Glazed Pan Seared Salmon

In an attempt to not miss today, which was filled with lots of baking and cooking, but apparently no time to blog, it is now 1 hour before I miss one of the last days of my March NaBloPoMo. Lucky for me I still have a bunch of recipes I need to share with you.

This salmon was one of them. I originally saw this over at My Kitchen Cafe where Melanie grilled the salmon. Since we made this for my husbands birthday, which was in January, I didn't try to brave the snow and just went ahead and cooked our salmon inside on a nice cast iron skillet which is why mine has the crust on the outside. My husband, and our guests, all raved about this and thought it was the best salmon they've ever had.

Get the Recipe Here

Homemade Sloppy Joes and Buns - and NaBloPoMo 5 Days To Go!

Earlier this month, at the start of my NaBloPoMo, when I professed my love for sloppy joes, I mentioned that I had finally come up with my own recipe.  I promised to find those pictures and post the recipe, and now I am (finally) making good on that promise!  

Aside from actually being, hands down, the best Sloppy Joes I've ever had (and oh boy, have I eaten more than my fair share of Sloppy Joes) this was fun and easy to make.  They had just enough spice and just the right amount of sweetness for me.  I mentioned before, but I'll mention again, that yes, I like to add a can of baked beans into the mix.  There are a couple of reasons for that, first, I just really like it and the importance of really liking what you are making just can't be taken for granted, and second, it stretches the recipe a bit further so you get more bang (and more food) for your buck, and certainly, in today's world, the importance of making your ingredients stretch can't be taken for granted either.

The other star of this show was, yes, more homemade hamburger buns.  It is a very large batch though, but, instead of trying to downsize, the folks over at King Arthur Flour have taken the guess work out and given directions for just freezing the buns to have on hand.  So, I did.  Guess what?  The very next time I wanted to make burgers, I had homemade buns, ready to go, in the freezer.  I just pulled them out to defrost and they were good to go.  I mean that.  I am actually not a huge fan of frozen/defrosted baked goods most of the time.  These were just as good as they were fresh from the oven.  A little slice, a little shmear of butter, a little toasting on a hot pan, and voila, we're in business.

One warning though.  Once you make these recipes, you'll have a very hard time ever going back to mixes or packets of seasoning or store bought buns ever again.  Which is just fine, because this is so easy, you'll never have to.  For the recipe for these buns, head over to King Arthur Flour.  In case the fact that I've already sung this recipe's praises isn't enough, let me just add that you can use the recipe to make hot dog buns, as well as top these with whatever toppings or seeds strike your fancy.  I should also mention that these are just tasty rolls that you can eat with whatever too.  An all around winner.

Sloppy Joes

Original Recipe by Holly Hanks @ PheMOMenon

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef

1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion

1 large green or red bell pepper (or I used 4 baby sweet bell peppers of assorted color - they were tender and perfect!)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small can tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon celery salt

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 Tablespoon dark or light brown sugar, firmly packed

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/3 cup water

1 can of your favorite baked beans with liquid (optional)

In a small bowl, combine together the chili powder, cumin, celery salt, cinnamon, brown sugar, and pepper, set aside.

In a large skillet, add the ground beef and cook until browned and well cooked through. Remove the meat to drain and set aside in a bowl.  To the skillet add the olive oil and the chopped onions. Cook over medium heat until translucent and getting tender, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, stir well to combine and cook the garlic about 1 minute more.  

Add the hamburger back to the pan and turn heat to low.  Add the spices to the pan, along with 1/3 cup water, Worcestershire and tomato paste.  Stir well to combine.  Add the baked beans if you are using them and stir gently.   Allow the entire mixture to simmer and heat through on low, for 10 minutes.  

Serve hot on toasted buns, with or without a slice of cheddar cheese and a few tortilla chips on the side.  Either way, have some napkins handy.

Bourbon Chicken and Jasmine Rice - Plus the Apron Giveaway Winner!

