Tag: recipes

Much Better than Ribbie and Roobarb

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Many thanks to ChefMom for giving me a second turn at the controls.  She was a tough sell, but since she’s off schmoozing for work I’m in for the night.  I may not be as practiced a writer/blogger as mom, but I am an economist, which means I know a bit about the misuse of statistics. Note the steady uptick in blog traffic following my one and only post. (Mom is lovingly rolling her eyes. 😉 )

Ribbie and Roobarb

Today’s recipe is Strawberry and Rhubarb Risotto, adapted from Cooking Light, May 2010; and I’m happy to report it was much better than the ex-White Sox Mascots Ribbie and Roobarb. Wikipedia notes: “Fans openly mocked Ribbie and Roobarb, with even children gleefully attacking them.” Readers should feel free to mock the White Sox, but I don’t think anyone will be mocking this rhubarb recipe.

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Now This is Some Southern Comfort

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Today was a good day. Above all else, I was quite relieved to get the call from the doctor that the tick removed from Mr. N’s scalp last night was not an engorged deer tick, but a dog tick and these little buggers don’t carry Lyme disease. Thank goodness. And I have to say Mr. N handled the whole ordeal with a bravery that just amazed me. He does not get this from me. I would have freaked out (or passed out) if a bug was attached to my head and don’t even get me started on shots. Eek!

And this was just the beginning, the day kept on getting better. My camera was fixed, the skies were blue, the bouncy house came out of storage and we had a darn good dinner. Tonight was state night again and Mr. N wanted to sample some good ol’ Southern food from Georgia. It didn’t take us long to pick our recipes for this adventure. The dish that stood out above all else – Shrimp and Grits.

Until today none of us have had shrimp and grits, so we were really looking forward to tonight’s meal – and it didn’t disappoint. We adapted this recipe from A Spicy Perspective who posted a version of shrimp and grits that got this whole thing rolling a few days ago. Continue reading →

And to wrap it up…

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Last but not least, here’s the final recipe from last week’s Egyptian meal – the Ancient Marinated Chicken. We intended to grill the chicken on dad’s new grill, but within five minutes of putting the grill together on what was a sunny afternoon, it started to pour. So the grill must wait for another day – which no doubt will be soon as dad is quite anxious to get it going. Maybe we’ll have to venture to Australia next on this cooking adventure. Shrimp on the barbie anyone?!

Now that I’m salivating over the possibilities of Down Under grilled goodies, back to Egypt. We began by cutting the chicken breast into one-inch pieces.

We then added an onion, garlic and cilantro into the food processor and created a puree. Mr. N helped me to combine the puree with the olive oil, cumin, coriander and cayenne pepper. Continue reading →

Quick Cumin Couscous

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I just returned from a girls’ getaway weekend with my best friend. It was a fantastic, relaxing weekend – just what the doctor ordered. So since I’m stuffed from a weekend of wining and dining on some really good eats, my camera is still broken and I’m in need of some quality time with the family (Oh, how I missed Mr. N and Miss A – dad too of course!), I’m going to keep this one short and sweet.

This is the recipe for the Cumin Couscous we made and used to fill our pitas alongside the chicken (which I’ll post tomorrow). I found the recipe at Tour Egypt and adapted it slightly due to the fact currants aren’t available right now. The couscous would also stand on its own and is a wonderfully sweet complement to a spicy dish.

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Walk Like an Egyptian

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Okay, now I’m dating myself and getting another song stuck in my head. So now that we’ve had a few layovers for Royal wedding celebrations and fiestas, we’re back on track for our next international cooking destination and dad is taking us to Egypt! Tonight we had a great Egyptian dinner that began with a homemade Wheat Pocket Pita.

Both Miss A and Mr. N were big helpers today. Miss A and I began in the morning by dissolving the yeast and sugar in warm water.

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Feelin’ Hot Hot Hot

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It’s state night again! Tonight we’re featuring a traditional Minnesota Hotdish at the request of Mr. N’s prize winners, Molly and Erin. Hotdishes, or casseroles, come in many shapes and sizes, but Minnesota hotdishes traditionally combine a meat, starch, veggies and cream of mushroom soup. This past January, Minnesota Senator Al Franken invited the other Minnesota Congressional delegates to a hotdish cook-off. While Senator Klobuchar’s hotdish won the cook-off, we chose to adapt Rep. Betty McCollum’s Pork, Cranberry & Wild Rice Hotdish since it incorporates wild rice which is home-grown in the land of 10,000 lakes.

We started making our Pork, Apple & Wild Rice hotdish by preparing 2 dry cups of wild rice by following the package directions; although we always add coriander to the rice as well. Then we began chopping some shallots, mushrooms, pork and fresh sage.

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