Perfect Pesto

Is there anything more flavorful, useful in the kitchen/one's recipes, or delightful than pesto? I think not! Last night, I made a batch of what I like to call the "perfect pesto" recipe.  I've tried several pesto recipes before, and although they are primarily the same, this one is just right in terms of cooking ratios.  Plus, it's one of the most dynamic ingredients you have in your kitchen: you can put it on toast, crackers, pizza, grilled cheese, pasta, anything really and the food always tastes 100% richer without the fatty content of butter, butter, butter.  Why? Well, unlike most American recipes that call for butter, Pesto calls for a combination of olive oil, Parmesan, pine nuts/pistachios, basil, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.  Olive oil, unlike butter, is one of those super foods you're always being encouraged to eat--it's rich in good fats and just makes everything taste better.  Try this pesto recipe for any of the food ideas above (or the recent post "Na'an with Pesto, Asparagus, and Salad") and please hop over to Simply Recipes where many yummy pasta + pesto + other Clearly Delicious recipes can be found.

Perfect Pesto
Like many of my recipes, this one comes from Elise Bauer over at Simply Recipes and can be found here.  However, I must say, before I began using Elise's ratios outlined below, I was using a pretty similar universal pesto recipe--Parmesan, olive oil, pistachios, garlic, basil, and salt and pepper to taste.  However, I'm practically in love with Elise's ratio version as it comes out perfectly every time.  NOTE: You can use pinenuts as I do below, but pistachios are a wonderful substitute as are chopped walnuts.  Sometimes pine nuts can be difficult to find in stores (not to mention rather pricey), and other nuts are more likely to be in your pantry.

* 2 cups basil, chopped
* 1/2 cup Parmesan, freshly grated
* 1/2 cup Olive Oil (I prefer Extra Virgin)
* 1/3 cup Pine Nuts, or Pistachios
* 3 medium garlic cloves minced, or pressed
* salt and pepper to taste

1.) Begin by washing and roughly chopping basil.  Place prepared basil in a mixing bowl.  NOTE: You may wish to remove any nobby/woody stems from the basil so that they don't get mixed in with this recipe.  Although extra nutrients, they add little in flavor and sometimes retain an unwanted texture in the final product.  Remove stems before chopping.
2.) Add chopped pine nuts/pistachios, parmesan, olive oil, and garlic.  Mix to integrate.  Salt and pepper to taste.
3.) Now, add these ingredients either into a blender or a food processor (if you have one).  Mix to puree.
4.) Serve on toasted baguette, pizza, grilled cheese, croque monsieur, pasta etc.  Enjoy!


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Na'an with Pesto, Roasted Asparagus, and Salad

This recipe is one of those magical concoctions that just come to you.  You like all of the ingredients separately and then one day, you throw them together.  Even better, the recipe comes to you as one of those five minute meals kind of things--you have the ingredients lying around and literally, just toss them together. On any day of the week, you'll find some kind of salad in my fridge and some roasted veggies.  Tonight, it just so happened I had the fresh summer salad recipe from an earlier post and roasted asparagus.  Toss the two on top of toasted na'an, a base of pesto, and top with balsamic vinegar, and OH MY GOD...I still haven't recovered.  This is filling, but low in calories.  Clearly, it is indeed delicious.

Na'an with Pesto, Roasted Asparagus, and Salad
You can really alternate the vegetables tossed onto this bread.  Roasted portobellas, tofu, peppers, really anything would go nicely on top of this bed of salad and na'an. I used roasted asparagus because it's what I had leftover from the night before, and merely heated it up.  So yummy....

* 1 loaf of na'an, toasted
* 2-3 tablespoons pesto
* 1 cup salad (your choice!)
* 1 cup roasted asparagus
* 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1.) Cook na'an in oven for 5 mins or until crispy.  Place on serving dish.
2.) Spread 2-3 tablespoons of pesto over warm na'an (it will get all melty, oh my), and top with a bed of salad.
3.) Then, add heated asparagus (or portobella mushrooms, or whatever) on top of na'an/salad bed, and lightly marinade with 2 or more tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. 
4.) Eat with knife and fork, or cut up like one would a pizza.  The crust is very durable and should support the veggie toppings.  Enjoy!


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Portabella Mushroom Veggie Burgers

This recipe is by far the most ingenious combination of vegetables with functionality and taste.  A regular 'ole Veggie Burger made new and exciting by the replacement of 2 buns for 2 grilled Portabella Mushroom Caps!! Can you believe it? It seems so obvious--Portabella Mushrooms look exactly like Burger Buns and you just switch the latter for the former.  Why haven't I thought about this before?! It's ingenious and delicious, clearly delicious.

