Give Peas a Chance

Again, sucker for wordplay.

Tonight we venture once again into the world of "Everyday Contorni" with our first recipe in the "Quick and Simple" section which happens to be Peas and Prosciutto.

I don't hate peas, but they're certainly not my first choice in vegetables. I also don't hate prosciutto, it's just something I like to eat in small doses (it's probably healthier to keep it that way as well). Needless to say, the excitement level for this one was not on the higher end of the spectrum.

I started by sauteing some garlic and a shallot for about a minute. This was my first time working with shallots and they're a really interesting food. They're pretty much mini onions with a more mild taste. I really liked them, and I think I may need to try them roasted or caramelized in the future. I then added some defrosted frozen peas and sauteed those for about five minutes.

The recipe says to stir in the prosciutto along with some parsley, salt, and pepper once the rest of the dish has been cooked and removed from the heat, but I prefer my prosciutto a bit crispier. It take away the ham-like quality of it. I do despise ham. I added the prosciutto in for the last two minutes of so of cooking.

As suggested, I removed all of this from the heat after it was thoroughly cooked, and stirred in the seasoning. And that was it! The dish truly was quick and simple. Kudos, Giada, for sticking to your word (not that I ever doubted you).

As for the dish itself, the peas were a little overcooked and kind of dry on the inside. Luckily the seasoning and the prosciutto made up for it. I was glad I had crisped up the prosciutto because it became the star of the dish and I feel it wasn't quite as salty as it normally would be.

This would generally be served as a side dish, but I find it difficult to cook 1/6 of the recipe just for myself to taste, so I just made a meal out of it. It would be a nice compliment to a meal though. Maybe if I could work on the cooking of my peas. But then again, I don't usually opt for them, so why should I?

That's all I have for today. I will be cooking again this Wednesday when I try out another dessert. Another CHOCOLATE dessert at that :) See you then!

Good Ole Steak 'n' Potatoes

Yes, that is what this dish basically is...but Italian! I will admit, I'm not really a steak-and-potatoes kind of girl. I would rather have a nice, fresh salad, or perhaps a hearty pasta dish with some lean meat than that traditional combination. However, after tonight, I could be convinced otherwise.

I tackled TWO recipes tonight with Steak Florentine and Roasted Baby Potatoes with Herbs and Garlic. Steak and potatoes. I started with the potatoes. Being the slightly more experienced chef that I am now, I read through both recipes yesterday so I knew how to manage my time today (...or maybe I was just really excited to cook and wanted to read up on it). I started the potatoes at about quarter to four. First, I minced a small clove of garlic and put it in a bowl with some Italian seasoning and parsley. I whisked this all together with some olive oil (yes, I used ACTUAL olive oil) then tossed some fingerling potatoes in it with salt and pepper. I then baked them in the toaster oven for about an hour at 400 degrees.

Next, on to the steak. The recipe called for T-bone steaks, but before coming back to school my mom let me have an extra strip steak that she happened to have to take back to school. Just as good, right? I trimmed the steak as best I could, but I don't really know much about trimming steaks, so I probably did it wrong.

Giada's recipe doesn't really explain the "Florentine" aspect of this dish's name, so I turned to one of my new obsessions; The New Food Lover's Companion. It's a huge dictionary of pretty much any food or food term you could think of. This is what it said about "Florentine:"

"French for 'in the style of Florence (Italy),' and referring to dishes (usually of eggs or fish) that are presented on a bed of spinach and topped with Mornay Sauce. A 'Florentine' dish is sometimes sprinkled with cheese and browned lightly in the oven. The Italian term is alla Florentina."

This dish does not fit that description at all. First of all, this is steak, not eggs or fish. There is no spinach involved or Mornay Sauce (which is a bechamel with cheese and other creamy things). And the oven is not used to cook the steak at all.

Instead, Giada's recipe grills the steak (I used the George Foreman as usual which is quite convenient, but nothing really replaces that "cooked-on-an-actual-grill-smokey taste"). First though, I halved a clove of garlic and rubbed it on both sides of the steak, then seasoned each side with salt and pepper. I then placed the steak on the grill.

