Magical Balls of Deliciousness

We have been scheduling a dinner night with our friends Nick and Jaime for a couple weeks and it finally happened! I had been looking forward to this evening for about a month in hopes of learning how to create the perfect Oreo truffle from Jaime (Nick promised me she was the Master).

I have been trying to perfect this art for the past two holiday seasons. I was introduced to this dessert at the Randalls Christmas party in 2008. Liz Petroff, a fellow Xavier alum, brought these to the holiday potluck celebration and the entire drive home AJ ranted and raved about them. I took it as a challenge and for those of you that know me -- you know I do not like to lose.

However, I suck at these things! I can shape the truffle nicely, I can melt the chocolate down to an easy to use consistency, but when I get to the part of actually dipping the truffle into the chocolate....all hell breaks loose. Insert Jaime here.....she has a secret weapon.....chop sticks. Using the chopsticks allows you to dunk the truffle into the chocolate, rotate it around in the double boiler to coat it entirely and then remove it without causing any trauma to the truffles shape. She is a genius.

She is also creative when it comes to the ingredients and flavors of the truffles. She has found the double stuffed Oreos to work the best because of the ratio of cream to cookie. A package of Oreos and a brick of cream cheese makes up the truffle batter. Throw it all in a food processor and presto!

However, thanks to brilliant minds at Nabisco the offer many more Oreo flavors that what we all grew up with. There is original, Mint, Golden and Peanut Butter creme. Then, of course, you have hundreds of options for the shell....you can melt regular chocolate, white chocolate, cookies and cream chocolate, mint chocolate....really the possibilities are endless. I am sure there is a truffle out there for everyone!

I just cam across this recipe and will have to give it a try sooner rather than later. I love me some coconut!
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/toasted-coconut-golden-oreo-cookie-121579.aspx

Back to dinner with our friends, it was a great evening of conversation, wine and food. We made smoked pork chops marinated in a sweet and sour glaze, a warm fennel and snap pea salad and the cheesy popovers made an encore performance for the second time in a week. They are just so fluffy!

It was a great evening and I truly appreciate the lesson in Oreo truffle making. Thanks Nick and Jaime!

Shepard's Pie and Tori's Goodbye

We all thought Tori's semester abroad might of cured her obsession with anything English/British, but she come home with an even stronger passion for the land across the pond. So it was no surprise she requested AJ make Shepard's Pie for her last meal at home.

To clarify, AJ's version is really considered Cottage Pit because he used ground beef instead of ground lamb meet, but we all call it Shepard's anyway. This is definitely comfort food and a little scoop really goes a long way.

Aside from AJ's natural culinary talent, what I find to be most impressive is how in a very short amount of time he can destroy the cleanliness of a kitchen. Specifically, the stove top. This is what remained from his few minutes of browning the ground beef before transferring into the glass dish.

Impressive, right?

The glass dish he used to bake the meal in is another wonderfully useful wedding gift from Bobby Crowder. We registered for these at Crate and Barrel and there are three different sizes and shapes in the set. I highly recommend these because they are oven safe, dish washer safe, microwave safe and can also be used as storage in the fridge. They are great and I especially love them because if you put any kind of colored liquid(spaghetti or chili) they will not stain like Rubbermaid or plastic containers will. If you are interested follow the link to learn more http://www.crateandbarrel.com/kitchen-and-food/food-containers-storage/large-glass-refrigerator-dish/s165525

What I like most about Shepard Pie is the amount of leftovers.....perfect for the next day's lunch!

Radical Risotto

I am sure you will be surprised to know, we avidly watch Hell's Kitchen. You are surprised, right? Sure you were.

While I do enjoy watching shows related to cooking and cooking competitions there is just something about Gordon Ramsey's shows that just trumps them all. The man clearly has not only anger issues, but a multiple personalities and I love it. They must be tranquilizing him for the Master Chef series or something because there is no way that is the same man I have grown to love in Hells.

I love it when he smashes the food, I love it when he throws them out of the kitchen, I love it when he tells them to "F off" and I especially love when he calls them Donkeys. L-O-V-E IT! In fact, I may start calling AJ "donkey!" Just kidding.

If you watch any of his shows, you know a classic risotto dish is always on the menu. This is a dish AJ has talked about conquering for a few months now and he finally built up enough courage to give it a whirl.

