I'm behind...

I realized I have a hard drive full of pictures yet to be posted...



Breakfast this morning was an open faced "omelet". We were out of milk, so cereal was out and I usually want something a little more substantial on Sunday mornings so I decided to make an omelet without folding it. This was eggs beat with a little heavy cream and salt and pepper. I let set, then added fresh parsley, shallots, green pepper, and sun dried tomatoes. Once cooked, topped off with a little Parmigano-Reggiano cheese. Yum!



We stayed at a local resort this past week because our best friends were moving off island. Needless to say, we went out to eat a few times. The first night we went to this Japanese restaurant that we have talked about trying for a while. The food was good and we liked the atmosphere, the staff was very gracious and helpful.



I got Tempura Udon Noodles with a rice ball, fresh fruit, and appetizer. Above is my appetizer, very good, but could anyone clue me in as to what is in the middle? It appeared to be some sort of vegetable, what I could make out was mushroom, carrot and onion.



These were my noodles. They were very good, the broth was not too salty and the noodles were not mushy. The tempura was shrimp, crab, zucchini, and eggplant.



My hub got sirloin and sashimi. This was served with the standard miso soup, fruit, rice, and salad. The steak was very good, the flavor reminded me of bulgogi, with heavier garlic. Very good, but we are fans of garlic. Sashimi was perfect. Mild, smooth, and fresh.



This was his steak.



We finished the meal with green tea and red bean ice cream, which of course was our daughter's favorite part.



Lastly, is dinner a few nights ago. It was a Stuffed Pork Loin by Dave Lieberman. I enjoyed this very much, however it could have possibly used more flavor. So, I will definetely be fiddling around with this recipe. The recipe included apples, onion, prunes, walnut and rosemary. Which was great, but I think more could be added.



Served with the meal was broccoflower and cauliflower with a white cheddar sauce. Very good, however the sauce was a bit grainy/gritty. I don't know if I cooked it too much or if it was the cheese or what? However, this was nice for a change and our daughter really enjoyed this as well.

So that was some of my week at a glance.

Spaghetti and Meatball Stoup

I made the following recipe for dinner the other night. It is by Rachael Ray and was feature on her new talk show. It was very good, super easy, and fast to make. I will definetely use this again for nights I do not feel like cooking and want something easy to throw together. The meatballs were very tender because they were boiled and amazingly, had really good flavor. I was a bit skeptical for some reason, maybe the lack of ingredients? I was wrong. All in all I would say a great last minute dinner. I forgot to take pictures, sorry!


Spaghetti & Meatball Stoup
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), 2 turns of the pan
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
1 large onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 quart chicken stock
1 1/4 pounds ground beef sirloin
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (eyeball it)
A generous handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 egg
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, a generous handful, plus some for passing at table
Salt and pepper
1/2-3/4 pound spaghetti, broken into thirds – depending on how "noodle-y" you like it

preparationHeat a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the EVOO, garlic, bay leaf, onion and carrots and sauté 5 minutes or until softened. Season with a little salt and pepper then add the tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes and chicken stock. Cover pot and bring to a boil.

Place the beef in a bowl and add the Worcestershire sauce, parsley, egg, bread crumbs, cheese, salt and pepper. After thoroughly combining everything with your hands, roll the mixture into balls the size of a large walnut and drop into the soup pot. Once all of the meatballs have been added, wash up and stir the broken spaghetti into the pot. Cook 7 minutes more. Season stoup with salt and pepper to your taste and serve. Pass grated cheese at the table for topping.

TIDBITS: Pasta may be cooked separately to avoid becoming overcooked if the stoup is being served over a long period of time. Dab a little EVOO on cooked al dente pasta and keep in a bowl or even the colander, covered with plastic, until ready to serve. Place a small amount of pasta in stoup bowl, microwave 15-20 seconds and top with hot stoup.

If stoup gets too thick for your liking, stir in a cup of water or stock to loosen it up.

Add in peppers, mushrooms or even chopped zucchini to bump up the veggies in this dish. They may be added and sautéed along with onions and carrots.

Yields 6 servings

What a week....

