Favorite Summer Food

Take fresh ears of corn.
Remove husks and silk.
Smear corn in butter, sprinkle generously with Tony's.
Wrap in foil.
Grill 30 minutes.

Eat as many ears as you can stand.

This Weekend in Food - My Trip to Shreveport

J and I headed down to Shreveport on Friday after work to visit his parents and see a few friends. Every time we go, we end up having massive debates about what we should eat. I don't have tons of great things to say about Shreveport. It's not a BAD place, just a bit boring. I will say this - there are so many wonderful places to eat that I would move back to that million degree hellhole just for the food.

Saturday afternoon we had lunch with J's mom at a new place called Newk's on Youree Drive. I had the black and blue salad, J had a shrimp po-boy and potato soup. My salad was good, but HUGE. There was enough left over for at least another meal and a half. J's sandwich was yummy. I didn't really care for the soup. Something about it just didn't taste right to me. The restaurant was extremely crowded, but our food still arrived quickly, which I appreciate. I'm sure we'll go back on a return visit, but I don't know that it will make it onto the list of places that we HAVE to eat at when we go home.

Later that night, we ventured to The Real Pickle on Line Avenue for dinner for sandwiches, beer, and of course pickles. I think I've finally made it halfway to my 20 Beer t-shirt, and I've only been working on my card for a year, haha. I had the Chicks in the Mail sandwich for dinner (a BLT with chicken salad). I'm not sure if the cook is different or what, but it was much better than usual. The bread was toasted more, and it tasted like it had been salted. The bacon was also extra crispy, just the way I like it.

We can't make a trip to Shreveport without going to Tacomania, so the whole family plus Steph went to lunch together on Sunday for Father's Day. Now, I could write an entire blog dedicated to the wonders of The Mania, but I won't so I'll just say this: If you are ever in Shreveport, go eat there. Ask to sit in Rodrigo's section. He's not only the best waiter, he has the best hair. Everything on the menu is good. I have never been disappointed in my food. Never not ever. Come back and tell me I was right.

In three weeks, we'll be heading to Asheville, North Carolina for a REAL vacation. If you have eating suggestions, please pass them along. I've been there before, but am always looking for new places to try.

Balsamic and Herb Flank Steak

Mix together the following in a large plastic zip-top bag:
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
4 cloves garlic, minced

Add a 1 - 1 1/2 pound flank steak to the marinade. Refrigerate, massaging and turning occasionally, 8 hours.

Preheat a large non-stick pan over medium high heat. Remove steak from marinade, and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Cook for 6 - 7 minutes on each side for medium rare. Let steak rest for 5 minutes after cooking. Cut against the grain into thin slices.


Notes: This is a modified Bobby Flay recipe. Bobby wants you to grill the steak, which is all well and good, but it's been raining here for like a million days so that was a no go. I also added the mint, which was not in the original recipe. My mint plant has been growing like crazy, and I really needed to use some of it. J said the steak pieces were good in the green salad with tomatoes and honey mustard dressing, but I didn't try that myself. I served this with the salad and some oven-roasted potatoes.

Crawfish Monica

Ingredients

• One pound crawfish (pre-cooked tail meat)
• One bunch green onions, chopped
• Four cloves garlic, minced
  
• One pint half and half
• One stick butter
• Cajun seasoning
• One pound rotini pasta
  

Steps

• In a large pot, boil pasta for 8 - 9 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain again.
  
• In a separate large saucepan, melt the stick of butter.
• Saute the onions and garlic in the melted butter for approximately 2 - 3 minutes or until softened and aromatic.
• Add crawfish tails to pan and cook an additional 3 - 4 minutes.
• Add half and half to pan. Stir in a few large pinches of Cajun seasoning. Taste, and add more if desired. Simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add drained rotini to sauce, simmer an additional 10 minutes.

Notes: If your sauce seems a little thick, add 1/4 cup milk at a time to achieve desired consistency. I also like to add a little parmesan cheese right at the end. I know it's not traditional, but I think it's super yum. I got this recipe from a friend over at Jambase. Thanks, "Foghorn."

