May 29 2012
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Food, Mexican, Recipes, Side Dish

Mexican Rice

I’ve really had a desire to cook more authentic Mexican food lately. I don’t know if I’m longing for my days in Southern California, or if it’s just one-quarter of my heritage calling (I’m one-quarter Mexican), but I’ve really been wanting to cook Mexican food and to cook it right. I did some research on Mexican herbs and spices so I could put together dishes with more authentic flavor profiles. I bought Mexican oregano (surprisingly different from Italian oregano), epazote, achiote/annatto seeds, among others. I’m ashamed to say that they’ve just been sitting sadly in my pantry – until tonight.

I decided I wanted to put my new spices to use tonight no matter how long it took, so I poked around for some Mexican rice recipes. I know many recipes say that Mexican rice is red because of a tomato base, but I also know that achiote/annatto seeds are used for both flavoring and coloring food. I decided to go with the achiote/annatto seeds over the tomatoes.  Some recipes were complicated with lots of ingredients that I didn’t have and didn’t feel like buying tonight, so I winged it. The only change I’d make moving forward is using more annatto seeds (which I reflected in the recipe below). This rice tasted great as the annatto seeds really brought a lightly nutty, lightly peppery taste to the rice. The flavor is really quite difficult to describe, other than saying it tastes like the flavor infused into the oil by the annatto seeds. You’ll have to just make it and see for yourself.

Mexican Rice

  • 2 cups long grain white rice, uncooked
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 1.5 tbsp annatto/achiote seeds
  • 4 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
  • kosher salt
  1. Heat oil in bottom of large saucepan over medium-high heat.
  2. Once hot, add whole annatto seeds.
  3. Allow annatto seeds to cook in oil for 2-3 minutes, swirling the pan constantly to keep the seeds moving. You should see your oil turning a very dark red.
  4. After 2-3 minutes, strain by pouring oil through a strainer into a small bowl, with the strainer catching the annatto seeds. You don’t want the seeds in your rice.
  5. Put oil back into the saucepan and heat again over medium-high heat.
  6. Add onions to the oil. Cook until they just begin to get soft, around 2 minutes.
  7. Add garlic and dry rice to the oil/onions in the pan. Mix until everything is bright red.
  8. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add vegetable broth.
  9. Turn heat up to high. Bring to a rapid, rolling boil.
  10. Once boiling, cover pan and turn heat down to medium-low (closer to the low side)
  11. Cook, covered, for about 15 or 20 minutes, until the rice is cooked through when you taste it. If the rice is cooked but there is extra liquid, cook with lid off for a few minutes until the extra liquid has evaporated. Taste, and add salt as needed.
  12. Serve piping hot with ground beef, chorizo, tacos, fajitas, anything you want!

onions, after being mixed into annatto oil

rice, onions, and garlic after being mixed into annatto oil

final product, half eaten. i couldn’t help myself.

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May 14 2012
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Entrees, Food, Recipes

Mother’s Day Quiches

Yesterday was Mother’s Day and although I couldn’t spend it with my own Mom (sad), I was able to spend it with Andrew’s Mom and family. One of our Mother’s Day gifts to Andrew’s Mom was making her brunch. Andrew offered for us to make half the brunch, which basically meant that I was making half of the brunch by myself (which I was more than happy to do). I ended up making two different types of quiche as my contribution. Dare I call them, a Duet of Quiche? I made up these recipes on a whim and they turned out great.

Each quiche requires the same basic steps: cook up the ingredients you want in them, add them to a base of eggs and cream, pour into a pie crust, and bake.

Asparagus, Shallot, and Shiitake Mushroom Quiche

asparagus, shallot, mushroom quiche

  • 1 small bunch asparagus, chopped into medium-sized pieces
  • 2 shallots, chopped
  • 1 package shiitake mushrooms, chopped
  • 6 eggs
  • 1/2 cup cream
  • 4 oz shredded Jarlsberg cheese
  • 3 oz shredded Mozzarella
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • pinch of salt and pepper
  • 1 frozen pie crust in tin, defrosted
  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Melt butter in pan over medium-high heat. Add asparagus, shallots, and mushrooms. Saute until shallots are translucent and asparagus is a deep green. Turn off heat. Pour mixture onto plate and spread into a thin layer to allow to cool. This step is VERY important. If you add the mixture to the eggs and it’s too hot, it will start to cook the eggs. Not good.
  3. Scramble eggs in a bowl. Add cream. Add cheese. Add COOLED mixture from saucepan.
  4. Pour everything into pie crust.
  5. Bake for 45 minutes or until eggs are set. Cover the crust alone with tin foil if it begins to burn during cooking.