For those of you who think that all mushrooms are the same, or worse, that all mushrooms are the simple white ones we buy in bulk at Walmart or another grocery store, it's pertinent that I tell you they're not.  Rather, mushrooms come in a variety of sporous veggies instead of just the regular white table mushroom.  They can be flavorful, rich, creamy (yes, creamy, like the mighty portabella), or smokey, earthy, and the like (see the rare expensive mushrooms one finds in specialty stores that are not nearly as attractive as a table mushroom.  However, these mushrooms make for excellent soups and flavors in sauces).  Better yet, they can be fungal bodies like the expensive French truffel (retailing anywhere from $80+ individually!). 

This recipe capitalizes on the creamier, highly flavorful portabella that when mixed with a simple veggie burger, some olive oil and thyme can create a serious taste sensation.

Portabella Mushroom Burgers
This recipe originated with an episode of the Biggest Loser with chef Curtis Stone.  Stone created these veggie delights as a way of cutting carbs and replacing their absence with flavorful nutrients.  If the original recipe from Stone is followed exactly (you can find it here), one will only be eating 280 calories per serving! Can you believe that? 280 calories? Good Golly.  You could eat 2 of these and bottom out with the amount of calories in 1 regular meat-lovin' burger.  Seesh.

My recipe is a little different.  Although it does not call for the sauce Stone makes (a delicious creamy chive sauce worth trying with a direct link above), it calls for a more intuitive preparation--make a veggie burger the way you always would make it and replace the buns with portabella mushrooms.  

Burger & Construction Ingredients
* 2 oversized Portabella Mushroom Caps, washed, with stems removed
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 veggie burger (I use the Morningstar Farms blackbean veggie burger, about 110-130 calories)
* tomatoes, optional
* onions, optional
* red peppers, optional
* spinach, optional
* 1 1/2 teaspoons Thyme
* Salt & pepper, to taste
* Stone's burger sauce, found here

1.) Cook veggie burger over medium heat in skillet (about 2-3 minutes on both sides).
2.) While veggie burger is cooking, wash, remove stems, and baste Portabella Mushroom Caps with the 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  Pepper to taste and grill on an isolated grilling unit.  For example, grill until juicy on a Foreman grill, or over a firey outdoor grill.  You'll know the mushroom is close to being done when it has flattened by about 1/4 and is juicy all over; they may even be mushroom juices to show the caps preparedness.
3.) Remove Portabellas from heat and onto a plate.  Slide the veggie burger in between the two caps much like you would a burger; sprinkle with Thyme.  From here, you can fix the burger exactly as you would any burger.  I prefer a combination of tomatoes, spinach, onions, red peppers etc.; as for sauces, feel free to whip up Stone's burger sauce--a combination of chives and natural yogurt.  Or, a tablespoon or two of mustard does the trick nicely too.  Enjoy!


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A Bit of Vegan Deliciousness at Whole Foods

Primarily, Clearly Delicious is a food and cooking blog dedicated to those recipes that I make at home.  Yet, there are times when I just can't help but share the delicious foods I encounter in other kitchens.  This Saturday, I ran several errands with Brigitte (yes, THE BRIGITTE), one of which was running to Whole Foods for a very specific list of ingredients for both of our kitchens.  You see, Brigitte is a vegan (doesn't eat meat, dairy products, or anything that comes from an animal to be exact!) and can only find many of her favorite foods at this specialty store.  Although shopping at Whole Foods can be enormously expensive, I think Brigitte has really mastered her shopping experience there.  She knows what foods are on what aisles, and when shopping, prepares her grocery list by aisle! No lie! Have you ever heard of such grocery prowess?!

For lunch, we ordered foods from the Whole Foods deli.  Since I was shopping with a vegan, I decided to eat vegan for lunch (which, contrary to popular belief, can be VERY delicious).  Below are a couple of photos of my nutritional experience--an eggplant salad tossed with herbs, sweet peppers, and a light marinade (YUM), kung pao tofu, and well, a nonvegan cupcake.  I couldn't help myself.  It was vanilla with buttercream icing shaped like flowers.  It had me at the artistry, then it had me with the promise of buttercream icing.  It was so fabulous, I am now in search of this recipe.  If anyone has ANY IDEA what recipe the whole foods pastry department uses in their cupcakes, PLEASE send it my way.  It was by far amazing.

First, this is 1/2 lb of eggplant salad:

Then, 1/2 lb of kung pao tofu:

Finally, the amazing cupcake of which I am now in search of the recipe:

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Curry Chicken

This week, I had the rare opportunity of making two chicken curry recipes--one, by Tyler Florence (my foodie boyfriend) over at Foodnetwork that involves a ton of ingredients, a long cooking process, and a natural yogurt based sauce; you can find the recipe here.  The second one was by Elise Bauer over at Simply Recipes and can be found here.  What makes the latter recipe completely different than the former is that it calls for a sour cream sauce instead of a yogurt one, and 1/10 of the ingredient's Tyler Florence's recipe calls for.  The catch? In my experience, it's better!

