Tom and I are leaving for Michigan after work today, so I wanted to leave you with a post since I'll be taking a short break from blogging.
This is an incredibly easy way to spruce up plain ol' chicken with ingredients you most likely have around already. In fact, I made this meal after being out of town for a few days and having virtually zero groceries. The toasty pecans make the coating nice and crunchy so you don't even need to pan fry it before baking, cutting down on the fat and calories.
Balsamic-Honey-Pecan Chicken
Serves 2
2 chicken breast halves (about 4-5 oz. each)
1 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 cloves smashed garlic
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup chopped pecans
salt and pepper
Mix the honey, balsamic vinegar and garlic together. Add the chicken, and rub in the marinade. Allow to marinate for about 20-30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375. Combine the bread crumbs and pecans. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and then dredge in the breadcrumb/pecan mixture.
Place a wire rack on a cooking sheet and spray with oil. Place the chicken on top and spray the top with a little cooking oil. Bake for about 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
No matter who your candidate is, you are bound to disagree with them on one issue or another. One of the biggest discrepancies I have with my candidate, Barack Obama, is that he doesn't really like sweets. I've read that he likes pumpkin pie enough, but he is not much of a dessert guy. I'm not sure how a person can not like sweets. I am also not sure why someone who doesn't like sweets all that much chose to mention pie so many times, but I digress.
Normally, I wouldn't put my political thoughts on my food blog. But, I've also never felt compelled to bake something in honor of a great candidate. It's really exciting to vote for someone because you want to vote for him--not simply because he's not "the other guy." Not that I don't have plenty of things against "the other guy;" one of the biggest being that his first major decision as potential President was choosing a VP candidate who is a real...I'll just stop there. This blog post doesn't need to take a turn into a running list of negative adjectives. ;)
Anyhow, I decided to make some Yes We Can(dy) Mini Cupcakes, based on two kinds of candy/candy bars--Almond Joys and Whoppers. I had an almond joy bread from Peabody bookmarked for an eternity and then conveniently, she made Whopper cupcakes not too long ago, so I was set.
There are so many great food bloggers out there (like Peabody, I'd imagine) who plan out what they will blog. They set days aside to make new things, make sure they have the proper lightning, have plenty of time to take photographs, and so on. These bloggers tend to put much more work into their blog than I do, and it shows. Their blogs look great, clean, professional. I can never be one of those bloggers. I do care about my blog, and love running it. However, I blog about anything new I make (unless I'm too lazy to take pictures of it) that we happen to be eating for dinner. Every once in a while, though, I'll make something specifically for this blog--usually for a food blogging event or something similar. And every time I make something specifically for this blog, the same thing happens--I screw it up or it looks awful. It's a curse.
The almond joy cupcakes came together very easily. The frosting is maybe my new favorite frosting. Easy peasy. And so delicious! Mmm. Anything with coconut has my vote. So I moved onto the Whopper cupcakes. These spread a ton and didn't rise a lot when I baked them. I knew I probably overfilled them, but I didn't think that could be the only problem, and I was right. When I was transcribing the recipe, I put "2 tsp. baking soda" instead of "2 tsp. baking powder." Doh! So these basically turned into one giant mass of chocolate cupcakedom. They still tasted good and the cake was still very moist, but they did not look very pretty. Which meant I needed to cut them into something resembling a cupcake before photographing them. That can be our little secret.
I had also planned on making these early so that for once I could use natural light to take photos. But, that didn't happen either. Hey, you win some, you lose some. I'll take the cupcake loss if I can be sure McCain will take the POTUS loss. :)
Because I want to be sure you see some pretty pictures, I will just go ahead and link Peabody's blog rather than retyping the recipe.
I made the whopper cupcakes as-is, except for that pesky baking soda/powder transcription error. :P
For the almond joy cupcakes, I made the recipe as-is, except I substituted plain yogurt for the buttermilk (since that's what I had in my fridge) and doubled the coconut extract in the cake since I didn't make the glaze. I topped them with creamy milk chocolate frosting from Cook's Illustrated and some flaked coconut.
