave to steam. Carefully remove the plastic wrap and transfer to a cheesecloth lined colander to cool. Once it is cool enough to handle, twist the cloth and squeeze to release as much moisture as possible. Like really squeeze this thing to death, I’m not joking. You may need to take turns with a cooking buddy like we did.

When you’ve removed as much moisture as you can, add mozzarella, Parmesan, oregano, garlic powder, red pepper, salt, and an egg. Use your hands to combine into a dough. (more…)

11
Jun
2015

Fish Tacos with Chipotle Mayo and Coleslaw

categories: Recipes

You know what is very summery? Tacos. Especially fish tacos. Melissa and I were looking for something light and fresh, with a lot of flavor and texture. So we cobbled together a bunch of different ideas and came up with these gorgeous tacos!

We started out by marinating mahi-mahi with tequila, lime juice, garlic, red onion, and cumin. Yum, yum, yum! We chose mahi-mahi because it is a mild white fish that will take on a marinade and stand up to searing.

We wanted a good sear on the outside, so we sauteed it at high heat for a short time, let it rest, and then flaked it into big pieces with forks.

We also wanted to make our own condiments, and came up with a lime and crema (Mexican sour cream with tons of flavor) coleslaw and a chipotle mayo, along with avocado, pickled onions, cotija cheese, and cilantro (or parsley for me). (more…)

03
Jun
2015

Stuffed Squash Blossoms

categories: Recipes

Have you ever had squash blossoms? It’s kind of weird to eat flowers, right? But these delicate blooms (stuffed with ricotta cheese and herbs, battered, and fried) are so, so delicious. They are also extremely perishable and only last a few hours at home. So it is best to cook them right away.

I’ve only ever had squash blossoms in restaurants before, but as soon as I saw them at the farmers market, I knew that I had to try making them myself. I really wanted to go with a stuffed and fried recipe, which is what I’m used to eating. But I found a bunch of other cool recipes I’d like to try if they still have them at the market next week – soup, quesadilla, fritatta. (more…)

Tag: food