Bacon, Cheddar, and Spinach Quiche

bacon, cheddar, spinach quiche

  • 1/2 lb bacon
  • 6 oz cheddar cheese (whatever kind you like)
  • 1 package baby spinach
  • 6 eggs
  • 1/2 cup cream
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • pinch of salt and pepper
  • 1 frozen pie crust in tin, defrosted
  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Heat saucepan on medium-high heat. Cook bacon in saucepan until crispy. Remove from pan, dry off, chop, set aside.
  3. Melt butter in saucepan over medium high heat. Add spinach. Cook spinach down until very dark green and wilty. It won’t look like much, but it’ll be enough. Lay out spinach in thin layer on a plate, and cool thoroughly. Same as above quiche.
  4. Scramble eggs in a bowl. Add cream. Add cheese. Add COOLED mixture from saucepan.
  5. Pour everything into pie crust.
  6. Bake for 45 minutes or until eggs are set. Cover the crust alone with tin foil if it begins to burn during cooking.

 

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Apr 25 2012
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Entrees, Food, Recipes

Clean the Fridge Pizza

Looking in my fridge, I realized I had some food items that were about to go bad, namely ground beef and shiitake mushrooms. So I put on my thinking cap and realized I had Trader Joe’s pizza dough (yum), Trader Joe’s light mozz cheese (double yum), and the best thing ever invented, a pizza stone, so I decided to make a pizza. Seems to be the obvious choice based on what I had. And we all know that everything’s good on pizza, so why not? If you don’t have a pizza stone, don’t worry – a baking sheet will work just fine. The pizza stone just gives the crust an extra crisp. I added a shallot and a touch of garlic and viola, yummy easy pizza. And I didn’t even have to throw away any groceries. It’s the small victories…

Clean the Fridge Pizza

  • 2 oz Trader Joe’s garlic and herb pizza dough
  • 2 oz Trader Joe’s light mozzarella cheese (which melts AMAZINGLY for a reduced-fat cheese)
  • 1 shallot, roughly chopped
  • A couple fresh shiitake mushrooms, roughly chopped
  • 4 oz 93% lean ground beef
  • 1/2 tsp olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped (or crushed garlic if you have that on hand)
  1. Preheat oven to 375. If you have a pizza stone, allow the stone to preheat in the oven.
  2. Heat a medium sized skillet over medium-high heat. Spray a touch of cooking spray or a spray of olive oil (if you have a Misto, like I do)
  3. Add shallots and mushrooms to skillet. Cook for one minute. Add ground beef. Cook until ground beef is no longer pink. Remove from heat.
  4. Roll out your pizza dough so it’s a thickness to your liking. (I prefer my pizza on the thinner side, but if you like yours thick, do your thing.)
  5. If you’re using a baking sheet, put the dough on the sheet, spread the garlic and olive oil on the dough and load it up with the ground beef mixture and cheese.
  6. If you’re using a pizza stone, place dough alone onto your pizza stone that’s in the oven. Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until the dough has taken just enough firmness to be handled.
  7. Slide dough out of the oven and place on cutting board. Spread the garlic and olive oil on the dough and load it up with the ground beef mixture and cheese. Put back into the oven.
  8. Bake for 7-10 minutes, until all your toppings are hot, your cheese is melted and your crust is the crispiness you like.

plus red pepper flakes. i like spicy.

 

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Apr 17 2012
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Running, Health & Wellness, Life

Patriotic 5k – Complete!

