De Ma Cuisine

Search Results for: pizza

Friday

14

October 2011

4

COMMENTS

On Love, Marriage, and Special Dates

Written by , Posted in Thoughts

dsc_1337weddingcar

I didn’t know how much I loved to cook until I got married. I wasn’t forced to be the one to cook, I did it by choice and I grew to really love it. Now it’s one of my favorite things to do. I find it relaxing and at the same time invigorating. It’s a fun, rewarding challenge. One of the first things that I remember making for my new husband was Sheila’s Chicken Parmesan. It looks and sounds fancy, but can I tell you a secret? It’s actually pretty easy to make. I’ve made it many times since, and have it on the menu for this month.

Another thing that I have always loved is photography. Our wedding photos were taken by Shinn Photography, a husband and wife team based in the Central Valley of California. We became good friends with them after our wedding, and have been so blessed by their friendship. 

I don’t wish I could change anything about our wedding. I loved it, the whole thing. I loved my dress, I loved the pink roses everywhere, we had family and friends from all over in attendance, Darth Vader brought in my ring, the garden where we had our reception was beautiful… It was awesome! All in all, it was the perfect day for us… However, a friend of mine recently started a wedding business. She’s so talented that I wish she could have worked on ours, just because I love what she can do.

Our wedding cake was an amazing carrot cake. It was made by a friend of the family, and is the best carrot cake either of us have ever had. Pat Dahlgren, if you’re reading this, I’d love to have your recipe, if you’re willing to share! 🙂

My in-laws gave us a bottle of wine a few years ago. It’s a 2006 from Francis Coppola’s winery. We don’t know a lot about wine, as we usually stick to 2 Buck Chuck. But, since we love movies, we thought it was a great fit for us. They said we should save it for our 5th or 10th anniversary. 5th it is. Today’s the day. It will go with dinner. Here’s what I have planned (unless we go out to eat, then it’s for tomorrow):

Anniversary Menu

Mindy’s Gorgonzola and Honey Crostini

Top Sirloin Braised in Balsamic Vinegar and Red Wine, topped with Mushrooms in a Reduced Balsamic Vinegar Sauce

Green Salad with Gorgonzola, Tomato, and Cranberries with a Creamy Dressing

Roasted Honey-Glazed Carrots

Burned Butter Pasta

Baguette with Rosemary Infused Olive Oil

Cabernet Sauvignon

Bruléed Pears topped with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

I realize it’s a lot of food. I’m sure there will be leftovers. (There were.) I intend to make some sort of Beef Pot Pie with the Sirloin and Honey Carrots (while attempting Marie’s piecrust!), and my Philly Cheesesteak Pizza, or French Dip Sandwiches, or Beef Fajitas, and maybe a French Onion Pasta Soup with the Burned Butter Pasta. (I didn’t. It was so good I did something I don’t normally do: we had leftovers as they were the first time.)

Friday

14

October 2011

0

COMMENTS

Top Sirloin with Mushrooms

Written by , Posted in Beef, Dinner, Low Carb, Main Dishes, Meat, Vegetables

Top Sirloin with Mushrooms
Recipe Type: Main, Beef, Mushrooms
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 1 hour
Total time: 1 hour 30 mins
Serves: 4-6
To celebrate 5 years of marriage, beef is always a good idea!
Ingredients
  • 1 Top Sirloin (about 2 pounds)
  • 1 C red wine (I used a Charles Shaw Cabernet Sauvignon)
  • 1/2 C balsamic vinegar, divided
  • salt
  • pepper
  • olive oil
  • 1 C mushrooms, quartered (I used button mushrooms, but use whatever kind you have)
Instructions
  1. Sear all sides of beef in a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper in the cast iron pan you’re going to braise it in, then add red wine and balsamic vinegar.
  2. Braise/bake at 375F for 1 hour.
  3. Meanwhile, cook mushrooms in balsamic vinegar, until mushrooms are cooked and vinegar is thick and syrupy.
Notes

Save the leftovers for another meal: Philly Cheesesteak Pizza, Beef Stew, Beef Pot Pie…

Saturday

8

October 2011

0

COMMENTS

Baseball Time!