I have had this recipe bookmarked for a while now, ever since I saw it over on Melanie's blog. I love these kinds of recipes and, while Melanie has several delicious looking chicken dishes on her blog, this one looked fast. Really fast. I have to admit that when it comes to meal planning, I am not always as much of a planner as I wish I was. Most of our meals end up being eaten later than intended because I had no plan in mind and started something that was going to take a while.

I am happy to say that this meal was started and eaten, all within 45 minutes. All I had to plan ahead was to at least make sure I had the ingredients and had some chicken thawed.

I modified the recipe only a little, mainly because of what I had on hand and what I thought I would like. I only had myself and Aidan to feed this to today, and didn't really plan on a lot of leftovers, so I decreased the amount of chicken I made, but I didn't change the amount of sauce since I wanted a little extra to go on the rice.

Now speaking of the rice, I have to admit, that I don't actually make rice often, because I never have that great of results. That has all changed today. I'm never looking back. It was simple to make and the rice tasted wonderful and had a perfect fluffy texture - even without being drowned with sauce of some kind.

The other change I made to the recipe was to add some chopped bell pepper for color and a little extra flavor. Overall, these are both recipes I know I will be making often from now on.

This made the perfect fast and tasty meal and was even kid friendly. If your kids don't like spice though, I would suggest cutting back on the red pepper flake a bit though since it was a little too hot for Aidan.

Perfect Steamed Jasmine Rice

Adapted from My Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

4 tablespoons oil (for pan-frying)

2 T cornstarch (for dusting)
1 large red bell pepper or 6 assorted color baby bell peppers, cut into bite size pieces (or 1/2 inch)

Sauce:

1 garlic clove (minced)

1 1-inch piece fresh ginger, chopped

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

¼ cup apple juice

1/2 cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoon ketchup

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

½ cup water

1/3 cup soy sauce

Cut chicken breasts into small bite-sized pieces, and dust them lightly with cornstarch. Heat oil in large frying pan and fry chicken bits in batches until lightly browned over medium-high heat. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels and set aside. Leave the remaining oil in the pan and add the bell pepper pieces to the pan. Saute for 5 minutes til soft.

In a blender combine all sauce ingredients and blend for about 10-15 seconds. Strain the mixture into the frying pan and bring to a boil. Add chicken bits back to the pan, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until sauce has thickened and reduced almost completely to thick glaze over chicken and peppers. Serve over hot steamed rice.

Perfect Steamed Jasmine Rice
Source: Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen

Serves 4 - Makes 3 1/2 cups

1 cup jasmine rice
2 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter (optional)

Rinse the rice in a colander until the water runs clear to remove some of the starch. Let the rice drain. Put the rice, water, and salt in a medium pot and place over medium heat. When the water begins to boil, stir it once; then cover tightly and lower the heat. Simmer the rice for 15 minutes without lifting the lid - it is wise to set a timer. After 15 minutes take the cover off to check the rice. The water should be absorbed and rice cooked but firm. Fluff the cooked grains with a fork so they separate, but do not stir with a spoon or the rice will become gummy. Add the butter and toss gently. Serve hot.

Winner!

AND THE WINNER OF THE BLOOM-N-BLUSH GIVEAWAY IS....

doughmesstic said...
I follow you on Twitter! (of course!)
March 15, 2009 3:38 PM

Woo hoo! Thanks so much to everyone that entered. Don't forget, you can still get free shipping through April 30th on orders from Bloom-n-Blush!

My First TV Experience and a GIVEAWAY!!!

This is me. This is actually me posing for my bloggy friends photo shoot in the Good Things Utah kitchen. You really have to love bloggers. It is so great being in a group of people that think alike. Lindsey, Becky and I all showed up with our cameras and both gals took shots of me in the kitchen, which I couldn't have done for myself, so I am so grateful! The pictures here are from Lindsey since she had a great pro camera. I hope they got some pictures of them too because I was pretty out of it trying to get ready to cook on live TV and was kept pretty busy with that too.

Let me warn you right now that there are a lot of links you are going to want to check out in this post, so if you didn't already know, ctrl click is your friend and will leave this post open and let you choose to open the link in another window so you can enjoy all the good stuff!