Now, the recipe calls for T-bone steak that are 1 1/4-1 1/2 inches thick. My strip steak fit that description, so I knew I could follow the cook times given in the recipes. According to Giada, you should cook the steak for five minutes per side if you want it rare, and seven minutes per side for medium-rare. I like my steak dead. Completely well-done. There was no time listed for that degree of "done-ness," so I went with about 10 minutes per side. Also unfortunate is the fact that George Foreman grills are not uniformly hot throughout the surface. One tip of the steak refused to cook at all.

Though the recipe says to flip the steak only once, I ended up flipping it about three to four times. The tips still weren't brown. I then decided to close the grill on the steak. This did speed up the cooking process a bit, but needless to say, my steak was not done cooking till about 15 minutes after I took the potatoes out of the oven and tossed them in the remaining herbs and oil.

After I gave up on getting the tips of the steak well-done, I removed it from the grill and put it on my plate. I then had to drizzle it with some fresh lemon juice and olive oil. I happened to have some fresh lemons on hand and, yes, got to use my new juicer!!!! Thank you Caitlin!

I let the steak rest five minutes before eating it so that the juices wouldn't spill out once I cut into it. As you can see in the picture, the only knives that I have (other than my big, scary ones that I use to chop stuff) are butter knives. Butter knives are not ideal for cutting steak. It was a battle to say the least.

The potatoes were DELICIOUS and soft and may have been better if they were warmer, but I didn't anticipate the steak taking so long (if this were a challenge on Cook or Be Cooked, I would have lost some points for not serving them hot). Also, the fingerling potatoes I bought were a mix of white, red and purple ones. There's something really fun about eating purple food :) The steak was also really good! Like I said, I'm not a huge steak fan, but the lemon was something I had never had on a steak before. My plate ended up looking like it always does after eating steak and that's with all the fat pushed to one side (I kind of freak out when I bite into a piece of meat and hit some grizzle, so I just don't take any chances).

And there you have it, TWO recipes, one night. Aren't you proud? I plan to finish this cycle of the book tomorrow night with a dessert recipe. Gotta love the beginning of the semester when you have a deceivingly large amount of free time!

Cause We Need a Little Salsa, Right This Very Minute...

Yes, it is the Christmas season, and it's a night to try another one of Giada's "Everyday Sauces!" Tonight, I made Salsa All'amatriciana. I wish I knew how to pronounce that, but I won't be taking Italian next semester, therefore we may never know (actually I probably will find out eventually). This is a tomato-based sauce that was different than what I'm used to. It was a little like marinara, but also chunky like a meat sauce. Allow me to explain:

First, I sprayed a pan with some EVOO spray and heated it over medium heat. I then added some diced pancetta. This was my first time working with and eating pancetta. I've always been told that it's the Italian version of bacon, but you know me, I didn't believe anyone. I saw Rachael Ray and Giada herself use it on Food Network and was told I would like it, but I would respond with "no. It's ham. I hate ham." True, I do despise ham. It's right up there with tuna, it sets off my gag reflex. But, as with most other foods that I have strong aversions to, everyone was right about pancetta. It is Italian bacon. Whenever my idols cooked with it on TV, they talked about how they wish you could smell it as it cooked. I now understand why. The stuff is fantastic.

I cooked the pancetta for about eight minutes (in this time, it began to start foaming as if it were rabid pancetta). I then added some finely chopped onion and cooked that until it was tender. That took about five minutes. After that, I threw in some minced garlic and crushed red pepper. Giada says to cook this until it becomes fragrant or for about 30 seconds. I actually counted it out because it was difficult to smell it over the pancetta. But I wasn't one to complain. Our kitchen smelled great!

Next I added some tomato puree as well as some salt and pepper. You then lower the heat and let the sauce thicken for about 15 minutes. During this time, I boiled some water, made some perfectly al dente spaghetti, and caught up with the Kardashians (this is not something I'm proud of, but I'm just being honest).

After draining the pasta, I stirred some Parmesan cheese into the sauce. I then put it on top of the pasta and dug in! Like I said before, it was like a marinara sauce in how tomato-y it was and with the combination of onions and garlic. But the pancetta gave it a few chunks like a meat sauce. It was a nice balance between the two. Definitely something I would make again (I made two servings of the sauce so I could eat the leftovers tomorrow night. I'm sure they will be even better tomorrow!).

