Crab Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Andrea

There’s been a lot of experimenting going on with crab here at the HQ. Both Scott and I adore crab and while crab cakes are tasty, sometimes you need a little more out of life.

I’ve been hesitant in the past to mess around with crab because it is a pricey protein option and the idea of messing something up didn’t sit well with me.

However I reached a point where I realized that if we don’t experiment in the kitchen we won’t grow as cooks. And that doesn’t do anyone any good. So in the name of Embracing Cooking, I decided to start experimenting more with crab.

And that lead to twice baked potatoes!

Andrea’s Crab Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes

2 Large Russet Baking Potatoes, scrubbed

8oz Crab Claw Meat, drained, rinsed, and checked for shell

1/2 Red Pepper, finely chopped

1/2 Green Pepper, finely chopped

1/4 Red Onion, finely chopped

4 Slices of crispy bacon, chopped

Keep It Simple: Sauteed Chard with Rice

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Andrea

The other day I was craving something warm for lunch. I enjoy having big salads and fresh fruit at lunch but sometimes I want something warm. Especially in the colder months! It’s hard to cozy up to a nice big salad when it’s 17 degrees outside.

We had some leftover rice from the previous night’s dinner and I had some chard that needed used up. Combine the two and you’ve got a great lunch!

It was super quick to put together. I sauteed up:

1/4 Onion, sliced
1/4 Green Pepper, sliced
Once large bunch of chard, chopped
Shredded carrots
A few broccoli florets

Sauteed in some olive oil with a pinch of salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, chili powder, and garlic powder.

Added in the leftover rice at the end and cooked just long enough for it to heat through.

Spooned in bowls, topped with a bit of shredded cheddar and a few dashes of hot sauce.

Keep It Simple

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Andrea

For Christmas 2011, one of the gifts that Scott gave me was a large cast iron skillet. I’ve talked about my love for cast iron before and I was not so subtly hinting that I would really enjoy a larger skillet.

I have a 9in cast iron skillet which is perfect for some things but not perfect for everything. A larger one would allow me a little more variety of uses.

Oh Christmas my wish came true and I was gifted with a 12 inch cast iron skillet. I even got a little handle holder and trivet for it as well!

Every year for Christmas Dinner, Scott and I enjoy a standing rib roast. It’s our once a year splurge and so worth every penny!

This year, I put my brand new cast iron skillet to work right away by using it for Christmas Dinner. It worked out perfectly!

It wasn’t long before I used it again to roast some veggies. Scott was having leftovers and I was in the mood for some veggie action. I chopped up some:

Beer and Mustard Dip

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Andrea

While on our most recent break, Scott and I had “snackies” one night for our evening meal. Since we were on vacation, I wanted to make snackie night a little bit more special by adding in a few dips to the mix.

On a recent episode of Triple D (because I love it so), I saw mention of a beer and cheese dip. This got me thinking about creating a beer dip that you could have with snacks and that doesn’t need to be kept warm.

By eliminating the need to keep this dip warm, it becomes perfect for having out for parties and get togethers.

I wanted the beer flavor to come through while also having a little bit of a kick to it. What goes great with beer? Mustard!

Once I knew mustard was going into the mix, the rest of the recipe fell into place.

Andrea’s Beer and Mustard Dip

1C Dark Lager Style Beer (I used Great Lakes Eliot Ness)

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

Read more on French Onion Soup For Two…

Cornmeal Deep Dish Pizza

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Andrea

Last week for Pizza Thursday I went all out and created something completely new.

New crust, new sauce, and new cooking method.

Experimenting time!

The results were interesting and a little surprising.

I had some greens that needed used up and everything just snowballed from there.

I decided I was going to create deep dish style pizzas using a cornmeal crust.

One pizza was going to have a butternut squash puree as the “sauce” and the other was going to have a BBQ and tomato base.

The cheese and toppings would all be the same with the addition of local bacon to the BBQ one.

I got out my cast iron skillets (Note to ~~self~~ Scott: We need more cast iron.) and greased those with a bit of butter.

I used my basic pizza dough recipe as a guide to create the cornmeal crust. The changes were:

1 1/2C Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2C Cornmeal

Everything else, yeast amount and water was the same. I did notice that this crust needed a little more AP flour, about 1/4C more to make it easier to handle.

Read more on Cornmeal Deep Dish Pizza…

Leftover Idea: Potato and Green Bean Hash

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Andrea

Scott and I had boiled potatoes and green beans for dinner one evening and I made a huge batch of it. I knew I was going to use it for leftover purposes but I initally thought that I would be reheating and eating.

As dinner apporached the next day, I wasn’t feeling the reheat and eat method. I wanted a little something different and I started thinking about what I could do with those leftovers.

Make a hash! Hashes are my new favorite dish. Kale and potato hash rocks my world and I knew that I could use that concept to create something with these leftovers.

I chopped up some onion and pepper and got busy.

Andrea’s Potato and Greenbean Hash

1/2 A Medium Onion, finely chopped

1/2 Red Pepper, finely chopped

1/2 Green Pepper, finely chopped

1 Carrot, shredded

Leftover boiled potatoes, chopped (can use leftover roasted or baked potato as well)

Leftover Green Beans, chopped

Johnny Marzetti With A Twist

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Andrea

Recently, my friend John, contacted me and a few other local food bloggers about doing a blog post on the Johnny Marzetti dish. We each would create our version of the dish and then all post about it on the same day.

I immediately said I was in! Then I asked what the Johnny Marzetti dish was. Not being a Columbus, or even an Ohio native, this was completely new to me.

John directed me to this link explaining the dish. I knew exactly what it was once I read the description. Where I grew up, it was called Goulash. Some folks, mostly those from the New England area, refer to it as Chop Suey.

It’s elbow pasta with ground beef in a tomato sauce. We had this all the time growing up and it was one of the few ways I would be willing to eat ground beef. I made it for Scott when we started dating and he fell in love with it.

Spaghetti and Eggs

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Andrea

When one arrives back home from a trip away, I fully believe that a warm and comforting meal is a must. Whatever food is your favorite, whatever dinner makes you content, that’s what you should be eating.

When Scott got back home from being gone for a week, he said he was ready to eat some good food. He said he missed my cooking and couldn’t wait to sit down to a lovely dinner.

Is he fab or what?

And because of my belief mentioned above, I knew he needed something comforting. Scott has a lot of comfort foods and two of them happen to be pasta and fried eggs. I was going back and forth about what to make him.

Breakfast? Or a pasta dish?

Then it occured to me, why not combine them?

The measurements aren’t exact because this is a recipe that can easily be adjusted to serve one or 20.

Andrea’s Spaghetti and Eggs

Try New Combinations

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Andrea

There’s a little diner here that serves the best black beans I have ever had. I dream about these black beans.

Scott and I went one day for breakfast and I got a side order of beans. Yeah, beans for breakfast, don’t knock it! I had eggs with my breakfast and decided to just plop the beans right on top. With a little hot sauce on top, I was a very happy lady.

Had I not ordered beans with my breakfast, it probably never would have occurred to me to try mixing them with eggs.

Once I did, I couldn’t figure out why this hadn’t done this before! Now black beans over eggs is one of my very favorite combinations.

I scramble up eggs and season them with garlic and chili powder. Then I top with:

Black Beans
Cheese
Salsa
Hot Sauce

You can even add in some sour cream as well!

It’s an easy dish to put together and is also very budget friendly. Eggs and beans are inexpensive and pantry staples.