For my birthday dinner this past weekend, I had the very good intentions of blogging about everything I prepared.  However, I, like most people, am one of  my own worst critics and REFUSED to post anything that wasn't top notch.  Now, I'm not saying that the meal we made Sunday wasn't damn good (I'd like to think it was pretty tasty), but it just didn't scratch my itch for Indian food when it was prepared.  Partially, I blame myself for not babying the recipe before serving it--you know, the constant adjusting of ingredients and flavors until the combination is "just right" and makes you go, "mmm...."--but I also think that maybe the essentials to a good curry chicken/veggie/anything recipe really doesn't need to be that complicated.  Honestly, if you want to do Tyler's recipe, that's great--it's incredibly aromatic with its combination of everything from turmeric, to curry, to fennel seeds, to coriander, to you name it in the Indian spice cabinet.

But, I worry that the overall combination of these ingredients has just too much going on.  With the recipe below from Elise Bauer, the ingredients are simple, the process is simple (and fast! It is aptly titled "Chicken Curry in a Hurry"), but mostly, with a decent combination of salt, pepper, and parsley in the end, it is enormously flavorful, makes you go, "mmm..." and is clearly delicious.  Just ask Ms. Lydia Dorsey!

Chicken Curry
For this recipe, I chose to prepare chicken, but you really can add whatever you'd like here.  For instance, stir fried vegetables and tofu would make a natural and flavorful adjustment.  However, if you are doing chicken, I suggest 3 large, or 4 small-to-medium-sized chicken breasts. 

* 3 large, or medium-to-large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
* 1 onion, chopped
* 1 1/2 teaspoons yellow curry powder, separated in half
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 cup sour cream
* 1/3 cup golden raisins, optional
* Freshly minced parsley

1.) In a medium saucepan, add oil and warm.  Add chopped onion and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are translucent.  Add optional raisins.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and add half of the curry powder.  Mix to fully integrate and cook for another minute.
2.) Wash and prepare the chicken.  First, salt and pepper both sides of the chicken to taste and even prepare the breasts as strips for a more even cooking process.  Sprinkle/rub in the remaining curry powder.
3.) Push cooked onions to the side of the pan, and add chicken.  Cook chicken for 3-5 minutes on each side or until done.  Transfer to plate.  Now would be a good time to cube the chicken before returning to pan.
4.) Add 1 cup sour cream and stir to integrate.  Continue stirring and heating over medium-high heat until the sauce has thickened.  Once thick, return chicken to pan and mix to integrate.
5.) Serve over rice, and enjoy!

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Birthday Notes & Other Delicious Treats

Last night, I, hands down, had such a fabulous birthday.  Last year, I invited a slur of people for what was dubbed, "the little black dress party."  We had so many people in my condo that no one could sit down if they wanted to! Although every girl wants to feel special on the day she graced the world with her presence, it just wasn't what I wanted this year.  Tonight, I wanted something more casual and intimate with close friends.  I wanted to actually eat the food we cooked together instead of running around filling drinks and not knowing half the people who came to my shindig.

Last night was just that--about 10 of my favorite people and me crowded around the dinner table for a real Indian dinner: curry chicken over basmanti rice, samosas (vegan and chicken), garlic buttery na'an, citrus mango cous cous, green tea with citrus and vodka, and last and not least--chocolate, chocolate cake made by my awesome friend Kris!

I will be posting the best of last night's recipes on here (primarily, the cake, the drinks, and the cous cous),but until then, I thought I would share photos of the food and the people that made my 24th birthday such a fantastic time.

First, the menu:

Chicken and Spinach Samosas courtesy of Tyler Florence at Food Network.  Recipe can be found here.

Chicken Curry from Tyler Florence at Food Network.  Recipe can be found here.

Green Tea with Citrus, Vodka, and Bacardi.  Yum! Recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentis at Food Network.  Recipe can be found here.

Finally, my awesome friends:

Left: Me with Erin; Right: The Mecholskies!!!! Ellen, Kris, and Baby Elisa :).

Left: Ali and Erin; Right: "Cake Man" (Kris) and Me 

Right: Sam & Lucy Abigail Goo ("Snarfleton"); Left: Lucy & Sam

Recurring Food Blog Model Joe "Danger Gregory" as Right: Confused?; Left: Mr. Clean!

Finally, last but not least, my greyhound Eve!

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Dump Cookies Courtesy of My New Kitchenaid Mixer

Have I told anyone it's my birthday? Happy Birthday me! Well, actually, it's not until Monday (Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday too), but I made sure to celebrate early this year.  What did I give myself? New pens? No, that's what I gave myself last year.  Some iTunes credits? Nope.  Moleskins? Already bought some for the new semester.  A Kitchenaid Mixer? YES!!! Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to my very first kitchenaid mixer.  I have yet to name him/her, much less assign its gender, but after years and years of pining after one, I finally bought the real deal--the industrial strength Kitchenaid Mixer that is essential to any real chef's kitchen (see an upcoming post on Kitchen Essentials in which I discuss the value of a real Kitchenaid Mixer in detail).

