Tiramisu, Mexican Rice, and Taco Meat

Alright! I owe you guys a post! I've been super busy lately so I haven't been able to cook anything new. So this post will be about my favorite dessert, tiramisu, and a quick recipe to some yummy Mexican food.

Let's start with dessert! Tiramisu is a yummy coffee(rum optional) mousse cake with ladyfingers as the cake. Its really simple to make and takes less than 25 mins to prepare. Here's the recipe:

Tiramisu 
1 tub mascarpone cheese (400 grams)       
4 eggs, separated     
4 tbls sugar plus 1 tsp for the coffee           
1 cup strong coffee  
1 packet ladyfingers      
cocoa for sprinkling

Mix egg yolks with 4 tbls. of sugar until creamy.  Add mascarpone and mix well. Whisk egg whites until you see stiff peaks, fold into cream mixture.  Mix coffee and rum, add some sugar.  Dip ladyfingers and make layers. Spread cream mixture and put in freezer for 30 minutes. Before serving sprinkle the cake with cocoa.

The second part to this post is simple, quick and yummy! I make Mexican rice often and all I use is rice and Knorr Tomato and Chicken Boullion. Basically, add about 2 tbsp of of oil to a pot. Add your rice and let it cook for a couple of minutes until the rice is turning golden and crisp. Add the amount of water indicated on the rice package. Add 1 tbsp of boullion per cup of water used. Bring it to a boil and then lower your heat and let it simmer for 20 mins. After 20 mins, take it off the heat and let it sit for 10 mins. And that's all to it.

Now to the meat. I buy "diezmillo/diesmillo" meat from the Mexican store. I ask them to grind it up for me. If not, you can dice it up real good. Like mince it all. Add it to your pan and add about 1tbsp of Knorr chicken boullion. Cook it up and once it's done, you're done. Nothing special, super easy and overall, delish!

Creamy Chicken and Broccoli over Rice

Tonight's meal was another crock pot dish. It was simple enough that my husband can make it. Here's the link to the recipe and the pictures to follow.

Bow Ties with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Cream

I made this recipe yesterday and I gotta say, it's a keeper. It was tasty, savory, and oh so good! Here's how it goes:

Here's the recipe and the link:

The ingredients you need:

I always add salt and oil to the pasta while it's boiling so it doesn't stick to each other and it gives the pasta flavor.

 Brown the sausage and add red pepper flakes, onion and garlic.

 Add the tomatoes.

 And now add the cream.

 Let the mixture reduce.

 and ta-da! Yummy dinner!!

My only thing I would change in the future is that I bought mild sausage when the recipe called sweet sausage. I'll add the sweet sausage next time. Overall, it was delicious!

Delicious Ham and Potato Soup

This soup is my go-to comfort food, next to mac n cheese (of course!). It's loaded with potatoes and bits of yummy ham. I also make a roux to make it creamy and thick. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com Here's how it goes:

First you dice(really, really tiny) up 1/4 on an onion, 1/2 a celery, and 1/2 a carrot and sweat the mix with 2 tbsp of oil for about 10 mins on low. I use olive oil.

: 

I then dice up a whole celery and set it to the side until I need to add it to the soup.

 Once the onion, celery, carrot mix is tender and translucent, I add 3 1/2 cups of cubed potato( I leave the skin on), cubed ham, and celery. I then add water until it's covered up. Then I add about 2 tbsp of knorr chicken bouillon.

 After that cooks for about 20 mins, I start making the roux in a separate pan. Roux is butter and flour heated together to make soups thicker.

 Cook it through for about 3 mins.

Then add the milk.

 Add it to the soup.

 Cook it on low for 10 mix. Give it time to thicken up.

 and then you're done!

 

Here's the recipe! Definitely give it a try!

Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken

This week I decided to make recipes from my Pinterest board. Tonight's menu consisted of honey sesame chicken from thighs and a mix of honey, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, ketchup, an onion and garlic. It was a pretty simple dish to make and it turned out pretty good. In the future however, I wouldn't add ketchup. I think that the ketchup added some sweetness when I wanted more of a savory. Maybe add some sriracha(sp?) to give it a kick. All in all, I give it and 8 for me personally. Although my husband gives it a 10. Overall, don't knock it 'til you try it. Here is the recipe and a pic of the finished product.