Things I Didn't Actually Eat

The panda says, "Nom nom nom."

CRAWFISH

Oh my God, please don't eat me!!!


RECIPE:
Many pounds of crawfish
Boil until done
Eat until mouth burns, fingers hurt, face sweats. Repeat.

New Favorite Thing #1

This week's new feature: My New Favorite Thing. This will probably be one of those things that doesn't happen very often, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

My New Favorite Thing #1: Edy's All-Fruit Bars. At least, I think that's what they're called. They're fantastic popsicles made from fruit with no added sugar. Yes, I am aware this doesn't make them particularly healthy. It's a damn popsicle. What do you want it to be?

At any rate, they're super delicious. The strawberry one definitely at some point contained real live strawberries, because there are strawberry seeds in it. They come in raspberry, strawberry, and tangerine. Or least the box that I got came with those.

If you like popsicles, buy some of these the next time you go to the store. They're no Otter Pops, but still good.

Menu, Week of April 6

Monday, April 6
Shrimp Etouffee

Tuesday, April 7
Pork Chops, Asparagus & Broccoli with Garlic Butter

Wednesday, April 8
Ina Garten's "Company Pot Roast" with Mashed Potatoes

Thursday, April 9
Baked Salmon, Green Beans

Friday, April 10
"Snodge Burgers" with Chips and Ro-Tel

Saturday, April 11
Steaks with Bacon/Blue Cheese, side dish undecided

Sunday, April 12
Roasted Chicken Breasts, side dish undecided

NOTE: I am currently accepting nominations for Saturday and Sunday's side dishes. Bakes potatoes will NOT be accepted as a suggestion.

Mustard Vinaigrette

In a small bowl combine:

4 tsp. Honey Mustard
2 tsp. Balsamic Vinegar
1 tsp. Spicy Mustard
1/2 tsp. Cajun Seasoning (I prefer Tony Cachere's)
1/3 cup Olive Oil

Whisk well. This is a fairly thick dressing, so I find it best on a large bowl of grilled or steamed vegetables. If you wanted to make it a salad dressing, add another 1/4 - 1/3 cup olive oil.

Menu, Week of March 30

Monday, March 30
Honey mustard salmon, vegetables with a mustard vinaigrette

Tuesday, March 31
Baked chicken fingers, oven fries

Wednesday, April 1
Tacos, black beans and rice

Thursday, April 2
Four-cheese baked penne

Friday, April 3
Shrimp Etouffee

Saturday, April 4
Going to dinner, it's the damn weekend

Sunday, April 5
Pot Roast and mashed potatoes

Oh. My. GOD!!!

J got this today from his boss. He got a perfect score on a secret shop. It was not only adorable, but delicious.

It is a CUPCAKE LION!!!!!

Last Week

Last week, we here at What Kris Ate were struck down by the head / chest cold that has been going around. This led to numerous days of being couch and bedridden, and lots of soup. LOTS of soup. So much, in fact, that I've decided to review some of the canned soup that we ate last week, to let you know what's worth buying and what isn't.

The Good
1. Campbell's Soup at Hand: Tomato Parmesan Bisque. I'm not going to lie, I really like this soup. I know it's canned, and has a crapload of sodium in it, but it's amazing. I like it with those really thin, cheese water crackers. The ones they sell in the "gourmet" section of the grocery store.
2. Campbell's Chunky Vegetable Beef. This is not the very best soup ever. But I still like it because it has lots of both of the things in the name: Vegetables and Beef.

The Not-So-Good
1. Campbell's Chicken Noodle. This isn't the condensed one, rather the new kind they have that is pre-made in the microwaveable container. It's pretty watery, and just didn't look to have much flavor.
2. Campbell's Select Harvest Maryland-Style Crab. Also a little watery. J ate the whole bowl, but I thought it looked kind of ick. It's tomato based, which was weird for me, and also didn't appear to have any crab in it. Or even any Krab. Lame.