The TV segment yesterday was awesome. I was completely nervous, but I think I hid it pretty well. I am told by my immediate family that unless you knew me well you might not catch my tells (the shaky voice and hands at times). You know I am all about full disclosure and honesty here, so now when you watch the video you can see if you catch me shaking in my boots! Well, my ballet flats anyway. If you want to miss all the rest of the fun and jump down to the video link toward the middle of the post, you can, but there is lots of fun stuff to tell, so you may want to stick around.



That is the demo plate of the Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas I made for the show. I have mentioned it a couple of times before, and I got to mention on air that the original recipe for these came from a couple of other bloggers, but I just wanted to reiterate here how grateful I am to Melanie at My Kitchen Cafe for turning me on to this recipe in the first place.

The really fun thing (I think) about this original recipe is that it has been through at least three or four sets of adaptations. That probably isn't even the whole story. In my enchiladas, I increased the honey and lime a bit and took the amount of chili powder down a bit. I also use fresh garlic because that is what I always have on hand and like that more than the powder for something like this. I also decreased the amount of cream a little bit and I like to play with the types of cheese I use for topping - mostly depending on what I have on hand. The other change I made was that I really love using the corn tortillas for this now. I can't tell you enough how ridiculously easy and delicious these enchiladas are.

I first saw this recipe made by Melanie (who made some changes to it), Melanie at My Kitchen Cafe got it from Brittany (The Sister's Cafe which is a GREAT blog by the way), and Brittany got a version of it from a friend who brought it to her after she had her baby. Now, I give you my Good Things Utah version, as well as the links to all the others (just click on the various blogger in this paragraph to find the recipe versions.

That is really the great thing about this recipe. It is so flexible to change and still turns out such fantastic results! Confusing? My point is that you can adapt this and have a great time doing it and still have great results. Don't believe me? Well...

Imagine my surprise and thrill when I tuned in for GTU this morning and Nicea mentioned that she made these enchiladas for her family last night and that she adapated the recipe for them a bit too (she subbed the heavy cream with some half-and-half to make it a little less decadent) and that they still turned out great.

I had someone in the studio audience ask me what else you could substitute to make them healthier and I had to chuckle at myself a little bit when after she asked me, and I paused and said, "well, just leave the cream out altogether." I chuckled because I didn't remember at first, but, I believe Melanie made the addition of the cream in the first place. This is one chameleon of a recipe!

We got to talk with Nicea and Reagan on the show and they were both amazing! I have to tell you, these gals look great on TV, but even better in person! I was in awe of how put together and awesome they were! Thanks again to both Nicea and Reagan for having us and for making us feel so comfortable!


In my humble opinion, the best compliment you can get on a recipe is when someone actually makes it! I am so glad that the ladies at GTU loved it as much as I do!

One thing I didn't get to mention on air either was the fact that the substitution of using corn tortillas for the enchiladas instead of flour actually came from my sister, Michelle. The first time I ever made these enchiladas was with my neices, Miranda and Brit, when they were visiting here. Those are the original "Rock Your World" version already here on my blog. We all loved them and were floored by how good they are. I told my neices I would try to give them a shout out on the show if I could, but frankly, I was so discombobulated just trying to remember what I was supposed to be doing that I didn't get to. Therefore, I told them they would get the shout out here in writing instead! Hi girls! Love ya!

My Good Things Utah experience was not only a good thing (see how I did that... I'm just so clever - snerk) - it was a GREAT thing!

The producers, staff, cameramen, and especially the hostesses at Good Things Utah are simply wonderful. There really isn't another word to describe them. Even though I was nervous just by the new experience of being on live TV (or any TV for that matter) they made me feel so comfortable that it went a whole lot better than I hoped it would.

HUGE Thanks go out to all the crew and hostesses over at Good Things Utah for having us on the show and for just being so wonderful! Thank you, thank you, thank you! (And for all my foodie friends, did you know that they make a recipe on there pretty much EVERY DAY and there are video links and recipe links to them on their site? Yeah, I thought that might get your attention!)