Last weekend when my parents came over for dinner I prepared a delicious Caesar salad (plating resembled a fine dinging restaurant) and cheesy pop-overs. While AJ prepared a lobster and mushroom risotto and a lemon and herb crusted pork tenderloin.

He found a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and went with it. I think the most important part of the recipe is to get the Arborio rice which we found at Fry's.

Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the lobster tails and boil for 8 to 10 minutes until the shells curl and the lobster meat turns white.

Drain, transfer to a cutting board, and cool for 15 minutes. Using kitchen shears or a sharp knife, cut through the top shell lengthwise. Remove the meat and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a boil. Keep hot over low heat.
In a large saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Cook until the butter begins to foam and then turns brown, about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Add the onion and cook, about 3 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat with the butter. Add the brandy and simmer until the liquid has almost evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of stock and stir until almost completely absorbed, about 2 minutes. Continue adding the stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition of stock to absorb before adding the next. Cook until the rice is tender but still firm to the bite, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, the remaining butter and 2 tablespoons chives. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Transfer the risotto to a large serving bowl. Arrange the lobster meat on top of the risotto and garnish with the remaining chives.

Thankfully, due to our recent nuptials, we had the perfect serving bowl for the risotto! The risotto and tenderloin were both delicious -- not quite as fantastic as my cheesy pop-overs, but a fairly close second.

We served a sweet potato peanut butter blondie and a dollop of homemade whipping cream for dessert and sent my parents on their way home.

I think had AJ been in Hell's Kitchen there is no way Gordon would have called him a Donkey for his risotto performance. It was excellent and I look forward to the next time it appears on the evening's menu.

And, of course, as I loaded the dishes into the dish washer, my loveable assistant was there to help!

Best Blondies....

Once again, I was spoiled for my birthday. AJ treated me to Barefoot Contessa's new cookbook, Julie & Tori found a stellar pair of patton-leather wedges to replace the sad and dilapidated pair I am currently still wearing and my mom and dad went way over-board like they usually do. Typically, I pretty much know what I can expect to open from each and everyone of them. This year, I was actually thrown a curve ball from an unlikely culprit.

Tim, being the kind and generous soul he is, decided to switch up my birthday gift this year. Thankfully, I was not the recipient of another bottle of Hypnotic. Who seriously drinks that crap? In case you might, I have two bottles I would be more than willing to hand over. In its place, he arrived at our home with a case of Fat Tire and Whitney Miller's cookbook. Whitney, for those of you living under a rock, was the first season winner of MasterChef. It was on this day our AACC initiative began.....

Whitney is a Southern Belle and most of her recipes are inspired by her grandmother's recipes and her southern roots. Scanning the book, my eyes were immediately drawn to the Sweet Potato Peanut Butter Blondies. I love sweet potatoes and I LOVE peanut butter. I will admit, I have been known to be found with a spoon full of peanut butter in my mouth more often than I would like to....well admit.

Nonetheless, I had to make these delicious little golden brown squares of heaven. So after a long day of work and a session at the gym, I poured myself a glass of vino and got busy last Friday night.

The recipe is very simple and difficult to mess up, but I did. Not terribly mind you, but mine came out a little denser than the picture in the book. Instead of stirring in the lightly beaten eggs into the mixture of melted butter and brown sugar, I poured the unmixed egg into the mixture of melted butter and brown sugar and then beat it all together. It did not necessarily change the taste of the blondie ~ actually it did not at all. The only thing it altered was the density of the blondie. Instead of being light and fluffy ("It's so fluffy I could die!") it was light and dense (seems contradictory, but it's not, I swear). It turned out more like a brownie than a blondie. However, the taste was to die for....absolutely delicious.....mouth-watering delicious. With a glass of milk or little homemade whipping cream on top they are pure perfection.

While my first run of the blondies can be improved next time, they are the perfect combination of sweet potato and peanut butter. For someone who does not love overly sweet desserts this is a perfect alternative for you!

Thankfully, this time I escaped by baking/wine drinking without a burn, which I consider to be a success in itself! If you are interested in this recipe, please let me know. I am happy to share! Quick prep time and super fast baking time. Although, the recipe says bake for 18 minutes, I would recommend 20-22. With that being said, cooking time might have more to do with our cheapo oven than anything so go for the 18 and use the old toothpick trick to check and see if a few more minutes might do you good!

While I do love to bake the amount of bowls, whisks, spoons and measuring equipment you have to use does drive me a little batty. This is what my kitchen sink looked like after preparing the batter.

Thankfully, I used the cooking time to tidy up a bit only to have my husband destroy the place the next morning when making breakfast. I enjoy that he loves to cook, but hate the mess he leaves behind ( more to come on that topic soon).

For more from Whitney click this link http://whitneymillermc.blogspot.com/

Favorite Things.....Lately

I love cheese. I do. I could sit down and eat a whole wheel of cheese and not even be mad (anybody?).

Recently, I discovered how superior Brie is to all the other cheeses on the market. It is simply divine and Costco sells a gigantic wheel of it for $4.99. I paid the same price the other day for a fraction of the size at Trader Joe's and the crazy thing is ~ it tasted like broccoli! Very strange and not nearly as enjoyable.

My mom (who has also become quite the talent in the kitchen) taught me a trick to make the already-delicious-Brie even better. Yep, I said it! Even better!

Turn the oven on to 350 degrees. Place the Brie on a cookie sheet or pizza stone (I put a piece of parchment paper down because our pizza stone is very seasoned) and drizzle honey over the top of the cheese. Place into the oven. I do not have an exact amount of time to tell you to leave it in there because I always just keep an eye on mine. Once the cheese is sort of oozing on the sides, I take it out.

While in the oven, I cut up slices of apples and a french baguette. These will be your items you spread the gooey mouth-watering cheese over. It is a wonderful afternoon snack or even an appetizer. I have come to love this simple snack so much, I literally, dream about it.

I love simple white plates. They are so understated that they make a statement and it gives you a blank canvas to plate as creatively as you would like without it looking too busy!

Another simple, yet scrumptious dish my mom has introduced us to is a light and summery salad. The dressing is very quick to make, but I recommend doubling the batch so you have some left over. I believe this is a Tyler Florence recipe.

2 teaspoons Red wine Vinegar
1 small diced Shallot
1 teaspoon Honey
1 teaspoon Sugar
1/4 cup good EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1 teaspoon good Dijon Mustard
Salt and Pepper

There are 3 ingredients in the salad ~ Mache or lamb's lettuce (you can find this at Trader Joe's), avocado and a can of baby tangerines (you can also find these at Trader Joe's).

This is a fantastic and easy salad to make. Definitely a crowd pleaser.

Sunday's Gourmet Lunch

The week and weekend of AJ's 28th birthday was filled with a lot of food and friends -maybe too much (of food that is).

However, when Tim called Sunday morning and suggested we make homemade beer-batter onion rings and bacon and blue cheese burgers, we definitely did not say no. A quick trip to the grocery store and we were on our way to another culinary adventure.

I am not much of a fan of deep fried items and the actual process of deep frying, quite frankly, scares the beejesus of out me. Hot oil splattering around just does not sound fun to me and let's not even mention the shear panic the thought of cleaning it all up puts me in! I managed to burn myself pretty badly pulling my banana bread of out of the oven the previous week so I was not looking to repeat the pain (note to self - drinking wine while baking - might not be the best idea).

Tim arrived and immediately went to work. Thanks to the soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Spencer Logan, I have a shiny and brand new deep griddle in my pantry and Tim decided it would be the perfect deep fryer for our onion rings. He quickly started sliced the onions into perfect rings, coated them in flour and set aside while he whipped together the beer batter. He used Kilt Lifter from Four Peaks for the beer, which happens to be AJ's favorite.

Being that I am the daughter of a butcher (well he was in high school) and I like having my burger patties perfectly symmetrical, I seasoned the ground chuck and shaped the patties. AJ, in case you were wondering, was slightly hungover and sat at the bar watching Tim and I work our magic in the kitchen most of the time. Eventually, Tim did put him to work on the grill because, let's face it, the burgers were not going to cook themselves.

Tim was busy on the stove top cooking the bacon and preparing the blue cheese dressing for the burgers. He melted butter in the pan, added and sauteed shallots. Once the shallots were transparent he added crumbled blue cheese, Worchester and seasoned with salt and pepper and let reduce for about 15 minutes.

After letting the beer batter set up and the oil started crackling in the pan, we dipped the rings in the batter and placed them into the griddle. Tim started the process and we I realized it appeared to be safe, I jumped in and had quite the time with the onion rings. I would probably suggest wearing an apron to avoid ruining any clothing you have on (like my UofA shirt). Cooking time for the onion rings depends on how crunchy you like them. For me, 3-4 minutes on each side seemed to create a perfect golden brown color and crunch.

