cheesy pasta with scallops

i love scallops but i'm usually too scared to cook them because the chances of me overcooking them are very very high! i was doing my rounds through trader joes and found some bay scallops in the frozen section so i decided it was time to conquer those fears!! and what better to go with scallops then some yummy pasta and a cheese sauce of some sorts? :)

i don't go rogue when it comes to soups...but i did when it came to my white sauce! i love sauces like alfredo--but i don't like the fat and calories! so, the only other option was to come up with my own version! i did a little research (read: allrecipes and foodnetwork.com) and then came up with a concoction that in my head worked out. luckily, it did in reality too!

i chopped up some turkey bacon (side note i am going with the real thing next time) and threw that it in a sauce pan with olive oil and got that going for a bit before throwing in some garlic. after a little bit the bacon started sticking to the pan and i started freaking out cause, well, everything is sticking! but then i slowly added in a little chicken broth which took care of the sticky bits and helped bring the garlic and bacon together.



after another minute, i added in some low-fat milk that i stirred a little corn starch into to help thicken up the mixture. after i got the milk going a little, i stirred in a cup of parmesan cheese. yummmmm! you wanna make sure you turn the heat down so it's simmering while you do it. as the mixture continued to thicken, i threw in some peas and then eventually the scallops towards the end so they wouldn't cook too much longer.



finally, i tossed the linguine i had cooked prior in the sauce with tongs and it was ready to go! this dish was so easy and i'd like to think a lot healthier than the other white sauces you find out there. this will definitely be a go-to whenever i'm feeling lazy.

clam chowder

this weekend i've been feeling under the weather so there was a lot of napping and laziness that occured. of course my body would pick a long weekend to not get along with me! so after enough days of doing nothing i did a bunch of cooking today! for lunch i made clam chowder from of my book "for the love of soup," which i also used for my tomato soup!

i can't decide how i feel about this clam chowder. it is not your fatty creamy clam chowder, but rather a healthier version that uses milk and clam juice for flavor. to make the chowder, i chopped celery, onion, carrots, and potatoes. then i cooked up a little bacon on the pan and then added in the celery, onion, carrots and sauteed them for a bit. then in went the potatoes, bay leaf, chicken stock and clam juice.

after simmering for 15 minutes, i added in the clams and milk that had had been mixed with corn starch which helped thicken the soup.

the flavor was good, but i think next time would add just a little cream to get that consistency that i like in chowder. i also think that this soup is a little like pasta in that it will taste better tomorrow after the clams and the juice have had some time to meld with everything.

jambalaya!

the girls on the best buy team at work LOVE to eat which means there is a lot of recipe trading that occurs. jess made this jambalaya recipe from emeril recently and was raving about it so obviously it got into my head and then i decided it needed to happen this weekend. (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/cajun-jambalaya-recipe2/index.html). lucky me i was able to convince brian and will to make it with me while we watched pirate radio on saturday night.

this recipe is very easy--truly the most difficult part of the entire thing is going out to get the ingredients. i made the spice mix and from reading the reviews, i toned down the cayenne a little and only added half the amount of salt that it called for. i like spicy food as much as the next person but i hate when it's SO spicy you can't even taste or enjoy it. one of the readers accidentally swapped the cayenne pepper (1 tbsp) with the paprika (2 1/2 tbsp). hahahahaha. dummy. clearly she did not know the power that cayenne possesses because that is one mistake you do not make.

instead of regular shrimp we got tiger prawns since we were at costco. i would recommend cutting up the chicken and shrimp into smaller pieces so that it cooks quicker when you add it into your rice mixture that is already going. besides, i've always been a fan of bite size pieces. but nooo will had to be stubborn. liked his chunks. then later admitted ok maybe i should've cut them down smaller. see? cb always knows best.

we also added a little more rice than it called for (1 1/4 cups total) instead of the 3/4 because it just didn't seem like very much. we compensated with adding a little bit more of the chicken broth but underestimated how much liquid would expel from the chicken once it got cooking in the mixture so our end result was a little soupier/gumbo like than straight up jambalaya. to be honest, i've always thought jambalaya is supposed to be more soupier than just a rice dish but that's not what i've been told. regardless, the three of us loved the way it came out and wouldn't change a thing. the spice mixture was also great! a lot of heat, but not too much we couldn't taste the food.

can't wait to make it again!

