Rave Reviews

Choosing a menu can be difficult.  You want to please everyone, impress everyone.  In day to day life I strive to be the perfect wife and just make my husband happy.  Despite the short lifespan of my blog thus far you've probably figured that out....clearly, the guy likes curry. 

Another favorite is Mexican food.  Whether I'm cooking or we are headed out, Mexican is a favorite.  I would say we eat out a good amount and when looking for Mexican we generally end up at Arriba Tortilla in East Aurora.  We are what you would call regulars.  It's almost embarrassing, we always have the same waitress and we both order the exact same dishes each time.  I guess if it ain't broke......

So the other night I tried a new recipe for Chicken and Black Bean-Stuffed Burritos from Cooking Light.  It was fast, easy, and quite tasty!  So imagine my surprise when I got the best compliment I could ever get from Jon....."this is the best burrito I've ever eaten."  Now, I'm not foolish enough to actually believe that statement, I mean really, I can't compete with Chipotle.  But still, message received....this is a good dish.  So the recipe has been starred as a favorite and noted that it's great for freezing!

Chicken and Black Bean-Stuffed Burritos

1/4 c. water
2 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp ground red pepper
2 c. shredded cooked chicken breast
1/4 c. thinly slived green onions (which I actually left out)
3/4 c. canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 c. refrigerated fresh salsa
Flour Tortillas (4)
1/2 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Bring first 6 ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan.  Stir in shredded chicken and green onions.

Combine beans and salsa.  Spoon 1/4 c. bean mixture and 1/2 c. chicken mixture down center of each tortilla; sprinkle with 2 Tbsp cheese.  Roll up.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Coat pan with cooking spray.  Add 2 burritos.  Cook for 3 minutes on each side.  Remove and repeat with remaining burritos. 

Quest for comfort

Winter is finally settling in,holidays just about over...time for home cooking! After all the running around over Christmas, the eating out, etc I was beyond excited when Monday night rolled around and I could stay in with Jon and cook us dinner. Not to mention I have a pretty stressful month coming up that already has me up at night. Cue the stress relief....cooking and blogging!

So Monday night, cold weather, cozy night at home = comfort food! Time to test out a new recipe from my Reader's Digest Soups & Salads cookbook...

Goulash Soup

4 slices of bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp hot paprika
2 lbs boneless beef chuck, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 quarts beef stock/broth
1 large green pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 large plum tomatoes, chopped
1/4 lb dried egg noodles

In a 6 quart soup pot, cook bacon over medium heat. Transfer bacon to plate and set aside.

Remove and discard all but 1 Tbsp of bacon drippings. Add onion and garlic to reserved drippings and sauté over medium heat until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in paprika. Add beef, stock, and bell pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until meat is tender, about 90 minutes to 2 hours.

Add potatoes and tomatoes. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in noodles and simmer until noodles and potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with reserved bacon.

Pretty tasty. It was pretty entertaining, Jon kept sneaking some bacon whenever he walked by, so I hid the plate. I then served the dish, completely forgetting about the bacon...which I found 2 days later...so I guess, I'm my mother! I consider myself very lucky!

A Very Merry Christmas

After such a great holiday weekend I must admit, I'm a little bummed to be going back to work today. The only cloud to the weekend was my constant fight against the common cold, tis the season. My favorite part of Christmas is without a doubt the wonderful feeling I get knowing how lucky I am to have so much family to spend my holiday with. I've been fortunate to always make it home for the holiday to find the same traditions year after year. That blessing is not lost on me and it is why I look forward to this time of year.

Unfortunately even a big family and lots of holiday cheer can't take the place of the ones who weren't here to celebrate with us. We sure did miss the Lilleys, Kings and Harris family as they all stayed home to celebrate in Charlotte, Atlanta, and Chicago. With them, the holiday would have been perfect!

As for traditions, I think I found a new one for Jon and I. After everyone left Christmas morning, we laid on the couch together in front of the fire, eating skittles (the most amazing stocking stuffer) and watching a movie. Followed by a walk around the neighborhood in the sun! Perfect!

Our Tree, not having dining room furniture has its perks!

My bag of Skittles, Santa did NOT mess around

View from the couch....Perfection

Look!!! Jon DID help with the fire!

White Chile with Quick-Roasted Garlic

Here's a yummy recipe we had by Melissa D'Arabian which I got from the January 2010 issue of Food Network Magazine.