I'm sure by now you're wondering what's with the picture of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree at the top of the post. For starters, it's there because I don't know how to post pictures in the middle of my posts where they are most relevant. Second, it's there because I saw it in person this weekend in NYC!! I had an amazing time in the city with my best friend Katie and, as always, was sure to eat some exceptional food. I had some Honky Tonk pancakes at the Brownstone Diner (these were pancakes with peanut butter chips in them and were topped with slices of bananas), had my first slice of actual NYC pizza (and what are the odds that Ray's Pizza had my favorite: mushrooms and black olives), and had some Cuban food as well. On top of all that, I got a lot of Christmas shopping done and was able to experience the city without the hassle of being on a school trip :)

Anyhow, I will be cooking again on Thursday night and my dish will be part of a larger meal to be shared with my roommates. One of them just graduated this past weekend and will be leaving us after this semester (that's a scary thought considering I only have two semesters left after this one). Check back then for more food fun!

You Say Tomato...

...and so do I. I'll start this entry off by saying I almost didn't cook tonight. On our way home from our away game last night we stopped at Arby's and I went for that side of fries with my otherwise somewhat healthy meal (let me mention that it has been a LONG time since I have eaten fast food fries), and I was still feeling those fries today. I don't think I will ever have a random fast food craving again because of the feeling those fries gave me. It probably doesn't help that I haven't eaten all that well the past two days. Time to get back on the wagon!

Long story short, I did in fact cook tonight just for all my foodie followers (the things I do for you all) and I'm glad I did. Tonight was another stuffed vegetable from the "Everyday Contorni" chapter, Stuffed Tomatoes! I've had stuffed mushrooms, stuffed banana peppers (mmmmm), but never a stuffed tomato. But honestly, I don't think you could possibly go wrong with a tomato stuffed with something. Unless that something was tuna.

First things first, I had to cook some couscous. The recipe says to use arborio rice, however, being the poor college student that I am and the difference between couscous and rice being small, I didn't feel bad about the substitution. I cooked the couscous in some salted water which didn't take long, then set it aside.

Next, I had to cut the top off the tomatoes and hollow them out. Easy, right? No, not really. I cut off the tops then dug in with my spoon and found it to be almost as difficult as trying to hollow out a pumpkin. The difference is that a pumpkin is much more sturdy and thick and you can cut a bigger hole in the top. A tomato is smaller and it's easy to go right through its walls. The first one I hollowed out ended up having a small hole in the bottom, and then I got the hang of it on the second one. Too bad I only made two tomatoes.

As the toaster oven heated, I tossed the pulp from the tomatoes with my couscous along with some garlic, basil, parsley, salt and pepper. I also stirred in a bit of Parmesan cheese. After this was all mixed to my liking, I filled each tomato with the mixture, heaping it a bit on top (Giada's rules). I then placed the tops of the tomatoes on top of this, and baked them for about 20 minutes.

I had a good amount of couscous left over so I decided to eat it as my tomatoes cooked. Turns out this was just as good on its own (aside from biting into some raw garlic. Luckily I don't plan on socializing outside of my apartment tonight. And maybe this will ward off any Edward Cullen wannabes. Did I mention there's a creepy cardboard cutout of him in a window on the top floor? I digress). I decided I needed to create a meal out of this mixture at another time when I was feeling more creative.

The picture above puts my tomatoes side-by-side with the picture in Everyday Italian. I don't think Giada covered her tomatoes with the tops when she cooked them because hers are nice and browned on top. She also probably cooked hers in an actual oven, not a toaster oven. But she also has a state-of-the-art fully loaded kitchen in Malibu, and I do not.

Despite all of that, the tomatoes were delicious, and messy. I wasn't sure how to dig into them, so I opted for a fork rather than using my hands like the barbarian I tend to be in the privacy of my own room. The tomatoes were soo juicy and of course, the basil enhanced their flavor. Giada recommends serving these to guests I'm assuming in some sort of party setting, but I think they may be a little messy for such an occasion. I recommend them as a side dish to a meat entree, personally.

Sunday will be my next day to cook when I try out another dessert and complete my third cycle through the book! Holy cow times flies!! Check back then for more updates :)

P.S. Congratulations to the cross-marketing campaign between Dove and Wal-Mart. Your "Real Beauty" campaign has been stuck in my head for the past week (you know, the one to the tune of "Do Your Ears Hang Low?"). Luckily, I refuse to fall for your advertising antics and will NOT be going to Wal-Mart to stock up on Dove beauty supplies. Take that Man!