The only problem was that there just wasn't enough time to talk about all the things I wanted to. We talked about food blogging in general and about the recipe and a bit about what we do on a food blog, but we just ran out of time before we could get into all the things I hoped too.

They showed the front page of my blog several times though which had a great link to The Hive and I have already had several requests to join The Hive blog as well as the group on Facebook. So, even though we didn't get to spend time talking about The Hive once we cleared up the issue of what this food blogging thing is all about, we certainly seem to have succeeded in getting the word out about our little group!



I also gave away a copy of my favorite baking book of all time - Baking From My Home To Yours (I talked about Tuesdays with Dorie too - it was great!) to a great lady in the studio audience who had to answer a food related trivia question that Reagan, one of the hostesses, had to come up with since yours truly was in such a dither still that I couldn't come up with jack!



SO. After all those fun pictures. Now you can even watch us on Good Things Utah (and please do because poor Becky was blocked in the picture to the right from this angle and she looked great too, so you really need to see!) - HERE IS THE VIDEO LINK TO THE INTERVIEW! Here is a little link to the story.

By the way, the videos are kind of small but when I did a right-click I was able to go full screen.

AND. Here is the recipe link for my take on the Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas that I made on the show - which you can watch THE VIDEO LINK TO THE COOKING SEGMENT HERE.


BUT. Before you run off and check it out, make sure you come back, because you see those seriously cute aprons we were wearing? Yeah. I thought you did. Well... drum roll......

My good friends over at
Bloom-n-Blush
have decided to throw down some fantastic deals for my readers and Good Things Utah viewers.......

They are going to giveaway an apron. Not just any apron though. Whichever one the winner chooses from their website. That's right. You get to pick.

Here is the thing about this fantastic company. These aprons are all unique because they are made with care and love, one by one. No manufacturing here. You see that pretty fringe-y stuff on Reagan's apron? Yeah. It is delicate stuff. The heart pockets are stitched on with skill and care. They use only the highest quality materials and fabrics and have so many seriously fun varieties.

So, do you want to know how you can win? Of course you do!

GIVEAWAY ENTRY RULES
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT FOR EACH ITEM YOU COMPLETE!

You've got up to five chances to enter here! Good luck! Mr. Random.org will be doing the drawing - you've got until midnight (MST) on March 18, 2009 to enter!

1. Go to Bloom-n-Blush ( http://www.bloomnblush.com/ ), and sign up for their newsletter. Then look around their website and come back here and tell me you are going to get the newsletter and tell me what item on their website you would most want to win.

2. Subscribe to PheMOMenon via email or reader (links in the left bar), then tell me you did. If you already do, well, great, that counts so let me know.

3. Follow PheMOMenon on Twitter. Link is right over there on the side bar. If you already do, that counts so leave me a comment.

4. Twitter about the giveaway and leave me a comment that you did.

5. Blog about the giveaway - please include a link to both PheMOMenon ( http://phemomenon.blogspot.com/ ) Bloom-n-Blush ( http://www.bloomnblush.com/ ) ! (I am even posting a picture of one of their darling aprons below that you can use on your post - yes, it happens to be my personal favorite!)
Now, as if all those chances weren't enough, we all realize that a lot of you are going to want one of these spectacular aprons (did I tell you they have bags too? Yeah. I know!) the ladies over at Bloom-n-Blush want to make it even easier for you to get an apron for you, your mom, your grandma, your daughter, your sister, your best friend, or whoever - so here is some more good news:

For the same time as the contest, if you make a purchase from Bloom-n-Blush you get free shipping in the Continental U.S. and Canada - so get your order in before midnight (MST) on March 18th!

That's not all though - you can also use the discount code: GTU (as in Good Things Utah) as an extra thank you (and if you don't already watch the show, then you should) to get an extra $10 off your purchase now through midnight (MST), April 30, 2009!

Good luck! I can't wait to hear what you all pick out from their site!

-------------------------------------------------------------

On a related note, I have had a few requests on how to find the other recipes I mentioned on the show. Here are links to both the Jicama & Black Bean Salad Lindsey made and the Gooey Coconut Dream Bars I made a while ago and mentioned during the show. Enjoy!