When Manatee is Away...

Badger Girl doesn't do as much planning.

Manatee has a golfing trip this week. I am divided about how to proceed: tonight we are making a black bean and mushroom enchilada casserole and I am baking some molasses cookies. Tomorrow we are going out with some friends, but after that? I'm divided.

Part of me wants to tackle some of my cooking goals, particularly the ones of which I don't think Manatee will be very fond, namely the homemade macaroni and cheese, but then I have a huge pan of cheesey goodness and just me to eat it.

Part of me wants to rebel and eat all of the things he doesn't like: goat cheese, blue cheese, pasta, oh my!

Another part of me wants to tackle bread making and get some loaves made and frozen. Maybe do some preserves too.

And the other part of me wants to get takeout every night and spend the time doing more productive things, like reading books, watching movies and doing my nails.

If the ambitious Badger Girl presides then I will keep you updated. If you don't hear from me, be rest assured I am enjoying my Thai food with my trusty friends: TV, nail polish and my latest installment from BookSwim.

Where oh where have the uncooked shrimp gone?

Oh, where oh where could they be?



I was determined to make the baked shrimp and tomatoes dish last night. So determined that I sent Manatee on a mission: find me some uncooked shrimp. He tried three grocery stores and NONE of them have uncooked shrimp.

For you Madisonians-where can you find uncooked shrimp? For everyone else, where do you find uncooked shrimp?

There are tons of cooked shrimp out there but that only works for shrimp cocktail. It doesn't work if you want to put them in a dish and cook it yourself.

To make a long story short, we were forced to order in pizza last night. It was a hardship, I know. But uncooked shrimp, I won't be thwarted. I will find you and I will cook you and then I will blog about it.

January Hum Drums

So I have good news and I have bad news. Good news: As unsuccessful I was last week in my cooking, this week has exceeded my expectations. Bad news: No pictures. Hunger has taken away my patience for taking pictures.

Monday: Spaghetti Squash with Grilled Chicken Breasts and Vegetable Marinara

Tuesday: Moroccan Red Lentil Soup (a new staple in our household)

Wednesday: Pork with Thai Peanut Sauce

Thursday: Baked Shrimp and Tomatoes


Recipe: Pork with Thai Peanut Sauce

2 lb pork tenderloin trimmed of fat and cut into 4 pieces
1/3 cup terriyaki sauce
2 Tbsp rice vinegar (or in my case, apple cider vinegar with a pinch of sugar)
2 red peppers diced large
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 Tsp of crushed red pepper

1/4 cup peanut butter
2 green onions minced
crushed peanuts
lime wedges

1. Spray slow cooker with cooking spray.
2. Place the following in the slow cooker: pork tenderloin (cut in 4 pieces), red pepper, teriyaki sauce, vinegar, garlic, and crushed red pepper.
3. Cook on low for 8-9 hours.
4. Remove pork.
5. Stir in peanut butter.
6. Coarsely chop pork (by that time, it will fall apart when you place your fork on it)
7. Put pork back in slow cooker and cover with sauce.
8. Serve it over brown Jasmine rice and top with green onions and peanuts. Squeeze over lime juice.

After a long day of training, this was a great dinner to have waiting for me. I know training doesn't seem like it would be hard but it's a long day of saying 'Click on X. No, not there. Or there. Or-stop! (sigh) Okay, let's start over....again." By the time I get home, all patience has completely eroded.

On a side note, this may also contribute to not being able to wait to take a picture before eating....

Sad to Report...

Not one thing I have made this week has been pretty. Sunday night, we made Pot Roast with Winter Vegetables. This was not only unappetizing in looks but also in flavor. Imagine a hockey puck surrounded by water-y, tough cabbage. What was I think when I picked this recipe? Also, please consider this an SOS when it comes to cooking with a Dutch Oven. This was a gift from Manatee which I had gone as far as to send him a link to where he could buy me one because I just HAD to have it. Now I have it and clearly have no idea how to use it.

Then we made our Fish Packets with Deconstructed Pesto. This didn't taste awful but it was not a very attractive dish. When you steam basil, it turns brown and crinkly. And fish stinks. A lot.

Finally last night we made Crockpot Santa Fe Chicken. I couldn't find fresh cilantro for it, so I bought this cilantro in a tube. It looked like dark green finger paint. It gave the chicken a nice flavor but between that, the extra can of tomatoes we added and the fact we over-cooked it by about three hours, it was a lovely shade of dark brown with black (bean) and yellow (corn) chunks in it.

Here's to hoping I have some prettier dishes in the days to come.

An Easy Fancy Dinner

For NYE, Manatee and I decided to stay in and cook together. We wanted to do something a little fancier than normal but didn't want to spend the day cooking. We decided on peppered tuna steaks with buttered green beans and mushrooms (and salad and sourdough bread). This was a super easy thing to make and it was delicious.

Peppered Tuna Steak with Sweet and Tangy Marinade

2 ahi tuna steaks

Ground Black Pepper

Oil for grill

Oil the grill.

Grind some black pepper and press into tuna steaks. 

Place steaks on heated grill. Brush on marinade (recipe below). 

Grill for 4-6 minutes. 

Marinade:

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup honey

1/4 soy sauce

Whisk ingredients together. Use for basting and pour marinade over steaks when finished grilling.

Butter Green Beans and Mushrooms

6 oz sliced shitake mushrooms (stems removed)

6 oz sliced cremini mushrooms

1 garlic clove minced

2 Tbsp of butter

Salt and Pepper

Blanche green beans by steaming for 4 minutes and then dunking in ice water and placing on towel.

Melt 2 Tbsp butter in pan. 

Add mushrooms and salt and pepper. Saute for approx 8 minutes until mushroom juice evaporates.

Add minced garlic and sautee for 1 minute.

Add green beans and sautee until thoroughly heated.

Serve and enjoy!

The Conquering of a Goal

I kind of cheated and started on my cooking goals on New Year's Eve. Manatee and I made angel food cake from scratch.
It was awesome. You take twelve egg whites and keep beating them and they transform into a huge bowl from lightweight froth, otherwise known as meringue. I may sound naive or a little dim, but seeing the chemical reaction (or whatever it was) was just really, really cool. Matter of fact, I am going to add to my list of goals to make homemade mayonnaise.

I am not going to include the recipe because it is quite involved. We used the one from the Ultimate Cookbook.

Angel food topped with cocoa/cinnamon whipped cream with spicy caramel sauce

The Plan for the First Week of 2011

Sunday:
Pot Roast with Winter Vegetables and Fresh Thyme Popovers

Monday:
Fish Packets with Deconstructed Pesto and Steamed Asparagus

Tuesday:
Santa Fe Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Wednesday:
Leftovers

Thursday:
Ratatouille

Friday:
Baked Eggs with Ratatouille