Creamy Milk Chocolate Frosting
| 1/2 | cup heavy cream |
| pinch table salt | |
| 1 | tablespoon light corn syrup (or dark) |
| 10 | ounces milk chocolate , chopped |
| 1/2 | cup confectioners' sugar |
| 8 | tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), cold, cut into 8 pieces |
Instructions
-
Heat cream, salt, and corn syrup in microwave-safe measuring cup on high until simmering, about 1 minute, or bring to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Place chocolate in workbowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. With machine running, gradually add hot cream mixture through feed tube; process 1 minute after cream has been added. Stop machine; add confectioners´ sugar to workbowl and process to combine, about 30 seconds. With machine running, add butter through feed tube one piece at a time; process until incorporated and smooth, about 20 seconds longer. Transfer frosting to medium bowl and cool at room temperature, stirring frequently, until thick and spreadable, about 1 hour.
For the longest time, I thought I disliked curries. There's no reason for this other than really poor assumption on my part (though I think my mom always saying she didn't like curry didn't help the situation).
But then I started wondering how could I not like curry? I mean, the combo of the sweet & spicy flavors is so similar to Greek and Moroccan cooking, both of which I love. As soon as I saw the spice mixture that was typically used in curry powders, I was on board.
Still, I didn't want to end up with a ton of curry if for some strange reason I didn't like it, so I went to the Spice House and just bought an ounce of yellow curry powder (one of the reasons why I love this store, besides their awesome spices, is the fact that you can buy just a tiny bag of any spice). And then, like most new things I buy, it sat in my cabinet for a while until I remembered it was there.
I very randomly came across this recipe when I was searching for nothing of the sort. Funny how that happens. I love lamb. I adore lentils. It seemed like a great place to start with the curry.
This was delicious. I made modifications based on my tastes and what I had around. It was even better the next day at lunch. I am officially a yellow curry fan. Now I just need to try other varieties.
Curried Lamb and Lentil Stew
Serves 4-6
adapted from Cooking Light
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 ribs celery, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. trimmed and cubed leg of lamb
1 Tbps. curry powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 cups beef broth
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
3/4 cup lentils
1 large or 2 small/medium carrots, peeled and sliced
1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and all moisture squeezed out
Heat a dutch oven over medium heat and add the oil. Saute the onion, celery and garlic until tender. Add the lamb and brown. Add the curry powder, cumin, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste and stir well to coat.
Add broth, tomatoes, and lentils. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat. Simmer, covered for 15 minutes. Uncover and simmer for 5 additional minutes before adding the carrots and spinach. Simmer about 10 more minutes longer.
Let me first get a favor out of the way because I am selfish like that. ;) Remember those savory crepes with mushroom and goat cheese filling I made? I would really appreciate if you voted for them on the Ile de France site (and by voting, I mean rating them highly at the bottom of this page right here). If I win first (which doesn't look terribly promising right now, but as with voting of any type, I remain cautiously optimistic), I will be giving away a gift card on my blog, so there could be something in it for you, too! I think there is something a little...strange...going on with the voting right now but you didn't hear it from me. Someone may have to demand a recount!
Now that I've finished campaigning for your vote, let me share with you one of our staple meals. This meal was probably the second or third entry ever in this blog, but I had no picture (and, well, no readers) so I thought I would share it again. This is pretty much a chicken piccata, but without capers and with mushrooms. OK, so it's not really piccata but it's close enough.
I used to really dislike capers, which is why I started making this dish sans capers. I have to say that, now, I actually like capers but I never really think to buy them and this dish is pretty standard in our household so it's been left untouched. Tom and I like mushrooms. A lot. So we use a half pound for just the two of us. Normal people would probably use that for 4 chicken breasts. We are not normal and would probably be even happier using an entire pound.
To add a little oomph to my orzo, I stirred in some pesto (again, from the freezer. I cannot emphasize the greatness of freezing pesto in cubes enough), which was a great complement to the lemony chicken.
Chicken with Lemon Mushroom Sauce
Serves 2
2 Tbsp. flour
small sprig of thyme, chopped, or about 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
2 chicken breast halves
1/2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 lb. sliced cremini mushrooms
1 small shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup lemon juice (about one lemon)
1/4 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper
Season the flour with the thyme and salt and pepper. Lightly dredge the chicken in the flour mixture. Heat a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat and add the butter and oil. Add the chicken and cook through, about 4-5 minutes per side. Set aside and keep warm.
To the pan, add the mushrooms and shallot and saute until the shallot is transparent. Add the garlic and cook an additional 30-60 seconds.