The Really, Really Bad
1. Progresso Lite Vegetable Beef. Oh my GOD. This soup tastes like nothing. There were not many vegetables, and definitely no beef. Gross.
2. Campbell's Tomato Soup. Hands down, the original, condensed version is my all-time favorite soup, simply for nostalgia reasons. The ready-made microwaveable one? SO BAD. There are big lumps of the condensed stuff in the bottom of the "bowl" and it is almost impossible to stir it all in and make it homogenous. It was just plain bad.

Of course, if we're going to talk about the very best soup I had during my Unfortunate Confinement it was the Broccoli/Cheddar from Panera Bread. But that wasn't canned. Well, it probably was, but it wasn't in a can when it came to me. And it was damn good.

Honey Balsamic Glazed Roasted Chicken

Ingredients

• Chicken pieces (whatever kind you like)
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tsp. garlic salt
• 5 sprigs FRESH rosemary

Steps

• In a large Ziploc bag, combine all ingredients except chicken. Massage them together to dissolve the brown sugar.
• Add chicken to bag. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a pan with a double layer of aluminum foil. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.
• Place chicken in pan. Cover tightly with foil. Cook for 30 - 35 minutes.
• While chicken is roasting, remove rosemary sprigs from marinade. Pour marinade in small saucepan.
• Bring to a boil. This will kill the bacteria from the chicken. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes to reduce to a glaze.
• When chicken is done, baste with the glaze.
  

Notes: This is a recipe adapted from Giada diLaurentis (I think I spelled that wrong). It was on her Giada at Home show. She used drumettes, and sprinkled sesame seeds and parsley on at the end. I went with chicken breasts, because that's what I prefer. She also used several crushed cloves of garlic instead of garlic salt. I just didn't feel like dealing with that, so I switched it to salt. I also spooned some of the glaze on the steamed vegetables I served this with. It kind of reminds me of the honey-grilled salmon from Applebees, except REALLY good.

Menu, Week of March 1

Sunday, March 1
Brunch: Strawberry Strata
Dinner: Short Ribs Bourguignonne with Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Monday, March 2
Poached salmon with Steamed Vegetables

Tuesday, March 3
Leftovers

Wednesday, March 4
Honey-Balsamic Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

Thursday, March 5
Chicken Chili

Friday, March 6
Lasagna

Saturday, March 7
Snodge Burgers and Tater Tots

Notes: I am not going to re-post the two Sunday recipes. I got them both off Food Network, and linked to them. I will say that on the strawberry strata, I did not use ciabatta bread. I used a whole loaf of Sara Lee Brown Sugar & Cinnamon bread PLUS four slices of white bread. Also, it might be the most fantastic brunch food I have ever cooked.

New Blog Features

So, I haven't really cooked anything new this week. Just things I've already made, and told you how to make. I decided we needed something new on the blog. Something different, and maybe fun.

Starting next week, I will be posting the weekly menu at our house on the blog. New menus will appear on Sunday, with the recipes following during the week. I'll also be posting pictures of the food sometimes. And, eventually, there will be "instructional" videos which will consist less of cooking and more of me drinking and yelling about stuff while I cook things.

Now, since we're not cooking anything new this week, I thought I would show you pictures of all the things we ate at Thanksgiving. May I present...the most fantastic Thanksgiving meal I have ever eaten.

Here is the turkey, while it's frying. This was our first fried turkey, and it was amazing.This is the cornbread dressing, made from scratch. SUPER good, but next time I'll cut the mushrooms smaller.


This was my favorite thing we had all day. It's lobster mashed potatoes. I just made a simple pot of garlic/parmesan mashed potatoes. Then I made a butter sauce (just a light roux and a stick of butter melted down) and tossed a container of pre-cooked lobster in it to just heat through.
Finally, here is the actual star of the show, the completed fried turkey. See how brown the skin is? That's what makes it awesome.

This is probably all for this week. Check back Sunday for next week's menu. Think of it as a preview of all the recipes that will be coming up.

