Nathan Night- Lobster Fried Rice

Normally on Nathan Night it's all about Nathan and Gramma doing something fun, but this time around The Chef was in on the fun. Since he was off work recuperating from his surgery he got a chance to be Grandpa for the evening and teach Nathan something new. Remember The Chef and Nathan playing guitar together on Easter Sunday? Holy buckets....... now it's DRUMS. Right smack in the middle of the dining room. I just have to shake my head and let boys be boys. It was a lot of fun watching the guys work out a couple songs. We made a couple videos for Nathan's parents to watch and I got a few pics snapped.

If only you had seen the look in Nathan's eyes sitting on the throne with those sticks in his hands. He was sooooo into it. Honestly for someone who had never ever played a drum in his life, he wasn't half bad! He listened to what Grampa Chef was telling him to do, and did his best to keep the count steady- even got the headbanging motion going on. 

All that drumming will make a guy work up quite an appetite! Nathan had wanted to learn about making Asian dumplings but he also wanted to try something new he'd never eaten before- lobster. Our budget was a little limited to we had to make something that stretched the lobster a bit, and sticking with the Asian theme, fried rice was the best option. We got our lobster at Aldi, believe it or not. 

If you haven't been in an Aldi store, you need to visit. I swear it's our new go-to grocery store. It's two blocks from home and they have a very large selection of organic produce and other foods, healthy grains, gluten free foods, imported European groceries and some of the best prices around, especially on meat and seafood. The package of lobster tails contained two good sized tails, just the perfect amount for our dinner, and a very reasonable $12.99 price tag. Here is how we made it-

Lobster Fried Rice

2 lobster tails

2 cups instant rice, uncooked

1 cup snow peas, halved

small bunch scallions, sliced

2 tablespoons soy sauce, plus more

2 eggs

oil for cooking

Thaw lobster completely, if frozen. Rinse the lobster well. 

Bring a large pot of water o a full boil. Add the lobsters and cook for 8-12 minutes until the shells turn bight red and meat is tender. Remove from boiling water and plunge into an ice bath to stop cooking. Pull the meat from the shells and chop into large chunks.

Place the instant rice in a large boil. Stir in 1 3/4 cups boiling water and the soy sauce. Cover tightly and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff, and spread out on a sheet pan, pop in fridge to cool.

When ready to cook, heat a large wok or skillet over high heat. Add a swirl of oil. Beat the eggs and add to pan. Cook the egg like scrambled eggs and remove.  Add more oil and add the vegetables. Stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the rice and continue to stir fry until hot. Toss in the lobster and egg, heat through. Serve with additional soy sauce.

Since Nathan has been curious about his Korean heritage, even though he is pretty far removed from his Korean ancestors, he has been talking a lot about dumplings- Asian dumplings. We talked about making dumplings next time we had a weekend together and I had been setting aside recipes but in the end, Nathan wanted to try the lobster more than he wanted to try making handmade dumplings so we went with our old standby- gyoza and shu mai from Trader Joe's. They are so super easy to prepare and very authentic. Nathan was able to help with the frying and steaming and plating. As always, we had a great time and a great dinner! Now we just need to convince Mom and Dad that they need to spring for a drum set too!

REALLY Rockin' and some No Recipe Cooking

After all this time, we have yet to have a story about music. Well friends..... we are going to change all that right now. Those of you who know me understand my crazy love of heavy metal, death metal, dark and looming lyrics of hellfire and damnation, gruesome topics, war and disease, the hardest of the hard stuff, and amazingly enough, Lady Gaga. Yes, I am a Little Monster, and I am proud of it. The obsession took hold when she first came on the music scene. I had not yet heard a single song but I saw article after article about her in the London Daily Mail. The more I read about her, the more the fascination grew. Her crazy clothing. Her hair bow made of hair. Shoes that are mile high. I was so curious about her and eventually heard the song Poker Face. My bestie Ronda and I fell in love with the catchy songs on her first album and played them daily, usually accompanied by a round or four of Jager bombs in the townhouse we shared. 

The first album, The Fame, was firmly committed to memory when The Fame Monster came out and a whole new round of songs had to be learned, and learn them we did. Mastered the Bad Romance dance. Slayed it, and slurred it. Born This Way came along next, and by that time Ronda had moved away and The Chef and I had moved to the Little Lake House. Born This Way was filled with songs I just couldn't get enough of. The title track was a favorite, and I'd often belt it out at the top of my voice driving to work. Scheibe- loved it. Bloody Mary- crazy obsessed. It was after this album that I had my first opportunity to see Mother Monster in concert. My daughter Laurie, her friend Jim and I made the drive to Minneapolis on a pilgrimage to see our Mother in the Born This Way Ball. My life was complete that day. I cried when Highway Unicorn began and she rode onto the stage riding upon a giant mechanical unicorn. I died. I truly died, and went to heaven.

