New beginnings, aka. My salmon is on fire!

Ok, so it's been a little while. I finally have a new job, new schedule and I just may do some more cooking.

The other night I made salmon and discovered a valuable lesson: Don't overspray non-stick cooking spray and have it pool on one side of your cookie sheet AND then put it under the broiler. It WILL most likely catch on fire. That was exciting in a not so good way. Good news though, the salmon was NOT burned in the process, just the pool of oil. Guess I should have paid attention to the note on the can that says "FLAMMABLE!!!"... Whoops.

I made a lemon pepper salmon with marjoram butter. I had no tarragon, but all research listed marjoram as a good substitute. The marjoram lemon butter was a flavorable addition to the otherwise boring salmon. I'm still learning the intricacies of cooking fish so it was probably a bit overcooked.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/1589


I recovered some dignity in the kitchen tonight by making a recipe that I found on the Lakewinds co-op website. The recipe was for an arrabiata angel hair pasta. I ended up altering the recipe a little bit as I had no zucchini or eggplant (I now wish I had them) and I also added chicken that I had marinated in Italian dressing for an hour.


http://www.lakewinds.com/store/Arrabiata-Angel-Hair-W594C7711.aspx

The sauce definitely ended up spicy (I think I may have overdone the crushed red pepper a little bit, though), but it made more than enough to save a jar and a half in the freezer for a later date.

I will add pictures tomorrow of the pasta.

Apple Pork Chops with glazed carrots

The prepared apples

After cookingOn the plate
Dinner!

PORK CHOPS WITH APPLES

2 tsp. butter 1 c. sliced apples 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon 2 center cut pork chops, 1/2" thick, well trimmed 1/4 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper Melt butter in a large nonstick frying pan; saute apples until tender but not mushy. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Push apples to one side or remove to serving plate. Fry pork chops in liquid from apples until almost cooked, turning to brown both sides. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until chops are done. Don't overcook as chops will become rubbery. Arrange a chop on each plate and serve apples over chops. Makes 2 servings. One serving: 1 chop plus 1/3 cup apples - calories 236. Low sodium diet: Omit salt.

Some things for this recipe:

• After removing the apples, there wasn't a lot of liquid left to brown the meat, so I added a bit of apple juice and cinnamon and browned the pork in that.
  
• It wasn't very specific about "cook until chops are done". I transferred the browned pork chops to a casserole dish, and cooked them covered for 10 minutes @ 400 degrees, and 10 minutes uncovered. Then I put the apples over the top of them and let them cook for 5 minutes more.

Source: Pork Chops with Apples

August Schell Brewery Tour

August Schell brewery is located in New Ulm, MN about 1.75 hrs SW of the Twin Cities. It's the 2nd oldest family owned brewery in the U.S. For 2$/person you get about an hour long tour + 6 beer tastings + 1 glass of the beer or root beer of your choice.

When you get the the brewery, it's about 1/2 mile walk from your parking place but they also offer a shuttle. I'd recommend either walking there or walking back especially during the fall. It's a tree lined slightly uphill walk and very pretty. (see picture). The tour does not go into the actual brewery but is a very informative historical tour.


Other pictures from our tour:
An old boiler:
Antique bottling machine:
The Schells Old Time Band instruments:
Copper Stein:
Unfortunately my pictures of the beer wagon did not turn out and my batteries died (I had yet to put the good batteries in my camera and was just using standard AA batteries) so I don't have more pictures of the grounds, the resident peacocks and deer either. :(

This is the Schell mansion (built for $5000 back in the 1800's):

And this is the "copper kettle" also installed around the same time as the mansion was built, this though cost $25,000 in the 1800's!



My favorites of the ones we tried were the Caramel Bock and the Octoberfest. Maybe it's not that I don't like beer that much, it's that I don't like ales very much? I've also discovered I really really like Sam Adams Octoberfest beer and if ever in Vegas again, their Sin City Amber.

NEW CAMERA!

YAY I finally picked out my new camera! Now I just need to learn to use it. This means I'll be taking a lot more pictures and most of them may be of food! As soon as I learn how to use it, I'll be posting food pics more regularly!

Apple Cinnamon Waffles

By far my favorite breakfast food. I like making them myself too. I just have a cheap square waffle iron but it does the trick. They tend to come out a bit uneven unlike those nice ones we had in college but it works and that's all I need, but I digress.

I just buy a store brand waffle mix that doesn't require eggs as I never have them around.
To make them into apple cinnamon waffles:
2 c. mix
3/4 c. water
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 packet cinnamon flavored apple sauce (about 1/2 c.)
Apple pie spice or cinnamon to taste.

Prepare waffles as normal.

ENJOY!

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

This is quickly becoming a new favorite recipe for me because it's simple and doesn't require a lot of prep work. I found the recipe a couple years ago while perusing a magazine at work. It was a Hellman's mayo ad for Parmesan Crusted Chicken.

Preheat oven to 425.

In a bowl mix 1/2 c. mayo or Miracle Whip and 1/4 c. parmesan cheese (I just use the Kraft or store brand parmesan chese).. You can also add some italian seasoning and garlic to this mix. In a bag, mix 1 c. bread crumbs, a bit of italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper (I use crushed red pepper in as much as I can because I like the kick it provides). Coat defrosted boneless skinless chicken breasts in the mayo mixture, put into bag of bread crumbs, shake til covered and put on backing sheet. Repeat for remaining chicken breasts. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

The recipe says 20 minutes, but I've always found meat to need 10-20 more minutes than a recipe says.

Bon Appetit!

Once again, I wish I had a picture but alas, the camera is broke and I'm still researching what I want for a camera. This could take awhile as I go from wanting a nice DSLR to a cheaper option that still has DSLR features but doesn't cost a small fortune.... Someday I'll make up my mind.

Salmon

Today, for the first time ever I cooked fish. I think it turned out pretty ok.

Alas, my camera is broke so I have no pictures.

RECIPE:

Salmon fillets
Aluminium foil
garlic
thyme
salt
pepper
lemon juice
butter

I was also supposed to add parsley and onion powder.

Place individual salmon fillets on their own piece of aluminum foil (enough to make a packet). Add garlic or garlic powder, onion powder (if you have it), sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme and parsley (if you have it). Add a bit of lemon juice to each packet and butter. Cook in 350 degree oven in a baking pan with 1/2" of water in it for 20-25 minutes. Poof* done!

source of recipe: www.cooks.com
only I forgot to bookmark the recipe. Ooops.

Rating: kind of bland, but a good first attempt at cooking salmon.