This past Sunday, the day before Marathon Monday, I ran the Patriotic 5k with Andrew and our friend Lucas. It was a hot day, up around 80 degrees, and boy did we feel sluggish. Despite feeling sluggish, we all ran a pretty good race. Lucas ran phenomenally fast, coming in 21st place with a time of 24:46. Crazy man. Andrew and I ran together, as we always do, and were convinced we were taking at least 40 minutes to complete the thing. But, despite our ill-feelings, we set a PR for ourselves: 35:38. That’s an 11:30 min/mile pace, which is better than our last 5k which was a bit over a 12 min/mile pace. Regardless of the results, we all had fun being outside and being active, and that’s really what it’s all about – isn’t it?

pre-race, feeling chipper

pre-race, feeling chipper

pre-race size difference

pre-race size difference. awkward.

pre-race, still awkward

pre-race, still awkward

post-race, sweaty beasts

post-race, sweaty beasts

post-race, so proud

post-race, so proud

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Apr 10 2012
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Life

A Thank You to Real Friends

It’s been almost six years since I left Los Angeles to come to Boston. Six years since I left my friends and family to start a new chapter in my life, in a city I’d visited once, with not a single familiar person by my side. In college I made friends immediately through softball, dorm-living, classes. Some friendships grew, some fizzled, and, in classic Harvard fashion, some people pretended like they never even met you in the first place. But then there are friends you make who stay with you for life. Friendships that cultivate over time and that take on a life of their own. You know that no matter the distance, no matter the amount of time that passes since the last time you spoke, you’ll always be there for each other – to laugh and to cry and everything in-between

Now, with college graduation almost one year behind me, I find myself looking around to see great friends scattered across the globe – Texas, Ireland, California, New York – and few still left in Boston. In my reflection, I found the following article that really made me view those true friendships in a new light, and made me want to say, to all my real friends, thank you.

Read: A Thank You To Real Friends

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Apr 10 2012
7 Comments
Entrees, Food, Recipes

Chocolate Chili

I made this chili recipe a few months ago and totally forgot about it until I started poking through pictures on my phone this morning. As a result, it’s back, and I’m excited to be able to share it with you. This recipe is fairly simple and it creates a chili with a really deep flavor. I’ve adapted it a bit from the cookbook (Well Fed) because I don’t like how much chocolate was used in the original recipe. But if you ask Andrew, he’d double the chocolate in the recipe. And that’s why I don’t ask him. Well, sometimes I do, but not this time.

Chocolate Chili

Adapted from Well Fed

  • 1/2 cup low sodium vegetable broth
  • 2 vidalia onions, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 lbs lean ground beef (90/10 or leaner)
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 tbsp chili powder
  • 1 tbsp ground chipotle peppers
  • 2 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp ground allspice
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
  • 1 can (14.5 ounces) chopped tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 can (14.5 ounces) beef broth
  • 1 cup water
  1. Heat a large stock pot  over medium high heat. Add onions and let cook dry for 30 seconds. Add 2 tbsp of vegetable broth as a time to let the onions cook. The broth will evaporate within a minute or two, and every time it does, continue to add 2 tbsp until the onions are translucent.
  2. Add garlic and stir in with onions. After about 30 seconds, crumble the ground beef into the pan and mix to combine with the onions and garlic.
  3. In a small bowl, combine the oregano, chili powder, cumin, cocoa, allspice, and salt. Add spice mixture to pot.
  4. Add tomato paste to pot, and stir until combined.
  5. Add the tomatoes with their juice, the beef broth, and the water to the pot. Stir well. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat so the chili simmers. Allow to simmer for no less than 2 hours. The longer the chili simmers, the more complex the flavors become.

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Apr 09 2012
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Entrees, Food, Recipes

Meatloaf Bolognese

Up until a few weeks ago, I hated meatloaf. Unrefined. Heavy. Covered in ketchup. Gross. Not my thing.

Then, along came Cooking Light, a magazine I’ve begun to subscribe to, and a recipe for meatloaf. I scoured the ingredients looking for ketchup so that I could turn the page and forget this recipe ever existed. But ketchup was nowhere to be found. So I kept reading. I was intrigued. I made. I devoured. This recipe has a complexity and depth of flavor that I wasn’t expecting. The three types of meat give it its complexity, the red wine gives it a nice tang, while the cremini mushroom sauce is the perfect complement to all of the above. This picture doesn’t do this meatloaf justice, but with how delicious it is, I’ll be sure to keep making it.