This past week my daughter was sick with a virus so I have not had a lot of time to do anything but clean and take care of her. Soup was mainly all she could stomach. This was just simple chicken broth cooked with ginger slices, carrot, and some leftover rice and tofu thrown in last minute.



I did manage to sneak away to a cooking class at Roy's on Saturday. This was very fun, however, was more of a demonstration than a cooking class. It was not hands on which I would have enjoyed more, but already knew in advance. I still enjoyed it thoroughly. Chef Lau, Roy's "right-hand woman" did the demo. She is from Hawaii and has worked at Roy's for 18 years. She started as a pastry chef but decided she liked cooking better. Now she travels around and develops dishes, does demo's such as this, and who knows what else? She was very personable, answered questions, and explained the process of each dish extensively. After making the sauces, she passed around a small saucer of each so you could sample if desired. I enjoyed this and would go again.

After the demo, we moved over to the other side of the dining room and ate the dishes she prepared. The menu was: bread and their usual olive sauce, Salad greens topped with a Maui Onion Vinagrette and Singapore Style Peppered Shrimp, Roy's Jade Pesto Steamed Kampachi, and lastly, Roy's Waikoloa Haupia Coconut Brownie.

I enjoyed the Salad quite a bit although I could not taste the peppercorn paste very strongly. The vinagrette was very good, it has a nice balance of sweetness and for lack of better word bite that I would expect from onions. Too bad we can't get Maui onions on island(or can we?).

The steamed Kampachi was excellent as well. I am a fan of pesto these days and this was made with basil and cilantro. I have never had Kampachi, which apparently is a sushi grade fish. Very good, mild tasting and very meaty. This was served with a Chinese style Infused Soy Sauce, which was about the best way I have ever tasted soy sauce. It was infused for 24 hours with shallots, garlic, scallions, cilantro, ginger, and sugar. They drizzled this around the plate and served the fish over rice. The rice soaked up the soy sauce and was oooh so yummy!

The dessert was a brownie, which wasn't quite a brownie, almost like a bar/pie. It had a crust made with toasted coconut and graham crackers, then a custard type filling. It was very good, she made hot fudge sauce to top it and it was served with whipped cream and fresh raspberries. It was very rich and filling, so they were cut very small, just perfect in fact. As you can imagine, not at all healthy, but very satisfying.

In the end, this was a very fun experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat. My only regret was that I forgot my camera. I was trying to run out the door with a 3 year old chasing me, asking for more hugs. Cute, but distracting, right?

Greek Islands Pastry

This was very good. I made it for lunch. It is a pie pastry topped with a mixture of spinach, cream cheese, feta, garlic clove; then topped with artichokes, olives, parmesan cheese, and tomatoes.

Lemon Crostata with Fresh Figs and Goat Cheese

I just finished this entry and blogspot decided to error out and all my work lost. How lame. I can't remember what all I had to say about this recipe.

Anyway, I read this blog quite frequently and must give her credit for peaking my interest in fresh figs. I have never liked those little Fig Newton things, so I had always been apprehensive when it came to figs. Well upon taking her advice, the last time I saw them in the produce section I snatched them up with no idea what I'd do with them. I snacked on them alone for a few days while scouring the internet for a recipe, nothing quite did it for me.




Now for these figs, I knew I couldn't make just anything. I knew this would make or break figs for my Hub and me. I had placed a book order a week before and finally it came in. So, I sat down to the couch to read it and out popped this recipe. I was rather intrigued by it because I like things that are sweet and savory. I had never had goat cheese either, so I was locked in. I am so glad I tried this, so good, perfect balance of sweet and savory. The goat cheese got milder upon melting and the figs were chewy and sweet, but not too sweet. And the crust, OH MY, the CRUST!!!!! With a stick of butter, you really can't go wrong. I will be making this again, and trying different variations because figs aren't always available.

Ham and Egg Braid

This is one of my go-to meals when I am stumped and need something cheap. It's a cinch to make and very filling and satisfying. Just roll out two cans of crescents, fill with scrambled eggs(with whatever you like in them), ham, if you wish, cheese and bake!

