Chili Cheese Fries

Posted on December 10, 2010 by Andrea

Like Paula Deen, I love potatoes. LOVE them. Probably a little inappropriately. Unlike Paula Deen, I don’t think they need to be slathered in butter and cream. Cheese is always welcome. So is bacon but he is not invited to this party today.

Ever since I saw Chili Cheese Fries over at White On Rice Couple, I have been chewing at the bit to make them myself.

OHC style.

We recently had chili for a meal but I was unable to use the leftovers for chili cheese fries only because time was against me and I didn’t get around to it. This week we decided that in order to keep my sanity (we were out of fresh fruit and the veggie count was in the single digits), we made a last minute decision to hit the grocery store. We were there forever (as is typical) and I picked up a bunch of produce. Among those were some russet potatoes and some red peppers (5 for $5, heck yes!).

Holiday Party Foods 2010 Edition

Posted on December 8, 2010 by Andrea

Tis the season! Now is the time when everyone is out and attending holiday parties left and right. Heck perhaps you are even hosting one! If you need some ideas on what to make for your next gathering, OHC is here to help you out!

Just out of the oven

You can’t really go wrong with bacon and cheese right? Bacon wrapped jalapenos are the answer! Very portable and can be made ahead of time. Just heat right before serving!

Ham and Cheddar Potato Puff

Got leftover mashed potatoes? Quick and easy potato puffs are great for appetizers! Even if you don’t have leftover mashed, use fresh! These also can be made ahead of time and just need to be heated up before serving.

Pear and Brie Crostini

Maybe you’re going to a fancier party? Or maybe you just want to wow your friends? Pear and Brie Crostini is a great combo and a perfect way to put that cranberry sauce to use. It looks gorgeous and tastes just as amazing.

Thanksgiving Apple Stuffing

Posted on November 19, 2010 by Andrea

I have been cooking with apples more and more lately. Before I couldn’t stand the taste and texture of cooked apples and now I’m finding that I can tolerate it a bit more.

I still don’t want any apple pie though! You all can have that.

I’ve also been toying around with new ideas for some holiday dishes and one I played with was stuffing. Oh man both Scott and I love stuffing. Mmmmm! I love it super seasoned with crispy edges. My mom made alright stuffing but you know, I used to really like the box mix stuff! I used to make that for Scott and I all the time. Then about nine years ago, I started researching how to make stuffing from scratch and I discovered that it’s not hard at all.

From that point on, I started making homemade stuffing. This allows me to control the ingredients and how much seasoning I want, it’s a win-win for us all! Plus you know homemade is better than any box of whatever.

Creamy Cauliflower

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Andrea

Growing up, cauliflower wasn’t one of my favorite vegetables. I would eat it if I came across it on a veggie tray but that was with the help of some serious ranch dressing. Otherwise I didn’t touch the stuff.

Developing into an adult and with my ever expanding list of “Foods I Didn’t Eat But Do Now”, I decided to give cauliflower another try. I liked it well enough but then I discovered roasted cauliflower and fell immediately in love. We’ve been having roasted cauliflower at the HQ a lot this year!

Recently Scott and I were discussing Thanksgiving plans and possible side-dishes to make. The topic revolved around either sticking with the same old stuff or branching out and trying something new. One of the things he suggested was a creamy cauliflower type dish.

Hrm….

That got my wheels spinning and I decided to do a test run that very night! I came up with this creamy cauliflower casserole that both of us adored. It’s got a cheese sauce and prosciutto, so how can you go wrong?

Cranberry Apple Sauce

Posted on November 4, 2010 by Andrea

While growing up, cranberry sauce was a staple at our Thanksgiving meal and truth be told I didn’t like it. We always had the canned version and there was just something about it that didn’t really sit quite right with me. I don’t know if it was the taste or texture, regardless it was a dish that I passed over.

When I started making Thanksgiving dinner for Scott and I, he told me that they always had cranberry sauce too and that he liked it.

Say wha?!

This meant that I needed to supply him with some cranberry sauce. In the beginning, I just bought the canned version and let him go to town. Eventually I came around and stared being able to tolerate it. When OHC was in it’s infancy and before we cut out HFCS, I even used it to make this salad.

Now taking a look at the ingredient list, yikes! Corn syrup and HFCS are the first two ingredients. Ick! That means we stay far away from the canned grocery store version and I had to start experimenting on my own to make cranberry sauce.