Meatloaf Bolognese

(Adapted from Cooking Light)

The Loaf:

  • 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
  • 2 ounces pancetta, chopped
  • 3 shallots, finely chopped
  • 1 cup carrots, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1/4 red wine
  • 1/4 2% milk
  • pinch kosher salt
  • pinch freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 1/3 lb lean ground beef (90/10 or leaner)
  • 1/3 lb ground pork (lean if possible)
  • 1/3 lb ground veal

The Sauce:

  • 1 tbsp butter (I don’t usually use butter – but definitely worth using here)
  • 4 oz cremini mushrooms, finely chopped (you can find these at Whole Foods if you’re having trouble finding them)
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 4 tsp flour
  • 1 cup lower-sodium beef broth
  • 2 tbsp 2% milk
  • pinch black pepper
  • pinch salt
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Heat a medium-sized skillet over medium-high heat.  Add pancetta and saute for 2 minutes. Add shallots and carrots, and saute for another 8-ish minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Add tomato paste; cook for 1 minute. Add wine; cook until liquid is almost entirely evaporated (around 2 minutes).
  4. Remove pan from heat and let cool at least 5 minutes. It is important to cool this mixture before combining with other ingredients because if it is not cool, it will begin to cook the meat, egg, etc. Save the pan for making the sauce. Do not clean the pan or discard any of the crumblies that stick to the bottom of the pan. These will make your sauce better, I promise.
  5. Combine breadcrumbs, pancetta mixture, milk, salt, pepper, egg, and all three meats. Mix gently until all combined.
  6. Transfer mixture into a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan coated (heavily) with cooking spray. Not using the cooking spray will make you sad when it’s time to clean up. Do not pack the mixture in, but rather just spread it out so that it’s even.
  7. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.
  8. When there is about 10 minutes left until the meatloaf comes out of the oven, go ahead and begin your sauce.
  9. To prepare the sauce, melt the butter in the same saucepan as you sauteed your pancetta, carrots, and shallots in earlier. Add the mushrooms and shallots set aside for the sauce. Saute for around 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add flour and cook for 1 minute.
  10. Add 1 cup of beef broth and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in 2% milk, salt, and pepper. Cook for another minute. Serve with meatloaf.
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Apr 09 2012
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Generally Speaking, Life

Happy Easter – A Day Late

I hope everyone had a great Easter yesterday! While I don’t celebrate Easter for any religious reasons (unless you consider viewing Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs as your God, which I occasionally do), I do enjoy in the festivities and food. Andrew and I dyed some eggs and I made some cupcakes and we had Easter brunch with his family and we called it a day.

never enough glitter

birds' nests cupcakes

And then we came home and watched the Sox lose. BOO. Better luck tonight.

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Apr 02 2012
1 Comment
Health & Wellness, Lifting, Weight Loss, Weight Watchers

Weight Watchers Weigh-In

I’m not a slave to the scale, so when I began weighing myself every week while on Weight Watchers, I was really more annoyed than anything. I was (and still am) working out a lot, lifting weights, building muscle, so even though I was getting smaller in inches, the number of the scale wasn’t budging very much. As a result, I thought it’d be more beneficial to only weigh in on the first of every month so that I could at least have some idea of where my weight is.

Well, yesterday was the first of April, and in this last month I’ve lost 2.5 lbs. So excited. Even though that number isn’t very big, I’m still very proud, and hopefully next week when I check in with measurements, I will have lost even more inches.

(via Reasons to be Fit)

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Mar 27 2012
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Running, Health & Wellness

Patriotic 5K

In the winter, my love for outdoor running goes on hiatus. Sure, some people like to bundle up with the gloves and hat and multiple layers and go for their run like nothing’s changed. Some people don’t like to bundle up, but do it anyway. Personally, nothing makes me want to stop running more than cold weather, rain, snow. So, I bring my running inside. I hate the treadmill, but I hate freezing to death more.

Now that it’s almost April and the weather is getting warmer-ish, it’s time to get myself back outside, back to nature. I’m bringing myself back by running the Patriotic 5K  road race in Medford, MA. This race (well, race for everyone else – leisurely jog for me), runs on parts of the route Paul Revere rode in April 1775 on his way to Lexington to warn that the British were coming. The run also goes past several historic homes, West Medford Square, Oak Grove Cemetary, and parts of the Historic Middlesex Fells reservation.

If you’re interested, definitely sign up! So far I’m running with Andrew, Lucas, and maybe Kyle and Pippa. No better way to get going than to do it with friends.

Here are the deets:

Date: Sunday April 15, 2012

Start Time: 11 AM, registration opens at 9:00 AM

Location: American Legion Post 45, 321 Winthrop St, Medford, MA

Entrance Fee: $25.  If you register by April 1, you get a race t-shirt! If you register on race-day, it’s $30, so do just register now

Where to register/find more information: Patriotic 5K

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