Salad Dressing

For anyone who doesn't know, I am obsessed with salad dressing.

Ok...well, I'm obsessed with salad dressing themed parties. Well, the idea of salad dressing themed parties. It all came to me when one of my favorite Emily's in the entire world told me that her sister was either going to a salad dressing party or thought it would be a fun idea. And then I completely thought it was an AWESOME idea, and thus tried to get my undergrad's theatre organization to pick it as the theme for our semester dance for the entirety of my undergrad career.

It never happened. I'm still bitter.

So, anyways, this post is dedicated to salad dressing! First, please reference these awesome recipes from Alton Brown for Honey Mustard and Ree Drummond for Ranch. Both very good!

First up is my aunt's go-to salad dressing. We have this almost every night, and it' wonderful, and has even made a salad believer out of John!

Wait, I should stop and say that for all of these recipes, I am completely guessing/putting my own input here. But there are so many people whom I love who have AWESOME salad dressing recipes, and I've tried to emulate them all. None of these are as good as from the primary source...but I still try.

Aunt Rose's Salad Dressing:

1/4 c. white balsamic vinegar

1/4 c. olive oil

1 cube frozen garlic

1 cube frozen basil

Sea Salt

Fresh Cracked Pepper

Alison's Salad Dressing:

1/4 c. red wine vinegar

1/2 c. olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Mom's Salad Dressing: (I'm going to mess this one up)

1/4 c. lemon juice

1/4 c. olive oil

1 minced garlic clove

1 tbsp. minced onion

1 tsp. italian seasonings

Salt

Fresh Cracked Pepper

**It is also important to note that my mother can take ANYTHING that's in the fridge and make an awesome salad dressing out of it? I'm serious. Italian, Asian, Greek, any type of vinaigrette....she is a salad dressing genius! Maybe that's where I got the obsession?

Shannon's Salad Dressing: (Note: this recently became one of my faves, although I had to change it a little bit, plus DUH I'm not a recipe stealer ((unless you're The Pioneer Woman or Alton Brown, in which case I'm totally a recipe stealer))

1/4 c. aged balsamic vinegar

1/2 c. olive oil

2 tsp. sugar

1 cube frozen garlic

1 tbsp. minced onion

1 cube frozen basil

Sea Salt

Fresh Cracked Pepper

**I put all this in a grainy mustard jar that had who knows how much mustard left in it and shook everything up. THIS DRESSING IS AWESOME!

I'm obsessed with salad, ya'll.

Best Chocolate Lava Cake Ever

It's been forever since I've posted a real-life recipe. And I'm still procrastinating. BUT, for now, PLEASE make this chocolate lava cake recipe! I've made it three times for John...and I've semi-regretted it each time, only because I'm convinced that each little cup has about a lifetime worth of calories. I don't care. I don't need to fit into my wedding dress or anything...

Here it is. Make it. Live it. Love it. Eat it. Then pass out.

http://www.famousfrenchdesserts.com/chocolate-lava-cake-recipe.html

Chipotle Chili

We are studying and cooking today! And by studying and cooking, I mean cooking and studying on breaks only. Such as right now, while our chili comes to room temp. We made this Bobby Flay recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/beef-and-black-bean-chili-with-toasted-cumin-crema-and-avocado-relish-recipe/index.html

We haven't made the crema or relish yet...that'll happen later when it's dinner time. I feel terrible...I've only been using other people's recipes lately. But seeing as I don't have a kitchen of my own right now, it really is more efficient to use someone else's recipe. (Don't ask me how that logic works, it just does).

Anyways, that chili is already smelling DELICIOUS, and I so cannot wait to have a bowl of it this evening with some salsa cornbread and a nice, cold beer while we catch up on Outsourced from this Thursday.

PS-Has anyone watched Outsourced? It premiered last Thursday, after The Office, and I LOVE IT! I'm kind of shocked at how many racial jokes they got away with (like telling the Indians that their turbans and sari's sure are some funny hats)...but they made up for it (I think?) by making fun of American consumerism (I mean...who needs a singing bass?)

((SIDE NOTE: John would never let us register for one, but a certain 1/2 of this relationship might think it was really funny if we got one as a wedding present! Not to name names or anything...it would go in our bathroom, FO SHO, though!)).

SO, while that chili is cooling down, I'm working on my profile for my Seminar class. I so cannot wait for dinner tonight!

Happy eating!

