Thing for Wings

Remember when I told you how I get food crushes? You know, when you can't get enough of something and it's all you can think about? Well, the hubs has had a thing for wings recently. Fortunately, his hankering translates into some deliciousness for me, too!

He followed the Hooters technique of coating the wings with flour and then refrigerating them for an hour (since we've both reluctantly admitted they are our favorite wings). Once they were fried, he tossed them with hot sauce and butter.

Crispy, just the right kick, totally crush-worthy.

Happy searching,

Happy Hallow-eating!

Can you believe it's almost November? But before retailers rush us into decorating for Christmas (before we've even had Thanksgiving), there is a delicious day upon us. Candy? Clever snacks? Creative cocktails? It must be Halloween. And the mister's absolute favorite holiday. Why? See above, beginning with candy...

Ryan created our menu this year, but I did contribute in the way of assembling (and eating) some treats!

First up? Yummy Mummy Dogs.

We followed this recipe, but used garlic breadsticks instead of Crescent Rolls. Very tasty, especially with  a spooky cheese drizzle and fresh blood (or ketchup...whatever you have on hand)!

To wash it down? A crisp apple cider martini. The hubs mixed my childhood favorite beverage...

...with vodka, muddled apple & lime, a splash of maple syrup. Complete with an apple slice garnish. Fall-icious!

Notice the Spooky Snack Mix in the background...the mister's own Munchie mix of pretzels, potato chips, gummy worms, and Cheetos.

Do you have any tricks or treats up your sleeve this Halloween?

Happy searching!


p.s. Instead of trying to catch up and fill you in on everything since the last post, I'm starting with the present. And hopefully, someday, I will have a few extra moments to fill you in on our delicious summer and early fall adventures. 'Cause they were tasty. :)

Tea-riffic Sandwiches

I love all things dainty, food included. Small, delicate bites like petit fours, tapas, and finger sandwiches are among some of my favorites. They make me feel prettier just by eating them.

And I am usually a big fan of simplicity in the kitchen, but I must say that the attention to detail is partially why I love things like tea sandwiches. I am all about the details. Crusts, which I normally adore (but have no place on a finger sandwich), are lovingly cut off to ensure a perfectly balanced and refined bite.

Well, tea sandwiches appeared on one of our recent weekend menus when we were in the mood for something light. They were the perfect petite treat. Call me superficial, but there's something spectacular about food that both looks and tastes great.

We used a dense, multigrain bread (newly discovered Costco's Kirkland 100% Multigrain--love it!) to create two tasty tea sandwiches: smoked salmon with dill & chive butter and cucumber with an herbed cheese spread (similar to Ina's found here).

I'm sure these sandwiches would have been delicious with tea, but they were really excellent with a glass of chardonnay. Cool, refreshing, lovely little sandwiches. Delicious!

Happy Searching,

Amazing Asparagus

Asparagus is one of my all-time favorite veggies. The lovely springtime stems are tied for first place with my other fave, green beans. I could eat boatloads of both, and usually in a similar preparation: lightly steamed, then sauteed with garlic, olive oil, S&P. But during Spring Break, I was reminded of one of the most amazing asparagus dishes. This may be the tiebreaker...

After choosing our delicious main course, my friend Sarah and I stumbled upon Giada's recipe for Prosciutto-Wrapped Roasted Asparagus. It's hard to decide what was more appealing about the recipe...the deliciousness or the simplicity.

Roasting intensified the sweet, nuttiness of the asparagus and made the tips crispy (which I love). And after letting them cool, we got to wrap each one in a little prosciutto overcoat. Just half a slice for each spear, enough to transform the humble vegetables into scrumptious superstars.

Simple. Savory. So amazing.

So what's your favorite veggie? What's your favorite way to prepare it? If you're looking for a new favorite, check out the recipe below.

