Woman Cannot Live on Salad Alone

A special thanks to my readers for helping me reach 1,000 page views!  For a girl with an excess of imagination my recent kitchen endeavors sure have been low on creativity.  Day after day, bowl after bowl...of the green stuff?  Who are you?  I've been forced to ask myself.  Surely not the culinista I once knew.  Perhaps it's the snowy, slushy weather but I've decided that this week I am cooking.  Every day!

Today I reinvented one of my favorite appetizers, honey lime shrimp, as a fajita dish.  Enjoy.

Tequila Lime Fajitas

1 cup shrimp (peeled and deveined)

1 lime

1 tbsp tequila

1 tsp honey

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

white onion

1/4 a red bell pepper

a dash of salt

black pepper

3 tbsps extra virgin olive oil

Simmer vegetables and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until vegetables are tender.  Add the fresh squeezed juice of one lime, tequila and honey.  Add shrimp and cook until opaque.  Season with salt, pepper and smoked paprika.  Warm tortillas in a fry pan and serve filled with shrimp mixture, jack cheese, guacamole and pico de gallo.

Housewarming

It's not at all unusual to find me in a catatonic state immediately prior to hosting a party.  Panic and poor planning often converge and family and friends have to intervene to rally my inner hostess.  One reason I love Ina Garten's Parties cookbook is that it opens with a disaster.  I can relate.  Today however, I am fortunately writing to recount a success.

I like to create very ambitious party menus.  If I prepare only 6 or 7 of the 10 items I'd intended to make you still have quite a spread.  For my recent housewarming I served champagne and pomegranate juice cocktails, whole wheat pasta with spinach, goat cheese and chicken sausage, teriyaki meatballs,  chili lime shrimp in wonton cups, crab stuffed mushrooms and thai pumpkin soup.  Every item on the eclectic menu was a hit!

To "brand" your event without a theme choose a fresh  color palette and thematic elements.  I created this simple "warm heart, warm hearth" logo for my invitations.  Guests were encouraged to bring a spice and a recipe.  Generous friends provided the ingredients for many culinary experiments to come.

Smitten

Deb Perelman is the ultimate culinista.  Perelman's blog Smitten Kitchen has me salivating each time i visit.  Her food is both accessible and aspirational, pairing bits of homey wisdom with artful touches.

The highlight of my week was the arrival of Perelman's The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook.  The inimitable extremely relatable voice she honed through years of blogging is captured so well in Deb's new book.

When I finish reveling in Deb's beautiful photos  I can't wait to get cooking!

Eating Single (aka Operation Don't Get Fat)

It's funny to have a friend open your fridge and burst into laughter,  dismissing its limited contents as "such a bachelorette fridge."  Bachelorette fridge?  Greek yogurt?  Mushrooms? Red Pepper?  Lots of greens? Organic orange carrot juice?  Don't scoff! This is good stuff.

I finally made a condiment run for my new place.  It's so nice to have mayo, maple syrup and horseradish mustard! I realize that my staples may not be what the world at large considers essential.  Sure I had a huge bowl of kale and half a turkey sandwich for dinner.  It is my determination to cook when the mood strikes me and not to eat crap.  So far we're good on both counts :-)

The first meal I prepared in my new digs was Pinterest inspired.  Drooling over mascarpone grits I decided to whip up a southern classic, shrimp and grits with maple bacon.

I have been consuming the same salad several times a week.  A concoction of spinach, goat cheese, crushed pecans, dried cranberries and red onion.  

An overnight guest in town from Boston motivated me to saute some green beans in olive oil and garlic with baby bella mushrooms sliced thin and red pepper.  Teriyaki salmon and brown rice made for a nice balanced dinner, just elegant enough for company.

Sweet & Salty Crave

What's sweet and salty and good all over?  These cookies! Warning:  There's something about the combination of pretzels, chocolate and peanut butter that is simply irresistible. I don't think I've ever eaten six cookies in one sitting.   I pulled these out of the oven and it was absolute carnage! Like big blue gone mad, "COOOKIE!"

I've been following the Twinkie crisis although I've never consumed one of the Hostess cakes.  I can't even recall ever eating Wonderbread (I probably have at some point).  Mom was pretty keen on minimally processed food (thank you mom!).  If union negotiations fail to rescue the brand I am going to have to try the legendary treat before it becomes extinct.


Sweet & Salty Cookies

1 stick of butter
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
6 oz chocolate chips
6 oz peanut butter chips
1/2 cup crushed pretzels (salted)

Combine butter and sugar.  Add egg to creamed mixture.  Fold in dry ingredients, stirring until mixture is an even consistency.  Add pretzels and chips.  Enjoy!

xo
soignée

Danielle's Disaster Dining

There's something about alliterative titles. A friend of mine suggested the one above for a collection of my recent experiments.

Like many in the tri-state area my family was left without power in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. We consider ourselves fortunate. Those who lost loved ones and livelihoods are in our thoughts and prayers.

A significant percentage of the food I consumed this week was cooked over an open flame. My greatest trivial triumph was successfully baking a peach cobbler over a sterno.

There's no knowing what the coming nor'easter will bring and the road to recovery for the region will be a long one.  Hoping you're all safe and well.  Keep smiling.

xo
soignée

Frankenstorm Food

Bracing for the “Frankenstrom” poised to hit the Northeast.  Now is a time for preparedness and caution.  On a lighter note storm prep is also a time for cooking.  I think I’m going to whip up some cookie dough cupcakes tonight!  I just realized they’re not included in the Daniluxe cookbook.  Major oversight...must add! 

 

Anticipating power outages I prepared some sterno reheatable and good at room temperature goodies for the days ahead.  Sauteed  some baby bok choy with red pepper and shitake mushrooms  in a teryaki sauce.  I also pan fried and then steamed a few batches of vegetable and chicken dumplings and made some pan fried tofu with scallions and ginger.

School's closed tommorow. I'm planning to curl up with a few good dvds.  The offbeat  hilarity of Wes Anderson’s “The Fantastic Mr. Fox”  and the moody Richard Burton noir "My Cousing Rachel" are on my viewing list.  How are you guys planning to weather the storm?