Pumpkin Polenta

Posted on October 12, 2010 by Andrea

Polenta is a “new to me” dish. It wasn’t something I grew up with and the first time I came across it was watching Food TV. I’m also not from the south, so grits never crossed my path either.

Whenever I saw it mentioned though, it was always very creamy with lots of cheese. It looked amazing and people talked about it like it was a dish from the heavens. I finally found some in the store and decided to make my own.

What a horrible experience! The polenta smelled like dirty feet and it wasn’t creamy at all but gritty. Perhaps why the term grits came about? I really disliked the experience, so much so, that I tossed it all and pushed the idea of polenta aside.

With my food knowledge and experience growing, polenta came back to the forefront again. Because I try to be fair with foods, I decided to give it another try. I played around with it and became more familiar with it. This time there was success!

Tuesday Tip: Homemade Croutons

Posted on August 17, 2010 by Andrea

Ever since I started eating salads as a wee lass, I have loved croutons. No scratch that, I adore croutons! Crispy crunchy little bits of bread that are loaded with flavor adding a nice texture to salad. Sometimes they’ll soak up a bit of the dressing acquiring even more flavor! I prefer smaller bite sized pieces but I won’t turn down a crouton when presented to me.

I used to buy croutons all the time at the store. I had my favorite brands and favorite flavors. Garlic was a must and cheese was optional.

Croutons that came on salads from a restaurant seemed even more special. No doubt they were the same croutons I was buying myself but when you’re out to dinner everything always seems a little more decadent and special.

I rarely meet a crouton that I don’t like. Oh it happens, just not often.

For some reason it never occurred to me to make my own until I saw Ina do it several years ago. Then the lightbulb went off, “I can do that too!”

Farmstand Green Bean salad with wheat berries

Posted on August 11, 2010 by Andrea

This summer has been notable for two reasons: heat and farmer’s markets. Because of the heat, I have only wanted to eat a lot of cool things. The HQ has been seeing various kinds of salads for meals this summer. We have also been frequenting Farmer’s Markets because local towns have picked up hosting mid-week markets which fits our schedule a little better.

I noticed a lovely batch of green beans on a recent trip to the Farmer’s market and I had to have some. I’m not the only one in this house who loves green beans, Rocky loves them too. I picked up enough for all of us to enjoy!

Green beans are a bean that I have always been in love with. I don’t care how you serve them up, I will eat them. That includes fried green beans although I won’t eat as much of those as I will other variations.

I knew I wanted to do something different with these green beans and then it occurred to me that I could probably make a nice ode to summer salad out of them. I walked through my kitchen looking around to see what else I could add to the salad and I stumbled upon some wheat berries. I had yet to use them in anything and figured now would be a great time to try them out. Fresh veggies and whole grains? Perfect combo!

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Andrea

The last installment of Salsa Week and this one just happens to be in a close running to winning the title of my favorite salsa!

Whenever I look at jarred salsa, the one kind I always search out is a black bean and corn salsa. I love those! The beans and corn add such a nice texture to the salsa. It even allows me to handle a more spicier salsa because somehow the beans and corn seem to tame down the assertive peppers.

Eventually I wondered to myself if one could make salsa with black beans and corn as the main ingredient instead of them being added into a tomato based salsa.

You’re never going to know the answer to your question until you try it, right? So that’s exactly what I set out to do and now I cannot get enough of this salsa. I could pretty much consume the entire batch myself without giving it a second thought! This salsa is super easy to make and takes maybe 10 minutes at most to prepare.

Read more on Black Bean and Corn Salsa…

Roasted Green Salsa

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Andrea

Day 2 of Salsa Week and this time we are kicking it with a Roasted Green Salsa!

Recently a reader contacted me with a question about my Roasted Tomato Salsa. Then she asked me about a green salsa. She said that her favorite Mexican restaurant serves this green salsa but that it’s not made with tomatillo.

Curious!

Because when we think of green salsa, we automatically think of tomatillos, right? Those little green things that look like tomatoes but are located with all the peppers. She mentioned that the server didn’t really know what the salsa was because it was a secret but that they thought it was made from jalapenos.

While this could very well be the case, imagine how many jalapenos you would have to use to get the amount of salsa needed to serve an entire restaurant. Exactly! A crazy huge number! I thought about it for a little bit then said well maybe they used poblano peppers. They are green and might be able to produce a nice salsa.