Add the wine to the pan, and as it's reducing, start scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the lemon juice and chicken broth and reduce the mixture by about half.
Nutritional information (for a 4.5 oz chicken breast half): Calories: 270 / Fat: 8.2g / Saturated fat: 2.7g / Carbs: 11.8g / Fiber: 1g / Protein: 32.5
We were out of town for a few days (attending a great wedding Tom & I both stood up in) so you'll have to forget the lack of attention to my blog. I wish I could say it won't happen again but since we're going out of town again in the next couple of weeks (it's wedding season!) and the holidays are fast approaching, I can't guarantee that.
Chicago weather has been a bit schizophrenic. I thought for sure Fall had come. I made a batch of Italian wedding soup, switched the clothes in my closet from the skirts and short sleeved shirts to the sweaters and...more sweaters. (I have a bit of a sweater obsession.) And then...it was in the 80s. We had to turn on our A/C all over again. More grilled chicken salads came into the picture.
But I think (hope?) I can say with confidence now that Fall is here. Oh sure, next week we'll probably have to turn our heat on and the week after that we'll probably be trampling through snow. Gotta love the midwest. But for now, I am enjoying the weather and renewing my love affair with soups and stews.
So, the second soup of the season was this white bean, prosciutto, and kale soup. Over the last few years, I have become slightly obsessed with beans (although I am still not the craziest about garbanzo, sadly). I used to dislike beans (or at least, I thought I did) but I am always keeping beens/lentils around these days and adding them to pretty much everything. I love green leafy vegetables with white beans, so I decided to go with kale over spinach since I think it's sturdier and has a more bitter flavor that I prefer in soups. And the prosciutto was just something to bulk it up, that worked really well flavor-wise in this soup. Of course you can always add some smoked chicken sausage or start off the soup with bacon or pancetta. I personally loved the meaty chunks of prosciutto.
This is how I like to buy my prosciutto:
I ask the person at the deli/butcher to cut the entire 1/2 lb. in one thick, meaty slice. Thin slices are great for sandwiches and the like, but more times than not I use don't use prosciutto for sandwiches/wrapping things, so this works best for me. And by the way, even if you do prefer thin prosciutto, still get it from the deli. It's cheaper than the prepackaged kind.
White Bean, Prosciutto and Kale Soup
Serves 6-8
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 can (3 oz. total) tomato paste
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 quarts chicken broth
1.5 Tbsp. rosemary
2 cans cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
1 rind from a wedge of parmesan or romano cheese
1 Turkish bay leaf
1 bunch kale, chopped
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1/2 lb. prosciutto, diced
salt and pepper
Heat the oil over medium heat in a dutch oven or stockpot. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Stir in the garlic, cooking until fragrant. Add the tomato paste and red pepper flakes, cooking just a minute or two to cook off some of the paste.
Meanwhile, lightly smash about 1/2 a can of the white beans (this will thicken the soup a bit). Add the chicken broth, rosemary, beans, rind and bay leaf. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Add the kale and carrots and simmer an additional 8 minutes or so until the kale is tender.
Off the heat, add the prosciutto (or you can just add it to the bowl you are eating the soup out of).
Nutritional Information (for 6 servings): Calories: 341 / Fat: 10g / Carbs: 45g / Fiber: 9.8g / Protein: 21g
UPDATE: Vote for this recipe here!
A couple months ago, I received some camembert cheese from Ile de France (and you can see what I did with it here). It was delicious, so when I got asked to try another Ile de France cheese, I was on board. This time I went with goat cheese. I'd put goat cheese as one of my top 2 cheeses (the other being smoked gouda). It has a great taste, a nice tang, and a wonderful texture.
This Ile de France goat cheese is no different. It has a great tang that is not overpowering and it just melts in your mouth. The nice thing about logs of goat cheese is that when you cut pieces off to use in a recipe, you will inevitably have some crumbles that you can snack on as you cook dinner. :)
This cheese is great on its own and it's great in meals. Case in point: these savory crepes. I wanted to make something that had minimal ingredients to really showcase the cheese. I love goat cheese with mushrooms, so I went that route. I thought of making phyllo triangles or a tart but I ultimately ended on crepes because though I love crepes, I've never made them. I admit I was a little worried about tackling crepes. I am really terrible at flipping (anything) and my stove is very unlevel. But, these were so easy to make! I only had one crepe casualty and that's just because I was getting too cocky with how easily they were turning out for me, and decided to multitask.