Written by , Posted in Inspired By, Menu Planning, Thoughts

October, as I’ve said, is just about my favorite of all the months. One of the reasons is it’s the baseball postseason. The ALCS starts today! We only get the free TV channels, so we watch whatever games are on FOX. But we’ll take what we can get. I don’t really have a plan for who to root for, since my team is out, and I’m not really following any of the teams in it closely. Mostly I just want to watch baseball.

One of the fun things about lots of baseball is I get to make lots of yummy baseball food. I suppose I’d be making a lot of it anyways, but it’s an excuse to plan extra special fun things. (If you don’t like baseball, feel free to insert another thing you like to watch, like “Football”, “Basketball”, “Ballroom Dancing” (two words), “The Office”, “Jaws”, “Princess Bride”… you get the idea.)

Traditional baseball foods include: hotdogs, nachos, ice cream, wings, beer, popcorn. To play on and play up some of those ideas, here is my post season menu (or insert chosen watched activity here) (there is the possibility of 14 games, at least that we get on our TV):

1. Smothered Chicken Sandwiches (toasted garlic bread, chicken, gravy, parmesan cheese). Or Honey Mustard Chicken Sandwiches.

2. Burgers and Homemade Fries.

3. Nachos, Guacamole, Bean Dip.

4. Philly Cheesesteak Pizza (or sandwiches, or both).

5. Italian Sub Sandwiches with Homemade Potato Chips (or Salt and Vinegar kettle cooked chips).

6. Spinach-Artichoke Dip, Crostini, Popcorn with Parmesan, Peanut Butter Popcorn.

7. Hot Dogs (one of the only things on my list that won’t be in any way homemade :)).

8. Fancy Grilled Cheese (maybe with some apple, or basil in it).

9. Mac and Cheese.

10. Texas Stuff.

11. BLTs or BLT Pizza.

12. Crock Pot Chicken Drumsticks and Twice Baked Potatoes.

13. Meatball Subs and Shoestring Fries.

14. Chili and Cornbread.

Other ideas: Wings, Garlic Bread, Stuffed Peppers (mini or regular), Quesadillas, Wraps, Taco Soup…

Friday

7

October 2011

0

COMMENTS

Spaghetteroni and Cheese

Written by , Posted in Beef, Cheese, Main Dishes, Meat, Pasta

We were out of town for a little while, and I haven’t been to the grocery store yet. Our freezer is sadly depleted, as is our fridge and pantry (um, cupboard in our tiny apartment kitchen). However, dinnertime still has us starving, so last night it was time to be creative. I had some ground beef in the freezer (you could also use ground chicken or turkey), a tiny can of tomato sauce, and some pasta. Spaghetti sounded good, and easy, and so did mac and cheese. So I did both, in one dish. It. Was. Amazing. (In my opinion.) And, since Husband posted about it on Facebook and said that I would be sharing, I figured I ought to do so.

(Sorry, no pictures of the dish. We were starving.)

Spaghetteroni and Cheese
 
Recipe Type: Main, Pasta
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 25 mins
Serves: 2-3
Spaghetti marries Mac and Cheese. True Love in a dish.
Ingredients
  • 1/2 lb. rotini pasta
  • 1/2 lb. (more or less) ground meat (I used beef)
  • 1 – 8 oz. can tomato sauce
  • 1 t dried oregano
  • 1 T dried basil (or use fresh, and do more like 1/4 C)
  • 1 t dried parsley
  • 3 T olive oil
  • 2 T flour
  • 1 t spicy brown mustard
  • 1 C pasta water
  • 1/2 C milk (I used 2%)
  • 1 red onion, chopped
  • 4 medium cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 C parmesan cheese
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 1 t smoked paprika
Instructions
  1. Cook pasta. Meanwhile, cook meat. Drain. Set aside.
  2. Add to pan: 1 T olive oil and onion, cook 3 minutes or until onion is translucent. Add garlic, cook 2 minutes (low heat). Add tomato sauce, oregano, parsley, basil, salt and pepper.
  3. Drain pasta, reserving 1 C water (helps the sauce stick to the pasta).
  4. Heat oil in a pan. Add flour and whisk together, cook for 30-60 seconds. Slowly whisk in milk and water. Once it thickens, add mustard and paprika. Turn off heat and add cheese, whisking in.
  5. Mix beef sauce with pasta.
  6. Serve pasta topped with cheese sauce and more grated parmesan (and fresh basil if you’d like).
  7. Great with garlic bread (or in a pinch/empty fridge day like yesterday: I thawed some pizza dough and baked it, then rubbed fresh garlic on it, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with parmesan cheese, broiled 3-5 min).
 