After spending an afternoon with Laura today, she casually said, "I could use dessert."  After humming and hawing about possible options--the begnet place around the corner (Coffee Call, hollah!)?, ice cream from the drug store?, a brownie from somewhere, or Sonic for chocolatey goodness? No, we decided that homemade cookies were necessary since I needed to break in the new mixer.

The below recipe is an adaptation of what is often referred to as a "Dump Cookie," a "Monster Cookie," or even a "Compost Cookie" although each of these carries its own variance in the ingredients list.  For this recipe, I'd like to refer to this as a "Dump Cookie a la Recession."  Basically, the concept is very simple--you mix a combination of what you have in the pantry cabinet for baking (chocolate/vanilla/butterscotch/peanut butter chips, nuts, candies, and really anything else you want in this recipe.  Through a combination of whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour mixed with peanut butter, and almond extract, the resulting cookie is so flavorful that it really takes several bites to taste all of what's going on in there.  This batch yielded about 30 medium-to-large cookies and originally comes from Elise Bauer over at Simply Recipes.  However, my version substitutes the wheat flour, adds almond extract to the vanilla extract combination, and really plays with what the filling ingredients are.  Welcome to Clearly Delicious Dump Cookies a la Recession.

Dump Cookies, Monster Cookies, Cookies a la Recession
One of the truly great things about this kind of cookie is that you can include any ingredient and it will still taste good.  Elise Bauer smartly noted on her food blog that there are certain combinations of Monster Cookies that please adults, others that are popular with children, and so on and so forth.  Below is my own version of this recipe, but I highly suggest looking into Elise's variances here.

*1/2 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
*1/2 cup of peanut butter, creamy or crunchy
*3/4 cup of granulated sugar
*3/4 cup of brown sugar, packed
*2 eggs, room temperature
*1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
*1 teaspoon almond extract
*1 teaspoon of baking soda
*1 teaspoon of salt
*2 1/4 cups of wheat flour

 Filling:
*1/2 cup of butterscotch chips, optional*
*1/2 cup walnuts, chopped, optional*
*1 cup of White Chocolate Chips, optional*

*Note: all of these ingredients can easily be substituted or played with.  However, you want to keep a 2 cup filling average when substituting.

1.) Preheat oven to 375F.  Add butter and peanut butter to mixer and mix on low speed until fully integrated and creamy.
2.) Add sugars 1/4 a cup at a time on medium speed.  Mix all sugars until light and fluffy.
3.) Add vanilla and almond extract and eggs.  Mix to integrate.
4.) Now add the dry ingredients.  Add baking soda until fully integrated.  Then, add the flour/salt mixture slowly.  Remember, every cook knows that the wet-to-dry ingredient combination is a delicate process and needs to be done the right way.  So, take your time sifting in the dry ingredients to your wet ingredients.  In the words of Alton Brown, "Remember Kids, Speed Kills!" So behave here.
5.) Once you've added your wet and dry ingredients, you should have a basic dough.  Now, add the filling ingredients--chocolate chips, nuts, etc. and mix on low speed to properly integrate.
6.) Lift mixer's head and scrape down bowl and mixing attachment.  Cover metal mixing bowl with seran wrap and refrigerate for about an hour if you have the time.  If you don't, this dough moves easily from fresh batter to pan, so cooking it instantly won't sacrifice the shape or texture of the cookie (probably because of the sturdyness of the wheat flour addition).
7.) Bake on a greased/sprayed cooking sheet for 8-10 minutes or until cookies' edges are light brown.  Cookies should be about an inch apart, and 6 medium-to-large cookies will fit on a standard cookie sheet. Transfer immediately to cooling rack or parchment paper to stop the cooking process.  Enjoy!

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Oatmeal with Fruit & Walnuts

Practically every morning, I make myself a bowl of oatmeal.  I love oatmeal--it's so much heftier than a regular bowl of cereal and you can really customize how you prepare it.  What do you mean? Customize oatmeal? Isn't oatmeal a brown blob of gross that was only eaten by pilgrims and prairie people before we had processed sugary treats like Captain Crunch and Lucky Charms? Well, no.  Actually, it's a complex carb that is GOOD for you, keeps you fuller longer and is indeed, quite tasty, if you know how to prepare it correctly.  Like all dishes in cooking, oatmeal can be clearly delicious with the right ingredients, combinations, and preparational techniques.

Knowing how to make oatmeal can be a challenge, however--do you make it with milk? water? what is the proper oats to liquid ratio? how long do you cook it? is it supposed to be milky like cream of wheat? 

For me, these answers are simple: always prepare oatmeal with water, but feel free to add splashes of milk to the oats in the final dish; the ratio is usually 2:1 (1 cup water to one half cup oats; or 2 cups water to 1 cup oats), and the consistency should never be milky unless you add some milk during the cooking process.  Also, I need to point out I'm talking about steel-cut oats, or regular oats here, not that instant crap that is pre-sugared, processed, etc.