Artpop was the next album and once again, became part of me. Every song on that album was fun to sing and I learned every word. This time around when she came to the midwest my other daughter Debbee and I made the drive to Minneapolis to experience ArtRave. The stage was incredible- acrylic floors and waves and Lady Gaga walked all over during the show, singing and dancing over the heads of her screaming Little Monsters. Amazing. The costumes, pure amazing. Again, the songs filled my heart, Venus, ArtPop, Mary Jane Holland, Gypsy, every one was great and made me want to dance and sing, and I did so right there in the arena, with full abandon and not a care in the world.

Lady Gaga's most recent album Joanne is a collection of a totally different kind of songs. These songs are very personal to Lady Gaga and tell the story of her life and different times of pain and happiness, of struggle and triumph. Joanne is named for her late aunt Joanne, who is also her namesake. While the album has a raw, funky almost country vibe, the World Tour lives up to everything her fans expect. This time Laurie, Debbee, Jim and I made the trip again to Minnesota to bask in the presence of our Mother Monster. This show featured no opening act, we were plunged right into the heart of Joanne from the opening notes of Diamond Heart to the classics Bad Romance, Telephone and Poker Face, Lady Gaga just astounds me with her energy and stage presence. Again I cried as she took the stage, and screamed and danced and raised my paws when she asked me to. The show was over in a flash, and I felt so sad walking out of the arena. I do know that I will be back to see her again.

Because the Twin Cities are just three hours away, we didn't grab a hotel for the night. We hit the road and headed home. With good weather, and only a couple stops along the way, we rolled back into Des Moines around 3 a.m. annnnnnd crashed. The next day was a lazy day for me, The Chef's day off, so we lazed around and did very little. I needed to recoup from all the walking, dancing, and driving. So we eventually got to the time of day when tummies are grumbling but neither one of us really wants to cook, and we certainly have no game plan for the meal- what we do have is a package of chicken tenders and a package of frozen gnocchi. These things need to become a meal!

The gnocchi is a no brainer. Trader Joe's has again made it easy, and delicious, for me to get a side on the table in just a few minutes, less than five minutes to be exact. Having already fallen in love with the sweet potato gnocchi, I still had a bag of Gorgonzola gnocchi in the freezer waiting for me to try. I thought this would be perfect with a juicy steak on the side but chicken is what's available today. Following the directions on the package, all you do is pour the contents into a bowl or saucepan and heat. You don't add anything, not even water. Frozen cubes of the creamy sauce and the delicate little potato dumplings heat up in a snap to creamy tender perfection. I wish I had thought ahead and grabbed some fresh parsley from the garden- while these were ridiculously delicious and I will absolutely buy them again, they were pretty rich and needed an herbal note to cut the richness a bit, and could have used a pop of color. Flavor-wise they were awesome, perfectly tender and the sauce was creamy and had the right amount of cheese so that it wasn't an overpowering Gorgonzola taste.

For my chicken, I just went on a whim with a few ingredients from the fridge and pantry. I used a 1 to 1 1/2 lb package boneless skinless chicken tenders, but you could use breasts if you had them, or even cut breasts into strips or nuggets. Drain them well, place in a bowl, season with salt and pepper, then add 2 tablespoons mustard to the bowl. Use Dijon or a spicy deli style mustard- grainy, I don't recommend regular yellow mustard but hey, if that's your thing, go for it. Use your hand to distribute the mustard evenly over all the chicken pieces and  set aside. In a shallow bowl, combine half a cup or so of flour with salt, pepper, your favorite herbs and seasonings. I used a good tablespoon of Penzey's Bouquet Garni and a generous tablespoon of Emeril's Essence. Mix those together well. 

Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add a tablespoon or two of oil. Dip the chicken into the flour, coating lightly and add the the hot skillet. Cook for 3-4 minutes per side, until cooked through and golden brown. Don't crowd the skillet or you will have soggy nasty chicken goo. After I had browned all the chicken, I added a tablespoon f butter to the skillet and a couple glugs of Riesling- I had an open bottle I needed to use up. A quick sprinkle of bouquet garni in the sauce and dinner was served, drizzle the sauce over the chicken if you like. The mustard added a nice flavor to the chicken and the flour brought that crispy texture. Quick, easy, and on the table in under 20 minutes.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 55: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Recycling Your Leftovers

Ugh, another weekend of wedding planning. I was hoping to keep things simple and elegant. The Chef's list keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger.  I'm thinking of great locations for a simple outdoor ceremony with only family while he is talking with friends about renting out entire restaurants and bands and cash vars and all of that business. Sheesh!! I think we have the first ever Groomzilla going on! If you have ever had to plan a wedding, you know what a nightmare it can be. For example, I have decided that instead of a multi-tiered cake that costs hundreds of dollars and will be hanging out in my kitchen for weeks after, we're going to order gourmet cupcakes. Yes, I know, I'm a baker, I can easily make my own but what bride wants to make her own cake? I've played that game once before, when my oldest daughter was planning her wedding and we decided to do the majority of the food ourselves. No big deal at all, just required some planning and delegating, but then we got the brilliant idea that Mom the Baker, the same person as Mother of the Bride would bake the cake too. Bad bad bad idea. We ended up ordering the cake.

After a day of planning and researching and pricing and calling around, The Chef and I were ready for dinner. I made one of my favorite Sunday dinners, heck any day dinner for that matter- roast chicken. Some lovely fingerling potatoes were also roasted in the chicken drippings and a fresh green salad went alongside and I was left with most of a chicken to pick and use for another dish, and as I sat there picking chicken off the bones, ignoring the pleading stares and chops-licking of two cats and a dog, I got to thinking about leftovers. Leftovers often get a bad rap. Many people don't want to eat a repeat of the same exact meal so all too often those dishes of perfectly good food are ignored, shoved in the back of the fridge, only to be reborn as a penicillin farm in a bowl. 

What are you supposed to do with your leftovers if you don't want to eat the same thing the next day? Recycle them of course! It just takes a little imagination and a well stocked pantry of basics to pull of some serious leftover revision. For me it starts with a good selection of grains and pastas. If I have a good solid grain or two I can stretch the last of a roast pork, chicken or beef into a great second day dinner or, even better, a lovely lunch for a couple days.

So my story leads us back to Trader Joe's. I swear, it's purely coincidence! I just find so many delicious things there and have to share my ideas with you so..... bear with me here. This recipes used the Harvest Grains Blend. This stuff caught my eye every single time I went in the store and I resisted buying it for the longest time. I seriously have enough grains in the pantry to survive a year. I just couldn't help myself on this last shopping trip. The mixture is gorgeous. Big pieces of Israeli couscous combined with veggie orzo in different colors, baby garbanzo beans and red quinoa combine to make a colorful, texture-filled dish. It's easy to prepare- just add to boiling water and simmer ten minutes. No draining. No fuss. You can use it in all kinds of dishes and it was so pretty I thought it would make a lovely salad. I just happened to have roasted a chicken for dinner and had the leftover chicken to pick and use so....... it was recycled into a tasty salad for lunch during the week. What else got recycled? The last cup or so of a bag of frozen mixed vegetables that was hanging out in the freezer and a half a red onion that was leftover from a salad. The simple dressing combined oil and vinegar with a spicy sweet honey mustard I was given by a friend and voila! Here is how I made it-

Leftover Chicken Couscous Salad

2 cups cubed cooked chicken

1 package Trader Joe's Harvest Grains Blend*

1 cup frozen mixed vegetables, thawed

1/4 cup chopped red onion

2/3 cup oil

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup prepared honey mustard

salt and pepper

*I used this specific brand. If you can't find it, you can sub orzo, farro, rice or your favorite grains. You want 4-6 cups cooked product.

In a large saucepan heat water and butter to boiling per the directions on the package. When water has reached a full boil, add the bag of Harvest Grains Blend and stir. Return to boil, then cover, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff. Allow to cool slightly.

In a jar or large mixing cup combine the oil, vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Shake or whisk to blend.

In a large bowl toss together the grain mix, the chicken, vegetables. Pour the dressing over and toss to coat. Cover and chill.

This salad makes a great lunch salad for taking to work or for picnics. I used the remaining chicken leftover from a roast chicken but you can purchase cooked chicken or cook up a couple chicken breasts or thighs to cube. Grilled chicken would bring a great flavor twist and so would barbequed chicken, with bits and spots of charred sweet barbeque sauce- oh yum! I think I better get another package of this grain mix and make it again !!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 55: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Purple? Yes, purple. Purple sweet potatoes.