Happy Searching,


Roasted Asparagus Wrapped in Prosciutto
from Giada De Laurentiis's Everyday Italian

12 asparagus spears [about 1 pound], trimmed
1 TB olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
6 paper-thin slices of prosciutto, halved lengthwise

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Peel the bottom half of each asparagus. On a heavy baking sheet, toss the asparagus with the oil, salt, and pepper. Put in the oven and roast until the asparagus is tender, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely.

Wrap each asparagus with 1 piece of prosciutto, exposing the tips. Arrange on a platter and serve at room temperature.

Makes 6 appetizer servings or 3 side servings.

Our New Favorite Dip

In planning our Super Bowl Menu, the hubs and I agreed we needed to include a dip. We weighed our options: Spinach Artichoke Dip, this yummy cheese dip from a while back, tried-and-true queso (Rotel + Velveeta, for all you non-Texans out there). But we really wanted to try something different. Thankfully, a few days before the big game, I stumbled upon this delicious recipe for Buffalo Chicken Dip on the Mad Hungry blog. It combined our hankering for hot wings and dip into one tasty snack!

Truthfully, the picture doesn't do this dip justice. The color of the dip was not very photographically flattering, but trust me--this dip is awesome (would I lie to you?).

The recipe calls for the chicken breasts to be poached, but our favorite method for maximizing flavor is to roast them (more here). With the chicken in the oven, I mixed up the cream cheese, mayo, sour cream, hot sauce, blue cheese, and lemon juice. Once the breasts cooled, I shredded the meat and tossed it with the other ingredients. Baked for 20 minutes, topped with chives and a few blue cheese crumblies and this dip was delectable.

We spread it on some toasted baguette slices (the recipe called for Fritos, but they're not my fave). And the spicy, creamy, verdict? Yep, it's our new favorite.

What dip do you love?

Happy Searching,

Potato, Potahto

Although the ancestry on my dad's side has been somewhat unclear (I've been told we're a bit Welsh, a bit English, maybe a bit German), I'm fairly certain there's some Irish in there. Why? Well, I do love the color green. But the most convincing reason is my love for potatoes. They are in total alignment with my love for other starches and complete my Holy Carbohydrate Trinity (bread, pasta, and potatoes). Amen.

I like potatoes all ways...I'm a non-discriminatory potato supporter. If it wasn't for me trying to fit into my pants, I'd probably squeeze them into every meal. I love them for breakfast in the form of homefries, hashbrowns, and tater tots (in that order). French fries hold a special place in my heart (and although I've tried them all over the world, Mickey D's is still my numero uno...Andi, I know you agree). I love 'em baked, mashed, scalloped, or roasted.

Now granted potatoes do have some nutritional value in the way of Vitamin C and Potassium, those benefits are slightly offset when they are topped with bacon, cheese, and sour cream.

But these Twice Baked Potatoes are worth it. My mom used to make them all the time when I was growing up and we decided to include them in our Super Bowl Snack Fest. They were super easy to make, too!

We baked the potatoes until they were slightly undercooked, scooped out the insides, and mixed them with butter, grated cheese, sour cream, and S&P. Then, we put them back into their skins (which we rubbed with a little oil and S&P so they would crisp up). We topped them with more grated cheese, crumbled bacon, and baked them @ 350 for about 20 minutes, until everything had melted and heated through.

A little sour cream dollop and some snipped chives finished off these starchy superstars. Potato? Potahto? Now matter how you say it, these were deelish!

So, how do you like your potatoes? :)

Happy Searching!

Resolution Rings

Ahhh, it's good to be back. New year. New ideas. New resolutions. Wait, what?!?!

No, one of my resolutions isn't to gain 30 pounds. Quite the opposite, in fact. But when life hands you onions, you make onion rings. That's right. Homemade, sweet, crunchy, onion rings.

Ryan whipped these up last night and they were sooooo light and crispy. They were 'magic' rings, disappearing quite quickly (sometimes after only a few seconds out of the fryer). The trick is to use club soda in the batter--the effervescence makes the batter super airy and light. If you're ever in the market for homemade rings, this recipe was da bomb (and surprisingly easy...you could totally get away with making them in a big pot if you didn't have a fryer). Five ingredients and an appetite--that's all you need!

