Curried Chicken Salad

Chop rotisserie chicken, mix with mayo, curry powder, cucumber, red pepper, S&P.  Serve on Triscuits with fresh avocado and chives!  Yum!!

It's chili time!

Tis the season for stick-to-your-bones home cookin...so I broke out the crockpot! 

This wasn't anything fancy.  Just your normal chili ingredients: 

1 1/2 C. Dry Black and Great Northern Beans (I was out of Kidney Beans)- soaked overnight

1 Sm. Onion and 4 Cloves of Garlic - sautéed in EVOO

1 Lg. can of Crushed Tomatos + 1 can of Water + 1 TBLS of Sugar

1 Red Pepper - finely chopped 

1 1/2 lbs. Cubed Venison (Beef or Pork) - browned in EVOO and a generous coat of seasonings:

Chilli Powder

Ancho Chili Powder

Chipotle Chili Powder

Cayenne Chili Powder (in moderation) 

Garlic Powder

Black Pepper

Salt

Cumin

Oregano

Add everything to the crockpot and cook on low all day. 

Remove and shred the meat, if you desire. Return to the pot and season to taste.  I usually need to add more chili powder, garlic powder and salt at this point. 

Serve with your favorite toppings: cheese, onions, sour cream, etc...

Or over macaroni noodles (these were gluten free)

Stay warm! 

More photo experiments...

Bowl-O-Pistachios with a side light (unedited)...

Adding a little pattern and a cool little square picture setting I found on my iPad (also unedited)!

I have been obsessed with food photography technique sites lately.  So much so that I have successfully procrastinated on completing my final projects, for my final courses, to finally be done with school, FINALLY!  Oops!

I'm going to have to take tomorrow off of work now to get my paper done.  Oh well!  

A 3 day weekend sounds delightful...

P.S. I may have also been completely enthralled in the live broadcast of The Sound of Music tonight, just maybe.   

Take 2

Pasta Carbonara with a few different angles...

I think I need to stick with the close-ups until I get some tabletop props. 

Light Box Testing

Take 1

I don't have a "normal" tomato picture to compare this to but I think it looks pretty good.  

More testing to follow! 

Roasted Red Pepper, Shawarma & Feta Pasta

One of my favorite Lebonese dishes, Chicken Shawarma, inspired this dish.  While it has no meat, it has all of the flavor (because I cheated).  

Simmer cooked pasta in just a bit of water flavored with Shawarma seasoning with a dash of chicken bullion.  Add roasted red peppers and feta cheese.  Top with more feta and crushed, dried mint. 

This is my favorite Shawarma seasoning...

Enjoy! 

Roasted Red Pepper Guacamole

In a desperate effort to use all of my roasted red peppers, I have been adding them to nearly everything.  They should, without a doubt, be standard fare in guacamole from now on.  

Keep it simple!  

Avocado

Roasted Red Peppers

Shallot

Cilantro

S&P

A squeeze of lime

Viola...

Enjoy!!

Roasted Red Peppers

Simply that!  

Roast the whole peppers at 500 degrees for 40 mins on a cookie sheet.  Turn over every ten mins.  

Place roasted peppers in a bowl, cover with foil and let them sit for at least 1/2 hour. The skin will pull away from the meat.  When they are cooled off you can pull apart, peel and remove the seed.  Add a little olive oil and store in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. 

Add to any and every dish!  

Enjoy!!

My new box!

I am one step closer to much better food blog pictures.  This is my homemade light box.  It's super high tech!  Now I just need the right lightbulbs and a couple of lamps.  

School will finally be over soon and blogging can be more often. 

Better pictures coming soon.....

Black-N-Blue Buffalo Buck Burger

My obsession with creating delicious dishes with venison is growing daily.  I may have to start a blog dedicated entirely to venison.  We shall see! 

This one was a real winner! 

1 lb. Ground Venison

4 Chopped Shallots

1/4 C Blue Cheese

2 eggs

1/4 C breadcrumbs

Season with Blackened Seasoning and S&P

Tip: I always cook a little piece of the meat in a pan to make sure the seasoning is perfect before I cook the burgers.  I do this with all ground meat dishes.  