Sometimes the internet can be a bad thing. A bad influence. An enabler. Like Instagram for example. Of course I follow a number of food bloggers, restaurants, stores, and food companies. You have to, if you want to stay on trend. Frieda's Specialty Produce is one of the companies that I follow and love seeing all the interesting and unique kinds of produce they offer. Many of these fruits and vegetables are tropical and cannot be grown here in Iowa, and many more are rare or a fun hybrid of traditional vegetables. I was minding my business one evening, posting silly memes about rock stars and food, tossing some recipe ideas around in my head when Frieda's posted something that immediately caught my eye. Sweet potatoes. Ok, sure, I like sweet potatoes. Love them baked like a baked potato and they are a must have with holiday turkey. These ones though......these ones were........PURPLE!

Yes, purple! Bright Minnesota Vikings purple, and unlike many other purple hybrid vegetables, these beauties do not lose their color when cooked. Think about this for a minute, we have such colorful vegetables already, with all shades of greens, yellow, orange, red, tomatoes in a rainbow of colors, now we're adding a deep gorgeous purple to the mix? Yes!!!!

We eat with our eyes, as they say, so I didn't want to hide these guys under an ocean of marshmallow. I wanted to showcase not only the color but the nutrition and healthy fiber sweet potatoes provide. I wanted these potatoes to be front and center in whatever I made. First things first though, I have to actually find them and get my hands on a bag. This is not always an easy task. Des Moines is a big city, and we have big big grocery stores with all kinds of amazing produce but sometimes I miss out on something really wonderful, like the pink sweet corn some friends were able to snag last summer. By the time I got to the store- all sold out. The amazing folks at Frieda's made sure I didn't miss out. They reached out to me via Instagram and helped me track down a couple different locations in Des Moines where I'd be able to find the Stokes Purple Sweet Potato, and after work, I headed over to Trader Joe's and incredibly enough, got the LAST bag in the display. I went home with my 3 pounds of playthings and began to narrow down my recipe options.

Like I said, I did not want to treat these guys like an everyday sweet potato. I can do that, well, every day really, so I wanted to use them in a creative way. I love roasting vegetables, it brings out such a different flavor and texture, especially with sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are loaded with good things too, B vitamins, and loads of beta carotene which is so so good for us! I decided to cut up one or two, give them a little roast in the oven, and toss them with other bright fresh vegetables in a salad, lightly dressed with a honey vinaigrette to bring out the sweetness. Here is my unique take on salad.

Roasted Sweet Potato and Kale Salad Bowl

1 or 2 purple sweet potatoes
2-3 cups baby kale
2-3 cups baby spinach

6 scallions
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted slightly
Honey Dijon Vinaigrette
olive oil
salt and pepper

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into 1 1/2 to 2 inch cubes. Toss in a bowl with a couple tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread out onto foil lined baking sheet that's been sprayed with cooking spray. Roast the sweet potatoes at 400 15-25 minutes until tender. Allow to cool slightly.

Toss the baby kale and spinach together in a large bowl. Add the scallions and almonds. Toss with some of the vinaigrette. Add potato cubes and toss again.

Easy Honey Vinaigrette

1/3 cup olive oil

2 tb Dijon mustard

2 tb balsamic vinegar

2 tb honey

salt and pepper

Shake together in a jar until thoroughly emulsified.

But the REAL fun came when dreaming up ways to use the sweet potatoes in a very delicious way. I knew I just had to figure out a way to use this tasty tuber in a sweet recipe, a dessert of some kind. There were so many good options too- pudding, mousse, ice cream and sweet potato pie. If you have never had sweet potato pie, you simply must try it. It's a lot like pumpkin pie but the potatoes are so rich and smooth and the spices make the pie so warm and inviting. All you need a simple crown of whipped cream and you have pie perfection. Now, let's make it purple!

Crazy Purple Sweet Potato Pie

1 1/2 lb purple sweet potatoes
1 stick butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup half and half
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
small pinch ground cloves
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
one pastry shell

Bake the potatoes in a 400 degree oven until tender, 45-60 minutes. Allow to cool until cool enough to handle. Slip off the skins.

While potatoes are cooking, line a pie plate with pastry. Trim and crimp a tall edge. Cover and set aside in a cool place. I popped mine in the fridge.

Place the sweet potatoes in a bowl. Use a fork to break up and mash the potatoes, and beat in the softened butter until completely mixed in. Mix in all remaining ingredients.

Pour into pastry lined pie plate. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. You may need to cover the edge of the pastry halfway through baking time to prevent burning. Use foil or a pie protector if you have one. Cool completely and serve with whipped cream.

I used a small pie plate for mine, because we are a small household, and I had a little filling leftover so I baked that in a custard cup alongside. Baking in cups is a great gluten free option, too, if you omit the crust and spray well with cooking spray. Just look at the color of that filling! It tastes like autumn but looks like a pop of summer color.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 55: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."