Tore Up From the Floor Up

One of the reasons I have not posted lately other than being incredibly lazy and joining the library (NERD ALERT! Which, by the way, has a fantastic cookbook section) is that we are in the midst of an amazing complete kitchen renovation.

Before

Day 1

Progress after Week 1

In pictures, the previous kitchen doesn't look THAT BAD (or so I have heard from some).  Oh honey, it was BAD. Check out the 80s desk and the soffits. Gorg. Plus, when we moved in, I chose the color and grew to really dislike it.

We first started our journey over a year ago, with a consultation from Don, our project manager. I had no idea what I wanted at the time. Just wanted updated, clean, fresh stuff.  Spoiler alert: a kitchen renovation is not cheap. It's not like, yeah! We have unlimited funds, let's reno the kitchen! Although, le sigh, wouldn't that be nice? So, we got some ideas, a plan was drawn up by Don, and we decided to save our monies to get our dream kitchen.  A long time passes by, and we finally bite the bullet and start getting things done.

So, we are 3 weeks into the renovation. It has certainly been interesting not cooking. I have no idea what to do with my time in the evenings. So, I drink tons of iced coffee, get all wired up and throw out tons of crap we've collected into the large dumpster that has taken residence in the backyard.

Currently, we are at a point of: all new drywall, new ceiling (NO MORE TEXTURE! WAHOOOO!), recessed cans lighting, full flooring and a wide open space.

After Week 2 and 3

 The floor was replaced where it was missing from what was torn out, and that was the last step until the cabinets can come in to live! The floor at this point looks like it doesn't match, but it does, promise. There is SO. Much. Dust.

View from dining room, after floor was replaced.

My cute model, Jade.

So far, so good. More updates are on the way as they happen.

You Want Fries With That?

I have been MIA, and I really don't have an excuse why, other than I am lazy, so here I am again. 

Hey! 

So, here's those fries I instagrammed eleventybillion months ago. They are still awesome, though.

I don't know if you know this, but Rally's fries are the best fries ever to exist on the planet. #amirite?

UNTIL NOW.  I know the secret! I know the secret! Well, at least that's what I am telling myself.  It's all about the double fry.  Yep, you heard me. Twice fried. Better than Rally's fries #almost 

A magical invention, the Fry Baby Daddy (what?)

Quit hatin'. So we like As Seen on TV crap. As a side note: The Stufz was disappointing, but still worked.

You really don't have to use these as seen on TV items, I just am a sucker for a $10 gag gift.s. Pocket hose? The Clapper? You know who you are (everyone reading this has a ASOT item they truly, truly love, so stop denying it).

 Anywho, I cut these fries with my "Perfect Fry" but you can use a really sharp knife. These are scrubbed really good, but you can peel your potatoes if you want. I like a little skin on them. My mom always told me the nutrients were in the potato skin - but maybe that was just so I would eat everything on my plate. I was just feeding 2 people, so I used 3 large russet potatoes.

 Anyway, even if you don't have the magical Fry Baby Daddy*, you can use a dutch oven or stock pot with oil (PEANUT OIL. TRUST.) I used about a 3/4 a gallon of peanut oil.  Heat to 325 degrees. If you are using a pot, you will need to use a thermometer. If you don't own one, I bet if you went to buy a thermometer, you could use a bed bath and beyond coupon and spend a couple dollars more to buy this device, just sayin'.

Anyway - when your oil is ready, add your potatoes to the oil (be careful, that oil is on fia). For 5-7 minutes, cook at 325 degrees.  Pull out and dump onto a paper towel lined plate to drain the grease.  When all your potatoes are done, crank the heat up to 350.  When it's ready then put the already cooked fries BACK IN the oil for 3 minutes.

Drain again on some fresh paper towels on a plate - then while still pretty hot, sprinkle with sea salt or kosher salt.These potatoes are crispy on the outside, and nice and tender and creamy on the inside. 

Then, make your handsome husband/partner/bff/enemy grill some burgers and serve along side. A perfect side dish! Also, whoops about the beautiful laundry basket in the background. We use Tide with Downy, if you wanted to know. Just keepin it real.

Here's the full recipe:

Double Fried Freedom Fries

Serves 4

6 russet potatoes

1 gallon peanut oil

kosher salt or sea salt

Heat oil in fry daddy or dutch oven to 325 degrees.

Cut potatoes into strips, or your choice of fry shape

Place potatoes (usually about half) into oil.

Deep fry for 5-7 minutes.

Drain on paper towel lined plates

Repeat until all potatoes are cooked once

Increase oil heat to 350.

Put par cooked potatoes back into the oil for 3-4 minutes

Pull out - sprinkle with sea salt or kosher salt

Let me know if you tried these and if you liked them as much I do!

Update:  If you are using a large pot to make these, to fish the fries out when they are finished cooking, use a metal slotted spoon. Be really careful with the oil, it will burn you and it is no fun, even just a little.

A Hit and a Miss! Roast Chicken with Shallots and Roasted Artichokes

Do you ever see a recipe and think how awesome and classy it looks, and the description is even better? Me too. Roasted artichokes are that recipe for me…. so I tried making them...

NOT SO MUCH. I tried, and I failed miserably.  

Figures I try this with the 2 for $1 artichokes. That might be my problemo.  As far as I could tell, I followed the recipe from Iowa Girl Eats and hers looked amazing!!!  I failed miserably. But, my cheerleader hubs told me to try them again soon. Which I will (shout out to Iowa Girl, those looked killer, mine were beautiful, not tasty). Please try her recipe and win, and tell me what you used, I am determined to master this eventually!

Gorgessity…..Grossesity?

