I’ve been busy this past week but was able to document with pictures two new recipes to share with you all!
I won’t tell you just what they are but I’ll give you a hint. One involves a sombrero and the other Arabian horses. No, not literally. 
October 2nd, 2009
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Posted in Chef |
September 25th, 2009
As some of you know, I was challenged after I made my greek salad. My husband and I like love the frontega chicken from Panera bread. So if I was successful in making frontega chicken, we wouldn’t have to go there! I immediately stepped up to the challenge. Tonight’s menu was frontega chicken with greek salad on the side.
Preparation:
If you have ever had the sandwich, its ingredients are:
* Pulled smoked chicken
* Mozzarella cheese
* Chipotle sauce
* Onions
* Tomatoes
* Foccocia bread.
I needed the smoked chicken, foccocia bread, and chipotle sauce. I knew I was going to make the chipotle sauce by getting some mayonnaise and chipotle chili powder. My worries were the bread and chicken.
When I got to the store, I went to the meat section and looked and looked with no luck. Proceeding to the meat counter guy (butcher), I asked if they had any smoked chicken. The reply, a laugh as if I was crazy, followed by a “Nope, but is real good.” Trying not to let that get me, I asked if he knew where I could find some, only to be suggested to go to the farmers market. It was 8 PM, there is no farmers market open!
A bit down with disappointment, I continued on my search for foccocia bread. Here again, I had no luck. I went home with deli sliced chicken and chipotle pepper powder and some tiramisu for dessert to brighten me up again.
Cooking:
The first thing I did when I started in the kitchen was to cut my salad veggies and place them in a bowl. This would take the longest part, and I didn’t want to have my sandwich getting cold waiting for me to cut veggies.
Next was the chipotle sauce. I took about 4 tablespoons of mayonnaise and mixed 1 teaspoon of chipotle powder in to it. It should looked something like this.
Chipotle sauce
The sandwich was ready to be constructed. My white baguette was cut to sandwich size. The chipotle sauce spread on to both sides. On the bottom slice, I added my tomatoes and onions. I pulled the chicken slices to look like it was “pulled”, then added it, topped with mozzarella cheese.
Next step, grilling to make panini… I don’t own a panini press. What do I do? I make one out of the items I do have! As a wedding gift I received a stove top grill/griddle. The sandwiches went on that and were pressed down by a large lid. You have to make sure it is large for two reasons. One to keep it from burning your hands while you hold it down, and two to keep as much of the heat in as possible. I pressed each side on medium to low heat for about 6 minutes.
Homemade Panini Press
Served with a side of Greek salad it was an awesome dish! My husband said he liked it BETTER than the Panera ones!!! 
I was so excited. I told him that I think I preform better with challenges. My next challenge.. tofu, general tso style! The story on that will wait for another post. In the meantime you can see the pictures of how our dinner came out.
Frontega Chicken with Greek Salad
Frontega Chicken
September 24th, 2009
I recently got married (3 months ago). Yaay! I also have a house that I can decorate. Yaay again! I haven’t had the chance to actually do anything with the house, but the time has come. Over a few posts I am going to record my design and implementation process on the master bedroom we share as a couple.
As we settle in together, I’m rearranging and redecorating. My first challenge will be our room. The room is 15′x13′ with a tray ceiling and 8′ walls. So what’s the problem right? Well, the way the room is laid out, I only have two walls that I can work with. The other two are full of doors to either the bathroom, hallway, or closets. Yup, that’s right, we are lucky to have two closets. (Naturally, I get the bigger one. 
)
I’ve had the house for a year and 6 months now and have had an Ikea Malm bed (black-brown color). I also had a dresser which was over flowing and just wasn’t cutting it anymore. It has been replaced with a Ikea Pax wardrobe, as of a few weeks ago!
Malm Bed & Pax Wardrobe
I also wanted a storage bench so that I could sit next to a window and relax. I got the Ikea Effektiv Wall Unit that works out great for us.
Effektiv Wall Unit
So there you have it. That’s what we’ve accumulated so far. Next is painting. The color choices are hard to decide on. Stay tuned for the updates on our room!
September 23rd, 2009
After I made my broccoli cheddar soup with bread and salad, my husband and I were talking about food. Good topic huh? I said to him that now we don’t need to go to Panera since the soup just as good. He refuted by saying that I still had to make frontega chicken and Greek salad before we can stop going to Panera. If you don’t know, we absolutely love frontega chicken and Greek salad from Panera. That is usually what we get with the exception of substituting salad with broccoli cheddar soup.
My challenge was on. I had to make those two dishes now. I tackled the easy one first. Tonight I made Greek salad with turkey sandwich on the side. And as with most recipes I get, I make modifications. This recipe was from is from a site dedicated to healthy living, That’s Fit. Well, if you have ever had Greek salad, you know it is not the healthiest of salads, so it was actually good that I found it!
(Serves 2)
Dressing
* 4 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
* 1/2 teaspoons fresh chopped garlic
* 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
* 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
* 1/2 teaspoons dried dill weed (I don’t like dill so I opted out with this one)
* salt and pepper, to taste
Salad
* 1 large plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
* 1/2 cucumber, coarsely chopped
* 1/3 red onion, peeled, chopped
* 1/2 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
* 1/4 cup pitted black olives, coarsely chopped
* 3 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
* 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1. Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, vinegar, oregano and dill weed until well blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Combine the salad ingredients, minus the cheese. Toss with dressing.
3. Sprinkle feta cheese over top and serve.
Now for the turkey sandwich, I used honey smoked deli turkey slices. I used the leftover wheat baguettes from the night before for the bread (toasted), along with pepper jack cheese, lettuce, onions, and mustard.
All in all, took me 20 minutes max to fix it all up. Next up is frontega chicken!
Here’s how mine turned out.
Greek Salad for two
Greek Salad
September 22nd, 2009
Today at work, I was thinking about what to make for dinner. I had dance class so I’d be home a bit later than usual so I needed something fast. I thought soup would be good, with some bread and salad on the side. So I did a quick search and found something I would like to eat/drink for dinner. Broccoli cheddar soup. I found it on Allrecipes.com.
So before dance class, I headed to the store for the ingredients I was missing. When I got home, it took all of 30 minutes to make the whole thing. I was impressed with the turnout and the fact that it didn’t take long or much effort to make. Don’t you love it when things work out so nicely!? So here’s the recipe, with some modifications.
(Serves 4)
* 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons butter
* 2/3 onion, cut into medium dice
* 1-1/4 teaspoons garlic powder
* 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
* 3/4 of a broccoli bunch, chopped
* 1 potato, cut in squares (optional)
* 2-2/3 cups chicken broth
* 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 cup whole or 2% milk
* salt to taste
* 5 ounces shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
* 2 ounces shredded Pepper Jack cheese (optional)
* 1 teaspoon Parmesan (optional)
1. Melt butter over medium heat in a stockpot. Cook the diced onion in butter until softened. Add garlic and pepper; cook for 1 minute. Then stir in broccoli and potatoes, and stir in chicken broth. Bring to a boil and simmer until broccoli is tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Toast your favorite bread on the side (I used whole wheat baguette)
3. Meanwhile whisk flour into milk until dissolved. Stir into soup stirring frequently until thickened. Reduce heat, and stir in cheese until melted and heated through.
3. Season with salt to taste. Stir for about 5 minutes longer for a thicker soup.
4. Serve in bowl with sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. Add salad and bread for a complete meal.
Wasn’t that simple?!
Here’s how it turned out.
Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Broccoli Cheddar Soup - close up