For the Roasted Garlic:

12 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 Tb EVOO

Toss the garlic cloves w/the EVOO and 1 teas water in a microwave-safe bowl.  Cover, leaving a vent, and microwave until softer, about 90 seconds.  Let cool, covered.

For the Chili:

12 shallots, chopped
2 Tbsp EVOO
3 Anaheim chile peppers
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp flour
1 C. dry white wine
7 C. chicken broth
4 C. shredded cooked chicken
1 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 15 oz can navy beans, undrained (feel free to substitute another white bean)
Salt & Pepper
1 10 oz box frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed dry
3/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/3 C. heavy cream
1 C. grated monterey jack cheese

Preheat broiler.  Cook the shallots in the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat until carmelized, about 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, place the chiles on a foil-lined broiler pan and broil until charred on all sides, turning about 8 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl, cover w/plastic wrap and let cool.  Peel the peppers w/your fingers or a paring knife.  Stem, seed and chop.

Add the minced garlic to the shallots and cook about 2 minutes.  Add the flour and cook, stirring, until toasted, about 3 minutes.  Increase the heat to high and add the wine; simmer 2 minutes, scraping browned bits from the pan.  Add the roasted chiles, 6 cups broth, the chicken, chili powder, cayenne, beans, and salt and pepper to taste.  Return to simmer.

Meanwhile, squeeze the soft pulp from the roasted garlic into a blender or food processor.  Add the remaining 1 cup broth and process until smooth.  Add to the chili and simmer until thickened, about 30 minutes, adding the spinach during the last 5 minutes.  Add the paprika and cream and season w/salt and pepper.  Garnish with cheese. 

Move Over Martha

So just over a week ago I had a hell of a productive Sunday: that is if you judge productivity through culinary masterpieces, which I obviously do. 

It was a nonstop, kind of day.  I managed to make it to shop, clean, visit with family, and wrap gifts all before I hit the kitchen for my marathon afternoon/evening.  For the first year ever, I made cut-out cookies.  True, not a huge accomplishment....I get it, but I had never done it before.  The most exciting part was of course using my standing Kitchen Aid mixer!!!!  It only took 2 years, but yes, I loved it!

So I set out baking and decorating, baking, decorating....blah blah blah blah blah.  Gosh, baking cookies sure does get exhausting.  I tried really hard to make them pretty, but can't say I was too successful.  All I do know, is a lot of love went into all of them (well maybe not the last 15 or so). 

As soon as I finished baking the cookies (meaning I finished decorating about 50% of them), I had to get started on dinner.....Roasted Chicken, dun, dun dun.  This would be my 4th or 5th attempt at Roasted Chicken.  There is just something about chicken, I never time it right.  Every attempt has pretty much ended up with Jon and I eating all the sides first as I had to put my raw chicken back in the oven.  But as today I was a culinary genius, not only did I make the perfect roast chicken, I made amazing sides (specifically my garlic mashed potatoes),  all while I continued to frost my not so gorgeous but tasty cookies, and my chicken and sides were all ready at the same time!!!! That's right, Martha Stewart ain't got sh#t on me! 

Can't say I didn't warn you...

Before winter sets in I was determined to prepare Fall Vegetable Curry. I wasn't lying, we eat a lot of curry. I like this recipe because it's got a little bit of a kick to it and it fascinates me that I've managed to prepare a vegetarian dish that Jon will actually eat! Pat myself on the back! Although to be honest, he was craving a protein this time, so I threw some shrimp in there to make him happy, spoiled much?

Fall Vegetable Curry

1 1/2 tsp olive oil
1 c. Diced, peeled sweet potato
1 c. Small cauliflower florets
1/4 c. Thinly sliced yellow onion
2 tsp Madras curry powder (no Madras, use 1 1/2 tsp curry & 1/2 tsp red pepper)
1/2 c. Vegetable broth (I use chicken)
1/4 tsp salt
1 15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 14.5 ox can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sweet potato and sauté 3 minutes. Decrease heat to medium and add cauliflower, onion, and curry powder. Cook 1 minute stirring constantly. Add broth and next 3 ingredients (through tomatoes); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with cilantro. Serve over basmati rice with some cashews mixed in. Yum!

Comfort food

If I were a chef or restauranteur...I would serve comfort food. I mean really, who doesn't love comfort food?! So last week when I had an opportunity to cook a few nights and was doing some menu planning for the next couple weeks I made sure to include lots of comfort food options. So to share with you, Wednesday night we had Bistro Braised Chicken compliments of...Cooking Light, obviously! This is pretty cheap to make and the ingredients are all generally something I have at all times so it's an easy go to.

