Having your cake and eating it too.

Menu for 4/13:

•  One pot pesto pasta, potatoes, and green beans

Ingredient list:

One large or two small boiling potatoes, fresh washed and trimmed green beans, thin pasta (like spaghetti or linguine), goat cheese. 

For reasons I can not explain, I have always been of the state of mind that having both pasta and potatoes on the same plate is something you just do not do. Sort of like how you don't drink soda before noon or how scrambled eggs are (normally) a breakfast food. It just is, that's why. Then I came across this little ditty. I am pretty sure that this recipe is going to rock my world view and I can not wait. The boy found this one in the book, when he brought it to my attention I noted that one can add what ever protein source one wanted to this and I bet it would still be really nom. He still has chicken sausage in the fridge; they are fully cooked but he needs to use them up. As for me, I am thinking of adding some tuna that has been kept in olive oil. I guess that I could use regular tuna if I wanted. I honestly do not know. We will have to see what Wednesday night holds. Stay tuned!

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Ingredients



eminent doom for the polenta



Seriously people, it's going to get it.



Mid carnage



I killed it dead.

Then lovingly brushed it with olive oil.

Sun-dried tomatoes and their delicious blood oil.

Capers, they are up to no good ( I think they are planning on stealing something)

Sun-dried tomatoes and garlic, sizzling away and making my kitchen smell super Nom.

Stimp Shrimp

Kitchen is smelling super duper Nom at this point.

Shrimp and all the nomness.

Polenta "pillows".



Finished meal.




Alright, so this was another recipe from the 'I ♥ Trader Joe's' cookbook, but like I stated in my Tuesday post, I made a slight difference in that I bought all the ingredients at a "mainstream" grocery store. This was for a few reasons, the most important of which was to show that these recipes are not exclusive only to the TJ's. I will say that, I am sure there are recipes in the book that are exclusive to only TJ's but not all of them are and this is one that falls in the latter category. Okay, on with the meal.

This one was fairly simple like last weeks, but, it did require some specialized equipment. That being the broiler, a feature of my oven that I have used, but I don't make a habit of it. I remembered why I don't use it all the time now. It is a huge pain in the @$$, that's why. The recipe called for me to cook the polenta in the broiler, and since I have never cooked polenta before I was going to trust the book. I now know better. Cooking the rounds in the broiler made them a bit mushy in the middle and a little burnt on the outside (see picture above).

This meal over all got a 6 from both of us. The over all ingredients are very good, and together they are also very good, it was the specificity of them that left us feeling rather 'meh' about it. For instance the shrimp; the frozen, raw, shrimp that I could find was simple peel. Next time I would definitely get fully peeled shrimp so that it would soak up more of the flavor and we won't be left with a pile of 'skins' when we are done. I would also cook the polenta in the oven and not the broiler, to try and get more of a 'pillow' like texture; something that these rounds lacked.

The meal was good enough to garner the boy getting seconds, so that is a good thing. It also made my house smell fantastic!! This is all owed to the sun-dried tomatoes; they just smell so good. They taste good too, I bet that some culinary genius could come up with a delicious sun-dried tomato ice cream. Ah, sun-dried tomatoes...



Next week: I have nothing planned so far. The weather is supposed to be really, really nice, so maybe something with a summery feel to it? Or made I will get that grill that my BFF has promised me and light it up; I do have frozen swordfish steaks in my freezer, hmmm...

Pillow Time

Menu for 4/6:

•  Shrimp on Polenta pillows

 
Ingredients for above mentioned dish:

Precooked polenta, olive oil, crushed garlic, julienned sun-dried tomatoes in oil, capers, white wine, frozen raw large shrimp pre cleaned.

This is another recipe from the 'I ♥ Trader Joe's®' cook book. This week, however, I am putting a little twist on it. I have purchased all of these ingredients from a mainstream grocery chain. This is for a couple of reasons: 1) I know that not all of you who read this little blog have access to the wondrous establishment that is Trader Joe's®, 2) I want those who are inclined, to be able to reproduce what I make, and finally 3) I didn't have a choice in the matter and fate had me shop at the previously hinted at mainstream grocery store. If any of you are interested in trying out any of the past recipes that I have showcased here, leave me a comment and I will forward you the information for which ever nom dish you would like. See you on Thursday!!

40-13

Rice recipe

Salmon recipe

Ingredients

Ginger, peeled.

Ginger, grated.

Organic Blue Agave Syrup.

Rice Vinegar.

Garlic.

Grated Ginger.

Glaze.

Glaze being added to salmon.

Glazed salmon.

BRAND NEW CAST IRON SKILLET! YAY FOR BIRTHDAY PRESENTS!!

Sizzle!

Basil.

Butter.

Roasted corn.

This is going to be a tough one...

Oh, maybe not.

Open bag, empty into pan, heat. The End.

Busy Stove Top.

Rice.

Rice+salt&pepper+corn

ACTION SHOT! Adding basil.

Mix and you are done.

Stir peas.

Finished meal!

