A Cheery Break

When I first started my wedding obsession by reading blog post upon post, I kept reading things about planning being overwhelming, stressful and all-consuming. My first thought was "great" I LOVE weddings, so I'll love mine even more. My second was "these people must not be planners." Let me tell you, I'm a planner/organizer with a strong sense of what I like and this wedding planning is OVERWHELMING!
So, for a break from the wedding madness, my roommate and I threw a holiday shindig of our own. Now, I love throwing parties; I love rearranging the furniture in to the most mingle-able setting, I love browsing through appetizer recipes, mixing drinks, choosing serving platters and making the house look so elegantly "lived in." However, because we're both only 21, our collection of serving dishes, holiday decor and generally money is pretty limited, so here is our holiday soiree *on a budget* in three easy steps.
Is anyone throwing a holiday themed, wedding-y party? Wine and crafts? Holiday engagement? Winter bridal shower? Tell me...I LOVE to hear!

1. Candles! Votives are CHEAP, check out these at Dollar Tree (4 for $1) and glass jars are cheaper (do you buy pasta sauce, salsa, jam). We've been collecting glass jars to use at my wedding and figured, why not use them twice?! With all the DIYs out there, it so easy to find something festive...these are my faves. Psst, the first link has TONS of ideas.

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2. Easy appetizers. What's easier (cuter, tastier...) than tiny potatoes wrapped in bacon? Add in a dipping dish of Dijon and you're ready to go. Also, brie was one of our splurgerier treats...but the stuff on top is just sugar and water!! P.S. Of our limited serving dishes, we do have a wood cutting board...perfect for cheese and crackers!

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3. Simple, festive drinks (that you can make in BIG batches). We decided to offer two drinks, cider and nog (both of which were a HIT). The best part about these is that they are easy as heck, but still way classier than the usual 21-year-old party drink.

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What do you do to break from the all-consuming wedding planning?
Don't worry, I'll be done with this hiatus next week, because this weekend I have my first WEDDING DRESS FITTING with my mom and all of my bridesmaids! I can't wait! Does anyone have any fitting tips?
P.S. I wish I could have a snowy, winter wedding...there'd be muffs and cider for all!

Bean Enchiladas (Veg Friendly)

The dish that I can absolutely eat until I'm sick: enchiladas. I've loved them since I was little and last night, as a birthday week present for myself, I cooked bean enchiladas for dinner.

An easy crowd pleaser, my mom and I have often made hundreds of enchiladas for events, and it never takes longer than an hour or so.

So, here is my easy, fool-proof recipe for enchiladas:

Makes 10

Bean Enchiladas (or meat if you want)

Ingredients:

• 1 can of refried bean
• shredded colby jack cheese
• 10 flour tortillas
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 packet McCormick enchilada spices
• OPTIONAL: ground beef or ground turkey (cooked)

Directions:

1. Simmer tomato sauce mixed with spice packet until warm.
2. Fill each tortilla with a large spoon full of beans, a sprinkle of cheese and a spoonful of sauce (add the meat and anything else you might want here too); spread evenly down the center of the tortilla.
3. Roll tortillas and place them side-by-side in the pan (the closer the better)
4. Top generously with cheese and sauce.
5. Cook at 350 F for 25 minutes, or until enchiladas are hot in the center.
6. Serve immediately.
7. Enjoy!

These enchiladas are great re-heated! You can also freeze them for about a month and take them out one at a time for lunches or dinners.

Comida

I haven't been very good about writing lately because I've been working on Comida, my senior honors project. Comida is a mix of academic, journalistic, and sometimes humorous reflections on Spanish culture through food. It is also an album of memories, a souvenir from my life in Spain. Enjoy!

Open publication - Free publishing - More barcelona

Tortilla de Patatas

My favorite meal while I was living in Spain was the Tortilla de Patatas or Tortilla Española, a quintesential Spanish staple. I had this tortilla all over Spain and I can guarantee that the tortilla my Señora made was by far the very best. So, during the four months I lived with her, I was able to learn some of her secrets to the perfect tortilla and I am ready to share them with you!

Tortilla Española (read about my adventures with la tortilla here, in an pre-release excerpt from my Spanish food magazine: Comida)

Ingredients:

Potatoes, any variety
1 onion
3-6 egg whites
2-4 egg yolks
Salt to taste
Extra Virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Pour 1-1.5 inches of olive oil in the bottom of a round-bottomed pan.

2. Peel and slice potatoes in to approximately 1 cm thick rounds. Place potato slices in warm oil until pan is about 2/3 full of potatoes. Oil should not be boiling.

3. Continue to turn potatoes for about 10-15 minutes or until all slice are soft. Potatoes should not brown.

4. Add salt to taste.

5. Grate onion in to potato mixture and continue to turn for about two more minutes.

6. Strain potato mixture, removing all excess oil (the easiest way is to allow the mixture to sit in a strainer for about three minutes).