Review: Gordy's & Savory

Lately on FB I've noticed people asking where are the good places to eat here in Spokane. Although I may not have tried every place here, I've ventured out several times and found some pretty good and not so good.

Gordy's Sichuan Cafe is THE place for Chinese food! It may not be your average Chinese place where you can order orange chicken with fried rice and chow mein but this place has its own atmosphere to it. The menu is based on how hot the food is. If you're a newbie to Chinese or can't decide what to get, I suggest getting the:

Appetizer: Dumplings(jiaozi). These dumplings have pork and cabbage in them and come with a "red sauce", which I use as a sauce when my main entrees come out.

Medium: The Gan Pung Chicken is to die for! It's crispy and coated in a tangy sweet sauce. Its a tad spicy too!

Medium: Black Pepper Beef:  flank steak infused with sweet black pepper, on a choi bed. The beef is so tasty and savory!

Hot: Sha Cha 'San Xian' Noodles. prawns, chicken and pork chao mian with a spicy smoky chinese sauce based on shrimp and fish. The sauce is packed with flavors out of this world.

Hot: Mapo Tofu: If you like tofu, and spice, this is the entree for you. It comes with ground pork, red oil, garlic and sichuan peppercorn. Its delicious with rice.

Savory is a good place for date night. It's an American bistro kinda place. Every first Friday of the month, they have aerial performances which is fun to watch while dining. I LOVE this place! The first time I went there, I felt like I was tasting food for the first time. Unbelievable! I definitely recommend this place to all couples that want a night away and enjoy good food. Let's get to the menu:

Appetizers: The Mediterranean Tapas Platter: hummus, roasted garlic, olive relish, pickled cucumber and peppers, grilled baguettes and flatbread triangles. This platter is pretty good. Not one I would order often but in a big group its a crowd pleaser.

Tenderloin Steak Bites: This plate is absolutely delicious! I love steak bites. They have an asian style to them and come with orange slices. My husband loves this dish.

Prosciutto Wrapped Mozzarella: Can you say incredible?!?! This dish is my absolute favorite from their appetizer menu. Its sweet and salty and oh so good!

For lunch, I've had their fish and chips and they are yummy! The cod is cooked to perfection and the french fries are soo good. French fries are my guilty pleasure and they make it crispy and crunchy and it comes with a saffron aioli.

Dinner: Chicken and Mango Curry: My husband ordered this once and he loved it. I tried it and it was pretty good! It was very tasty and had a thai spin to it.

Thai Chicken Pasta: My husband also had this(can you tell he likes Thai?) and it was, again, yummy! It tasted like a mix with chicken satay and pad thai noodles.

Paella: This dish was delish! This spanish dish is full of flavors and will fill you up quick.

Wild King Salmon: I've had this dish and I would probably not get it again. It was good, but I expected more. It needed more flavor to it.

Rib Eye Steak: This is the first dish I've had from here and I can't and will not stop raving about it. It was the best steak I've had. It came along with meaty portabello mushrooms in a savory demi sauce and potato and butternut squash gratin. So good!

Desserts: I've only had the Huckleberry White Chocolate Mousse Torte. This is the only dessert that I will have from here. The huckleberry is famous here in Spokane and it was a delight having it in a dessert. It was moist, sweet, but not too sweet, and overall, yummy!

For now, I leave you with these reviews and will post more later! Enjoy your labor day!

Goodnight!

For the past 2 hrs, I've been on my Pinterest board organizing and deleting food items that I would't necessarily cook. I did however find the recipe I'm cooking sometime this week. Its Thai Black Pepper and Garlic Tofu. We love tofu! I seriously do. We've been eating alot healthier and this seemed like the recipe for us. I'll be posting how that turned out later this week. Here's the recipe.

Also, if you notice to the right-hand side of my blog, I have a resource column. Basically, these are the web sites where I've found many recipes via Pinterest. Check them out if you have time. I'll keep posting more from time to time.

Until next time,
Jen