Essentially, what this recipe calls you to do is very simple (heat up water, cook the oats, etc.), and then it makes a judgment call on what I like to add to the oats--fruits and nuts, brown sugar, and spices.  However, you can practically substitute anything for the fruit and nut combo here that you like, you'll just have to tweak the recipe to your preferences.  I've known people to add cocoa powder when cooking oatmeal ("chocolate oatmeal") and even to make the dish into a kind of loaf and bake it in the oven.  However you prepare oatmeal, the right ingredients and techniques will always be clearly delicious!

Oatmeal with Fruit & Walnuts
You can really add any fruit or nut here.  My recipe calls for bananas and walnuts, but apples, craisins, raisins, berries (blueberries! raspberries! blackberries!) as well as pecans and almonds can all be substituted.

*1 cup water
*1/2 cup steel cut oats
* 2 tablespoons brown sugar
*1 teaspoon nutmeg
*1-2 teaspoons cinnamon
*1 banana, cut into circular pieces, optional
*1/4 cup walnuts, optional
*1 teaspoon vanilla/almond extract, optional

1.) Bring 1 cup of water to a boil and add 1/2 cup steel cut oats.  Cook for one minute, stirring occassionally, and remove from heat.
2.) Now, fix the oatmeal with your favorite ingredients: add brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, nuts, and fruit.  Stir to integrate.
3.) Pour into a bowl and splash with milk (optional).  Serve immediately and enjoy!

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Szechwan Eggplant Stir Fry

When I'm fixing food primarily for myself, there are those dishes that I make that really only I, vegetarians, vegans, and other veggie-happy folks like.  Basically, when given the choice, I often decide to prepare foods that are primarily vegetable based like stir fry dishes, roasted vegetables, salads, etc.  I don't normally cook these dishes out of a "stay healthy craze" (although such dishes do have their benefits!), but more out of what I crave on a regular basis.  As I mention in many of my posts--I LOVE vegetables.  I think they're the most flavorful, delicious, nutritionally packed dishes. Further, if prepared properly, vegetables can be fixed in a plethora of ways that don't seem like you're "eating your vegetables" the way mom once demanded!

Tonight, I made a dish in this category: Szechwan Eggplant Stir Fry courtesy of Tyler Florence over at Food Network (you can find the original recipe here).  Many of my friends know Tyler Florence as one of my several TV boyfriends (I can't help myself! His fast-paced/"this is so easy!"/"I like butter and cream" style of cooking really gets me excited about the cooking process).  Plus, I know that if I make something by Tyler Florence (just like if I make something by Elise Bauer) it's going to be a hit every time.  As usual, this recipe has several changes--I used regular onions instead of green onions, less oil and more water than directed, traditional eggplant rather than Japanese eggplant, and a combination of chili flakes instead of a red chili.  Depending on your speed of cooking, this can be a pretty quick recipe to make, but I really took my sweet time getting the eggplant prepared just right, so it can take longer.  Whichever way you make this dish--either Tyler's or my own--it's guaranteed to be clearly delicious!

Szechwan Eggplant Stir Fry
When preparing this dish, make sure to cook the eggplant all the way through.  Eggplant is a funny vegetable in that we hardly ever eat it raw because it tastes..well...not disgusting, but somewhat impalatable.  So, when pan-frying your purple friend, make sure that the eggplant pieces are tender on each side, not crispy or stiff.  This way, you'll have a juicier main ingredient that's guaranteed to absorb and contribute to the sauce it's prepared with.

* 1 medium sized eggplant, ripe & cut into 1inch diagonal pieces
* 3 tablespoons peanut oil
* 1 tablespoon soybean oil
* kosher salt and cracked pepper, to taste
* 1 small onion, chopped
* 3 large garlic cloves, minced or pressed
* 1/2-1 tablespoon red chili flakes
* 1-2 tablespoons of ginger, or one 1-inch piece of fresh ginger peeled and minced
* 1/2 cup chicken broth
* 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
* 3 tablespoons soy sauce
* 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
* 1 tablespoon corn starch
* 1 tablespoon sesame seeds to garnish, optional