Since I only used about half the goat cheese in this recipe, I was also able to use it in this farro bake, and one of our staple meals - chicken with goat cheese & sundried tomato sauce. All were delicious. Thanks, Ile de France!
Savory Mushroom and Goat Cheese Crepes with Balsamic Reduction
Makes about 12 filled crepes
Rosemary Crepes
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup AP flour
3 eggs
pinch of salt
a few grinds of pepper
1 cup milk (I used skim)
2 Tbsp. butter, melted and cooled
1 Tbsp. fresh chopped rosemary
additional oil or butter for greasing the pan (may or may not be necessary)
Put all the crepe ingredients together in a blender and pulse to combine. Pour the mixture into a bowl (this will make it easier to get the batter into the pan later), cover & refrigerate for one hour.
Heat an 8" nonstick pan or crepe pan over medium heat. I just used a little olive oil spray in my pan to make sure the crepes didn't stick but since there is melted butter in the batter you may not even need it.
Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to make your crepes. Fill the measuring cup about 3/4 of the way with batter and then add the batter to the pan. Tilt the pan around so the batter fully covers the bottom in a thin layer. Cook for about a minute and then once set, flip. Cook for another 40 seconds or so.
Mushroom and Goat Cheese Filling
1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 shallot, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 lbs. assorted mushrooms (cremini, oyster, shiitake, etc.)
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
1/3 cup dry white wine or sherry
5.5 oz. Isle de France goat cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Heat the butter and oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the shallot, sauteing until translucent. Stir in the mushrooms, garlic and thyme. Reduce heat to low. Cook over low heat until the mushrooms have released their moisture, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Increase the heat to medium/medium high and add the wine. Deglaze the bottom of the pan and let the wine cook off until nearly all is evaporated. Season to taste. Off the heat, stir in the goat cheese. Add the filling to the crepes, roll them up, and place them seam side down (alternatively you could just spoon the mushroom mixture into the crepes and crumble goat cheese on top instead of stirring it in).
Balsamic Reduction
1 cup good quality aged balsamic vinegar
1 sprig rosemary
Bring the balsamic vinegar and rosemary to a slight boil over medium heat. Continue to boil lightly until the mixture has thickened, reduced, and become syrupy. Drizzle over filled crepes.
Burgers are one of those things I really love, but rarely make. I guess I just never think of them as an option when I'm making a list of dinners for the week. But the other day, I was wandering aimlessly around Whole Foods when I saw Ezekiel buns in the freezer. Now, I have loved Ezekiel bread for the longest time. Recently, I came across Ezekiel wraps, and have been hooked on those for lunches. And now I have found Ezekiel buns. Oh, Food for Life, I will have to put you right up there with Kashi on my list of irrestistible product manufacturers.
It's no secret that I love Mexican and Tex-Mex flavors, so I went that route with these burgers. I spiced the burgers pretty simply and subtly, stuffed them with cheese, and made a chipotle ketchup of sorts. Here's a suggestion - cut your cheese into smaller chunks so it actually melts while the burger cooks. Not that I am complaining about running into a big chunk of cheese mid-dinner, but a little melty goodness would be better.
I confess I was a little lazy with the chipotle ketchup. Normally I would start any stovetop condiment/sauce/etc. with onions and or garlic but I really didn't feel like doing much chopping. I mean, I was already trying to make something relatively easy by throwing ingredients into one bowl. But, it still tasted great. So by all means if you are more motivated than me, add the onions and garlic. But I don't think they're necessary.
Tex-Mex Burgers with Chipotle Ketchup
Makes 4 burgers
1 lb. ground beef or sirloin
1/2 cup sliced scallions
2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
2 tsp. worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. oregano
3/4 tsp. aleppo (or other) chili powder
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped parsley
a few dashes of cayenne pepper
1 tsp. salt
ground pepper to taste
2 oz. monterey jack or cheddar or whatever kind of cheese you want
Chipotle Ketchup
1-2 chipotles in adobo (depending how spicy you want it)
1 Tbsp. cider vinegar
1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
1 tsp. brown sugar
salt and pepper
Make the ketchup, by combining all the ingredients into a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for a few minutes to marry the flavors, and taste for seasoning. Set aside to cool slightly as you make the burgers.
