recipe not so much for disaster

So as part of my "resolutions" this year I wanted to cook more at home. Specifically cook more from recipes out of a cook book. In doing so I hoped to expand my knowledge base on ingredients, spices, combinations, techniques, and foods I had yet to work with. The following are my 3rd and 4th attempts.

The first was a salmon with a sesame seed crust and red pepper mayo. It all sounded like it was going to be amazing. I paired it with some sauteed mushrooms and zucchini as well as some sesame ginger rice (from a box, which is really good).


The real problem was that the sauce was lackluster, and the salmon just needed some more life to it. Coated in flour, salt, pepper, and sesame seeds the salmon hid underneath the light batter, so the sauce/mayo needed to be amazing.

Nothing was bad though, just not up to my standards. Is it narcissistic to critique your own cooking? Oh well, I enjoy talking about it, ha! A couple nights later I attempted some fish tacos with a black bean & mango salsa.These were actually pretty darn tasty. My problem: I don't know how to pick a ripe mango. HA, so the mango I got was piney/crunchy. Not the right texture or flavor. Once picked through this was however a quick and satisfying meal.

I'm not going to post the recipes on these guys since I didn't "create" them. If, however, you must try them I can pass along the recipe's along with what I would change/do different.

Anyways enough about food, on to wine. Claire and I are going on a Wine tour this weekend! Woo Hoo. It will be our first time to get away from Austin where we aren't visiting family and are just relaxing. Just the two of us, sorta. Claire's cousin and girlfriend are acting as semi-professional tour guides and are gonna hang out with us all weekend. Howie is a proffesional at this wine stuff and knows quite a few of the winos (ehh..or..guys that make the wine at the vineyards). So it should be pretty exciting. We get to stay the night on Saturday in Fredricksburg (I know your jealous Mom) at a bed and breakfast. We are also gonna test out Nest on Saturday night for Dinner. Really I am just excited about spending some time away from home and work.

Off to cook dinner.

a cue from beth

As I have been inspired by so many of Beth's posts, I decided I would give all you loyal readers a quick taste of what has been cooking in my kitchen. No, sadly you can't really taste it. However, I love to cook so if you bring yourself over, with a little warning, I will attempt to whip you up something palate pleasing. So here is what Claire and I had for dinner on Friday night.


I think I will call it Upside Down Stuffed Avocado. As you will probably notice, or have noticed in the past, I like to infuse a south of the border flair into my cooking. This recipe was a self created one. I decided this year I was going to find a good balance between using the 8 billion cookbooks I have and creating my own recipes. Someday I will compile my own creations into my own Tastebook.


The only problem I had with this meal was that I eyeballed the amount of olive oil put into the rice. Well, I'll admit, we all make mistakes and I over did it a bit so it came out just a tad on the oily side. Cutting the oil back would have made this probably a big winner, in this instance it just came out to be a good meal.



RECIPE:
1 Avocado (Halved, Peeled, and seed removed)
1 Chicken Breast (Grilled, Baked, or cooked to your preference)
1 Handful of Panko Crumbs
1 Cup Cilantro
1/2 Cup Green Onion
4 Chopped Button Mushrooms
1 Box of your favorite Spanish Rice (or make your own)
Salt, Pepper, Chili Powder, Tabasco, Cumin, Paprika, Fajita Seasoning, and Olive Oil

Saute the Mushrooms, Green Onion, Chicken in olive oil. Add all seasonings to taste. I like it strong so I pack it all on. Cover outside of Avocado with panko crumbs and quickly fry in olive oil until crumbs are light brown. Toss chicken mixture with fresh cilantro and portion onto the rice.
Top with the avocado, pitted side down and serve.

Enjoy.

christmas dash

My time off has been mostly consumed by Christmas. I don't think I really wanted it this way. But when you have parties to go to, presents to buy/make, food to make, friends visiting, work to run you down, and a billion other things going on you kinda lose track of time. Well I do anyways. I have been wanting to post about some great dishes I cooked up over the past few weeks with recipes and pictures included. Time has slipped away and I still haven't posted. Don't fret though..I will get them on here for everyone to delight in. I am sure y'all just can't wait. For now it will have to be wrapping and planning and checking off lists. Maybe on vacation in January I will put up some interesting blog stuff.

I think at this point I am more excited about vacation than I am Christmas. Really, who wouldn't be after working for 15 straight months. Whew I'm tired.

Oh, and just to throw this out there like everyone else has been today. It snowed last night. Not the real snow that you see up north or even in Amarillo where there are large visible snow flakes. But the flurry white stuff that you can only tell the difference between it and sleet because it kinda floats rather than pelts. Exciting non-the-less. I love the cold weather.