25 Things

Everybody has done this on Facebook, I'm going to do it on the blog. And all about food.

1. I love bourbon. I like it served over ice with a little water. NOT with Coke. Some of my favorites are Woodford Reserve, Blanton's, and my all time favorite, Knob Creek.
2. I also love Jim Beam and Coke. ONLY Jim Beam goes with Coke. It's the rules.
3. I could eat sushi every day, all the time. There are so many different things you can order, and the combinations are seemingly endless. LOVE IT.
4. Jason makes the best burgers ever. The only burger I have ever had better is from Dearman's Drug Store in Baton Rouge. If you are ever in Baton Rouge, go to Dearman's, at the corner of Jefferson and Corporate in the Bocage shopping center. According to my mother it has re-opened, and the burgers are still the same. Otherwise, I guess you'll just have to come have burgers here.
   
5. I do not like sandwiches. I'm not sure why, but I don't. I will eat the occasional panini, French Dip, muffuletta, or REALLY good deli sandwich, but that's a rare thing. Maybe once a month.
   
6. This does NOT apply to breakfast sandwiches. I love all breakfast sandwiches all the time. This is because:
7. I love breakfast and brunch. They are the best meals ever. And not just because Brunch means you get to drink in the middle of the morning. It's because you get to eat awesome stuff like casseroles with bacon and sausage and cheese and eggs, and you get hashbrowns, and I swear I could talk about breakfast and brunch for hours. Seriously.
8. Speaking of brunch, I once made one for Jason and I that included a pork chop and broccoli omelette and a weird mimosa substitute made with white wine, passion fruit juice, and Sprite. Both of these things were some of my favorite brunch things I have ever made or consumed.
   
9. Scrambled eggs are my kryptonite. I cannot cook them worth a crap. They just don't cooperate with me.
   
10. I don't actually follow recipes, even though I give them to you. I basically never make anything the same twice. Everything is always a little different.
11. After a 15-year hiatus, I have resumed eating pork products. I will never give them up again. Bacon is too important to me.
    
12. I still do not eat ham. I think it tastes funny.
13. I love cocktails. They make me feel special to drink them because they're pretty and served in nice glassware. Some of my favorites are a well-made cosmopolitan (NOT the super sweet sugary things people call cosmos), the Plum Collins at PF Changs, the French 75, mojitos, and the Filthy Martini from Stray Cats (which is the only place on earth I will drink martinis).
14. Pasta is one of my favorite things to cook and eat. If something will hold still long enough, I will probably saute it in olive oil and garlic and serve it over pasta with parmesan cheese.
15. I miss living in Louisiana so much sometimes that I can barely stand it. The food is just better there. ALL the food.
16. Surprisingly, I do not cook a lot of Cajun food. Nor do I deep fry that much. I don't know why that is, but I'm looking into getting a deep fryer so I can start.
    
17. I love fried pickles, but only pickle chips. Not pickle spears. I also love pickle flavored potato chips. And pickled green beans. And olives. And cocktail onions. Pretty much anything that tastes like brine really.
18. Even though it's totally cliche, salmon is my favorite fish. I try to cook it once a week if not more. I love it. Grilled, baked, poached. All of it.
19. I'm currently off beer. Every once in a while, I want a really good quality beer. But only one or two. I can't drink a lot of it anymore.
    
20. The only sandwich I've ever really loved was developped in college. It's a BARELY toasted plain bagel with turkey, the white cheese they serve in the caf, and a caesar salad with olives on top. I miss this sandwich more than words can express. I have never been able to replicate it with other bagels, turkey, cheese, and salad. It's not the same.
21. I don't like meat that looks like what it is. Ribs, chicken legs and wings, cornish hens. They freak me out.
    