Mix all the ingredients for the burger (except the cheese) into a bowl. Divide the mixture into 4 parts and stick a piece of cheese in the center of each part, pressing around it to seal it in.
Grill or broil the burgers until done. Garnish with anything you'd like.
I have been a pretty horrible blogger lately, so the tardiness of this post should come as no surprise. I should have started posting the submissions as I received them, of course, but I am a huge procrastinator. Plus, I have been a little busy transferring my site (I know, I feel like I talk about this *all* the time but I finally have my posts all moved so look for a move soon!). Sorry I haevn't been around and commented as much as I normally do, but I am hoping to get back to business here soon!
At any rate, this edition of Eat to the Beat is, like the ones before it, full of delicious eats and great beats. I'm always happy to see these posts as they come in. Everyone is so creative. So, I'll quit the babbling already and get to the round up. As a reminder, if you would like to participate in the next Eat to the Beat, just check out what you need to do. The deadline is the end of the year, so you have plenty of time.
I really love the creativity that comes out during this event, and Kelsey at Apple a Day kicks off EttB with a great song/dish connection. Kelsey makes this seriously gorgeous lemon crostada with fresh figs and goat cheese. I think those are 3 of my favorite ingredients on the planet. But, it's been seven years since Kelsey could find herself some fresh figs so when she finally found them, she had a euphopric moment--choosing the "Hallelujah" Chorus from Handel's Messiah as her Eat to the Beat music.
Perpetually creative participator Erika over at Bean's Bistro shares a cherry coca-cola jello salad for Eat to the Beat. Her cooking-with-coke was inspired by a song by Shiny Toy Guns song called "Jackie will Save Me" that goes "I think you're slipping/American coca cola/Sugar sweetness." So Erika slipped some coke into this cherry jello. For the record, I adore cherry and coke together. Whenever I buy a slurpee, it's half cherry, half coke. Just so you know.
My friend Cara, who runs Cara's Cravings, made some magic rice for this event. The magic? That's not actually rice you see--it's cauliflower! Cara used a food processor to make rice-sized pieces of cauliflower and then steamed it. Not surprisingly, Pilot's "Magic" was running through her head as she looked at the faux rice. Oh, oh, oh it's magic, you know! Never believe it's not so...
Mmm, I love cornbread and this cornbread salad made by Kayla at Central Cooking is such a fun, new way to use cornbread (besides just inhale it, which is what I typically do). Kayla used the song "Cornbread" by Dave Matthews Band as her backing track for this great side dish and also talk about how she and her husband connected through music - I alway love reading stories like that :)
Just the title of this cake is enough to make me drool. Dell, who runs Cooking and the City, brings to EttB a brown sugar chocolate cinnamon cake. You want a piece, don't you? I sure do! This cake was inspired by none other than the classic Rolling Stones song "Brown Sugar" which is a favorite of mine. This cake started as a mistake because the top of it was cracked and Dell smartly covered it in chocolate to hide its imperfections. You can never go wrong covering anything in chocolate. That's a fact.
SilverMoon at Dragon Musings cooks with her kids on Cookie Day and makes these melt in your mouth (literally) vanilla meltaways. These cookies are based on Melting Moments (which I don't think I have ever tried!) and Shonen Knife's song "Cookie Day" (which I enjoy).
Stina at Eat Something is cracking me up with her entry of a "heffa-ed up" buttermilk pie. When you heffa something up, you create something nice and fatty (and delicious, of course). Stina's heffalicious version of this pie ties into her song choice of "Girls Love Pie" by Nasty.
Psychgrad, one half of the food duo behind Equal Opportunity Kitchen is feeling a lot like I have been with blogging lately--by the time I finally make a post, the food is already gone and becomes a little more difficult to recall. That's why Psychgrad chose the song "Yesterday" by Boyz II Men as she was remembering this ridiculously good looking peanut butter cup cake. I'm pretty sure I would remember that cake any day!
New EttB participant Joan, who runs FOODalogue uses the song always playing at everyone's local Italian eatery (or, at least mine!) "Mambo Italiano" as inspiration for this Spanish take on a classic Italian dish - pizza! This Spanish Tapas Rolled Pizza. The fact that this pizza has one of my favorite ingredients in it--chorizo--definitely has me singing!