1.) First, prepare the eggplant.  Wash and halve your eggplant making sure to fully remove the top stem.  Halve both halves of the eggplant (you'll have four medium sized eggplant pieces).  For me, this cutting process seems very logical given what Tyler Florence suggests you do in the original recipe--since I'm working with a regular medium-to-large eggplant and not 4-5 Japanese eggplants, then separating the eggplant into quadrants gives us a similar size and preparational effect.
2.) Once you have your quadrants, cut the quadrants into strips at a diagonal; then, cut diagonal strips into 1 inch pieces.
3.) Add oil to large saucepan and heat up on medium heat.  Once you begin to see smoke/steam rising from the pan, add a layer of eggplant.  Salt and pepper eggplant to taste and flip strips to cook both sides.  Tyler Florence suggests cooking until eggplant is "sticky" at about three minutes.  However, depending on the heat of the stove, the size of the pieces, your crisp-to-soggy eggplant preference, etc., it's really going to depend how long you cook these pieces.  For me, my 1 inch diagonal pieces (at a medium-to-small thickness) took closer to 5-10 minutes depending on the heat.  The best way to determine when to pull your pieces is when they've one, been cooked for a few minutes on both sides and two, are tender on both sides.  You can decide how much longer to cook them from there.
4.) Once the layer of eggplant is cooked, place on a separate dish and cook another layer of eggplant in the same manner until all of the vegetable is prepared.  This may take around 20-30 minutes depending on your cooking speed and other variants.  Also, note about the oil here: as with many of Tyler Florence's recipes, he suggests additions of butter, oil, cream, etc. according to your preference.  Here, he suggests that you continue to "add oil as needed."  Unfortuntely, this instruction can be a dangerous tip nutritionally and flavorwise. The way I see it, I want to eat my vegetables, but I don't want them to slide down covered in oil right? What's the point? Most Americans will probably follow this instruction and douse the pan with oil every five minutes.  If you're unlike these people, or want a healthier way of preparing this dish, then add water to the pan in the same way you'd add oil.  Every time you add water, you can also add a tablespoon or two of oil.  Again, personal preference here!
5.) Now that the eggplant is cooked, prepare the sauce.  Go ahead and mix the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, corn starch, and brown sugar in a small mixing bowl.  Mix to integrate and so that the sugar and the corn starch are fully dissolved.
6.) Add chopped onion, minced/pressed garlic, and ginger, to the hot pan you cooked the eggplant in.  Cook for one minute or until "aromatic."  Add 1/2 cup chicken broth and cook for a couple more minutes.  Add the brown sauce you prepared to this mixture and cook for one minute.
7.) Now, add the prepared eggplant to this sauce and cook for 1 minute.
8.) Remove from heat and serve over rice or pasta.  Enjoy!


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Cucumber Salad

I don't think I can ever really communicate to someone how much I love vegetables.  I love them, I crave them.  If vegetables were a man, well...wait, that's an awful analogy! Let's just say I'd sprinkle him with dill just like this recipe for a cucumber salad.

A simple cucumber salad is beyond easy to make, and a fabulous crowd pleaser.  Most people are not like me and they don't like their vegetables.  But put a clean, crisp summer salad in front of them (even in the cold of winter) and they'll definitely try it.  If seasoned correctly--with a combination of kitchen herbs like dill, basil, or rosemary--you'll have a chic mixture fit for an appetizer, hor devour, or snack.


Cucumber Salad
Like many of my recipes, the original version of this recipe comes from Elise Bauer over at Simply Recipes.  However, I have added several other seasonings and upped the number of ingredients and cucumbers.  It makes for a fresh, flavorful take on the original cucumber salad.  Very tasty!

*3-4 medium-large English cucumbers, peeled and cut into circular slices
*2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
*3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
*1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
*salt and pepper to taste

1.) Peel and cut cucumbers.  If you're one of those people who like to eat cucumbers with the skins on, please don't for this recipe.  Depending on the time of year, or crop the cucumbers grew in, it's highly possible you'll do the recipe damage by keeping the skins.  Why? Well, as many people know, cucumber skins (especially English cucumber skins) can be just plain bitter.  While preparing this recipe, I tasted a small end piece from one of the cucumbers and almost couldn't eat it! It was so bitter!
2.)  Once you have chopped the cucumbers into circular slices, halve the slices.
3.) Add dill, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce. Mix to integrate by tossing with hands.
4.) Salt and pepper to taste, and chill for several hours before serving.  Enjoy!


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Fusilli with Asparagus, Ricotta, and Parmesan

When my Uncle Doug came to visit this week, I wanted to make something that was both delicious and quick in preparation (Uncle Doug rolled in at 12:30, and I had gotten up at 9:00 and still needed to go to the store! Oy!).  Thus, I made a dish that was guaranteed to be tasty to everyone--pasta.  Not just pasta, richly flavored pasta with a homemade sauce made from ricotta cheese, Parmesan, asparagus, and spices.

This recipe, like many of my favorites, comes from Elise Bauer over at Simply Recipes and can be found here.  I've made several adjustments to the recipe (the spice combination, pasta suggestion, etc. have all been adjusted according to my palette). Otherwise, the core recipe remains pretty much the same.  Uncle Doug liked the recipe ("very much"), which is a big deal given that he doesn't consider himself a pasta man!

Fusilli with Asparagus, Ricotta, and Parmesan
The below recipe originally calls for penne pasta.  Although I am a big fan of penne, I have discovered that fusilli often offers a certainly preparational edge over penne in the final product.  Unlike penne (a short, tube-like pasta), fusilli is the "swirly" pasta we often see at picnics and creates a natural grip on the sauce around it.  Essentially, fusilli holds tight to cheeses and sauces (they get stuck in its endless swirls), whereas penne often slips through sauces. 

