Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Happy Cinco de Mayo y'all! (I know that sounds just so lovely with a southern accent.) We celebrated Cinco de Mayo with Sangria, chicken enchiladas, and corn and black bean salsa. What a wonderful way to celebrate Mexico's eradication of the French (NOT the Mexican Independence Day, common misconception - that is actually September 16th... more sangria then too!) And it was so nice to have guests to share our celebratory meal with!

Look how festive our apartment looks!

Getting up close and personal con mi comida!

Our festive bar, patiently awaiting our guests!

Spicy chicken and salsa filling - I had to keep myself from eating  all the filling before rolling it up in tortillas.

Chicken and spinach roasted red enchiladas

And what would a holiday celebration be without some festive libation? Cranberry and frozen grape sangria, ole!

Cranberry and Frozen Grape Sangria

1 bottle white wine (we used Pinot Grigio)
1/2 bottle of 100% cranberry juice
1 cup simple syrup (equal parts water and sugar, simmered until the sugar is dissolved)
juice of two limes
Grapes and granny smith apples, frozen

Mix the liquid ingredients in a large pitcher. Refrigerate until chilled. To serve, add some fruit to the bottom of each white wine glass, then pour your perfect sangria over your frozen fruit.

** The frozen fruit will act as ice cubes to keep your drink cold without watering it down like ice cubes will. Fun tip of the day!**

It's Waaaay to Early for Breakfast

The clock in the bottom corner of my screen says 5:24am. 

Even these pictures look tired.

I'm not hungry this early in the morning. Which is shocking because I'm always hungry. 

But I have to eat to have my strength for a whole day at work, then class, then back to work. 

I work at the Woodford Reserve Distillery, in their banquet kitchen. It is a beyond awesome job, with wonderful people, great food, and a fun atmosphere. It requires lots of long hours that usually extend from way before the sun gets up to way past by bedtime. However, that's a small price to pay for such a great opportunity. I am so thankful and thrilled to have earned the chance to work there, so good thing I am a morning person.

Anyway, here is my protein packed breakfast for working champions. Eggs, scrambled with lots of parsley, scallion, spinach, and a healthy dose of red pepper flakes, piled on top of melted mozzarella cheese, spicy salsa, and toasted tortilla. Yummy, regardless of what hour it is.

Time to go to work. Check Woodford out here: http://www.woodfordreserve.com/

Chipotle Doesn't Have Anything on Me

As you all know by now, I am a sucker for Tex-Mex and Mexican food. It is always my go to when I am out of ideas for dinner time, I not-so-jokingly kid that I could eat my weight in chips and fresh salsa, and it is the only way I have found to stomach avocados (I am still on uneasy ground with them... see here.) That being said, my weekend was filled with nothing but writing my business plan (not joking, that's all it was - I need to go back to school to get a break!) but was interrupted briefly to make this yummy bowl of comfort.

I think I should go ahead and put my two cents in there when it comes to the burrito fast food debate. Qboda, Chipotle, Pollo Loco, Taco Del Mar, Taco Bell (shudders)... so many to choose from, essentially offering the same things, and shamelessly overpricing their product. I mean come now, how expensive is rice, beans, grilled vegetables, and lettuce? Not. Very. But I have a special weakness for Moe's: http://www.moes.com/. But really, Moe's salsa. I buy it by the cup full and ask for it as a birthday and Christmas present, not joking. Seriously, if you aren't lucky enough to have a Moe's by you, drive to the nearest one, tell them Katelyn sent you, and I'm sure they will give you a discount.

And I am now following them on Twitter... I'm such a dork...

To avoid paying too much for rice and beans, plus saving the time to walk there, I decided to make my own rice bowl this weekend. It turned our scrumptious, I could use brown rice (which Mexican restaurants won't jump on board with,) and I saved eight bucks. Win-win-win!

Cilantro Lime Rice Vegetable Bowl

Cilantro Lime Rice:

1 cup cooked brown rice

1/4 cup finely minced fresh cilantro (I used the paste that comes in the produce section of the grocery)

juice of half a lime

salt and pepper to taste

Cumin Scented Black Beans:

1 can black beans, un-drained

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

2 TB minced cilantro

Toppings:

diced avocado

salsa/pico de gallo

shredded lettuce/spinach

shredded cheese (I used pepper jack!)

Mix rice ingredients together and place in your serving bowl. Warm your beans in a saucepan, bring to a hard simmer, then take off the heat and spoon your desired amount over your rice (making sure to get some of that yummy, spicy, cumin-scented juice too.) Top that with your sauteed veggies of choice (I used onions and red bell pepper) or meat for you carnivores out there. And finally, top off your bowl with all the toppings your heart desires.