7. While mixture is straining, beat all eggs together.

8. Pour potato mixture back in to pan and pour eggs over the top. Turn mixture so that the eggs are evenly dispersed.

9. Add salt to taste.

10. Allow Tortilla to cook for approximately three minutes, or until tortilla hold together when pan is shook.

11. Using a plate, flip the tortilla on to the plate and slide it back in to the pan allowing the other side to cook.

12. Cook for about three more minutes and carefully slide on to serving plate.

13. Allow the tortilla to sit for at least 30 minutes before serving so that it holds its domed shape.

14. ¡Buen Provecho!

To learn more about my time in Spain, visit: taylorqchat.blogspot.com

Easy Chicken Picatta

I strayed from my usual baked ziti at Bellisimo in Colleyville and tried the chicken picatta on a recent trip. Although Belisimo's baked ziti is the best baked ziti I've ever had, their chicken picatta held its own. Since chicken picatta is a little lighter than baked ziti, and the weather has been warming up, I decided to give it a try. Here is my super simple version of chicken picatta and I promise you won't regret it!

Ingredients:

2 chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied and cut in half

1/4 cup chicken stock

6 Tbs. olive oil

4 Tbs. butter

juice of 1 large lemon or 2 small lemons

angel hair pasta (as much as you'd like...I used a little less than half a package for 2 people) flour

garlic powder

paprika

salt and freshly ground pepper

OPTIONAL:

capers

fresh lemon slices

Directions:

1. Boil pasta with a sprinkle of salt and splash of olive oil until desired texture (about 8 minutes).

2. Heat 2 Tbs. oil and 1 Tbs. butter in large pan.

3. Season chicken breasts with salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder.

4. Cover chicken breasts in a light coating of flour.

5. Place 2 chicken pieces in pan once the oil begins to simmer and cook for 3 minutes, flip and cook for three more minutes, or until golden brown and no longer pink inside.

6. Take chicken off heat and place on plate (they're not finished yet, this is just a holding area).

7. Put 2 Tbs. of oil and 1 Tbs. of butter in pan with remaining oil and butter, cook the other 2 pieces of chicken the same way as the first two.

8. Remove chicken from pan add the final 2 Tbs. of olive oil, 2 Tbs. of butter, chicken stock and lemon juice (remove from heat to add these ingredients to avoid splattering and grease burns).

9. Bring sauce mixture to boil, then reduce to simmer.

10. Add all 4 chicken pieces back in to the pan with the sauce and let simmer for a minute or 2, coating each chicken piece in sauce.

11. Plate the angel hair pasta first, topped with chicken and remaining sauce.

12. Top with fresh lemon slices and capers if you have them.

13. You're gonna love it!

Fried Goat Cheese Salad

While I was in Spain I developed an undeniable adoration for goat cheese (like eat a pound of goat cheese in one sitting, even when I'm full, kind of love). So, upon returning home to Texas it has been my goal, or rather a necessity, to incorporate goat cheese in to my life. While watching one of the new shows on OWN (I will always follow Oprah), I saw a chef cooking fried goat cheese and it looked easy. So, I decided that Valentine's Dinner was the perfect time to attempt this fancy-ish technique. My little goat cheese bubbles where hard to flip and cooked much faster than I expected, but they were absolutely wonderful!

Fried Goat Cheese Salad (serves 2)

Fried Goat Cheese

1 6 oz. package of goat cheese (or 3/4 of a 8 oz. package)

1 egg

panko bread crumbs (I used italian flavored)

flour

olive oil

Salad

Baby Spinach

Honey Balsamic Dressing

1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. olive oil

1-2 tsp. honey (depending on how sweet you like)

Directions:

1. Roll goat cheese in to small 1/4 balls.

2. Make three bowls, one with flour, one with an egg (well stirred) and one with bread crumbs. With your thumb, lightly press each ball in to a disk.

3. Coat each goat cheese ball in flour, dip it in egg and coat it in bread crumbs. Repeat the final two steps, dipping the ball in egg and then bread crumbs once again.

4. Heat 1/8 inch of olive oil in pan.

5. Place each disk in oil, cook for 30 seconds to a minute, flip the disk and cook the other side 30 seconds to a minute.

6. Mix all dressing ingredients.

7. Serve warm goat cheese disks on a bed of baby spinach, topped with the honey balsamic dressing.

8. Enjoy!

Black Bean Soup

One of my all-time favorites, I remember my mom ordering black bean soup at the now long-gone Espinosas (a Chatfield favorite). As I've grown to unabashedly adore beans of all kinds, black bean soup has been on my to-cook list for a while so the other night, I finally tried and based on boyfriend reviews (which might be slightly biased) succeeded. Here is my ramshackle black bean soup that I threw together out of my college-student pantry and turned out to be extremely quick and tasty.