Checca yoself...

...before you make another terrible pun. I may have another new love, and it's name is Checca Sauce. Not only is this "no-cook" sauce incredibly easy and quick to make, it's also incredibly delicious. Giada says that there is no point to making Checca sauce if tomatoes are not at the peak of their ripeness, but I did it anyway and it was still great.

The amount of time it took to make this sauce is basically the amount of time it took to make the pasta. As I brought the pasta water to a boil, I started the sauce by putting some cherry tomatoes, scallions, garlic, Parmesan cheese, basil, and oil into my chopper. I have to say, the best thing about my chopper is that I don't actually have to chop anything before adding it in there. It saves my hands from smelling like garlic for days on end. Anyhow, you pulse all of this together until the tomatoes are coarsely chopped, NOT pureed. No problem there. I pulsed it until it looked about the consistency of tabbouleh. If you don't know what that consistency is, then you probably haven't had tabbouleh and are therefore missing out on another delicious food.

Next, I transferred the sauce to a bowl and mixed in some salt, pepper, and mozzarella cheese. The recipe said to use some fresh mozzarella cut into cubes, but the shredded part-skim mozzarella I used seemed to work just fine.

Once the pasta was cooked to al dente, I tossed the sauce with it and I was ready to go! This whole "no-cook" sauce thing is great. Less mess, less time, but without cutting back on any flavor. Tomatoes and basil are always a winning combination and were the stars of the sauce. It was very fresh tasting. One thing I've noticed from all these recipes I've made is the spicy element of garlic. Especially raw garlic. I think the spice of the garlic in this sauce enhanced the flavors and kept them from being bland (since it's not really peak tomato season anymore).

As i was eating this, I realized this sauce would also be great as bruschetta. Some crispy Italian bread would've been perfect for soaking up the tomato juice that was left over once my pasta was gone but alas, I didn't have any. Anyway if you're looking for a very quick meal solution, I highly recommend this recipe!!

The next cooking day will be Friday when I take on another pasta dish: Orecchiette with Toasted Bread Crumbs!!

Side Note: I absolutely love that the sun is shining right now, but it's picking the most terrible spot in the sky to be at the moment. It's just at the top of my window shining directly on me and into my eyes (which are extremely light-sensitive). It's also in just the right place where I can't really avoid it unless I hover over my computer which is far from comfortable. Oh well, I'll take it shining in my eyes in the middle of the day over a dark cloudy or snowy October!

P.S. Happy Birthday Doug!

Aglio, Olio, e Pepperoncino

That would be the name of this dish in Italian! Luckily, Giada included that in her little side note on the recipe. I didn't figure it out for myself. I AM very excited to take Italian next semester though. Then when I talk about these recipes I can really sound like Giada on her show :) Pictured above is my dinner. Whenever I watch the Food Network, the chefs always say things like "Look at how pretty this dish is" or "Look at those colors" and now, I think I can relate. Seriously, how good looking is that meal?

For those not fluent in Italian (myself included), the dish is called Spaghetti with Garlic, Olive Oil, and Red Pepper Flakes. I have my own personal anecdote that goes with this dish. This past summer, my father and I went out to dinner at a local Italian restaurant. The food was great and the portions were huge as usual. My dad decided to order pasta with aglio and olio. It's usually a pretty safe bet for a satisfying meal. When they brought the food out, the first thing I noticed about my dad's plate were the mass amounts of chopped garlic covering his pasta. I kid you not, there were MOUNDS of chopped garlic. One can expect a good amount of garlic in such a dish, but this was ridiculous. My dad took only a few bites since the garlic was so overpowering and that was enough for my mother to pick up on the scent when she got home that night.

That being said, I was a little hesitant about making Giada's version. Luckily, I'm on break right now for school so if garlic was seeping out of my pores, I wouldn't be forced to interact with anyone or sit closely in a packed lecture hall.

I started by making the spaghetti up in the kitchen and bringing it back to my room. It cooked fine without any problems. I've finally gotten the whole cooking-basic-pasta thing down. Next I fired up the old reliable electric frying pan. The first thing you do is heat the olive oil. The recipe makes four servings with 1/2 cup of olive oil, so for my one serving, I used two tablespoons (I would've tried to cut back on the oil in this one, but it's really the essence of the dish). You then add the garlic (peeled, but NOT chopped) to the oil. The original recipe calls for five cloves, but for a single serving I opted for just one.