Ingredients
* salt, for the water
* 1 1/4 pound thick asparagus, woody ends trimmed
* 1 lb penne, or fusilli pasta
* 2-3 cloves garlic, pressed, or chopped finely
* 15 oz ricotta cheese (about 1.86 cups)
* 2 Tbsp olive oil
* 2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
* Several dashes of Nutmeg

1.) Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add one tablespoon of oil to prevent the fusilli pasta from sticking, and feel free to add plenty of salt to the water.  Although salt is certainly not a cornerstone to a healthy diet (and can be nutritionally harmful in excess), the Italians believe that pasta water should taste like the consistency of seawater.  This technique gives pasta incredible flavor, and really adds to the body of a dish.
2.) Once water has come to a boil, add the asparagus and boil for 4-5 minutes.  Make sure to have an ice bath ready (I used a colander filled with ice), and when the asparagus is done, remove from water using tongs, and place on ice bath to stop the cooking process.  Reserve 1/4 cup asparagus water for the sauce.
3.) Bring water back to a boil and add pasta.  Cook for 8-10 minutes, or until pasta is "al dente" or "to the tooth" or "to the bite" in Italian. Essentially, the pasta should be firm to the bite, but not too soft that it is soggy or loses its structure when prepared in a dish.  Strain pasta and reserve 1 cup water (you may need this for the final sauce).
4.) While the pasta is cooking, crush 1-2 cloves of garlic and wipe down your prep bowl with it.  Measure out 15oz of ricotta cheese (1.86 cups, or about 1/2 of a standard 32 ounce container) and add to bowl.  Add olive oil, 1/2 of Parmesan, a crushed clove of garlic, salt and pepper to taste, and several dashes of nutmeg;  mix up sauce.  Continue to taste sauce until it has the right spice to it.  I can never really suggest the perfect amount of salt or pepper here because it really does depend on the person.  Additionally, you may wish to add other kitchen spices like Italian seasoning, oregano, basil, rosemary, etc. to the dish, so feel free to experiment with your seasonings.
5.) Add cooked pasta and mix with sauce to integrate.  If you feel the sauce is too clumpy, you can use some of your reserved pasta/asparagus water and smooth it out.  However, you don't have to add this water, it's merely a suggestion.  Continue to taste for flavoring (ricotta is a naturally bland cheese, so figuring out your favorite seasoning combination here is really what can make the dish your own (not to mention tastier!)). 
6.) Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan cheese on top of the pasta as a garnish and enjoy!

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Omelettes, the Right Way

Due to a series of fortunate disasters, I found myself at the mercy of two amazing people/friends last night on my drive back from North and South Carolina.  Lydia Dorsey and Jeramey Jones are fabulous people and very good in the disaster solving business.  Not only did they put me up at Jeramey's awesome new house, but they also saved my butt in what was a rather retched, but human catastrophe.

Disasters aside, Lydia made these DELICIOUS (and I dare say, clearly delicious) "Truedrivers" to take the edge off of my nerves and lull me into a baby-like sleep akin to a greyhound racing and passing out after a major spaz attack.  These "Truedrivers" certainly settled my nerves and are a combination of orange juice and vodka (what would be a regular screw driver) with red fruit juice produced by the makers of True Blood.  Lydia is a huge fan of True Blood (as am I) and pointed out that the products match the beverage bottles used on the actual show.  You can find them here at HBO's website.  They are truly fascinating and make for delicious bevarages.

However, this post is not about Truedrivers, but rather their hangover cure in the form of a tasty omelette.  As many of us know, omelettes can be made from a combination of eggs, cheese, and any other ingredients one likes after being pan-fried, and cooked thoroughly.The below recipe is a little unique because it calls for pesto.  Pesto in an omelette?! Absurd! Actually...not so much.  The ingredients in pesto are pretty ingenious--olive oil, basil, parmessan, and pine nuts.  Who wouldn't want to flavor a simple egg dish with this combination? In the words of Lydia "Yes."  Also in the words of Lydia, "this is the best omelette I've ever eaten!!!"  I was so proud.  I almost said something silly about it being "clearly delicious...."

Omelettes
The key to any good omelette is to COOK THE FILLING FIRST and add the eggs second.  I cannot stress this tip enough for it makes all the difference in the cooking time, process, and final outcome.  Before I knew much about cooking, I would always cook the beaten eggs in the pan first, add the ingredients, and wait until the eggs were cooked long enough to fold over the omelette.  Sadly, many people also use this technique and it just doesn't work right.  Not only are the filling ingredients never fully cooked, but seldom is the egg casing structurally sound enough for folding and flipping.  Thus, cook/saute the ingredients (minus the cheese) first for several minutes and then pour the egg mixture on top of this as the directions below suggest.  Your omelette will be structurally sound and more attractive!


* 2 eggs, but more can be added for volume or preference
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* salt and pepper, to taste
* 1 tablespoon italian seasoning, or oregano/thyme mixture
* 1-2 tablespoons pesto, optional
* 2 tablespoons chopped turkey, optional
* 1-2 cloves garlic, chopped finely or pressed
* 1-2 tablespoons chopped onions
* 1 handful of spinach
* 1/4 cup cheese, any kind
* any other filling ingredient (i.e., bacon, sausage, tomatoes, etc.) or seasoning (i.e., Tony's Cajun Seasoning, basil, rosemary, etc.).