Black Bean Soup

Recipe:

1 can black beans, juice poured off, but not strained

2.5 cans water (fill the black bean can)

1 large handful of brown rice

.5 medium onion, coarsely chopped

6 pieces cooked bacon (I used turkey bacon because I like it better)

1 large tomato diced

1-1.5 Tbs. chili powder (to taste)

1.5 Tbs. garlic powder (or 1 garlic clove if you have one)

handful of chopped, fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon of your favorite salsa (I use my homemade salsa)

salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

OPTIONAL:

crumbled feta cheese for topping

sour cream for topping

Directions:

1. Sauté garlic (if you have it) and onions until onions are transparent.

2. Pour excess liquid off beans, put beans, rice, water, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, salsa and cooked bacon in large pot.

3. Bring mixture to boil and then reduce heat to simmer

4. Season mixture with garlic powder (if garlic cloves weren't used), chili powder, salt and pepper to taste.

5. Allow mixture to simmer until it has reduced to your desired consistency and the rice is cooked through(mine took about 10 minutes). Extra water can be added and reduced if the soup becomes to thick.

6. Serve hot with crumbled feta cheese, sour cream or both.

7. Eat up!

P.S. Sorry if this picture isn't the most appealing, we ate it so fast that the soup was almost completely gone before I remembered to take a picture.

Banana Bread with Dark Chocolate

Perfect for a snow day, banana bread is one of my favorite hearty desserts. Today I decided to make it a little bit more dessert-y with some dark chocolate and a brownie pan, rather than the typical loaf pan.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas (about 4 bananas--I freeze mine and de-thaw them in warm water right before it's time to bake)
• 1 dark chocolate bar
• 
  
• Directions:
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan or an 8 x 8 brownie pan.
• 
  
• In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Chop the chocolate bar in to small shreds and sprinkle on top of the batter.
• 
  
• Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Sliced and Spiced Baked Potatoes

I adore potatoes, all forms of them, baked, fried, mashed, you name it, I love it! My mom used to make these potatoes when I was little and I always loved them because they look so fancy, but believe me, they're incredibly easy, versatile, yummy and healthy.

Ingredients:

Potatoes (1 for each person you're serving)

Olive oil

Salt

Ground black pepper

Garlic powder

Your choice of herbs--rosemary, thyme and oregano are some of my favorites

Optional Parmesean cheese (whatever kind you have in your pantry)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Slice thin cuts 3/4 of the way through the potato, the thinner the slices the better the potto will cook. Be careful not to slice all the way through, you want the potato to stay together for serving.

Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and drizzle each of them with olive oil. Make sure to get a little oil in between each cut (a basting brush is good for this...or fingers).

Mix together salt, pepper, garlic powder and herbs to taste (truly taste the mixture with each addition so you can get it just right. You will want 1-2 tsp. of mixture per potato.

Sprinkle the mixture on each potato and in between all cuts. Sprinkle parmesean cheese on top of the potatoes if you would like (I wouldn't recommend other kinds of cheese because they will get melty in the oven rather than crispy).

Bake the potatoes in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until all potatoes are cooked through (they should be slightly soft to the touch but not mushy).

Bon Appétit!

Gorgonzola Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Chicken

Today was my fifth snow day in the past week, so my roommate and I decided that it was a perfect day for some gourmet cooking. In our search to find a recipe that only included the array of ingredients that we had in the kitchen (it's way too cold to go to the store), we decided on a recipe that my roomie has made before...Gorgonzola Stuffed, Bacon Wrapped Chicken! YUM!!

Ingredients (adapted from allrecipes.com)
Feeds 2 people

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (our chicken breasts were sliced)
1/4 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley (we used dried parsley mixed with about a tablespoon of water)
2 tablespoons minced shallot (we used a white onion)
1 clove garlic, minced
4 thick slices of applewood smoked bacon
salt and ground pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spray an 8x8-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Mash together the Gorgonzola cheese, parsley, shallot, and garlic in a small bowl; season with salt and black pepper.

Using a sharp knife, cut a slit into the thick side of each chicken breast about 2 inches long and 1 1/2 inches deep. If your chicken breasts are sliced, you can simply spoon the filling in to the center and roll them up).

Divide the filling in half, and stuff each chicken breast with cheese filling. Wrap 2 slices of bacon around each breast, and secure with wooden toothpicks. Place the chicken breasts into the prepared baking dish.
Bake in the preheated oven until the bacon is browned and the chicken is no longer pink inside, about 35 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a breast should read about 165 degrees F (75 degrees C).

If you want crispier bacon, you can pan sear the bacon/chicken presents in a little olive oil for a minute or until the bacon is crispy to your liking.

Enjoy!