Super Bowl Snacks

We don't actually watch the game, but we totally get behind the snacks!

On Sunday we tried a couple of new recipes from the current issue of Food Network Magazine.  The chickpea pancake was great, and super easy to make.  We thought it would be a good vessel for a dip.

Chickpea Pancake

Source: Food Network Magazine

Pre-heat oven to 425 F.

1.5 cups water
1 cup chickpea flour
2 T olive oil
3/4 tsp kosher salt

Put the above ingredients into a blender and blend.  Let rest 15 minutes, then skim off the foam.

Heat 2 T of olive oil in an oven-safe, non-stick pan over high heat.  Pour in the mixture, and cook until the bottom is set, or about 2 minutes.  Sprinkle with coriander and cumin seeds (we only had cumin seeds), and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Another winner from the same magazine was the edamame dip.

Edamame Dip 

(pictured above on right)

Source: Food Network Magazine

2 cups frozen edamame, cooked in boiling water (see label), rinse under cold water
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 sliced green onions
3 T water
2 T pickled ginger
1 T pickled ginger brine
1 T rice vinegar
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp shichimi togarashi (Japanese spice mix)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp kosher salt

Add all to blender, and blend.  Thin with more water as desired.

Serve with sesame rice crackers, or anything else for dipping!

We halved the recipe for this dip, and enjoyed it with the chickpea pancake.  We also had chicken wings, and cheesy Tuscan sausage dip, which we also halved.

These snacks were dinner on Sunday, and also on Monday.

Did you make any Super Bowl snacks?  Do you watch sports on TV?

Weekend Things

On Friday evening we celebrated our nephew's 11th birthday.  The party was starting at 7:00 p.m., and we didn't have enough time to get groceries beforehand and make dinner, so we went out to Pho Milu before making our way to my sister's place.

After dinner we headed to the party.  My sister had a couple snacks out, and made a yummy chocolate cake.

It didn't last long ...

The kids entertained the adults with their "skits" and we laughed a lot. 

On Saturday morning Christopher made cloud eggs, bacon and potatoes for breakfast.

Breakfast sandwiches on Sunday:

The best thing we cooked all weekend was braised pork ramen.  It was fantastic, and we'll be making it again.  You can find the recipe in the current issue of Food Network Magazine.

You braise the pork in the oven for hours, while making a chicken/pork stock on the stove.

Then you strain the stock:

And add the braising liquid to the stock:

Then put cooked ramen noodles into a bowl, top them with the braised pork, and other desired toppings, then ladle the broth over the top.

The soft-boiled egg makes it extra delicious.

We also made some Super Bowl snacks this past weekend (but didn't watch the game, haha) - more on that in the next post.

I was writing this post last night, when my computer decided to restart on me, and then do updates for ever and ever.  When I went to bed, it was at 3%.  Ohhhh technology.  At least Blogger auto-saved the post.

How was your weekend?  Did you you do any cooking?

How is your week going so far?

Retro Dinners

The bitter cold weather has us craving comforting, stick-to-your ribs meals (and a trip back to Mexico).  This past week we made a couple retro dinners that totally had us channeling the 80s.

First up was tuna casserole:

I realized too late that we didn't have soda crackers to crumble over the top before cooking, which would have made the casserole even better ... 

Our other retro dinner was meatloaf with mashed potatoes and creamed corn.  The creamed corn has to go on top of the potatoes.

The leftovers of this meal were so good; we'll be making it again soon.  Although, every time we have meatloaf we comment that we should make it more often, and then we forget about it for about a year ...

Check out the Food Network's retro recipe ideas.

Ambrosia salad, blech!

What dishes scream retro to you?

Recent Eats

Every time we buy raspberries they seem to go bad somewhere between leaving the grocery store, and arriving at home with them.  We buy organic, which probably doesn't help, but since the skin is so soft and penetrable, we aren't keen on buying the ones that are conventionally grown.  Anyway, we got to enjoy some berries on Saturday morning before many went bad.

These bowls contained a bit of plain Greek yogurt, a touch of vanilla, homemade granola, cacao nibs, maple flakes, raspberries and blueberries.

Breakfast on Sunday was scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes, and the last of the (good) berries.

Other eats from the weekend included a pizza on Friday night, with raw veggies and hummus on the side:

Curried cauliflower for lunch on Saturday (fried-rice style):

A seafood platter with spinach salad on Saturday evening:

And Mexican haystacks on Sunday evening:

Haystacks are so easy; you really should make them.  Cook rice according to instructions, and then top it with taco-spiced cooked, ground beef, shredded cheese, and any other toppings you like in tacos (pickled jalapenos, olives, cilantro, tomatoes, shredded lettuce, salsa, sour cream).  Crunch tortilla chips over the top and dig in!

Some other recent eats include a big tofu stir fry:

And breakfast for dinner:

Last night we had imitation-crab bee bim bop, and tonight a red veggie curry is on the menu.

What have you been cooking lately?  How was your weekend?  Do you have trouble with raspberries going bad quickly?  What food do you find goes bad before you get a chance to use it all up?

Muy Deliciosa!

This past weekend we made some of our favourite Mexican eats, which totally made us miss Mexico.  After whipping up a big batch of pico de gallo on Friday evening, we used it in fish tacos.

Simple, baked salt and pepper cod, pico de gallo, pickled jalapenos, and sour cream on corn tortillas:

The next morning Christopher used some of the pico to make my favourite omelette, which also includes cheese and bacon, with avocado and sour cream on top.  It is perfection.  He also made truffled breakast potatoes.

We lucked out when buying the avocados and picked up a couple that were perfectly ripe (that never happens).

On the weekend we also made chipotle chicken soup:

And pibil pork crepes with poblano pepper sauce:

We prepared a corn salad and some spiced rice to have with the crepes.

There was definitely some spice going on over the weekend, so we cooled off with a pink lemonade frozen cheesecake for dessert.

The week flew by, and just like that it's almost the weekend again!

What do you have planned for this coming weekend?  Do you like pico de gallo?  Do you like spicy food?  Have you cooked any Mexican dishes recently?