1.) Turn pan to medium and heat up olive oil.  Add onions, spinach, and any other vegetable or meat that may require a longer cooking time.  Sautee until cooked and season accordingly with the above seasonings (my combination of italian seasoning, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper, etc. is a pretty common seasoning and works nicely for most palettes). Add pesto and mix in thoroughly.
2.) Once ingredients are properly cooked, pour two beaten eggs over mixture and allow the ingredients to meld together and cook for about one minute.
3.) In the following minutes, you'll want to thinly spread the cheese (if you're using cheese) over the mixture, and any final seasoning before you fold the omelette.
4.) Once the omelette is stiff enough to be lifted and folded in the same pan, do just that.  Fold omelette in half onto itself and press down to push out any uncooked egg and cook for one minute.  Unless the egg is looking under done, this will probably be plenty of cooking time. 
5.) Transfer to a plate and enjoy!

Everyone loves omelets! Even puppy border collies with old man faces! Note: these fine folks are the fabulous Lydia and Jeramey.

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Steve's Surprisingly Perfect Grilled Cheese & Sandra's Yummy Treats

My goal with Clearly Delicious is to write detailed posts about the food that I prepare for family and friends.  I post these recipes after testing, tweaking, and perfecting meals that I want other people to try and further continue the sharing process.  However, there are those times when I cannot sit down everyday and prepare a home cooked meal.  At my house, these times are rare (because I always cook), but traveling really prevents me from accomplishing said goals.  I've been on the road for exactly 2 weeks (about to head home, yay!), but cannot seem to find enough kitchens to cook in, or enough time to post pictures and recipes.  Sigh.  This challenge will be over soon!

Until then, I thought I would post a really interesting and truly quick, but tasty recipe I received tonight after a last minute visit with one of my favorite college professors, Dr. Christine Hait.  Christine and her husband Steve were kind enough to tolerate the pleasant barging-in of me and my best friend from college, Christina.  In their gracious hostful ways, they offered us grilled cheese and tomato soup.  I bit into this grilled cheese sandwich and immediately thought, "Yummy! Butter! This is so moist!" to which idea Steve immediately said (and I paraphrase), "Now that you've taken a bite and like it, I'm going to tell you my secret trick.  It's not butter, it's mayonaise."  Can you believe that?! Mayonnaise! Apparently, putting a thin layer of mayonnaise on both sides of the toasted bread (like you would with butter in a traditional grilled cheese sandwich) leaves the bread moist, delicious, and the pan very clean.  Below is a simple breakdown of Steve's recipe transcribed by my imagination (as I did not watch him cook it).  But boy, was it clearly delicious.

Grilled Cheese a la Steve
The below recipe is a re-imagination of what I believe Steve put into his classic grilled cheese sandwich.  I will be posting more elaborate/creative/nontraditional grilled cheese recipes in the future (ones that involve pesto, tomatoes, spinach, you get the picture), but until then, just use a classic grilled cheese recipe like the one below.

2 slices of bread (any kind--white, or wheat, etc.)
2 slices of cheese (any kind--cheddar, swiss, etc.)
1 slice of ham, optional
1 tablespoon mayonnaise, spread thinly over two slices of bread

1.) Heat up skillet over medium-high heat and thinly spread mayonnaise over both slices of bread.
2.) Place one slice of bread mayonnaise side down in pan.  Layer on ingredients--cheese, pesto, spinach, tomatoes, etc., and add the top layer of bread, mayonnaise side up.
3.) Cook for 1-2 mins. and check for the browning of the bottom slice of bread.  1-2 minutes is merely a cautionary time; you really just want to keep an eye on the bread until it's golden-to-dark brown (depending on your preference).  I often turn the heat to low-medium and put a cooking lid on top of the pan to hold in the steam.  This steaming allows the cheese to melt faster (I learned this trick when I was a kid who ate grilled cheese sandwiches every weekend with my big sister.  Thanks Lise!!).
4.) After the bottom slice is brown, flip the sandwich and brown the other slice.  The important technique to remember here is that it will take a fraction of the time for the second slice of bread to brown since the pan is already heated up.
5.) Remove from pan, slice, and enjoy!!

Finally, in tribute to Dr. O'Neal's yummy treats for 4:00 o'clock coffee and treats, I'm posting a picture below of the delicious cookies, brownies, and holiday candies Dr. O'Neal prepared for Christina and I before visiting with Christine and her husband.  I don't know what the recipes are here, but I can assure you that everything was good! I kept snacking on her lady's fingers (the vanilla cookies shaped like fingers with powdered sugar all over them) and the brownie was to die for.  NOTE: brownies are from Giradelli.  Can you ever go wrong with Giradelli?!