tomato soup à la jeanelle mitchell

i woke up with my throat feeling a little iffy today so instead of going to run on the treadmill post work, i decided it was time to put my christmas present from megan (the book: for the love of soup) to work! remember...i'm not going rogue when it comes to making soup anymore. well, until i build a little more confidence ;)

it was so easy! i sectioned up two onions and carrots and then sliced in half 3 lbs of tomatoes and placed them on baking sheets to roast with a LOT of garlic in the oven for about at 375 for 50 minutes. keep in mind you gotta put the tomatoes with the flat side face up. then i brushed some olive oil on the the vegetables before sticking them in the oven too.

afterwards, i removed the tomato skins and added everything into a pot with 2 cups of chicken broth, 1 cup of water and some freshly chopped basil. i also added salt/pepper/garlic powder to taste. after letting it simmer for about 10 minutes, you are supposed to use an immersion blender (look it up) or a regular blender/processor to make it into the creamier texture. well thank god for the magic bullet (no, not the sex toy)!! naturally i do not possess an immersion blender (though my mother does) or a regular blender so my only option was divide this into MANY batches so the magic bullet could do its job. not my finest cooking moment.



despite the my roundabout way in blending the soup, it turned out great! the ingredients are simple, but it's flavorful and so healthy for you. i love eating my soup with crackers so i found some buttery flaky ones we had from trader joe's which completed my meal fabulously.

mama's tomato beef

back in november when i was home i learned how to finally make my mom's tomato beef (see post here: http://thefatkidatheart.blogspot.com/2010/11/tomato-beef.html) but i hadn't had a chance to make it until earlier this week! naturally i had to call my mother again and ask for directions for the umpteenth time but i just wanted to make sure i remembered everything!

after talking to mama bee, i marinated the beef and then stuck it in the fridge for a bit so i could head to the outlets with angela. of course when i'm in marysville my mom calls and says (in chinese) 'OH NO!! I FORGOT TO TELL YOU THE MOST IMPORTANT PART ABOUT MARINATING THE BEEF!! YOU GOTTA ADD WATER!!' well good thing i was half an hour away from the meat mommy dearest...luckily the roomie was home to save the day!

i can't share the recipe (see link above) but i will say i am pretty proud of myself! it's not quite as delicious as hers but it was pretty damn close. i'll definitely need to continue tweaking it next time. baby steps...right?

musashi!!!!!!!!

i went to musashi on saturday with angela and will because they'd heard so many great things about this sushi joint and well, if i had to eat one thing for the rest of my life, this would be it! musashi is across the street from tilth (my fav restaurant EVER) on 45th. it is a smaller mom and pops joint so you either need to be prepared to wait half an hour outside or call in an order! it is also cash only so come with your benjamins.

from reading all their yelp reviews, everything was raving about their chirashi bowl (bowl of sushi rice topped with raw fish) since it's such a great deal ($14) but i went for a yellowtail and spicy tuna roll with 4 pieces of salmon nigiri ($13 total for everything!!).



it.was.so.good.

the salmon was so buttery tasting and a pretty good portion. the spicy tuna roll was a perfectly spicy and so flavorful. the yellowtail was a little bland so i don't think i would go for that again. i swear i could've had a meal of just the salmon nigiri. will ordered the bowl and it looked AMAZING. sometimes i'm kind of iffy on ordering these things cause you end up getting fish you don't really want but they let you substitute here so you're guaranteed to get something to your liking! that...or feign allergy to whatever fish you don't like...

you can be i'll be back verrrry soon.

grilled cheese party

i am soooo behind on updating! work has been very busy with me trying to wrap up everything before i go compete on the reality show focus rally america! if this is the first you've heard of it then go to this site (http://www.focusrally.com/team/grey/) join my team and check it out!! sorry, couldn't help the plug for help!

back on track now...i've been so excited to blog about the grilled cheese party so here goes! don't judge me. in fact you'll probably be tempted to throw one of these yourself after you read about it. ;)

stephanie and i ran across some oprah/martha stewart page one time about having one of these so we decided to make it happen! the gathering was at my apt and we had everyone who came over bring a cheese and a topping that could go on grilled cheese--i provided the bread/butter/stove.

everyone came over and and i cut up everything and put it onto plates so everyone could make their own delicious creation easily. we had soooo many options! there was beechers, pepperjack, tillamook extra reserve cheddar (emily texted me while at safeway saying 'i got fancy cheese i think'...haha), gouda from holland (this was my contribution--thank you met market!), and havarti. as for other toppings, we had proscuitto, arugula, basil, avocado, and tomato. oh and don't forget the mustard!

i threw a few pans on the stove and turned them onto medium low and put out butter and some knives next to the stove so everyone could butter their bread!

people got all sorts of crazy (i mean, as crazy as they could) but it was so easy and so tasty! here's my creation! i believe i put in gouda, cheddar and beechers with proscuitto, tomato, avocado and basil. money.