I don't think that I can tell you how good fresh grated ginger smells. I would make this meal every week so that I can smell the fresh ginger. That good, really. Alright, so this is the first venture from the "I ♥ Trader Joe's®" cookbook and it went wonderfully. If every recipe I ever do is as easy and delicious as these ones then my life would so much simpler when it comes to this project! I was in now way exhausted when I finished the meal AND I finished on time! Woot!!! I also received a 10 for this whole meal. He did call it metaphysical perfection and if he had to name a the weakest link it would be the peas. I didn't even "make" the peas so they don't really count. The rice was the most delicious part, it was perfectly seasoned with the salt and pepper and basil; the basil was in now way over powering, and the corn added just the right amount of texture and flavor to make it unique. The salmon was also very delicious. The glaze was very easy and had a real depth of flavor that was a bit unexpected. It started off sweet and then the ginger kicked in with a great compliment of heat and the salsa finished it off with a combination of both of those flavors. The recipe called to cook the salmon in a casserole dish, but since I don't have one I used my brand new birthday present (from the boy's mom and grandma, Thank you!!!) a super spiffy cast iron skillet, and it worked perfectly. "A deceptively light meal with tremendous amounts of substance" that was the exact quote from the boy when I asked him to describe the meal in one phrase. Not too bad if you ask me. 

If you are wondering what makes a meal a 10 we have narrowed down the qualifications:

1.  He would want the whole meal to be made again in the future.
2. I could easily make it for guests.
3. He goes back for seconds.

Alright, I added the last one, but I honestly think that that is a huge factor when it comes to whether it is a 10 or not. So there it is! Until next week my lovelies!

Next week there will most likely be another recipe from this same cookbook so that I can try out a variety of recipes from it, to make sure that this week wasn't a fluke.

I ♥ TRADER JOE'S®!

Menu for 3/29:

• Corn and Basil Rice
• Minted Peas
• Sweet-Glazed Salmon with Corn Salsa

 Corn and Basil Rice:

Trader Joe's® Thai Jasmine Rice, Butter, Roasted Corn, Organic Basil Leaves, Salt& Pepper.

So we might just corn ourselves out on this one. Corn in the rice and on the salmon. Whatever, it'll be good at the very least, if not downright delicious.

Minted Peas:

Boom goes the dynamite, that's all she wrote.

Minted peas from the bag that I bought them in. I plan on following the directions on the back of the bag. I'll let you know how it goes.

Sweet-Glazed Salmon with Corn Salsa:

Fresh or thawed salmon fillets, organic blue agave sweetener, fresh minced ginger, crushed garlic, rice vinegar, Trader Joe's® Corn and Chile Tomato-less Salsa.

How does that sound for a Nom factor? Pretty darned delicious if you ask me, and since I am the one writing this blog, I did ask me and I said that the Nom Factor seems really high for this dish. All of these recipes come from the 'I ♥ Trader Joe's®' cookbook that I found at the local Urban Outfitters. I knew that store was good for something that wasn't ironic hipster clothes. Anyway, this is a WHOLE BOOK of recipes that are just from the ingredients found at Trader Joe's® stores. I have a feeling that you may find a lot of the upcoming weeks to involve this book. It is just that awesome. I am slightly jealous of the writers though. They clearly live in a part of the country that liquor is allowed to be sold in grocery stores. Here in Massachusetts that type of tomfoolery is frowned upon and you can only find grocery store booze in few and far between places. Even then it is normally only wine and beer, none of the really good stuff. But I digress, I am blessed with a plethora of Trader Joe's-es.

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Recipe

Ingredients.

Potatotes (pre-peeling)

Potatoes all chopped up and ready to be boiled.

Boiling!

Boiled!

Boiled and drained and steamy!

Butter and wet mustards

Creme Fraîche

Milk and mashed.

Total anniolation! AKA Mashed.

My tofurkey sausage.

His chicken sausage.

His finished meal.

My finished meal.

Alright here it is. Bangers & Mustard Mash. I forgot to mention last post that it was mustard mash and not plain mash, but perhaps from the three different types of mustard that I listed in the ingredients you figured it out. This was okay. He ranked it as a 7 and I agree with that. With the amount of mustard that was in the mash you would think that it was knock your socks off spicy, but it really wasn't. It just had a mild mustard taste, that is unless you bit into a mustard seed. Then you got a small dose of the heat. The recipe called for me to use an electric mixer to whip the potatoes into shape to make them creamy. I didn't agree with that, I like me some lumps in my mashed potatoes. It lets you know that they were at one time solid single things and now they are all fuse and together. I wanted the texture; that and I didn't want to lug my electric mixer down from its home above my fridge. The texture actually complimented the meal rather well, to the point that I don't think that super smooth potatoes would be good at all.They would have just lowered the 7 to a 5. Another thing is that we chose a sweet Italian chicken sausage for his bangers and he informed me that these 'sweet' sausages were actually spicier than the mustard mash. The recipe called for chicken or veal sausage and he doesn't like veal so, yeah. I really did follow this recipe to the letter this time and it has lead me to believe that a certain amount of my 'flying by the seat of my pants'-ness is a good thing. Or maybe it is what I am listening to when I am making these meals. This week it was NPR talking about Libya, last week I listened to Jim Gaffigan and laughed my butt off. I might be on to something there.


Next week I will make something from my new cook book "I ♥ Trader Joe's cookbook"