You saute the garlic for about a minute until it's golden brown. If you over cook it, it will be bitter and I was sure not to do so. Once it has been sauteed enough, you remove the garlic from the oil, then add the red pepper flakes. I didn't really measure these out because 1) I like spice and 2) I don't really think you can add too much! You saute the red pepper flakes for about a minute as well. Next, you add some salt and some reserved pasta water. The original recipe says to add two tablespoons, but since I was on top of my game today, I did the math and figured out that I only needed to add one teaspoon. I have also seen this done a number of times on Food Network when they make pasta dishes, and I never really understood why. I now know that adding some of this water adds a bit of starch to a sauce and gives it more substance. This step is actually Giada's "secret" to this dish.

And now, a lesson in following directions. It says to CAREFULLY stir the reserved pasta water into the oil mixture. I figured it wouldn't be a big deal if I just poured it all in at once, so I did. I swear someone set off firecrackers in our room when I did this. The mixture crackled like crazy and started spitting and hit my arm as I stirred it all around. Had I CAREFULLY added it, I probably wouldn't have jumped out of my boots once I had done so, or singed my arm. You live and you learn.

After the water has been added, you toss the drained pasta in the sauce for a minute to coat all of it (for this reason, you should NOT rinse the pasta with water. I usually don't anyway, but if you do, the natural starches will be washed away and the sauce won't stick to the pasta). Once you transfer this all to a plate, you add chopped parsley, basil, and mint as a finishing touch. This is an instance in which nothing but fresh herbs will do.

As I mentioned before, I was a little hesitant to try this dish because of my past restaurant experience. However, because the full, peeled clove of garlic is sauteed in the oil in this version, it adds the perfect amount of garlic flavor. It acts more like a backdrop to the dish rather than overpowering the entire thing. I had never had fresh mint in a savory dish before and it worked really well with the crushed red pepper. It adds a nice "clean" taste to it and balances out the spice a bit. There was just the right amount of oil as well.

So Giada's recipe has forever changed my view of this traditional meal. And I think it may restore my father's faith in it as well. If my parents are lucky, maybe I'll make this for them when I'm home on break :) I will be cooking AGAIN tomorrow night since, as I said, I'm on break! Come back and check out how my Scampi on Couscous pans out!

A quick update: Last night I made my famous Oreo Truffles (with peanut butter) for Katie's birthday celebration tomorrow. I would take a picture, but I have been in and out of the kitchen so many times tonight and I really just don't feel like it. They came out fantastic (I tasted one) and are MUCH easier to make this year with the help of kitchen utensils (I found that an ice cream scoop works really well to crush up Oreos--I told you I needed one Mom). It's also much easier to chill them when a full-sized refrigerator is available rather than trying to disperse them among four different mini fridges. Ah, college life.

I made marinara sauce tonight in preparation for tomorrow's Tomato Sauce with Olives. Basically, it's the marinara sauce with olives and crushed red pepper. You really can't go wrong. I only had to make a half batch of the sauce this time and seeing as I had made it before, it was quite easy and I didn't mess up at all! I did, however, manage to slice my finger open. That's what I get for being too trusting with my knives (and for trying to get chopped garlic off the sharp end of a knife). I suppose this is another life lesson I can take with me: when you just relax and do what you know how to do, everything will work out fine.

There will be a field hockey recruit staying the night on Friday so I had to push my cooking up one night to Thursday. On Friday, I will be hosting a team dinner and will be making pizzas! They are not at all from scratch (aside from a white pizza that I'm planning on attempting...), but it's better (and cheaper!) than ordering in. I will try to take pictures of those without the team noticing and looking like a complete fool. Stay tuned!

Mushrooms Are Pretty Fun Guys...

...and did I mention I love puns? All right, pictured above are the ever delicious Stuffed Mushrooms from the "Everyday Contorni" chapter of Everyday Italian. As these cooked, I read some of Giada's informative passages in the book and learned that contorni are vegetable side dishes. I also learned that stuffed vegetables came about when Italian housewives needed something to do with their leftovers. Cool, right? Traditional stuffed mushrooms from Genoa are typically stuffed with anchovies, marjoram (I have no idea what that is) and bread crumbs. Giada's recipe is much simpler than that.

