Super Bowl Favorite

There is one thing that I look forward to every year during the Super Bowl - Sausage Queso!! My parents have been fixing up this appetizer for as long as I can remember, and today I've made it myself for the first time ever. I even invested in a Crock Pot and wooden spoons. The recipe is probably on the Velvetta site somewhere, but I like to think that my parents created it and that a new generation of the Hix family is carrying on the tradition. While I will always be more excited about Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl, Kitty Half-time Show, than the Super Bowl, at least there is some hope for my game day chef skillz. Go team!

Super Bowl Queso Awesome

Easiness: ♣♣♣♣♣

Messiness: ♣

Tastiness: ♣♣♣♣♣

32 ounce Velvetta thing

10 ounce can of Spicy Rotel

Tomatoes

16 ounce spicy pork sausage

Brown the sausage on medium heat until fully cooked. Drain sausage. Cube cheese (about 1/2 inch pieces) and add to sausage, turning down heat to medium-low. Stir until cheese is melted. Ad mixture into crock pot, set on low. Stir in tomatoes (keep juices). Continue cooking in crock pot, making sure to stir often.

Chicken and Hominy Soup Kicked Up

This recipe was inspired by Epicurious and recommended to me as an easy soup for beginners, and I really couldn't agree more. I changed some of the portions and doubled the amount of pepper sauce. Also, I used smoked chicken instead of rotisserie chicken and used a lot less hominy (mostly because I didn't know how it tasted). This recipe was actually fun to make, and didn't require a ton of prep time. Bonus! It will make your house smell awesome. TRY THIS!!!

Chicken and Hominy Soup Kicked Up (original recipe)

Easiness: ♣♣♣♣♣

Messiness: ♣♣

Tastiness: ♣♣♣♣♣

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 yellow onion chopped thin

4 teaspoons ground cumin

2 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika

8 ounces low-salt chicken broth

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can petite tomatoes in juice

1 purchased smoked chicken, meat shredded, skin and bones discarded

4 tablespoons hot pepper sauce

1 (15-ounce) cans golden or white hominy in juice (Not sure what Hominy is? Neither did I, study up here.)

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat olive oil on medium high heat. Add onion, cumin, and paprika and saute until onions are clearish. Add in broth, tomatoes (with juice!), chicken, and hot pepper sauce (be liberal - I used Tabasco). Puree hominy in blender (keep the juice) and add to mix. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cover and bring to a simmer for 15 minutes. Add in cilantro and serve! Pro tip: add guacamole, cheese, sour cream for extra deliciousness.

Pesto Pasta Monster

I didn't go into this evening's experiment thinking that I was going to create a Pesto Pasta Monster, but like Victor Frankenstein, once I got carried away there was no turning back. Ok, maybe that was a bit dramatic. Sorry about the crappy picture, my next blog will be titled Ignoramus iPhone Photographer. Here's the dish:

Pesto Pasta Monster

Easiness: ♣♣

Messiness: ♣♣♣

Tastiness: ♣♣♣

3 roma tomatoes chopped

1/2 onion chopped

1/2 cup red & yellow peppers chopped

1 cup baby portobello mushrooms sliced

1/4 cup fresh oregano

3 cloves of garlic minced

1 tbsp fresh tarragon (dried works too)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

pesto packet (Simply Organic Sweet Basil Pesto)

1/2 cup water

8 ounces whole wheat linguini noodles

Optional: sausage/beef meatballs (no idea how to make these, I bought mine from Whole Foods - maybe I'll try a recipe one of these days)

Cooking noodles for dummies: Fill a large pot with water and add about a tablespoon of olive oil and some salt, bring to boil. Add noodles and turn down heat, stir occasionally. Cook until you can throw them on the wall and they stick (science, kids). Put the noodles in a strainer and run cold water on them to stop them from cooking. Set aside (covered).

Saucy sauce: Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to a sauce pan over medium heat. Add garlic and onions and cook until the onions are clear (be careful not to burn the garlic). Add in mushrooms (pro tip: don't pile mushrooms up, space them out OR cook separately in butter) and cook until tender. Throw in the tomatoes, red peppers, oregano, and tarragon. Mix vegetables just until flavors are well distributed. Add in pesto packet, 1/2 cup water, and remaining olive oil. Mix around and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to low/medium and let simmer for about 10 minutes.

