French Onion Soup For Two

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Andrea

I adore French Onion soup. It’s warm and loaded down with caramelized onions. It’s got bread that helps thicken it up and then it’s topped with melty cheese. Plus served to you in a little crock pot! Can it get any better?

When Scott and I were dating, I would order this soup as a starter whenever I saw it on the menu. It wasn’t the best “date” soup to be eating but Scott never minded me slurping away or when I had cheese dangling from my chin.

He’s a keeper!

Once I started making it at home, I stopped getting it out at restaurants. For some reason I have not made this soup in ages and recently decided that I needed to change that.

My version is not traditional at all but it gets the job done. When I’m craving French Onion soup, this is where I turn.

Andrea’s French Onion Soup For Two

1QT Beef Stock

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Coffee and Cocoa Rub

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Andrea

You all know that I love a good rub down. Personally I’ll take a well rubbed hunk of animal over a marinated one any day of the week.

And twice on Sundays please.

Because of this I’m constantly creating new rubs and trying out different seasoning combos.

One that I couldn’t get out of my head was using coffee grounds in the rub.

If we had a compost pile or actually planted things around the house, those coffee grinds would be put to good use. For now they end up getting tossed and I feel like that is such a waste. I’ve been looking for new uses for them.

Some are to eat and some are for the body.

I decided to try out some of the grounds in a rub and both of us were pretty pleased with the results.

Andrea’s Coffee and Cocoa Dry Rub

1TBSP Coffee Grounds (whatever you used that morning is fine)

Weekend Grilling Recipes

Posted on June 4, 2011 by Andrea

Are you grilling this weekend? Looking for something a little different to the standard hot dogs and burgers? Want to shake up the summer grilling season for 2011?

Let Food Embrace help! Here’s a few recipes that you can try out this grilling season:

Chardonnay Chicken Burgers

Cranapple Turkey Burgers

Grilling steaks? Try giving those babies a little rub down.

Rather have pork? Beer Brined Pork Chops can be grilled.

Get funky with some chicken, yogurt curry chicken or cocoa-chili rubbed chicken will do the trick nicely.

Then you can wash it down with some super special iced tea.

Have fun this summer and get your grill on!

Skillet Burger Mac

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Andrea

Both Scott and I grew up with those meals that had a big hand as a mascot and wanted to “help” you out with dinner. You know what I’m talking about. The meal ended up looking like runny cat vomit on a plate.

There’s a great image for ya!

But let’s be serious, that is totally true. It was also yummy once you stopped looking at it too closely. In fact it was one of the few ways I would actually eat beef growing up. I wasn’t much of a fan and ground beef was yucksville as far as I was concerned.

But add in some crap pasta and cheap powder preservative laden cheese sauce and I was all over it!

Years ago, when I started cooking full time for Scott and I, most boxed items went out the window. Once I learned the technique for making a basic cheese sauce, making a homemade version of “helper” anything became easy peasy.

Beef Stew

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Andrea

I have fond memories of some foods growing up and some not so fond memories. Beef stew wasn’t one of those things that I looked forward to when my mom made it, sorry mom!

I always thought of beef stew as a hearty dish with lots of veggies, tender beef, and most of all a super thick gravy. When I moved out, this is what I always strived for when making beef stew. It took me a few years, some experiments, but I finally came up with a great beef stew that simmers away in the crockpot filling the house with enticing smells and the comfort of coziness.

I will forewarn you that while this does cook in a crockpot it does take some effort to get it there. You have to be willing to work and love it a bit before allowing it to go off on it’s own and do it’s thing.

If you do that, then you’ll get a great bowl of stew at the end of the day!

Pita Pizzas

Posted on January 18, 2009 by Andrea

Just like old times

When I was in middle school it was the 80s. Hair bands and mall teen pop queens were in their prime. And the thing to do back then was hit up the skating rink on Friday night. Especially when you lived in a super small town and there was nothing else for you to do at that age. The skating rink was a happening place and I taught myself how to skate. And backwards skate. And skate going around the corners with my feet turned out, heels touching. My favorite thing to do was skate backwards and stop with my stoppers coming to a sliding halt. My skates were white with blue wheels and a blue stopper. And Velcro because when you are at the skating rink, it is all about the skating and not about wasting time lacing up your skates. Oh and secretly crushing on the boys who preferred video games until the couples skate was announced. Eventually I out grew my Velcro skates and moved on to bigger, more “adult” skates that I did have to lace up. I figured out a way to do it quickly with flair and grace. I was still sporting blue wheels and a blue stopper though. And, no, never pom-poms on my skates. I preferred the smooth classic chic look.

Steak and Potato Frittata

Posted on October 24, 2008 by Andrea

Frittata on the way to the oven

One of our favorite meals is a nice steak dinner. Marinated grilled steak with a baked potato and all the fixins. Classic. However, I cannot eat an entire steak. And depending on the size of the baked potato, I might not be able to eat a whole one of those either. We always have leftovers and I try to come up with different ways I can transform that classic meal into something else.

Enter the frittata. A frittata is a quick dish to make and it can take on any flavor or style you want to throw at it. So many different things one can do with a skillet and some eggs. The day after a nice dinner of grilled steak and baked potato, I decided to use those leftovers in a frittata. This is my version of a steak and eggs breakfast with a side of homefries.

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