Consciously Eating...

Skillet Tamale Pie

bwbollom — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 02:17:00 +0000

Tonight, we decided to try a recipe from the most recent issue of Cook’s Country. Skillet Tamale Pie was the choice and as it was coming together, it was looking and smelling good, but I don’t think we were expecting it to taste as good as it actually did! The “pie filling” is ground beef, beans, diced tomatoes, onions, cheese and several seasonings. The topping is cornbread crumbled up and mixed with shredded cheese, salt and pepper. Then the whole skillet is thrown into a 450 degree oven for 10 minutes to melt and brown everything and this is what comes out:

We made a half recipe, so the filling isn’t as thick as it would normally have been, but it was still incredibly good! Very rich and flavorful! We’ll definitely be making this one again, and if we are having people over, it would be a fine dish to remember.

Cornish Game Hen w/Winter Squash

bwbollom — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 06:15:50 +0000

Cornish Game Hen w/Winter Squash:

Lemon Cake!

bwbollom — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 06:14:31 +0000

America’s Test Kitchen’s Lemon Cake:

Steak and Beets w/Blue Cheese & Walnuts

bwbollom — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 06:12:11 +0000

America’s Test Kitchen’s steak, beets w/blue cheese & walnuts, baked sweet potato fries:

Mexican-style Skillet Vermicelli

bwbollom — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 06:10:05 +0000

America’s Test Kitchen’s Mexican-style Skillet Vermicelli:

Pork Chops w/Apricot Bourbon Sauce

bwbollom — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 06:06:45 +0000

Pork chops with apricot bourbon sauce, white wine braised fennel, and mashed potatoes:

New York Strip, Sweet Potato Oven Fries, & Beets

Becky — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 04:26:14 +0000

Tonight we had New York Strip steak, sweet potato oven fries and beets. Yes, that’s right beets. Part of this whole eating healthier thing was to try new vegetables. I’ve never had beets before, so this one was an adventure.

First, the beets. We roasted them in the oven, wrapped in foil, for a little over an hour. The one thing I didn’t realize about beets is that they turn everything they touch purple. Wow! There was purple every where when I tried to handle them. We topped them with toasted walnuts and bleu cheese. I toasted the walnuts in a pan on the stove for about 5 minutes.

Here are the finished beets with the walnuts and cheese:

For the sweet potatoes, I just sliced them a little thin, tossed them in extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, and put them in the oven for as long as it took. I honestly don’t know how long they were in.

And for steak. Brandon makes a mean steak. For those of use who aren’t allowed to have a grill (damn that apartment living!), he’s got a great way of cooking a good steak. You start with a steak that’s about 2 1/2 to 3 inches thick. Put it in the oven at 275° for 25 minutes. Then you sear it on the stove top in a skillet for a minute and a half on all sides (and I mean all sides…top, bottom, and the sides) and serve. Yum!

So, here is the finished product on my plate:

Baby Girl thought it smelled tasty and mistakenly thought my plate was her’s. Here she is ready to dive in (low light…not a great picture…a little fuzzy):

And the final verdict. The steak was great. This is actually the second time we’ve cooked steak this way. Delicious.

The sweet potatoes tasted good, but I wish they were a little crispy. I think next time I’m going to slice them a little thinner and skip the olive oil coating and see if they get crispy. I never ate a lot of sweet potatoes before because I hate the way they are traditionally cooked for Thanksgiving. All that brown sugar and marshmellows…yuck. Just my opinion. Recently we started cooking them in more savory ways and we discovered that we actually like them. You’ll be seeing more sweet potatoes in the future.

The beets. Well, I could really take them or leave them. They were okay, but not great. They were a huge pain in the butt to cook, so I don’t think I’ll be cooking them again anytime soon, but if someone else were to make them, I wouldn’t pass them up.

NY Strip Steak w/Chilean Salsa

bwbollom — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 06:03:31 +0000

New York Strip Steak with Chilean Salsa from America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. Steamed squash on the side:

Process photos:

Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry w/Salad

bwbollom — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 06:01:05 +0000

Quick dinner night…beef and broccoli stir fry w/salad:

Smothered Pork Chops w/Mashed Sweet Potatoes

bwbollom — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:55:24 +0000

Smothered pork chops from America’s Test Kitchen’s Family Cookbook w/mashed sweet potatoes made on the fly:

Process photos: