Fall, football, and tons of delicious food!

October 22, 2009 By in Recipe Experimentation Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Fall is my favorite time of the year. Especially living in Texas, it’s so nice when the cool weather starts to give you a break from the heat. From Halloween to Thanksgiving, Fall is the time for parties, friends, family, and FOOD! To kick off this festive time of year, football definitely gets the party started.

I love football food! Chips, dips, hamburgers, and hotdogs are just a few things that make Saturday afternoons a joy. This past weekend was a pretty big game for all of us Okies and Texans. The Red River Shootout (OU vs. TX to be exact) didn’t turn out the way my household wanted it to, but we still had tons of food and fun.

My husband was in charge of the grill and I was in charge of the dips. Give our creations a try at your next football party! They are DELISH! Continue reading →

Adventures in Shell Fish: Lobster Tails & Crab Claws

October 11, 2009 By in Recipe Experimentation Tags: , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Tonight’s Inspiration: Weekend special at Central Market – Lobster Tails $4.99 a piece (4oz); Snow Crab Clusters $4.99 a pound

Tonight’s Mission: Don’t overcook the Lobster!

Last Friday I was going about my everyday work routine when a lovely little email popped into my mail box – Central Market was having a weekend only special on seafood. But not just any seafood, Lobster and Crab! I am a lover of shell fish, but most of all, I am a lover of Lobster, especially Lobster tail. Unfortunately, I don’t usually cook, well I’ve never cooked, with said ingredient because of the expensive price tag. So when I saw the golden opportunity to try my hand at one of my favorite foods…I jumped.

The Menu:

  • Four 4 oz Lobster Tails, Steamed
  • Two Crab clusters, Pre-Cooked
  • Boiled New Potatoes & Green Beans
  • Sourdough Baguette with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar
  • Delicious White Wine

When I started to prep everything I have to admit, I was pretty nervous. This was my first chance to really show off to my hubby in the kitchen, and make him his FAVORITE food for the first time. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. The first question was, how do I cook it? After conversing with Matt we decided that the potential for failure was greater with the grill, I would probably most definitely overcook it in the oven, and boiling just didn’t seem that sexy. So the verdict was STEAMING. Second question, these lovely little creatures look so nice and snug in their shells. Do I just drop them in to the steam basic as is, or do I have to cut into something? I have one very trusty friend that I turn to in times of need in the kitchen…Google.

Continue reading →

A Deep Fried, Rainy Afternoon

October 10, 2009 By in Heaven to My Taste buds Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

State FairNothing says Fall in Texas like football and deep fried madness at the State Fair of Texas. Every year maroon and burnt orange collide at the greatest fair in Dallas. Now, I’m sure when most people think “fair” they think rides, games, petting zoos, and crafts. Well Big Tex does offer all of these fun festivities, but when I think fair I only think of one thing…food, more food, tons of food…tons of FRIED FOOD! Oh, and a pretty sweet car show as well.

Each season only the finest are crowned winners of the Big Tex Choice Awards. This year’s finalist were comprised of:

Green Goblins – Cherry peppers are hollowed out, stuffed with spicy shredded chicken and guacamole, then battered and deep fried.  Served three to a skewer and topped with queso.

Deep Fried Butter – 100% pure butter is whipped till light and fluffy, then specially sweetened with a choice of several flavors.  The tantalizing mixture is surrounded by a special dough and quick fried.

Twisted Yam on a Stick – A delicious, towering, spiral-cut sweet potato on a 13” skewer is fried to a delicate crispy texture, then gently rolled in butter and dusted with cinnamon and sugar.

Fernie’s Deep Fried Peaches & Cream – Sweet juicy peaches are coated in a delicious batter of cinnamon, ginger, coconut, graham cracker crumbs, eggs & milk, then deep fried to a crunchy golden brown on the outside, while luscious and sweet on the inside.  Served on a plate drizzled with raspberry sauce, lightly dusted with powdered sugar and topped with a cool dollop of whipped cream.  A side of vanilla butter cream icing is provided for dipping.

Texas Fried Pecan Pie – A mini-pecan pie is battered and deep fried to a golden brown.  Served drizzled with rich caramel sauce, then topped with whipping cream and chopped candied pecans.

Country Fried Pork Chips – Thin sliced pork loin is seasoned, surrounded by a tasty corn meal batter and deep fried.  Served with sides of ketchup or cream gravy.

Sweet Jalapeno Corn Dog Shrimp – Shrimp on a stick is coated with a sweet and spicy corn meal batter, then deep fried to a golden brown and served with a spicy glaze.

Fried Peanut Butter Cup Macaroon – A peanut butter cup is wrapped inside a coconut macaroon fried and dusted with powdered sugar.  Also available with a scoop of Blue Bell ice cream.

Continue reading →

“De cuisiner ou de ne pas cuire?”

September 28, 2009 By in A Taste Around the World Tags: , , , , , , , 3 Comments

Paris“To Cook or Not to Cook?” That is the question resting heavy on my mind these days. For those of you who know me two questions might come up when I talk about my love for the kitchen; “LOL Sarah? Cooking?” or “Wait…I knew you cooked, but culinary school?” The latter would be more of a question from the friends of mine acquired within the last 5 years or so. It’s amazing how you can simply fall in love with something so deeply and quickly.  My love for food has always been there, but my passion to prepare it has slowly been evolving over the last few years, and I’m enjoying every moment of it.

I always dreamed of being able to use my talents to make a living. I love to sing more than anything in the world, and cooking is quickly rising in the ranks. I was always a bit hesitant to go to school for music. I didn’t have a passion to teach and I always felt that if singing was my calling, I would do it with or without a degree. I seem to view cooking in a completely opposite way. The culinary world is so vast and the skills to be learned can be difficult and complex…something I feel going to school for would be a great benefit. So the question..to cook or not to cook…for a living? Continue reading →

My Knife and Me

September 21, 2009 By in Techniques Tags: , , , , , , 2 Comments

KnivesThis past weekend I attended my first class at the Central Market Cooking School! Instead of diving head first into group cooking I thought I would start with my technique first. I have to give myself kudos for how far I’ve come with my knife skills in the kitchen. Ever since I received my first set of cutlery as a wedding gift, I have slowly but surely improved. The first hurdle was overcoming the fear. Something about a large, shiny, and deadly object lying in my shaky hands freaked me out just a bit. Prep-time for me was like cooking an entire meal in itself. Needless to say, the simple task of chopping an onion felt like an eternity. Once I was able to grip my knife with confidence I was on my way!

Now, by no means am I anywhere close to chopping like a culinary expert, but I am leaps and bounds better than I was. Along with my new found technique has come a few scary confrontations with my trusty knife; resulting in a little bit of blood and minor yelps. I have to blame my lack of proper instruction on my accidents. So, I set out to learn the right steps before delving any deeper into the culinary world. Continue reading →

Life is better with Tex-Mex

September 12, 2009 By in Recipe Experimentation Tags: , , , , , , , , , 10 Comments

Tex-MexI can’t have a food blog and not talk about my favorite food in the world! Well, as the title says, life gets a whole lot better with a little bit of Tex-Mex. It makes me happy just typing the name. 🙂

I have to preface this blog by saying that I love ALL types of mexican food and, in my personal opinion, it doesn’t get any better than the Mexican food in Texas. Since I can remember I have always been drawn to chips, salsa, and of course…Queso! I mean what’s not to love about a big pot of melted cheese with some spicy beef, hot peppers, and roasted tomatoes thrown into the mix. My obsession started young and I have to blame my Okie/Texan family for introducing it to me early on. Half of my family is from Oklahoma and half from Texas..it makes for a fun football season let me tell ya!

My first real memory of Mexican food started with my grandfather’s salsa. Anytime I would ever go over to see my grandparents the first thing I would do is go to the fridge and pull out the salsa. He would even hide it sometimes because, once the boys found where it was hidden, it would be gone in a matter of minutes. For years I couldn’t find a salsa as good as his until I finally tasted my big brother’s recipe.

Side Note: As I mentioned in the “This is Me” section, my father is an amazing cook, but he’s not the only one. My grandfather and brother can really hold their own in the kitchen.

Continue reading →

My first cooking disaster!

September 10, 2009 By in Techniques Tags: , , , , , 4 Comments

I’m sure every cook has at least one, or many, memorable disasters stashed away in their memory, and it is no different for me. I’ve never been prone to burning things; my problem was simply misreading recipes. With the internet and all the available sources, there really isn’t a reason to not understand what the recipe calls for. Just a simple click on Google can answer almost any culinary question in existence (that easy right). Well, call it a case of stubbornness or just shear naivety, but I didn’t reach out to anything but my limited food encyclopedia stashed in my brain on this incident.

A few years back when I really started to enjoy and get in to cooking, I wanted to impress my boyfriend at the time with my new skill. So I sought out to find an impressive recipe that would showcase my new hobby. Continue reading →