Peach French Toast Bake

I made this for breakfast Monday morning because The Hub was off work. The recipe is by Ellie Krieger, very good, a little on the soggy side. I don't know, maybe less milk next time? Anyway, I made it with the bread I made the other day, which made it better. I probably would have to doctor this up a bit before making it again. Very good for what it was though, she is a nutrionist after all. I guess I am just not there yet. One day I'll kick this horrible sweet tooth.

Plum-Ginger Glazed Chicken and Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes

This also was from Dave's Dinner's. The flavor was really complex, but in a good way. The ginger and garlic both were strong and the plums caramelized. The Hub enjoyed it a lot since plums are one of his favorite fruits.



Honey roasted sweet potatoes, just cubed and glazed with honey, olive oil, salt and pepper, and Saigon cinnamon. Inspired by a recipe by Ellie Krieger. Very good!

Asian Mushroom Soup

I just got a new cookbook by Dave Lieberman, Dave's Dinner's. This is the first book by him I have ever owned, however, everything I have tried has not failed me. I will be buying his other. This recipe came from that book, let me just say it was perfect. My Hub is really into big hearty mushrooms and anything of the like. The broth was extremely flavorful as it was filled with stuff like shallots, ginger, fish sauce, and soy sauce. It was very filling despite lack of meat. Last week at the Commissary I bought a 10 lb. bag of Jasmine rice so I added a scoop of rice to it because I thought it would be tasty and IT WAS! So, I will be making this again it was great and we got 3 meals out of it. It is rare for my Hub to eat leftovers more than once and he took it to lunch till it ran out.

Sushi

This was lunch today. Out of all the things I have learned to make since moving to Guam, this is one of my favorites.

Honey Wheat Bread

IMG_2913, originally uploaded by slaggs.

I have decided I am sick of the bread here. The Commissary gets the bread frozen and puts it on the shelf. Frozen bread is not good. Plus it has a high tendency to spoil very quickly. I have gone through many phases while living here, trying all kinds of bread, never fully satisfied. Yesterday, I finally just decided I'll make my own bread. It tastes better, it's better for you, why not? We'll see how long this lasts. I figure though, if I ever do get lazy, I could buy it. I made 4 loafs yesterday. The Hub already finished off half of one. This bread turned out perfect. Dense, slightly sweet, and a nice crust. I can not wait to have sandwiches.

Dinner Last Night: BBQ Ribs, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, and Cabbage & Carrots

I really should start updating this the day I make stuff. Oh well, maybe when my kids are grown. Anyway, this was dinner last night. I was in the mood for some heavy comfort type food, so, this came about. The Hub never really liked ribs until he married me. My mom never made them at home, I think maybe she thought they were too time consuming or something. They're actually rather easy though. Super yummy and it totally hit the spot. No recipe really, just good eats.

Vegas Pictures

These are a few of the many things I missed out on while the hub was in Vegas. He took pictures and was sure to rub it in my face. If I get around to it, I'll try ask him about everything and put some captions. Most are somewhat explanatory though, I believe.

Edited: I am adding captions to what my Hub can remember of the food.


Miso soup with edamame.


Sushi chef.


Sushi, my Hub can't remember exactly what.


Miso soup with green tea.


Red bean paste ice cream.


Some type of sushi roll, I believe with Kobe beef.


Lettuce Wraps.


Trio of Poke.


Green tea.


Menu from Chinois I believe.


Surf and Turf Roll - Lobster, Avocado, Asparagus wrapped with Kobe Beef Tenderloin, Serrano Chiles, scallions and Garlic Ponzu Sauce [only reason this was so detailed was because he brought home the menu] This was from Chinois.


Duck Pancakes from Wolfgang Puck's recipe.


Chinese?


Olive oil and balsamic vinegar from Wolfgang's Italian restuarant. If I wasn't too lazy at the moment, I'd look the name up.


Bread basket.


Roasted garlic.


Eggplant Parmigiano.


Asparagus


Calamari


Calamari and some sushi roll from Shintaro.








Three kinds of creme brulee.