Biscuits and Milk Gravy

My weekday breakfast routine consists of either a bagel or fiber bar and a coffee on the go. Weekend breakfast? One word: Bacon. Actually, bacon AND bacon fat.

I love the weekends.

Here is Paula Deen's recipe for biscuits. I used White Lily flour instead of AP and placed them in the oven at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

Note: Paula omitted the temperature information for the oven. Michael must have interrupted her when writing the recipe.

I also decided to not roll them out and save time by making them drop biscuits.



While those are baking, I make milk gravy.

- 2 strips of bacon, cut into small pieces
- 1/2 tbs of butter
- 1 tsp of olive oil
- 2 tbs of flour
- 1 cup of warm milk

Cook the bacon in a frying pan until crisp; set aside.

Keep about 1 tbs of bacon fat in the pan. Add the butter and olive oil and melt. Spoon the flour into the frying pan and cook until golden brown. Add the warm milk and keep stirring until mixture turns into a thin gravy.

When the biscuits are cooked, put the bacon pieces back into the gravy.

Cherpumple

Yeah, yeah, mom. Sorry I have not updated this thing in months. While my running and healthy diet efforts are nothing for a foodie to blog about...I can thank Charles Phoenix for adding me to his site for attempting the Cherpumple.

click here

I'll post more pics and the recipe later, but here is one pic of the group enjoying the creation.

Bahn Mi

Tasty, tasty pork sub. Finally gaining popularity in the states, this sandwich layers the best of Vietnamese and French cooking. There are tons of variations online and most people will...annoyingly...protest if you add or subtract from the traditional recipe. What IS annoying are the lack of grocery stores that will sell the necessary ingredients for the sandwich. I can never find good Vietnamese baguette rolls, pate and daikon.

A similar problem occured about a year ago when trying to find all the ingredients for my student worker's pad thai recipe. She is from Thailand and was kind enough to print out her mother's instructions and grocery list for the dish. I dare ya...go to a supermarket that specializes in hot dogs and ketchup and ask if they have preserved turnip.

*crickets*

I e-mailed her while home and asked if there were any substitutions since I could not find a few items. Her response? "Improvise, Jen! That's what I do! We never have all of the ingredients, so add what you have and be creative!"

What a thought.

In that same spirit, I bring you my version of Bahn Mi.


For 2 sandwiches:

Pork:
- one boneless pork chip, sliced into thin strips
- zest and juice of one orange
- tsp of sesame oil
- chopped ginger
-tbs of vegetable oil
- sriracha sauce

Marinade pork strips with the next five ingredients for at least two hours.

Toppings:
- english cucumber, cut into long strips
- mayonnaise
- hot sesame chili oil
- mango (not traditional, but quite tasty)
- shredded carrots, about half a cup
- rice wine vinegar
- 1/4 tsp of sugar

Mix the carrots with the vinegar and sugar about 20 minutes before making the sandwiches.

Assemble:

Cook the pork quickly (30 seconds to one minute per side) in a hot pan coated in oil. While cooking pork, take two demi baguettes and toast.

Place mayonnaise and as much hot sesame chili oil as you like on the baguettes. Top with pork and the rest of the toppings.

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

Maybe it is easier to buy them off the $1 menu at Wendy's, but why not give it a shot if you have the ingredients. Ya know what I mean?

For 10 nuggets:

- 4 chicken tenderloins

- 2 eggs

- 1 cup buttermilk

- 1 or 2 tbs of heavy cream

- hot sauce

- italian spice mix

- 1/2 cup each panko and flour, combined

- vegetable oil

Marinade the tenderloins overnight in a mixture of buttermilk and hot sauce.

Cut the chicken pieces into small cubes and add them to a food processor with one egg, heavy cream and spice mix. Blend until smooth. Arrange on a plate into nugget shape and refrigerate for one hour.

Heat vegetable oil in a pot, about one inch.

While heating oil, beat the other egg and place into a shallow bowl. Place panko and flour mixture onto a plate. Add nuggets to egg mixture and cover with dry ingredients.

