What I Cooked This Week (9/16-9-29)

1. Grilled Steak with Caprese Salad

I don't know if you know this, but Dancing with the Stars started up on Monday and the cast this season is AMAZING! My fears were realized when Bill Nye graced our screens to do the most awkward dance of all time, but at least I had steak to comfort me. I'm trying to squeeze in a few more grilling sessions before the weather gets to cold. Roommate Jen and I like our steaks VERY RARE and I think I nailed it here. A nice tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil salad with a generous sprinkle of salt, drizzle of olive oil and splash of reduced balsamic made it a great start to the week. 

2. Steak and Blue Cheese Panini    

I had 1/2 a steak leftover and some baguette from the weekend so there was really only one thing to do: make a panini. I whipped up a cheater version of my dad's amazing blue cheese dressing by crumbling some blue cheese in with a few tablespoons of mayo and giving it a sprinkle of garlic salt. I sliced the steak up as thin as I could and then heated up the panini press and threw the steak strips on for a few minutes to warm 'em up. Then I assembled the sammy and tossed it on the press for 5 minutes or so. It was incredibly delicious and a great way to use leftover steak. 

3. Soup with Smoked Gouda Crostini

We go a lot of rain this week and rainy fall days are always better with soup. I polished off the last remaining bowl of Broccoli soup from the batch I made last week and then made a quick crostini with some leftover baguette. Just drizzle some olive oil on the bread and pop them under the broiler for a minute. Literally, like a minute. Then take them out, grate a little cheese on top and put them under the broiler for another 30 seconds until the cheese melts. Carb heaven. 

4. Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies
Since fall has arrived (more or less), I thought I'd jump in with a pumpkin recipe. I had a party to go to on Friday so that seemed like as good an excuse as any to make these awesome Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies. Who can resist cream cheese frosting? Not me. However, when I got to the store on Thursday, I got the LAST CAN of Pumpkin Puree they had. What madness is this? Its not even October yet, people! To make a long story short: these were amazing. Highly recommended. 

5. Buttermilk Cake

What's a girl to do when she's sitting on the couch on the brink of a nap that she shouldn't take (insomniacs know that naps are baaaaaad news) with 2 cups of buttermilk in her fridge that are about to expire? She should make this buttermilk cake. Then she should eat 3 pieces, forget to take a picture of it and send the rest of it away with her brother. 

Or at least that's what I did. 

6. This next section is less "What I Cooked" and more "What I Ate" since I was in Chicago with my pal Jenna on Saturday.

First up: Wildberry Pancakes. I love love love Eggs Benedict and its something I never make for myself since I can't poach eggs (or rather, I'm too scared to try).

These were a bit of a disappointment. The hollandaise was really bland. However, Jenna's mom got the signature Berry Bliss French Toast and I stole a bite. THAT is what I would order next time. 

7. Bold and Beautiful Wine Flight at Bin 36 with a Cheddar Plate

Presented without comment:

Ok. Just one comment: that is wine jello on top of the apples, just in case you were wondering. 

8. Antipasto Platter and Citrius Olives with a glass of Sangiovese at Tesori

The perfect end to our day!

I really recommend the method we chose, especially if you're planning a trip and trying to save some $$$. Order a big breakfast (or brunch) and then just snack your way through the day. A total win! 

What I Cooked This Week (9/8-9/15)

What I cooked this week: 

1. Cheater Pizza--one of my New Year's Resolutions this year was to learn to make bread. I've been...moderately successful, but the one thing I've nailed is pizza dough. Or so I thought. My grocery store recently started carrying chilled pizza dough so I picked up a bag this week to give it a shot. It kick's my dough's ass, I'm sad to say. Still, I topped it with homemade pesto I made with basil from Beth & Marcus' garden and topped it with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and some leftover sausage. Dang it was good.

2. Sweet and Spicy Peppers--I love pepperoncini, so when Amateur Gourmet posted a recipe for homemade sweet and spicy peppers I knew I needed to get down to the Farmer's Market and buy some peppers. Before I could a kindly co-worker brought in a huge pile of peppers from her garden and let me take all of these for freeee! Mine have been pickling since Friday and they taste better every day. I think next time I'll use a little less sugar since I like mine a little more on the spicy side and less on the sweet side. 

3. Lex's Chocolate Chip Cookies--I was meeting Ellie at her new apartment for a night of curry and anime (I know...). Ellie was in charge of curry so I was in charge of dessert. After work I whipped up a quick half batch of my mom's chocolate chip cookies because unlike YOUR mom's chocolate chip cookies, these are the best ever. I used half milk chocolate chips and half semi-sweet chips and it worked out perfectly. These cookies are so rich, the semi-sweet chips balance it out with just a touch of bitterness. And since I never got Ellie a proper House Warming present, I gave her a roll of Emergency Cookie Dough to keep in her freezer for...well...emergencies! 

4. Steak Salad--My old roommate Megan dropped in for an impromptu visit Saturday night and since we're all trying to save a few bucks, we decided to stay in. I made us The Pioneer Woman's Big Steak Salad. Man oh man was it good. That dressing is KILLER. I used a porterhouse steak because they were on sale, but I'd probably suggest a strip steak of some kind for future use. After sitting on the back porch and catching up over a bottle of wine. I grilled up the steak while Megan tossed up the salad. We topped our greens with bacon, blue cheese and tomatoes. Megan even said she thought she could convince her husband to consider this salad a meal. That's the power of steak, friends.

Oh yeah, plus, I pan fried the leftover store bought pizza dough and tossed them in parmesan cheese and garlic salt to make giant "croutons". Worth it! 

5. Strawberry Galette--I made this last time Megan was in town and I wanted to take one more stab at it before strawberries are completely gone for the season. Its still amazing especially since this time I had a vanilla bean to use in the crust AND some vanilla sugar that's been marinating for a few weeks with the husk of an old vanilla bean. A total winner, plus, its super pretty. 

6. Green Juice--I bought a fancy new blender a few weeks ago and decided it was time to really put it to the test. I saw this recipe forGreen Juice that you can make without a juicer. It worked like a charm. My biggest mistake was using Golden Delicious Apples. I thought I'd start with a softer green apple just in case the blender had trouble. Next time I'll probably choose a more flavorful one, but the juice is still tasty and helps make up for...well everything on this list.

7. Creamy Broccoli Soup--This is a miracle soup. I completely planned to make a batch and then separate out half to give to a friend of mine who is vegan and then add a healthy glug of cream to my half. I skipped the cream altogether because this soup is so creamy without it. The sweet potato does all the work for you. Its velvety and thick and creamy. Perfect for a chilly rainy Sunday like today. Highly recommended with a big chunk of fresh baguette. Mmmmm...healthy comfort.