22. Other than that, I really love meat. I started buying in bulk because it works better for me. We bought a second fridge so I could have another freezer for meat. It's magical.
23. Nothing about cooking intimidates me. I will try to cook anything once, no matter how complicated it seems. I think that's why I'm good at it.
24. Until about 2 years ago, I was a terrible cook. I think it USED to intimidate me, and that's why nothing was ever very good. When Jason and I got together, I could burn Hamburger Helper. Now? Pretty much everything is good all the time.
25. I am a compulsive cookbook buyer. I have more than I could possibly ever use. I also subscribe to both the Food Network magazine and Southern Living, which I seriously get only for the recipes.
    

There are so many other things I could say about food and eating and drinking, but the meme is only 25, so that's it. Maybe one day I'll do another 25 things.

Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound macaroni
• 5 slices bacon, cut into small chunks
• 3 tbsp flour
• 3 cups milk
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp Tony Cachere's
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 pound cheddar cheese

Steps

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  
• Bring water to a boil. Cook macaroni for 7 minutes. Drain. If it doesn't quite seem done all the way, that's fine. It will finish up in the oven.
• In a separate large saucepan, cook bacon over medium high heat until fat has rendered and bacon pieces are crispy. Remove them with a slotted spoon to a plate with paper towels on it to drain. Reserve drippings
• Turn heat on pan down to medium.
• Sprinkle flour into bacon drippings. Whisk constantly for 3 minutes.
• Add milk to roux along with salt, paprika, and Tony's. Bring to boil, simmer for 10 minutes.
• Temper in egg. Add 3/4 of cheese and melt
• Grease a large casserole with Pam.
• Pour cooked macaroni into casserole dish. Fold in cheese sauce and bacon. Top with the rest of the cheese.
• Bake, covered for 30 minutes.
  

Manhattan Steaks

Ingredients

• Thick cut steaks, one per person
• Olive oil
• Montreal Steak Seasoning (I like McCormick Low Salt)
• 4.5 ounces bourbon (VERY good quality. If you think Kentucky Deluxe is good quality, stop reading immediately. We're not friends anymore)
• 1 ounce sweet vermouth
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. butter, divided
• 2 shallots, minced

Steps

• Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat.
• Sprinkle each steak with olive oil and coat with seasoning on both sides.
• When pan is hot, place steaks in it. Cook for 5-6 minutes on each side for medium rare.
• Remove steaks to pan and cover with foil keep warm.
• Return pan (with drippings) to heat. Add olive oil and 1 tbsp butter to pan. Melt together.
• Add shallots and cook 2 minutes
• Add alcohol. At this point you have two options. You can ignite it and wait until the alcohol burns down, or you can boil it out. This is up to you. When the alcohol is gone, add the final tablespoon of butter and remove pan from heat.
  
• Serve immediately over steaks.
  

Notes: This recipe is from Rachel Ray's 365 No Repeats cookbook. I didn't have shallots the other day, so made the sauce with garlic and it worked fine. I used Woodford Reserve bourbon, and it turned out really nicely.

Shrimp Martini

Ingredients

• Cooked shrimp (I like to pan saute with a little olive oil and garlic and lemon) with tails on. 6 per person
  
• 3 ounces cocktail sauce
• zest of 1 lemon
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• juice of half lemon
• 1 ounce vodka
• splash worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper

Steps

• Combine cocktail sauce, lemon, garlic, vodka and worcestershire sauce in a measuring cup or pitcher.
• Place in fridge for one hour to allow flavors to combine.
• Freeze martini glasses, one per person.
• Hook shrimp tails on the rim of the glass, tail side out. Fill with sauce. Serve cold.

Notes: This recipe is from the Rachel Ray 365 No Repeats cookbook. Make sure to stir the sauce well before serving. It separates.

Beef and Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients

• 1 quart beef broth
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1/2 small onion, diced (can be replaced with 3 shallots, diced)
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 pint mushrooms, sliced
  
• 1/3 cup red wine
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• Parmesan cheese
  

Steps

• Heat beef broth in a small pot. DO NOT BOIL.
• Place a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add olive oil.
• Saute onion, garlic, and mushrooms for 2 - 3 minutes or until onion is translucent and mushrooms are small.
• Add rice. Saute additional 2 minutes, stirring well to combine veg, rice, and oil.
• Add red wine. Cook for 2 minutes.
  