Truth be told, we haven't started our New Year's Resolutions quite yet. I'm thinking we'll be digging in around the first of February. In the mean time, we have been enjoying our new ice cream maker, the deep fryer, and gluttony in general. (And a new camera to snap even more delectable shots of it all).

More posts to come!

Happy Searching,

Pigs in a Blanket for Pigskin Season

If I had to pick a favorite season, I would have to choose summer. My husband's favorite season? Football season.

Truthfully, I don't get nearly as excited about the sport itself but the snacks that come along with it are reason enough for me to rally! Although we like to try out fancy recipes and nouveau cuisine, we also love a tried-and-true classic.

I couldn't remember the last time we made Pigs in a Blanket, so we broke out the weenies and crescent rolls and went to town!

 
In an effort to refrain from being totally gluttonous, I used Turkey Lil' Smokies and reduced fat crescent rolls. But cutting calories did not cut the deliciousness--they were so yummy! Of course, if you made the full fat version and had a side-by-side tasting, you would definitely notice a difference (the reduced fat rolls are less buttery and flaky, but still good).

And...they were easy peasy. I just kept the dough in tact (I pinched any seams together that were coming apart after popping open the can), brushed it with a little honey mustard (adds flavor and keeps the pigs moist) and cut strips slightly narrower than the weenies. Then I wrapped 'em, baked 'em seam side down @ 350 for 10-15 minutes and voila! A classic! Tasty Pigs in a Blanket. Haven't tried them in a while either? You should!

Happy Searching,

Who Put the Dip in the Dip Da Dip Da Dip?

During one of our Saturday Smorgasports, we felt like having a dip of some sort. Ryan found a recipe from one of our newer cookbooks that looked promising. It can be risky to venture into unknown culinary territory, but it often pays off.  This recipe definitely did--it was not only delicious, but super easy (which is exactly what we love)! 

The next time you have to take an hors d'oeuvres dish somewhere or feel like trying a new dip just because, whip this up, courtesy of The Deen Brothers! It's great with pretzels, potato chips, and bread.

Happy Searching!

Mission: Popover

Inspiration struck like lightning last night during an episode of The Best Thing I Ever Ate. The hubs and I were both nearly drooling as Tyler Florence described his favorite appetizer--popovers--from BLT Steak in NewYork City.

We both said, "We should make those...tomorrow!" (Only because we needed to buy the pan and Williams-Sonoma wasn't open at that hour).  Twelve hours and $20 later, we were ready to go.

Having never attempted these doughy delights, we were both surprised at how easy they were to make. The batter is only four ingredients: milk, flour, salt and eggs. Mix it all up, pour the batter into the pan, and top each one with cheese (the BLT recipe calls for Gruyere, which is a Swiss cheese...nutty and scrumptious)! Bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees and...

...what emerges from the oven are edible, cheesy clouds. Like savory cream puffs, these popovers were everything a good popover should be: airy and light with a few custardy crevices and a golden crust.

Split one open and spread on a little butter lovin'--and you're tasting something amazing. I should warn you that they don't keep very well, so you may feel compelled to eat all of them several in one warm, cheesy, heavenly sitting (not that I did anything of the sort)...

Mission Popover=Deliciously accomplished!

Happy Searching,

Tasty Tostadas

In observance of Cinco de Mayo and all things delicioso, I have to share one of our new favorite recipes. It's a keeper for several reasons, but the best one? It's healthy Mexican food. 

I know what you're saying: "¿Es verdad? Can it be?!" Yes, it's true! 

It seems like an oxymoron, but these shrimp tostadas have all of the deliciousness of Mexican food without any of the greasy guilt. Nada. And they are sooooo good!