1 Tbsp butter, divided
8 bone-in chicken thighs
1 c. Thinly sliced carrot
3/4 c. Chopped onion
1/2 c. Sliced celery
8 pitted dried plums, chopped
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried sage
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 14 oz can fat-free chicken broth
3/4 c. Water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 c. Cooked egg noodles

Melt 1 tsp butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken to pan; cook 6 minutes, browning both sides. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.

Add remaining 2 tsp butter to pan. Add carrot, onion, celery, and dried plums; cook 4 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften, stirring frequently. Stir in thyme and sage; cook 30 seconds. Stir in mustard. Add broth and 3/4 c. Water; bring to a simmer.

Return chicken to pan. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 35 minutes. Uncover, increase heat to medium-high, and simmer until sauce is reduced by half (about 10 minutes). Stir in salt and pepper. Serve over noodles.
Something about this dish reminds me of chicken noodle soup...what's more comforting than that?! Bon appetite!

Fall Excursions

This has been a season of traveling for me.  Over the past couple of months I’ve been meeting up with friends and family everywhere including: Vegas, Charleston, Charlotte, Florida, and Baltimore.  It has been great, but exhausting!  Now, my whirlwind has concluded just in time for the holidays and I’m ready to settle in for winter at my wonderful house.   A few photos of my excursions…. (which just makes me realize how horrible I am with my camera, note to self- take more photos!)

I totally hate this photo, but it is one of two photos that Jon and I took together in Vegas (can you imagine there is actually a worse photo of us than this!)  Anyways, this was taken at Sushi Samba where we were dining with Scotty and the soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Kney.  Amazing meal and company, we had such a great time!

 Only my family is on a girls vacation and takes NO photos of all of us.  I wanted/tried to have a photo taken of the five of us at dinner our first night but was shut down, told it was not the appropriate place, like the staff at Peninsula Grille aren't used to people asking to have photos taken (read sarcasm).  But had people not shot me down, I would have an actual family photo to display.  Instead, all I have is this photo of Erin with her new best friend.  After dinner, we met this couple celebrating their 1 year wedding anniversary at a wine bar.  We became fast friends, best friends.  The kind of friends that are made over several bottles of wine.  This lady LOVED Erin, and Erin may have loved her back just a little bit!

 While in Charleston, I was able to meet up with college friends!!!!  Marc, Rebecca, and I met at Poogan's Porch for brunch and did a minor bar crawl from Vendue to Griffon's....had a great time!

 On to Palm Coast, Florida where I met up with all of my college roommates.  The four of us hadn't been together in 2 years so it was so great to see them.  We had such an amazing time, special shout out to Dr. and Mrs. Sticca for letting us stay in their home.  I swear I never laugh as much as I do with these girls and hope to see them much sooner than 2 years from now!

  And finally, on to Baltimore....this trip was a last minute decision.  The King and Harris family are spending a week in Baltimore and I wanted to see the kids before the summer of 2012.  The only downside was that Jon was unable to come with me.  But here are a few of my favorite photos from the weekend...Alexa, always making me laugh

 Grandma and some of her girls...

 and Happy Birthday to Alexa and Isla!

I unfortunately have no photos from Charlotte because I didn't have my camera.  I may have figured out my New Years resolution early this year!

We are curry people...

So I was thinking about the last post/meal I cooked and realized how strange people may find it that I will constantly be posting curry recipes.  We love curry.  And I've found, there are alot of curry recipes out there.  So realizing this, I've decided I've got to get my best curry recipe out of the way.  I just can't keep it quiet, I know that all others won't compare.  This is probably our favorite recipe, I ALWAYS keep all incredients on hand so that we can have some CHICKEN CURRY(compliments of my fav...Cooking Light of course)...enjoy

1 T. canola oil
3 (6 oz) chicken breast ( I use 2 chicken breast for Jon & I)
1/2 t. salt
2 C. green bell pepper strips
2 T. fresh lime juice (do not feel you can cut the acid....it is a must!!!  Really makes the dish)
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. red curry paste
1 t. sugar
1 (14 oz) can light coconut milk 
3 cups hot cooked long-grain rice  (Basmati...I'm a believer)
Lime Wedge (optional, aka only when entertaining)

1.  Heat large skillet over med-high heat.  Add oil to pan;  Sprinkle chicken evenly w/salt.  Add chicken to pan; cook 6 min or until browned, turning once.
2.  Add bell pepper; saute 4 min, stirring occasionally.
3.  Remove chicken mixture from pan. 
4.  Combine juice, soy sauce, curry paste, & sugar in a small bowl, stirring w/whisk.  Add juice mixture & coconut milk to pan; bring to a boil.  Cook 12 minutes or until slightly thick.
5.  Return chicken mixture to pan; cook 2 min or until thoroughly heated.  Serve over rice.  Garnish w/lime wedge, if desired. 