Patty and sprinkle with a little more blackened seasoning 

Sear in a pan or cook on the grill!  

Top with more blue cheese and some buffalo mayo (mayo mixed with buffalo wing sauce) 

Add a side of oven fries and ancho chili ketchup......Dinner is served!! 

Enjoy! 

Cream of Mushroom Soup (minus the cream)

Soups are on my mind.  Yes, soup!  It's getting cold.  I don't like cold.  Soups make me warm! :) 

This little crock-full of mushroom bliss was inspired by a $10 for $10 special at Meijer on Baby Bella mushrooms.  How can you pass that up? 

This recipe was super easy and super delicious!

1. Finely chop 4 shallots and 1 1/2 packages of mushrooms

2. Sauté in a little EVOO (don't add seasoning yet) 

3. VERY thinly slice the remaining 1/2 package of mushrooms

4. When shallots are translucent and mushrooms are golden brown, season with S&P

5. Pour 1% reduced fat Organic Milk (or whatever kind you use) into the pan.  Use as much as you want, depending on how much soup you want.  I used about 6 cups of milk for 2 servings.

6. Throw in 6 fresh sage leaves and the rest of the sliced mushrooms. Let simmer for a couple minutes. 

7. Season to taste with salt and pepper as it simmers. 

8. Thicken! You could use corn starch slurry or flour slurry, I used a gluten free rice starch.  I just sprinkled it in as it simmered and it thicken right up.  

9. Remove sage leaves and serve! 

Enjoy! 

Caprese Salad

A local Italian restaurant, La Scola, has created the most delicious "salad" ever.   Really, EVER!

It's beyond delicious!

Starting my Christmas wish list...

This would be much safer than my stemless wine glasses! 

Pepperoni and Feta Stuffed Mushrooms

That's it!  Chopped venison pepperoni, Feta and Porcini Mushrooms. 

Amazing! 

Zucchini Pizza Crust

Pizza can be healthy! 

Shed zucchini, squeeze the ever living crap out of it in a dish towel, mix with egg whites, a little flour (I used gluten free baking mix) as a binder and season.  

Cook extra well done in a skillet like a pancake.

Top with anything you wish....

Enjoy!

Maple, Almond & Cranberry Pancakes

These gluten free pancakes are by far our favorite pancakes EVER!  Instead of making eggs with mine I added the protein right in.  

A perfect breakfast for a chilly fall Saturday morning! 

A Chef in Training

My daughter cooked me dinner tonight. 

She chopped all of the veggies and made her own Vinegarette.  

Baked spaghetti and garlic bread were the main course.

So yummy and so proud of my little chef! ❤️

Sweet Potato & Brat Boat

Compromises are not only for children.   I was really, REALLY craving a brat but thought I should somehow make it healthful.  This was my compromise!  A baked sweet potato, grilled bratwurst and sautéed sweet peppers and onions.  The savory-sweet combo was perfect.  This would be fantastic with extra spicy Cajun brats! 

Caesar Salad Dressing (made with 0% Greek yogurt)

I love Caesar salad but not all of the calories that it packs, so I decided to try to make my own dressing with Greek yogurt.  I will be making more dressings with this idea. 

1 Cup of 0% Greek Yogurt

2 chopped garlic cloves

2 TBLS Worchestershire sauce

3 TBLS Red Wine Vinegar

1TBLS Dijon Mustard

1 tsp dry ground mustard

Salt and Pepper to taste

A small drizzle of olive oil

Lots of grated Parmesan cheese 

Mix in a food processor or by hand

(These are my best guesses on measurements.  I'm horrible at writing things down when I'm in the kitchen) 

It's thick but leaves a nice creamy coating when mixed with the salad in a bowl.  It could probably be thinned a little with milk if you prefer.  

Watermelon Heaven

Never, ever, ever think twice about buying produce from the back of the farmer's pickup truck on the side of the road.  I have never had a watermelon as good as this.  Yum!