Notes

Our rating: *** (Husband) **** (Me)
Difficulty: 2/5 (only because you have to make a bechamel/cheese sauce, which can be difficult at first)

 

Wednesday

14

September 2011

2

COMMENTS

Hello Meatloaf?!

Written by , Posted in Beef, Dinner, Leftovers, Main Dishes, Meat, Sandwiches, Sauces, Vegetables

img_5181meatloaf

Do you turn your nose at meatloaf? This dish has a stigma attached to it that it’s, I dunno, too simple?? My husband has been asking for meatloaf for years. Not like every day, but every once in a while will mention that he likes it and wouldn’t mind eating it. But I thought I didn’t like it, and didn’t want to make it.

My mom is a good cook. I remember her making meatloaf and I think I might have liked it. So it’s not like I had a terrible meatloaf eating experience as a child. I just had an opinion based on nothing.

Until I made it. It’s basically a burger sans bun, with amazing sides like mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, and green beans. And you get to make leftover meatloaf sandwiches with it the next day. Winning.

Since our oven is on week two of being broken, I’ve been creative with the toaster oven. I’ve made pizza in there, roasted broccoli, and last night it was meatloaf.

img_5180brandoandthemeatloaf

The dog is licking his lips in the pic. He thinks the plates are for him. He always thinks this. 

Want the recipes? OK, sure, I’ll share.

Meatloaf
 
Recipe Type: Dinner
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 1 hour
Total time: 1 hour 10 mins
Serves: 4
Because we have two bottles of ketchup in the fridge I was inspired to make meatloaf.
Ingredients
  • 1 small zucchini, grated
  • 1/4 C onion, grated
  • 1 clove garlic, grated
  • 1/4 C ketchup
  • splash A1 sauce
  • 1 T balsamic vinegar
  • 2 slices bread, torn in small chunks
  • 2 T spicy brown mustard
  • 1 t chili powder
  • salt and pepper (to taste)
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 to 1 lb. ground beef
  • I’ve made this before, slightly differently, by adding homemade BBQ sauce instead of ketchup and 1 grated carrot in addition, not instead of anything)
Instructions
  1. Put it all in a bowl and mix it with your hands.
  2. Grease a 9×9 glass dish (what I used, because it would fit in the toaster, if you want to use a loaf pan, do it, and adjust the baking time accordingly – might take an extra 20 minutes or so). Put the meatloaf in the pan.
  3. Bake at 350F for about an hour or until internal temperature reaches 160F. (I baked it in the toaster oven, so cooking time could vary with a conventional oven.)
 
Notes

Our rating ****

 

Mushroom Gravy
 
Recipe Type: Sauce, Gravy
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time: 2 mins
Cook time: 5 mins
Total time: 7 mins
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 2 C mushrooms, quartered
  • 2 C beef stock or pan drippings (you could also use vegetable or chicken, but for a beef dinner, beef is best)
  • 2 T balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 C water (or more, if you want, or just use all stock)
  • 4 T olive oil, divided
  • 2 T flour
  • salt (opt.)
Instructions
  1. Heat 2 T oil in a skillet. Add mushrooms. Cook 3-4 minutes.
  2. Move mushrooms over to the side of the pan. Add remaining oil. Heat. Add flour and whisk in. Cook about 30-60 seconds. Add beef stock, water and balsamic vinegar. Whisk.
  3. As it continues to thicken, whisk. Add more water if it’s too thick. It’s good if the mushrooms are incorporated at this point.
  4. Add salt to taste, if necessary.
  5. Serve over mashed potatoes, meatloaf, or any other dish that deserves a little something extra.
 
Notes

Our rating ****

 

Newer Entries →
← Older Entries

Looking for Something?

Support My Cookbook!

I’m raising money to publish my first cookbook! You can donate through GoFundMe or send money via PayPal.

Favorites

Burlap & Barrel Single Origin Spices

Otamot (10% discount code: RACHO10)

These are affiliate links. I get a small commission for any sales generated from these referrals.

Instagram

Recent Posts