If I had to choose one word to describe this dish, it would be flavorful. Smoky cumin, ancho chili powder, lime juice, and cilantro mingled together to create a perfect balance. The roasted shrimp were spicy, the corn and red onion were cool and sweet, and the vinaigrette was tangy.

Even with a few amendments to the original recipe, I can't imagine this dish turning out any better. We didn't have any cabbage, so I omitted it altogether. For the tostada "shells", I substituted won ton skins. They were a bit more healthful than the the corn tortillas the recipe called for and still provided that crunchy texture. 

I brushed ten of them lightly with olive oil, sprinkled them with S&P, and baked them in a muffin tin until golden brown (around 8 minutes). While they cooled, I prepped the shrimp and veggies, tossed them all together and assembled the tostada cups. 

Muy deliciso! A great appetizer, dinner, or fiesta fare. Happy Cinco de Mayo! I hope you're enjoying a margarita (or a Modelo)...

¡Buscar Feliz!

The Med=Tapas Heaven

About eight years ago, I stumbled upon food heaven. Not surprisingly, I don't remember the exact details. I couldn't tell you how or when I first discovered it. I couldn't tell you what I ordered. All I know is that once I found it, it was love at first bite!

The Med is a restaurant in Boulder, CO and although I attended college a few miles from it, I didn't discover this gem until the middle of my senior year. They serve--cleverly enough--Mediterranean cuisine. Grilled meats, pastas, and risottos are staples of the menu. But the real stars of the show are the tapas.

I love the concept of tapas. For an indecisive foodie such as myself, these little plates are perfect for sampling a variety of ingredients and flavors. Not only does The Med serve tapas, they serve delicious and cheap tapas during their daily happy hour...appropriately named, because some of the happiest hours have been spent with my family and friends at The Med.

Bacon Wrapped Dates in Garlic Sauce

Smoked Ruby Trout, Grilled Lamb & Chicken Skewers 

                            

Frequenting this food extravaganza has become a ritual nearly every time I'm back in Colorado. We've pretty much gotten it down to a science...what can't be missed, what we can skip, how many rounds we should order and the timing of when to place them.

Baked Feta & Panzanella Relish

          Steamed Mussels, Caprese Salad,

Beef Carpaccio, Fried Polenta with Rosemary Honey

We rarely skip the wood-fired margherita pizza or the grilled meat skewers, but we have try something new almost every visit. This time we hit the jackpot with some amazing lamb chops and baked feta.

 Margherita Pizza  

Jalepeno Honey-Glazed Lamb Chops

                                                               

We have each tried something a bit exotic for our usual palates...my mom and I tried frog legs, Ryan sampled beets, and my dad enjoyed beef carpaccio.

In our countless visits, we've never actually ordered off of the regular menu. Judging by the tapas, I'm sure dinner is incredible. But we've got too good a thing goin' in Tapas Heaven. Next time I'm in Colorado, you'll know where to find me!

Happy Searching,

Greasy Grub: So Wrong Yet So Right

Ahhhh, weekends. I'm only slightly ashamed to admit that if it were possible to be complete gluttons all the time without any adverse side effects (obesity, skyrocketing cholesterol, clogged arteries, etc), Ryan and I would be on board. But alas, we have agreed to keep our appetites in check at least five days out of the week...so that we can reward ourselves with some indulgent eating over the weekend.

On Sunday, we were happy to discover a place that satisfied our craving for good ol' greasy grub. Situated just off of the UT campus, Dirty Martin's is an unassuming spot with a patio, picnic tables, and pints. What could be better on a sunny spring day? 

We started out with a $6 pitcher of locally brewed Austin Amber...that's $6 including tax! You can barely get away with a pint for that price these days! Served with two icy glasses, Ryan and I knew we were off to a good start.

As we deliberated over which fried appetizer to order, our eyes locked in on Chili Queso Fries. Ho. Lee. Smokes. They were a trifecta of savory perfection. Crispy, salty fries smothered in homemade three-cheese queso and homemade chili. Insanely good!