Alas, where there is a fail, there is a victory!  Cue in David Lebovitz's Roast Chicken with Caramelized Shallots. HELLLLLLOOOOOOO beautiful! This was the jackpot of all recipe finds. 

Calls for minced shallots - chopped as finely as I could!  

I have a new local store, Lucky's, that had their bone in chicken breast on sale for 98 cents a pound. 98 CENTS! The butcher  gladly gave me 4 breasts, and I saw they were $1.89 for all 4. So, naturally, I annoyed the hell out of him and asked for 4 more.  Beauties! Skin on is the way to go. For you skinnies, once again, eat the freakin skin and work out a bit more tomorrow. Its worth it.

Here's the link to the recipe:

David Lebovitz's Recipe below. 

PS. His website and recipes are amazing. Follow for updates! www.davidlebovitz.com

Roast Chicken with Caramelized Shallots
Serves 4 to 6

Adapted from French Farmhouse Cookbook (Workman) by Susan Herrmann Loomis

I use a whole chicken cut into eight pieces; two legs, two thighs, and I cut each breast piece in half, crosswise, keeping the wings attached. You could also just use eight of your favorite chicken pieces.

I used 3 large bone in breasts for 2 people and 1 large shallot. I used about 3/4 the recipe but just eyeball it to coat your chicken accordingly. 

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 4 large shallots, peeled and minced
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• One whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• one generous handful of coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

1. Preheat the oven to 425ºF (220ºC).

2. In a large baking dish, one which will hold all the chicken pieces in a single layer, mix the olive oil, vinegar, soy sauce, shallots, and some salt and pepper.

3. Toss the chicken in the mixture, so they’re completely coated with the shallots. Turn the chicken pieces so they are all skin side up.

4. Roast the chicken for about twenty minutes, until it starts to brown on top. Turn the pieces of chicken over. Scrape any juices and shallots over the chicken that may be clinging to the pan, and bake for another twenty minutes, or until the pieces of chicken are cooked through and the shallots are well-caramelized.

5. Remove from oven and toss in the chopped parsley, then serve

The bottom of the pan should be covered for the most part with your sauce. Toss your chicken in.

Roast for 20 then flip for 20. It is perfection!

It was truly delicious and something we will make again in the near future. Try it! So easy, even I can screw one thing up and end up with a majorly delightful entree! 

These Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty!

"These pretzels are making me thirsty!"  - Everyone that matters on Seinfeld

Let's get to it. My dear friend LP was at dinner with me last month and suggested I try to make these. So, here we are! Thanks LP for the inspiration!

WAIT, I forgot something…. remember, time = glasses of wine while I cook. (Disclaimer: I drink cheap wine, so sometime in the future, sure, I could possibly critique Trader Joe's vino, but no where in the near future).

I don't have recipes in my head just ready to be shown to the world! Yep, my trusty google is my BFF and the first recipe to pop up was a soft pretzel by Alton Brown.

SOLD! He is the bomb.com and knows what he is talking about. Good Eats! is my favorite show on Food Network, ever. Hashtag bringbackgoodeatstoprimetime anyone? I tend to go off on a tangent, click that link above to make these the right way...

Let's make some pretzels. I changed one thing about this recipe because I read the first 10-15 comments about the recipe to see if something worked better for the layman like myself. So always read the comments if you want to know what people really think of it! Please laugh with me at these comments. See what I did differently below:

Here's the ingredients & recipe:

1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water (hot to the touch)

1 tablespoon sugar (Totally important food for the yeast)

2 teaspoons kosher salt - this is where I deviated from the recipe: I put the salt in with the flour and butter.

1 package active dry yeast

22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups - this amount worked perfectly
 
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted 

Vegetable oil, for pan and bowl (approx 4 tbsp)

10 cups water

2/3 cup baking soda

1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water (pretty spot on)

Pretzel salt, soooooo I am using Kosher Salt because, well, I just am, okay? I couldn't find it at the 

grocery. 

Please, this isn't that boring. Wake up! Realize your worth that you are able to make pretzels from scratch and they aren't just frozen and hung in a spinning hot box waiting for you after a serious dip in the pool. (IDEA: I need to make slushies!)

Please follow the directions except for the salt part. Cause these are DEELISH.

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam.  (this is really really obvious, you can see it foaming) Add the flour and butter (read the directions, i almost put in non-melted butter) and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. (these two speeds are totally accurate)

Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl (i just wiped out with a paper towel) and then oil it well with vegetable oil (2 tsp). Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes (I left for about 1:15 because life happens and I had to fold laundry) or until the dough has doubled in size.
 During this step, I drank a glass of your favorite vino.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper (this is very important!) and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.
Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.


In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.
Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving. 

 See the difference after an hour? It's awesome. Yeast (in cooking) is awesome.

 Cut in 8 sections. Pretzel pizza anyone???

After rolling into a snake,

Whip it into this. I can't actually tell you how, just roll and twist into a pretzel. Trust, you will be able to do this. :)

THEN: this is soooooo important. Boil in the bubbly baking soda and water for 30 seconds.. I set a timer. Really, 30 seconds that is IT. Its so the most important thing ever in the world for your pretzels.

DO IT NOW. But, one at a time. You will see that they stick together. 

They are still uncooked, but are shaped. :-)

 Well, well, well…. after spreading salt and a bit of egg yolk (per directions….)

These beauties are the end result!

When I told J that I was making pretzels, he stopped for 2 kinds of mustard. Clutch. One sweet (for me), one spicy (for him). Huh, fitting for our opposite personalities. ;-)

SUCCESS! Challenge accepted! Challenge accomplished.

What's your challenge for me? Joey just said Challah…..holla, ain't no stopping me, copy written, so, don't copy me! (yeah, I said it!) Challenge….Accepted!