First things first, Giada's recipe makes 28 stuffed mushrooms. As much as I would love to eat that many mushrooms, I don't think that would be wise...or possible. Therefore, I had to reduce the measures in this recipe to one-fourth their size. Also, I have now learned how to be resourceful in making my way to the kitchen here. I put all my supplies in one of my reusable grocery bags and walked up and down the stairs with ease. A very simple solution to my Rachael Ray problem.

When I got into the kitchen, I preheated the oven to 400 degrees and began to prepare my stuffing. I started by chopping two cloves of garlic. The recipe calls for two cloves...for 28 mushrooms. I didn't think to maybe reduce this number, so I had A LOT of garlic for five mushrooms. I then chopped some fresh parsley (thanks to my mother!) and added it to the garlic. The recipe includes fresh mint as well, but I didn't follow my grocery list so well yesterday and forgot to pick some up. Word to the wise: chop herbs BEFORE you chop garlic so they don't stick to your knife and drive you crazy. To this mix, I added 1/8 cup of Italian bread crumbs and 1/8 cup of Pecorino Romano cheese (the recipe calls for 1/2 cup of each of these).

Next, I stemmed my mushrooms. I don't know why I thought this would be easier with the "gourmet stuffing mushrooms" I had bought. It really wasn't. Mushrooms are pretty delicate so when you're trying to pop out the stem with a sharp knife, you have to be super careful that you don't rip the mushrooms apart. I was pretty successful in keeping my mushrooms intact, but there was definitely potential for it to go awry.

Now the recipe does not call for this next part, but I'm pretty sure I've seen this done in other stuffed mushrooms recipes. I took all the stems and chopped them up and added them to my stuffing since it was looking a little lax. I figured adding more mushroom to mushrooms couldn't hurt. However, I should add that trying to finely chop these stems was tedious. They kept sticking to the knife and I couldn't get them cut as finely as I wanted. In fact, it took me so long to chop these things that the motion-sensor lights in the kitchen turned off.

Once the oven was at the right temperature, I sprayed the tray with my EVOO spray and placed the mushroom caps on top. I tried to evenly distribute the filling amongst the caps and ended up getting more of it all over the tray than in the mushrooms themselves. I also realized in the process that I hadn't really combined the filling ingredients all that well and each element wasn't very evenly distributed. For a finishing touch, I divided a teaspoon of olive oil amongst the caps and put them in the oven. I then let them cook for 25 minutes as I read my Rolling Stone magazine at the table. Within about five minutes, I could smell the awesome-ness.

When the mushrooms were done, they were a nice golden brown color and smelled FANTASTIC. And believe me, they tasted just as great. That being said, there is definitely room for improvement. The filling didn't really stay together too well so I will have to find a way (other than adding more cheese) to make it more cohesive. Also, it was very garlicky. I should have cut back on that part of the recipe, but hindsight is 20/20. In the future, I would also like to see how the mint fits into the recipe. Once I got past the garlic in mine, the parsley gave it a fresh, clean taste and the combination of the bread crumbs and the cheese was salty and gooey and great. When you cut into the mushrooms, all the juice kind of spills out of them (I don't think there's anyway to really avoid that) and works well with the filling.

Bottom line: I highly recommend this dish. Especially as a starter for parties (hence why the original one makes 28). Thursday is my first venture into some Italian desserts, but I will be updating before then since I fully intend to continue cooking throughout the week :)

Success is Delicious...

Tonight was my second time making a Giada recipe and it was much better than my first. As i stated in a previous entry, I'm going chapter by chapter in Everyday Italian so tonight was

chapter Two: Everyday Sauces. The chapter opens with Marinara sauce! Giada explains that traditional marinara sauce is not the same as you would get with your mozzarella sticks at Applebee's (OK...she didn't use those words exactly, but you get the point), instead it's very light and is full of vegetables. Who knew?

And what was more exciting about tonight? I had dinner guests!! My best friends Katie and Matt joined me for dinner tonight so I had to put my game face on for this one.

In addition to trying a new recipe tonight, I tried a new gadget: the electric frying pan. This thing is fantastic. I did NOT have to Rachael Ray my way up the stairs AND my apartment now smells of wonderful Italian cooking which reminds me of home. The only time I had to leave the room was to make the pasta since we don't have any hot plates or burners. We'll work on that.