When oil is hot, add nuggets and cook until lightly browned on each side. When cooked, place on paper towel to drain oil and add salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy with your favorite dippin' sauce. I prefer hot honey mustard. The guy likes bbq. Whatever makes you happy.

Pistachio Macaroon

The perfect lunch dessert.

breakfast pizza

Carbonara pizza. Eggs, cheese and bacon.


I ate the whole thing.

Ratatouille

Remember the Disney movie of the same name? I always wondered what inspired Disney "imagineers" to create a layered version rather than the usual stew. So, I tried my own version...and it was delicious. A mandolin would make the process much easier and also yield more aesthetically pleasing slices.

- 2 baby eggplant, sliced

- 1 zucchini, sliced

- 1 yellow squash, sliced

- 1 small onion, sliced

- 2 cloves of garlic, sliced

- 1 cup canned san marzano tomatoes

- s&p

- fresh spices, whatever ya got

- olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place canned tomatoes in the bottom of a round pie plate.

Arrange onion and garlic on top of the tomatoes.

Arrange the eggplant, squash and zucchini as purty as possible on top of the previous mixture.

Olive oil the top, add s&p and spices. Place in oven for 40 - 45 minutes.

Vanilla Cupcakes

How do you make any lightened version of cupcakes edible? Add a small piece of orange flavored dark chocolate and tsp. of nutella. Ta-da!

I used a Weight Watchers recipe with yogurt, but since my membership ended yesterday, I cannot log-in to get the exact recipe. Cooking Light has similar recipes, though.

Beet Salad

A healthy, quick dish that will make you feel better about that Big Mac Attack earlier.

- 3 large beets

- 2 tbs. olive oil

- 1/2 tbs. champagne vinegar

- 1/2 tbs. honey

- salt and pepper

- 1 orange (zested, segmented and juiced)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place beets in oven, whole with 1 tbs. of olive oil for 45 - 50 minutes.

Make vinaigrette with remaining olive oil, vinegar, honey, s&p and juice/zest of orange.

When beets are cooked, allow to cool and peel skin. Cut into segments.

Add vinaigrette and orange segments.

Crispy Cornish Hens

Quick, quick, quick dinner.

- cornish hen, butterflied
- Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cover cornish hens with BBQ sauce and marinade for a few hours. Bring cast iron skillet to sizzling perfection. Sear hen, skin side down, for 10 minutes. Place in oven for 10-15 minutes.

Let rest on cutting board before cutting for 10 minutes.

Crispy, crispy, crispy.

A foodie's worst nightmare

Two words: Weight Watchers. With the closing of the local farmer's market for the season and my jeans holding on to my muffin top for dear life, I needed an intervention. Yes, pounds have been dropped and I now know that participating in a 5k is not beyond my reach, but the fun of cooking is certainly lost. Looking up every freakin' point and writing down EVERYTHING that I eat encourages me to raise funds for experimental metabolism-booster surgery...kidding. Not really.

While the program has encouraged me to understand the soul-crushing reality of portion sizes, the recipes are far from foodie worthy. Honestly, people, just exercise more instead of cooking a Dr. Frankenstein version of chocolate cake. The "substitutes" are cringe inducing. Typically, these include; liquid egg, gallons of splenda, cans of non-fat whipped topping, sugar-free chocolate milk and fiber cereal for "texture".

These recipes help those who would rather eat a lot instead of a little including quality ingredients. It makes sense; go to Golden Corral and watch the church crowd. "Lord, please bless these three plates of cafeteria food and the free refills of Dr. Pepper. Please allow us to finish in time to watch the (insert NASCAR/football event here) that begins in 20 minutes. In YOUR name we pray!" I can just see Jesus rolling his eyes as he blesses your departure on the gastrc bypass train. Choo-cho!!

Aww, geez.

I'm starting to sound cynical, huh? Must be the lack of carbs. Sorry, everyone.