This is not Barbecue Pulled Pork

I had this uncanny hankering for barbecue pulled pork this past week. I know, odd right? Probably because last weekend was St. Patrick's Day and there was a plethora of cabbage in the grocery store, waiting to be boiled with corned beef, and cole slaw (or as my uncle used to call it, cole salad) is a natural accompaniment for pulled pork. So while perusing the aisles (and realizing I get inexplicably and somewhat shamefully excited by grocery shopping,) I pondered the feasibility of making pulled pork in my minimally equipped college kitchen. I could make barbecue sauce, that wasn't a problem, but how shall I make the pork tender and juicy, without a crock pot, which is my traditional cooking method for pulled pork?

Still pondering, I collected my ingredients somewhat haphazardly - ketchup, brown sugar, onion, and Tabasco for barbecue sauce, whole wheat buns for sandwiching, and a pork shoulder for roasting - and headed home, still pondering the best way to go about this endeavor. I could tightly cover a baking dish with foil, but needed to be careful not to over cook the pork into tough, chewy submission. 

Plan in hand, I returned home only to find out that we were out of aluminum foil. What?! All visions of moist and succulent pulled pork evaporated and I was left with bags full of groceries for which I now needed to find uses. I found a can of jalapeno diced tomatoes in my cupboard, along with a jar of salsa, and decided to retreat into my comfort zone and go the Tex-Mex route. After all, anything wrapped up in a tortilla is delicious. Plus the extra liquid from the canned tomatoes and salsa would help keep the pork moist and create a protective crust, sans foil.

Taco comprised of roasted pork, warmed salsa, shredded cheddar, spinach, and lime

This was delicious and all, but I still want pulled pork!

Soup and Salad Lunches

Allow me to state the obvious; the weather around here has been really nice lately (and by lately, I mean all winter.) It has rarely been freezing, let alone below freezing, like normal winters here, and I have enjoyed it immensely. I hate the cold with a passion, and am always crossing my fingers hoping the groundhog will not see his shadow and promise me springtime six weeks earlier. This unnaturally warm winter has especially been nice since I am living off campus this year and need to walk everywhere, which is common of college students across the country. I have not enjoyed the warm weather, however, in the aspect that soups and stews do not sound as tasty when it's fifty degrees outside. But this soup, made from leftover roast chicken, pico de gallo, black beans, and chili powder. All of this simmered on the stove for an hour or so and turned out to be a deliciously simple soup. I paired this with an effortless salad and I had a yummy lunch to refuel me after my workout swimming laps.

Yummy veggie packed salad

Chicken Salsa Soup

A Little Tilapi' with by Pappy

I should have warned all of you from the start, I am a big old dork. A dork whose free time is spent in a hot kitchen, who thinks it is fun to surf food blogs and keeps a journal with recipes to try or variations on classics, and who knows that her future will be a happy one if she gets to use her chef's knife everyday. Yep, that's a pretty accurate description of me actually. But I have no shame in by obsession (let's call it what it is here) with food. It makes me happy, is usually delicious, and brings people together in a most wonderfully unique and genuine way. Ever notice how you can bond with someone at a restaurant you don't know from Adam by asking what they ordered and whether they like it. Never done it before? That's a shame, try next time you out. Or chat up the vendors that the next farmer's market you visit. Most often than not you will walk away with at least three ways to prepare whatever you just bought, the history of it starting when it was just a thought in someone's head, and with a smile on your face to boot.

It is in my blood to get just as excited about trying a new food as I do waiting for Christmas to come. So whilst I was home this past weekend I commandeered the use of my familiar family kitchen and set out on a quest to demystify cooking fish as home. I love fish, it is one of my favorite treats. It is always what I ask for for my birthday dinner, and I am not picky either. Raw, seared, blackened, grilled, poached, Asian style, salmon, monkfish, shellfish, sandwiches, salads, you name it. But I, like so many other home cooks I know, was scared to death to try my hand at home. It's too expensive. There is no way I can keep it from sticking. What in the world would I serve it with? I don't have time. Oh I was so very wrong...

I might have mentioned before that I cook a lot with my dad when I am home. We share the same bottomless stomach and curious nature which makes brainstorming, tasting, adjusting, and daydreaming about what we will have for dinner one of our favorite past times. And he too, does a fair amount of cooking on his own and has yet to crack the "fish at home" fear either. So we embarked on the journey together, and thus produced a most wonderful plate of food.

Pretty right? It just screams summer. We attempted talapia, a mild, inexpensive, (yes you read correctly) and "blank canvas" fish. Grilled with fresh thyme, parsley, and lemon slices, then topped with a summery salsa of blueberry, strawberry, diced parmesan cheese, and balsamic vinegar made for a deliciously different protein. Paired with our favorite grilled veggie (asparagus) and a rice pilaf (minced parsley, arugula, thyme, grape tomatoes, olive oil and tarragon vinegar) and we were in business.

I am here to tell you you no longer have to avoid your wanting eyes when you walk past the seafood department at your local grocer. Instead, take a deep breath, march your little self up there, and ask the fish monger what he can recommend. Yet another way to connect with a complete stranger about food!