Now onto the sauce! I began with half a cup of EVOO. I heated this in the pan then added two cloves or garlic and two onions, each finely chopped. At this point, one of my roommates sat down in the living room and told me "It smells like deliciousness in here." I knew I was on the right track at that point. As these cooked, I chopped two stalks of celery. I then had to peel and chop two carrots. For the third time since living here, I attempted to peel a vegetable and forgot to take the plastic covering off the peeler. Of course, my first reaction was that the peeler had somehow lost all sharpness, and then I looked down and discovered my mistake. I am the reason that they make those plastic safety guards.

Anyhow, once chopped, I added the two veggies to the pan along with some salt and pepper. The recipe calls for half a teaspoon of each, and I thought about actually pulling out the measuring spoons to be exact, and then I realized I'm Italian and measuring really doesn't matter.

As you're reading this, you're probably thinking "wow, this all seems to be going pretty smoothly," right? Well, mostly right. I'm the "clean-as-you-cook" type so as the veggies cooked, I wanted to clean up everything that I no longer needed to use. I reached for the cutting board, looked to the left of it, and found an onion that was perfectly in tact. Then it hit me. I had only added ONE onion to the sauce. Quickly, I peeled the onion, and chopped it (this onion did NOT want to be peeled and did NOT want to be finely chopped. It put up quite the fight. I did win in the end though, seeing as I am the superior being in this scenario) then let it cook up with the rest of the pan.

Onto obstacle number two. I had two cans of stewed tomatoes that I needed to be opened and added to the sauce. The recipe calls for two 32 ounce cans of crushed tomatoes, but Aldi didn't have crushed tomatoes, and I couldn't pass up the deal of 49 cents for each can of stewed tomatoes. I figured they really couldn't be that different. Now as I've mentioned before, my can opener is a pain. You know those times when you want a child to come with you somewhere and you grab them by the hand and they turn into the "boneless child" and just kind of collapse into the ground? Well that's what my can opener does. You sink it into the can and think it's all going to be fine, then as you crank the handle, it gives up and just ruins the can shredding the label in the process. After much effort and elbow grease (I think I may have even broke a sweat), I got the two cans open and added them to the pan.

The next step in the recipe is to let the sauce simmer for an hour. I decided this was the opportune time to clean up. After I was done, I glanced over at the sauce and noticed it still hadn't thickened yet. It also wasn't very red (but it was very colorful and pretty. I'm starting to sound like Ina Garten, how bad can that be?). I decided to let it cook more as I rinsed the cans from the tomatoes. I looked down, and discovered why the sauce wasn't looking quite right. The recipe calls for two 32 ounce cans of tomatoes. I used two 14.5 ounce cans of tomatoes. I taste-tested it and it did taste good, but hardly like marinara sauce should. I stood there at a loss, wondering what I would tell my dinner guests. I promised them marinara sauce, not vegetable stew and my concoction was definitely resembling the latter.

It was then that I remembered that my mother (thank God for her!) had bought me a ginormous, yes ginormous, can of tomato puree. The sauce was saved!! I added about a cup of the puree along with some Italian seasoning (in place of the bay leaves that I don't have) and let the sauce cook more. I also finished cleaning up and because my can opener hates me and cuts jagged edges on my cans, I cut my thumb in the process of cleaning the cans.

Once the sauce was almost done simmering, I decided to head upstairs to cook the angel hair pasta that I was going to serve with the sauce. I once again forgot how long it takes for a pot of water to boil on an electric stove. I sat there for what seemed like forever waiting for it to boil. However, contrary to popular belief, I watched that pot the entire time, and it DID eventually boil. And they say a watched pot never boils...

Angel hair pasta cooks up in no time, so I had no trouble with that...other than the fact that I can't measure how much pasta to cook and ended up making much more than needed. Matt and Katie arrived shortly after the pasta was done and we all ate at my kitchen table. I'm pretty sure that's the first time it's been used. And it did force me to clear the table before they came over. Did I mention that our kitchen and living room area still isn't completely unpacked?

Both Katie and Matt told me the meal was great and after eating, our friend Savannah came over and bonded with us. The night ended with Savannah going back to her friend's room and the three of us watching My Best Friend's Girl over in Matt's room. Funny movie, but definitely not one to watch with your parents.