• Begin adding broth to rice. I use a really big ladle, and add 2 ladles the first time.
• Cook until first broth has been absorbed, stirring very frequently.
• Continue to add broth and cook until absorbed, one ladle at a time. The whole process should take 20 - 25 minutes.
• When all broth has been added and cooked in, remove risotto from heat. Add parmesan cheese and stir in.

Notes: For the parmesan, use as much or little as you like. I like kind of a lot. This dish is really versatile, and can be a meal in itself. I also sometimes serve it with pot roast style beef tips, which is good and stretches it out for more people or meals.

Chicken Spaghetti

Ingredients

• 1.5 pounds chicken breast (or 1 small whole chicken, if you like dark meat too)
• 1 pound spaghetti
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 pint mushrooms
• 1 can Ro-tel tomatoes (DO NOT DRAIN)
  
• 1 large can very small peas, drained (I like LeSeur)
• 1 pound Velveeta, cubed

Steps

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  
• Boil chicken for approximately 20 minutes. Remove, and shred with forks.
• For spaghetti: You have 2 options. Number 1, cook the pasta in chicken broth. Number 2, cool the broth made by cooking your chicken in step one, STRAIN IT, and cook the pasta in it. Cook until almost done. It will finish up in the oven.
• While chicken and spaghetti are cooking, saute onions, peppers, and mushrooms in olive oil.
• When the above are finished cooking, combine in a LARGE pan (9X13 doesn't quite cut it, unless it's super deep) that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Add Ro-tel, peas, and velveeta. Stir really well. Make sure no cheese is just sitting on top, or it screws up the sauce.
• Cover pan in foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Let rest 3-5 minutes before serving.

Notes: Awesome.

Salad Dressing

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp. honey
• 2 tbsp. honey mustard
• salt and pepper to taste

Steps

• Mix together vinegar, honey, mustard.
• Stream in olive oil, whisking constantly.
• Microwave dressing for 30 seconds
• Whisk again

Notes: I like to serve this over a chopped salad (bag of salad greens, chop up to thin strips) with bleu cheese crumbles and chopped walnuts. The vinegar I use came from a local winery in Eureka Springs. I recommend buying your vinegar the same way. Go check out a local winery and do a tasting. if the wine is good, the vinegar will be too.

Restaurant Review: 36 Club

Friday evening J, Mikey, Steph, Jesse, Tim, Walker, and I went out to dinner at the 36 Club in Fayetteville for my birthday. And it was pretty much the most fabulous dining experience of my ENTIRE LIFE. I mean, I have eaten at some really enjoyable places, but this totally made it.

We arrived promptly and were seated. Our waiter popped by to provide menus and a wine list. When the rest of the party arrived, we ordered our drinks. They have a REALLY great bourbon selection including both Booker's and Blanton's, two of my favorites. Also a lovely wine selection and several champagnes by the glass. Two thumbs up. Drinks arrived with a basket of yummy bread.

Appetizers soon followed. J and I shared the crabcake and Jesse had mussels. The crabcake was huge, with very little breading/filler and plenty of perfectly cooked crab. It was served with a light remoulade on the side. All around, quite satisfying. Jesse's mussels were really nicely flavored, and also a massive serving. Like, enough mussels to make a meal out of. I think everybody at the table ended up eating some of them.

Now, we must all take a deep breath, and prepare to discuss the Best Steak I Have Ever Eaten. The New York Strip (probably 12-ounce? It was a good size) arrived, cooked a perfect medium rare. It was so tender it just melted in my mouth and I barely even had to chew it. Even better? It was topped with a mound of caramelized onions, bleu cheese....and BACON. What could be more wonderful? Nothing, that's what. It also came with a side of nicely garlicked mashed potatoes. I was unable to finish it, which was the only disappointing thing about the meal.