    

What comes after a gut-bomb like that? Burgers, of course. Out come two baskets lined with grease-soaked paper...and the best cheeseburgers we've had in Austin. Seriously. The buns were buttery, lightly toasted, and just dense enough to support the juicy goodness of the patties. The cheese was evenly melted and nestled underneath just the right amount of lettuce, pickles, and onions. Each bite was even better than the one before it. Delicious!

Local publications have given this place decent reviews, but I think they deserve some serious accolades. From start to finish, Dirty Martin's not only met but exceeded our expectations (which I consider to be fairly high). You know the grease is good when you're wishing you could have a second round of it later that same day (true story, it's a good thing we don't live closer...).

If Dirty Martin's is wrong, I don't want to be right. The beer is cheap and cold, the fries are smothered and scrumptious, and the burgers are bodacious. Two delicious, chili-covered thumbs up!

Happy Searching,

Garlic Bread & Tiramisu: Spaghetti Sidekicks

How can you make a perfect meal even more delicious? By sandwiching it between cheesy, buttery garlic bread and incredibly rich tiramisu.

During my visit home last weekend, I attended Spaghetti School (courtesy of Mama B). I should've known that Mama had a few other tricks up her sleeve...after all, she always does! She had all of the ingredients for my favorite Garlic Bread. We followed the recipe then added our own flair by sticking the open-faced halves of bread under the broiler after topping them with parmesan cheese. 

She also had a recipe for Whipped-Up Chocolate Ricotta Tiramisu (we used Kahlua instead of cognac, but otherwise followed the recipe as is). She mixed the creamy ingredients while I prepared the ladyfingers and layered them into pretty glasses.

Out of all the tiramisus I've ever eaten (all of them from restaurants, mind you, none of them homemade), this was the best one. Homemade, easy, and so scrumptious! Petite chocolate morsels suspended in fluffy clouds of mascarpone and ricotta, resting upon coffee-soaked sponginess...heavenly!

It's not very often that the sidekicks are as popular as the hero, but these dishes are delicious enough to save the day on their own. The next time you're in the mood for Italian, give them a try!

Happy Searching!

Superbowl Smorgasbord?

The Super Bowl is a delicious occasion. It's the Thanksgiving of sporting events, usually leaving me stuffed and ready for a nap by halftime. I managed to only doze off for part of the second quarter, but not before partaking in several scrumptious snacks.

Unfortunately, the feeding frenzy was quick and I neglected to take pictures, but the spread included: white queso with green chilis, assorted olives, sliced meats and cheeses, dips (7-Layer, Pimiento Cheese, Garlic Love), homemade French fries, tortilla roll-ups...I'm getting full just thinking about all I ate that day.

Sooo...I'm wondering what you ate. What yummy snacks were on your coffee table/dinner table/countertop on Sunday? Hopefully, you found some delicious...

Happy Searching,

Bruschetta Reinvented

Bruschetta has definitely had its heyday...as much as I love the combination of tomatoes and basil on crispy garlic toast, I felt like the once-popular Italian appetizer's 15 minutes of fame had come and gone.

This bruschetta, however, changed my mind. If this delectable creation was on a menu, I'd order it in a heartbeat! Using one of my favorite sandwiches as inspiration, Ryan made BLT Bruschetta a few weeks ago that I now crave.

The foundation of this masterpiece was undoubtedly the homemade blue cheese dressing upon which the other ingredients rested. Perfectly toasted crostini, crispy bacon, tomatoes, arugula and chives? Yes, please! 

Bruschetta is back in business...and delicious!

Happy Searching,

Fryday, Continued

As the Festival of Fried Deliciousness continues, so does my love for my husband. Anyone who can make a meal around french fries is a fan of mine!

After breaking in the fryer with some calamari yesterday, he made fries tossed in garlic and parsley for today's treat. With mussels. Steamed in a white wine-saffron-tomato broth. Topped with bacon. Does it get any better than that?!?!

Found some delicious in this one, for sure...

Happy Searching,