As usual, it was a fantastic night overall, and there are PLENTY of leftovers for those nights when I don't have time to cook. I have a tournament this weekend, so there won't be anything new (or any Domino's thank GOD) till Monday. But check back then when I conquer my third recipe: Lemon Spaghetti! Yum-O :)

Trial & Error

Today was a day of learning. Not only in cooking, but in life. It was my first day of classes and it started off pretty well. I had plenty of time to get ready in the morning, I put together a great outfit, and made it to all my classes with more than enough time. I met up with Katie for lunch again and we dined al fresco seeing as it was a beautiful day.

I had to go to the field house during my lunch break to get into my practice clothes, then went to my 2 p.m. class then straight to the turf for practice. Being that it was the first practice after preseason, our team was beat. We really didn't have much spark left in us. However, since we didn't lock the shed Saturday night and forgot to bring a bunch of equipment to the high school clinic yesterday, we had to run a timed mile on the spot. Lesson learned: Make sure the little things are taken care of.

For me, practice was terrible. I couldn't seem to do anything right, and if I did do something right, I didn't know because I wasn't told so. There were moments when I focused solely on field hockey and it seemed as though I improved, but those were few and far between. Lesson learned: Concentrate on one thing at a time.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that it rained during practice like it has all throughout preseason? I can't tell you how sick I am of being outside in the rain. However, lesson learned: There's no sense in complaining about things that we can't control.

When I got back to my dorm, not only was I hungry, but I was relieved because it was time to cook and that is what I look forward to all day! As I mentioned in my previous post, I wanted to make something with chicken and eggplant. Not to toot my own horn, but I definitely need to give myself an A for creativity tonight. What is pictured above may not be the prettiest of dishes, but it was sure delicious.

Let me first start by saying I went in and out of my room at least five times to grab something I forgot before heading down to the kitchen. Hot start, right?

I started by peeling a huge clove of garlic and cutting a tomato in half. I seasoned both with salt and pepper and a teaspoon of EVOO, and let them roast in the oven at 450 degrees. I then cut the end off the eggplant and peeled it while a big pot of water was set to boil. My intention was to create a faux pasta out of the eggplant, so I used my vegetable peeler (which is pink) to create some eggplant "ribbons." This was much easier in theory. Eggplant should come with a warning that reads: "If you intend to peel this, it WILL take you an eternity." As I got down to the middle of the eggplant, I halved it and then just cut thin strips to save some time.

Once the water came to a boil, I added some salt and tossed in the eggplant ribbons to cook. Next, I chopped some garlic and heated it in a pan with another teaspoon of olive oil. I then cut my chicken into smaller pieces and seasoned it with salt and pepper. Once the pan was hot enough, I added in the chicken.

At this time, the tomato and garlic clove in the oven were perfectly roasted. I pulled them out of the oven, let them cool, then put them into a glass bowl. Now this next part is not my original idea, therefore, I will now give my mother MORE credit. I smashed the tomato halves and garlic together to create a light sauce for my dish. Note to self for next time: add some basil too!

I then put the boiled eggplant into a strainer (which is also pink) once it was nice and soft. As that sat, I continued to cook the chicken. Chicken is another thing that should come with a warning that should read: "If you do not properly defrost this, it WILL be tough and you WILL have a difficult time checking to see if it is completely cooked." I had thought about putting the chicken in the fridge this morning while I was getting things together, but never followed through since I was trying to do ten things at once. Lesson learned: Concentrate on one thing at a time.

Once everything was ready, I put the eggplant on the plate, added the chicken, then topped it with the sauce. I gathered all my supplies and pulled a major Rachael Ray back upstairs to my room (I'm pretty sure I could give her a run for her money. She only carries all her ingredients from the fridge or pantry to the counter. I carry all of mine up and down two flights of stairs). As I walked back, I looked down at my dish and noticed a lot of water collecting along the sides. I knew I hadn't added too much oil to anything, then realized I didn't fully drain the eggplant. Lesson learned: Make sure the little things are taken care of.

The dish turned out very well overall after I drained the watery-ness out of it. The sauce turned out great and the eggplant was perfectly al dente. We'll work on the chicken for next time.

After a long and stressful day, my food therapy and writing therapy were exactly what I needed. I now must get ahead on my reading for classes so I will have time in the future for MORE cooking and writing :)

Update: I forgot to mention that I did add a bit of parmesan cheese to the sauce. Just in case anyone wanted to try it for themselves!