Are you ready for some football?

Saturday was UTs first home football game, and the event was not going to go off without some sort of celebration. There was a gathering of sorts (normally I call these things tailgates, but recently someone has gotten very angry with my description of tailgates not being actually in a truck in a parking lot) So, I guess it was a BBQ. Full of people all in their burnt orange. All with tickets to the game. Who all walked over to the game together. A tailgate.

Anyway, a celebration of this magnitude required some new and delicious snacks. I'd recently scored a Rachel Ray magazine in the airport (ok, recently, the end of July), but it takes me a long time to get through all the things I like in her magazine. So far I've made three DELICIOUS dishes.

The first one was some simple couscous. You cook some couscous, garlic flavored if you dare. To it you add about a cup of chopped dried apricots, dried cranberries, golden raisins, chopped green onions and crumbled feta cheese. Oh boy, it couldn't be simpler. Or more delicious. I did not bring this to the football game, but I did debut it for a friends birthday back in August.

Next I tried some potato salad. I didn't really follow the recipe all that well, because I didn't have some things - like fennel. At first I had to google image search what fennel was so I could figure out where in the store to find it. And then when I found it, it was going to cost me a whopping $5. And something I saw on google suggested that it tasted like black licorice. No thanks. So I've modified the recipe. But, it's so delicious. You quarter (or eighth, seriously, who can eat a quarter of a potato) small red potatoes, and cover them with just enough water and salt (the salt in the water is key, according to one of my roommates who thinks my food needs more salt in it). Boil these and let them cook until they are soft, but not mushy. Then you combine 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, and 3 finely chopped green onions. The first time I made this I had some asparagus, so I cut the tips and sauteed them a little in a pan and added those to the potatoes when they were done. The second time, I added nothing. Like I said, I didn't use fennel. I used dill. And what seemed like a bunch. I'm not sure how much. I kept sprinkling and stirring it into the dijon mixture, until it tasted good. Then you combine the potatoes and the dijon mix, and stir it up. And, good lord, it's delicious. This was debuted during a boat adventure on Lake Travis, and remade for the football game. Both times, it was a huge hit. Added bonus, for those of you who are interested - this dish is also vegan.

And for my last recipe attempt, and I must say the most fun, I tried beer-battered green beans with a tarragon aioli sauce. I was a little afraid of the beer-battering, but this was so much fun. First it was 2/3 cup of beer (I think I threw in a little extra for good luck, but they did taste beer-y, so maybe a whole can/bottle is too much. I didn't use the whole thing, a girl needs something to drink while she cooks!) 1/2 cup flour and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Let this sit there for a bit. Then I made the aioli, which was a whole lot of mayonnaise, tarragon (I used dried), dijon, garlic and salt and pepper. I really just kept putting stuff in and tasting, until it tasted good and I had a quantity that seemed appropriate.

Then, for the frying! I used about 2.5 cups of vegetable oil in a pan and turned the burner to high. I stuck a candy thermometer in there, to gauge the temp - RR says get it to 375. This happened quite quickly. When it's starting to hiss and sputter you're basically there. I dropped a small bit of batter in, and it formed a ball and floated to the top sizzling. That means I'm good. I whisked the batter a little bit more, and I threw my washed and trimmed green beans in. I stirred them around a few times to get them nice and coated. I dropped them into the oil in smallish batches, and the batches all tended to clump together - which actually made for easy flipping. I tried to flip them after about 2 minutes, and took them out when they were golden in color. They were probably lighter than golden. I let them dry off on a paper towel.

Sadly, because I live in Texas where it is hotter than hades, I then put them in a tupperware container and in the fridge. Next time, I will not do this. They got a little soggy. Or, they were just crispier before going in the fridge. But, they still tasted great - and were a crowd favorite. Also, without the aioli to dip in, these are vegan (right? I don't see anything vegan-offensive in there).

These three recipes are so terribly simple, and so delicious, I'm sure to make them again and again...and again!

Week 2 (Mel): Tortilla and Butternut Squash Soup

I SO happily received a copy of New England Soup Factory's cookbook for Christmas last year but (probably because I have too many cookbooks) hadn't made anything from it until this week. Scott and I both thought this particular recipe looked delicious so I gave it a try.

I had some time Monday morning so I decided to go all out, Rachael Ray style. I bought my groceries AND prepped the vegetables when I got home from the market. When I got home from work, I opened the fridge, grabbed everything I needed in one trip without dropping anything (just kidding), and started cooking it up. It smelled *really* good. I loved that there was cheese, cilantro, and lime juice in the soup. And scallions!!! Mmmm!!! In the end, I liked it, and even had two bowls. There's so much left over though and it was also just so different that it's not something I'm craving more of. Scott didn't like it at all, so now neither of us are going to eat the left-overs. I'm still glad I tried it. As you'll see below, it calls for 8oz of tortilla chips. I bought baked tortilla chips, feeling guilty about the calories, and 7oz ended up being a whole bag! I guess I wasn't expecting that. So maybe if I had used a better-tasting chip the overall soup would've been better, but I still don't know. Also, I don't think the flavor of the butternut squash was at pungent as I thought it would be, given it's in the title and all. Maybe make half the recipe yourself if you want to give it a try (though you probably don't if you're reading any of this!) because I'd be interesting in getting someone else's opinion on it. It stinks though, because it's a recipe from one of my favorite restaurants. Their soups never disappoint me! Eh, anyway, here you go:

Tortilla and Butternut Squash Soup
Makes 12 to 14 servings

3 Tbs. salted butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups diced onion
3 carrots, sliced
3 ribs celery, sliced
1 lb butternut squash, peeled and diced
12 cups chicken stock (I used veg. of course)
1 cup sherry
8 oz. salted tortilla chips
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
2 cups shredded Montery Jack cheese
1 can (4oz) diced green chilies
1 bunch scallions, sliced
2 Tbs. freshly squeezed lime juice
8 dashes green Tabasco sauce (I used red)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a large stockpot melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onions, carrots, celery, and butternut squash. Saute for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the stock and sherry. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the squash is soft and tender, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the tortilla chips until wilted. Add the cilantro and cheese and let the cheese melt into the soup. Puree the soup in the pot using a hand blender or working in batches with a regular blender until completely smooth. Add the chilies and scallions. Stir to combine. Season with lime juice, Tabasco sauce, and black pepper. Return to the stove and summer an additional 5 minutes.

Okra

It's been a busy few weeks chez-moi. I've made two batches of German Chocolate Cupcakes, which are by the way - A-MAZING! I made banana bread, which I hear was good. But, I'd like to showcase the non-baking culinary skills tonight. For the meat-eaters among us, here is a great, simply, fancy chicken recipe that comes straight from Rachel Ray herself (it's no NOTsagna, but it'll do!)

Sesame and Herbes de Provence Chicken Tenders

I've made this before, I've used skewers and threaded the chicken on them, but this time I ditched those. I further streamlined the process by combining all the "coating" ingredients into a ziploc bag and putting the chicken tenders in a few at a time, a la Shake-n-Bake style, and they were coated quickly and nearly mess free! I do suggest going a little easy on the sea salt, as the rest of the herbes seem to be somewhat salted, and this last batch came out pretty salty.

Along side, I finally did it - I grilled some Okra! It was so yummy. I put some olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, black pepper, and soaked the okra in tat for a little while. I pre-heated a griddle, and then grilled the okra, flipping them a few times. Some of the okra seemed to "pop" open after being grilled a bit, but the end result was so great. I think this might be my new favorite vegetable...and it seems like it's pretty good for me!