Chopped Up Cilantro Soup

I've never successfully made soup before today, but since it was a such a cold day I thought I'd give it another shot.

I bought a soup mix from the Whole Foods produce section. It only included the vegetables, so I also picked up some garlic and chicken broth. At home, I had an onion and a bay leaf. I had no idea what I was making when I started, but it ended up being pretty meh (needed more spices). There was a ton of chopping involved, hence the name.

Chopped Up Cilantro Soup

Easiness: ♣♣

Messiness: ♣♣♣

Tastiness: ♣♣

2 small potatoes (chopped)

1 summer squash (chopped)

1/2 zucchini (chopped)

handful of baby carrots (chopped)

1 bunch of cilantro (chopped)

1/2 red pepper (chopped)

1/2 green pepper (chopped)

1/2 corn cob (kernels off cob)

1 celery stalk (chopped)

1/2 onion (chopped)

3 garlic cloves

1 bay leaf

12 ounces chicken broth (low sodium)

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

Chop the garlic and onion and sauté in large sauce pan until onions are clear. Add in broth, potatoes and carrots and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low/medium and add in the remaining ingredients. If the soup looks too chunky, add water. Let the soup sit for about an hour, stir it around from time to time. Season with salt and pepper.

My Tenders Are Burnin'

Someone once told me, "if you can follow directions, you can cook." Either I don't know how to follow directions or I'm an ignoramus chef. I'm going to assume the latter is true for the sake of my ego. To prove it, I plan to cook 3 meals each week and document my experience right here - on the interbloggernets.

I will be rating each recipe on 3 categories: easiness, messiness, and tastiness. The goal is to make up my own recipes, but I will probably need to borrow some from trusted sources. Feel free to send me your recipes and tips!

My first "experimental meal" is below. Sorry I didn't take pics this time around - unfortunately, I decided to blog about cooking AFTER I cooked (dangit!). Next time gadget, next time...

Enjoy!

My Tenders Are Burnin'

Easiness: ♣♣♣♣♣

Messiness: ♣♣

Tastiness: ♣♣♣

1 pound of free range chicken breast tenders

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon chili powder

pinch of salt

cooking spray (I used butter flavored, but any oil spray will do)

1 tablespoon mayo

1 teaspoon sriracha sauce (or more if you like it super spicy)

Adjust your oven so that the top shelf is 6 inches from the top and preheat oven to broil.

Cut chicken tenders 1/4 of an inch in the middle (semipro tip: a butter knife won't cut it).

Mix cumin, chili powder and salt in a bowl. Don't make this a complicated task - equal parts cumin and chili power with a little salt. Rub spices into chicken, making sure you get into the slits.

Spray cooking oil on a baking sheet (preferably a shallow sheet, like a cookie sheet with raised edges). Line up your tenders on a baking sheet and spray cooking oil over the top.

Slide your tenders in the oven for 15 minutes. Rotate them about once every 5 minutes (semipro tip: if it smells like they are burning, they are).

Mix mayo and sriracha sauce together and dip the tenders. Yummmmmy in the tummy.

Synch Savory Zucchini

Easiness: ♣♣♣♣♣

Messiness: ♣

Tastiness: ♣♣♣

3 garlic cloves (minced or finely chopped)

1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

1 zucchini (1/4 inch slices)

1/2 teaspoon savory (this is a real spice)

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

pinch of salt

Heat oil in medium saute pan (thanks wikipedia) and add garlic. Give the garlic a chance to flavor the oil - about 2-3 minutes.

Add zucchini to pan and stir around. Add savory, rosemary, and salt and stir around some more. They key to stirring vegetables: stir, wait 1-2 min, stir some more.

Zucchini usually takes about 8 min to finish cooking. You will know it's done when the outsides are a nice golden color, without being transparent. If you have transparent zucchini, start over - you've over-cooked those suckers!