Mikey, J, and Jesse all had the grouper special, which was also delicious. Nicely flaky fish, a light lemon/butter sauce, and capers also served with the mashed potatoes. Tim had a pasta with smoked salmon, and Walker had some sort of salad, but I didn't eat any of their food, so I won't pass judgment on it.

Overall, I have to give the experience 4 stars. The server was attentive, but didn't hover (which I hate). The meal was a bit expensive, but absolutely worth it. I also enjoyed the atmosphere of the restaurant. It was nice without being overly pretentious or fancy. I felt comfortable and able to enjoy myself, which is the best part of going out for a nice meal. I would totally recommend it to anyone in the Fayetteville area looking for a REALLY excellent meal for a date night or even a party of friends. Seriously. GO EAT THERE.

Guacamole

Ingredients

• 3 large avocados
• 1 small onion or 2 shallots, diced VERY fine
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• one can "Mexican flavor" ro-tel tomatoes
• Garlic salt
• juice of 1 lime

Steps

• Peel and pit avocados. Cover with lime juice
• Mash to consistency you like.
• Add onion, garlic, and drained Ro-tel.
• Season to taste with garlic salt.

Notes: Here's the scoop. I'll give you my secret. My special, magic secret. I also add sriracha to my guac. Yes, the "rooster sauce". Not a lot, just enough to make it a little hot. You're the only person that knows about this. Don't tell.

Chicken for Tacos

Ingredients

• 1 pound chicken, poached and shredded
• 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 pack "chicken taco" seasoning
• 1 pack ranch dressing mix
• 1/2 red onion, diced

Steps

• Combine all ingredients in pan over medium heat. Bring to boil.
• Reduce heat to low. Simmer 20 minutes

Notes: I know, this doesn't even really seem like cooking. But it's delicious, so hush.

Homemade Pasta Sauce

Ingredients

• One pound ground beef (or turkey)
• One onion, diced
  
• Three cloves of garlic, minced
  
• One half cup of mushrooms, sliced
• One large can crushed tomatoes in puree
  
• Handful fresh basil, chopped

Steps

• Brown ground beef over medium heat. When browned, remove meat from pot with slotted spoon and place in bowl.
• In drippings, cook diced onions over medium-low heat for at least 10 minutes until soft and slightly caramelized.
• Add garlic and mushrooms to onions. Cook additional 5 minutes.
• Return beef to pot. Add crushed tomatoes. Simmer for 10 minutes
• Add basil to sauce. Simmer additional 10 - 15 minutes.

Notes: Serve over your favorite shape pasta. I like farfalle or penne, J prefers spaghetti. Make sure to salt and pepper at each step. I use garlic salt on the beef, and regular salt for the remainder. Reheats very well, and doesn't become greasy as some tomato sauces do.

Croissant French Toast Stuffed with Strawberry Cream Cheese

Ingredients

• 4 large croissants, split
• 4 oz. strawberry cream cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• Toppings (powdered sugar, strawberries, warmed maple syrup)

Steps

• Prepare baking sheet. Line either with sil-pat or aluminum foil HEAVILY coated with cooking spray.
  
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Spread 1/2 oz. cream cheese on each croissant half. Put cut halves back together.
• Whisk together eggs, milk, and cinnamon. Dip each croissant well into mix. Place on baking sheet.
• When all croissants are dipped, bake for 15 minutes. Serve immediately with desired toppings.

Notes: I like this with syrup. Also, SERIOUSLY. HEAVY coat of cooking spray. These things stick like crazy.

Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients

• One large can green beans (preferably french style)
• One can cream of mushroom soup (I like the "golden mushroom" or "mushroom with roasted garlic")
• One can French's fried onions
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup milk

Steps

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  
• Stir together soup and 1/4 cup milk.
• Drain beans, add to soup/milk mix. Stir to combine. If thick, add additional milk.
  
• Add one half can of fried onions. Stir to combine.
• Bake uncovered for 25 minutes.
• Sprinkle remaining onions on top. Bake additional 5 minutes.

Notes: Serve immediately. I rarely add salt or pepper, as the soup and beans are pretty flavorful on their own.