Maria, a first generation Greek like myself who heads Kali Orexi, makes a really great spin on the classic avgolemono (egg lemon) soup by making asparagus and dill avgolemon soup. I love avgolemono, and I love asparagus, so this soup will definitely be made in my house sometime soon. Maria uses the song "Lemon" by U2 as inspiration for this lemony soup (and causes me to to be nostalgic and listen to U2 for a week straight). :)
Another fellow Greek (represent!) Peter at Kalofagas was probably doing some headbanging when you made this entry to tie AC/DC's "Back in Black" to his dish of Charred and Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Black Trumpet Emulsion. That's right, I said black trumpet mushrooms. And pork tenderloin. I said emulsion, too, in case you are keeping track. Ok but anyway, this is one of those recipes that I instantly starred in my reader to try. It just looks way to good not to.
Greek number 3 (what can I say? we run in circles, and apparently alphabetically), Ivy at Kopiaste, has managed to find a hilarious (and sort of trippy--go to her site to see the video) song called "The Biscuit Song." She decided to make biscuit cookies with some lovely homemade fig jam (my favorite). These cookies are so cute! The hole where the fig jam shows is fashioned from an ouzo bottle top. Gotta love that :)
When tomatoes are fresh and ripe in their peak season, there are few things better than them in my opinion. And, as you've also heard me say on this blog before, I'm a big fan of pesto--of many varieties, and on pretty much anything. So you know when Val of More Than Burnt Toast sent me her entry - an heirloom tomato salad with pesto vinaigrette - I was drooling up a storm. Those lovely tomatoes tie in perfectly with Val's song of choice, "Homegrown Tomatoes," by John Denver.
Lindsey, who runs Noodle Nights and Muffin Mornings (and has very similar tastebuds to me, I have noticed over the last few months!) takes one of my favorite TV shows as a kid, The Monkees, and makes some monkee cake, loaded with bananas (of course) and raisins. I'm sure you remember the band The Monkees. Personally, I was always a Micky fan. You?
My friend Kate over at Paved with Good Intentions definitely went old school with this challenge, picking one of my favorite bands from middle school. Yeesh, I can't believe it's been that long. At any rate, I'm sure you all know the Gin Blossoms. Man, 90s rock and pop was SO good. And Kate has made a tribute to the band (and their love of drinking)with her Gin Blossom drink (made with rose flower water).
Newcomer Leslie from Pixiepine Palace shows us several ways she connects music and food in her kitchen. She says "music sets a mood and can even make food more delicious." Leslie talks about how she likes listening to internet radio for international dishes, to get a more authentic feel and making her own music compilations to listen to as she cooks.
Mollie at Reading, 'Riting, and Recipes takes a "Slow and Low" approach a la the Beastie Boys to grill some chicken leg quarters (my favorite!). Chicken seasoned with a dry rub and some great bbq sauce, cooked for a while over low heat are what make these incredibly moist and delicious.
Nuria, who always gives us lovely Spanish Recipes, cracks me up this time with her song reference. She chose Paul Anka's "Put Your Head on my Shoulder" because of the way this ocotopus head is resting on potatoes. Hehe. I don't even like octopus but this octopus in stew looks so good!
Anyone around my age remembers Adam Sandler's SNL skits and CDs where he would sing hilarious songs. Remember "Lunch Lady?" If you do, there's no doubt the first part that comes to your mind is the "sloppy joe, slop, sloppy joe, hey!" part. At least for me! Steph over at Steph's Kitchen uses that song as inspiration to make some homemade sloppy joes that look more extra fabulous than they do "extra sloppy."
Bridget runs The Way the Cookie Crumbles and her husband, like mine, likes writing songs. So, the song Bridget chose for this event was one written by her own husband in grad school called "Bustle." One of the lines from that song is "dripping red" which instantly made Bridget think of something bloody, and what is bloodier than red wine sauce dripping down dead animal? This pan seared steak with red wine sauce has me drooling up a storm.
Ben at What's Cooking? put boring ol' scrambled eggs aside, turned up his mariachi music, and created these gorgeous huevos a la mexicana for Mexican Independence Day. Just looking at those eggs with the beans and tortillas makes me want to whip up some huevos of my own right this minute.
This time around, I went with the Tori Amos song "Raspberry Swirl" and made some light vanilla raspberry swirl bread (after a few complications with other entries, of course). Oh sure, this is not kind of raspberry swirl Tori was talking about, but hey, it will still make you feel good. ;)