Poached Plums, Pastry Cream, and Shortcake

We made the poached plums, pastry cream, and shortcake from these recipes. I die. It's such a fall-y combination. Again, I die.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/poached-plum-tart

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/good-eats/shortcake-recipe/index.html

Also...I'm considering turning this into a joint cooking adventure blog with John, and calling it "Cooking for Two". But that's also disgusting...so maybe not.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Remember that time that I found out I was allergic to chicken, and then my new two blog posts were chicken recipes.

That's because I'm protesting.

John is sick! Poor guy has had a cold for the entire week! SO, on Tuesday we made my (slash my mom's) famous chicken noodle soup for him! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 rotisserie chicken (herb crusted, pref.)
2 32 oz. cartons of chicken stock (GOOD chicken stock, PLEASE)
1/4 white onion, chopped (or, if you're John, annihilated)
3 carrots, peeled and chopped into 1/4" rounds
3 stalks of celery, chopped into 1/4" semi-circles
2 tbsp. butter
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp each of the following: dill, tarragon, thyme, parsley (or you could just toss in a classic Bouquet Garni, plus some dill...dill is essential)
Salt and pepper to taste (I like to just lightly season the meat, and then pepper the heck of of the soup itself)
1 package of egg noodles (you'll end up using about 3/4 of a package)

Directions:

1) Tear that chicken apart! Separate skin and bones from the meat. Place skin and bones in a large stock pot with chicken stock and herbs. Simmer for 15 minutes. Strain the broth from the skin and bones. Return broth to stock pot and bring to a boil to cook egg noodles.

2) Meanwhile, chop chicken meat into bite-sized chunks.

3) ALSO meanwhile (btw, having 3 arms is required for this recipe...or a nice fiance who's willing to help out even though he's sick!), melt butter in a pan and saute the veggies until soft (keep the heat looooow).

4) Once egg noodles have cooked, veggies have been sauteed, and meat has been chopped, combine all ingredients into the stock pot and lightly simmer for 15 minutes.

5) Salt and pepper as desired, and serve!

Baked Panko Chicken Tenders

John and I made this awesome recipe last night from Love and Olive Oil (who I am now following on my cool, fancy Google Reader, because I'm all 20-something and hip!) It was wonderfully light and surprisingly flavorful! I had always been under the impression that unless chicken was marinated, it would taste like paper. Not so! We used rice flour instead of regular flour, regular instead of smoked paprika, and crushed red chili flakes instead of cayenne (still trying to learn my way around my aunt's kitchen!). John also made some fries, and a spicy habanero mustard sauce to go with it! Yum! (but, please note that I did not say Yum-O!...because I'm in protest of that phrase).

I wish I had taken a picture. Actually, I wish I had taken a picture every step of the way and made funny comments on it, like my favorite blogger Ree Drummond does on The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Seriously, if you're not following her, you should be. She's super funny, super talented, and is into so much more than just cooking! AKA- I'm jealous of her photography skills!

But hey! I actually cooked, which hasn't happened in a long time! Hopefully this be a more regular occurrence?

Allergies! Ah!

I'd like to start off this post by saying that my favorite food in the whole world is fried chicken. I'm obsessed with chocolate lava cake. I want to open my own bakery someday. Sushi is my friend. I love dogs. Apples are delicious. I could eat cheese all day, every day. Etc, etc, etc.

Also...I just found out that I'm allergic to all of those things.

I had an allergist appointment today, just to confirm my self-diagnosed fish allergy (got it right...my arm BLEW UP when he tested, like, 5 different kinds of fish on it). I had also mentioned a few other concerning things, and he just decided to test a bunch of different foods on me.

OMG. I was SO not prepared for the results. Apparently, I am TOTALLY allergic to fish and dogs. Sad day...but it's also not going to stop me from having a dog or two later on. Sorry 'bout it. But what really surprised me was all of the things to which I'm mildly allergic. Milk, apples, yeast, onions, chicken, and chocolate.

Chicken?! CHICKEN?!? CHICKEN?!?!?

How is someone allergic to chicken?!?

I mean, all I want to know is this; HOW AM I NOT DEAD!? If I'm supposedly allergic to all of these things...whatevs. For now, I'm just going to monitor when I eat these things and see how my body reacts. If it seems like I need to cut something out, I will.

But mark my words, Dr. Simpson. If you EVER try to tell me that I can't eat fried chicken, you WILL have an irate, Southern woman in your office.

So you can run and tell THAT!....homeboy!