Yields 4 servings, but like I said...2 chicken breast for Jon & I.  Trust, this is fabulous.

PS...shopping tip, always shake the can when buying coconut milk.  I've gotten one too many cans that were solid when I opened it.  Listen for the liquid!

I vote for good food!

I was beyond thrilled to have today off for Election Day and excited to use some of my free time today for cooking.  It’s not often during the week that I can put two hours in to preparing dinner (let’s be honest, I’m slow at prep work, so we are really talking two and a half hours). Regardless, I wanted to take advantage of the time today.  While the weather wasn’t exactly chilly, I still wanted to make some comfort food so I decided on a dish we haven’t had since last winter, Sweet Potato Chicken Curry.  While it is time consuming, it’s tasty and pretty good for you.  I found the recipe in the November 2009 issue of Cooking Light (a favorite magazine of mine).  I’ve shared this recipe in the past and it was met with good reviews.  I like to serve it over Basmati rice, enjoy!

2 t. curry powder
1 t. ground coriander
1 t. ground turmeric
1/2 t salt
1/2 t. black pepper
1/4 t. ground red pepper
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 t. olive oil
1 1/2 lb chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 c. vertically sliced onion
1 1/2 t. minced fresh ginger (which I actually leave out alot b/c I rarely am willing to spend $ on ginger)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14 oz) can chicken broth
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 c. (1/2 inch) cubed peeled sweet potato
3/4 c. canned chickpeas, rinsed & drained
1/2 c. frozen green peas
1 t. fresh lemon juice

1.  Combine curry powder, coriander, turmeric, salt, black pepper, red pepper, & bay leaf in small bowl
2.  Heat oil in large Dutch oven over med-high heat.  Add chicken to pan; saute 5 min or until browned, stirring occasionally.  Remove chick from pan.  Reduce heat to medium.  Add onion to pan; cook 10 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently.  Increase heat to med-high; return chicken to pan.  Cook 1 minute.  Stir in garlic and ginger and cook 1 minute stirring constantly.
3.  Stir in curry powder mixture.  Add broth and tomatoes; bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour.
4.  Stir in potato and chickpeas.  Cook, uncovered 30 minutes.  Add peas; cook 5 minutes.  Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice.

Bon appetit!

For My #1 Fan...

This one's for you Julie, as promised years ago....Garlic Shrimp from Southern Living.  It's a staple in the Lilley household: fast, easy, and always good! 

2 dozen large, unpeeled raw shirmp
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teas dried crushed red pepper
1/4 teas pepper
1/4 c butter, melted
1/2 c French breadcrumbs (homemade), toasted
1/2 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Peel shrimp, (leave tails on or off); devein.  Arrange shrimp in an 11x7 baking dish; pour oil over shrimp.  Combine parsley and next 3 ingredients; sprinkle over shrimp.  Cover and bake at 300 for 15 minutes.

Turn shrimp over; drizzle w/butter, and sprinkle w/breadcrumbs & cheese.  Bake, uncovered, 5 to 10 more minutes.

Makes 2 servings

I like to toast up the rest of the French bread to get all the garlic & oil!  Bon Appetit!

Look at me, I'm a blogger!

So I've been toying with the idea of starting a blog for awhile now, but have had nothing to talk about. I still really don't have much to contribute, but I'm no longer going to let that stop me!

Having long work days/tough hours can be stressful and one of my favorite things to do to unwind is to cook. I like listening to music, having some wine and putting a meal together. It's funny because I used to find cooking itself to be stressful and now it's just what I need to take my mind off my day. It helps me forget about every annoyance that occurred throughout my day and at the end, I get to feel I did at least something right that day when my husband smiles and tells me how great everything is. During every meal, I just wait to hear it...no pressure Jon!

In my never-ending quest for affirmations I'm always on the lookout for new recipes. When I find the good ones that become staples for my little family, I want to share with others but always seem to forget. So, this seems like the perfect outlet to do so. Share the success, find the humor in the failed attempts, and maybe have another outlet for stress relief!