AJ cooked the burgers to perfection and we even broiled the buns with a little bit of butter on them to really add some extra flavor and texture. The finished product was delicious and the plating looked as though we had ordered from a restaurant! It was a fantastic was to end the week of indulging for AJ's birthday. We each sat down with a beer (yes, AJ got back on the horse) and our burgers and enjoyed watch the last round of the PGA Championship.

Thank you to Tim for the awesome suggestion. Planning is already underway for this Sunday!

Banana Bread Bake Off - Round One

First, you will have to forgive me. I failed to document our first challenge in an appropriate fashion. Never in my wildest dreams did I anticipate turning this new little hobby into a mind-blowing blog, but such is life and you will have to live with the few photos I did take.

The rules were simple -- one loaf of banana bread using the bananas given to us by Tim which would head to banana heaven if not taken home from the CircleK. AJ and I absolutely used the bananas given to us because we did not have any other bananas at our disposal nor do we work for CircleK. I believe Jenna Meyers also used the bananas originally given to her, but I have to question Tim. I am by no mean suggestion he cheated, I am simply posing the question.

All loafs arrived covered in foil and Geoff (Jenna's fiance) was in charge of preparing the taste testing table.

Now, please, keep in mind, this was our first crack at this little cooking club contest. We very quickly learned we need to recruit more judges then 1 non-baking judge and 4-baking judges. In order to have a really non-biased taste test there obviously needs to be more tasters than bakers! I suggested we at least utilize blind folds, but was quickly shot down!

Jenna's visually was very easy to identify because of the dark color and mold she used. She opted for a very non-traditional banana bread using chocolate, pomegranates and orange juice. It had nice flavor, but we all decided was a bit dry.

Mine was also somewhat easy to identify because it did not have nuts. Both Tim and AJ chose to incorporate pecans into their loaves. Interestingly enough, all three of us used very different moist ingredients to mix our dry ingredients. Tim used buttermilk, AJ used sour cream and I used a non-fat plain yogurt. All three were light and airy.

We went around the table and voted. I, of course, voted for mine because I do not like nuts in my bread, but all in all, the vote came down to AJ's and Tim's breads. Being the wonderful doting wife that I am -- voted for Tim's and thus catapulted him to his first victory (sorry honey)! Don't worry Tim -- I ordered your trophy this afternoon and it should arrive in a few days. Although, there is truly nothing "amateur" about Tim's cooking abilities, he did have a fabulous banana bread.

Our first journey was a great lesson in how to better prepare for our club's cook-offs. In fact, right now are are accepting applications for judges to participate in our next challenge.....homemade fruit pie! Let me know if you are interested and I will update the blog once the date is confirmed.

While this blog will focus on the AACC challenges, I will also do my best to give you a sneak peak into the Blusiewicz's kitchen and all our culinary adventures along the way. Stay tuned in.....much more to come!

Welcome! (I hope)

I will confess, I am a little behind the technology times. For me, there is nothing like grabbing a piece of paper and pen to write. Up until just a few years ago, I was still shooting with a 35mm camera. However, I am slowly, but surely, embracing the age of immediate information and having the ability to share your life with the entire world by hitting Enter. So with all that being said, I have decided to merge a few of my favorite things cooking, writing and taking pictures of the food I eat.

It will also allow me to finally use those photos I take of people posing with their food!

What started with a bet among friends has quickly turned into a new obsession. The Arizona Amateur Cooking Club has been created by a small group of friends who enjoy the finer things in life -- Master Chef, Hell's Kitchen, the Food Network and actually putting their skills to work in the kitchen. However, this is not necessarily a friendly club -- no, there is definitely competition and even a trophy for the challenge winner.

Let me start by introducing the Club....

Jenna Blusiewicz, yes, that's me. I am a recently newlywed, work for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, have type 1 diabetes, love wine (almost as much as my husband), graduated from the University of Arizona and would consider myself an ever-evolving foodie. In the kitchen, baking is probably my strength.

AJ Blusiewicz, yes, that is my husband. AJ loves food. He has zero discrimination for anything that can be consumed. He was a collegiate swimmer and will bleed Maroon and Gold (Sun Devil) for the rest of his life. AJ has very quickly found a home in the kitchen -- he truly enjoys cooking and loves entertaining family and friends. He excels in Italian cuisine thanks to Grandma Little.

Tim Meyers, is one of my oldest and closest friends. We met while attending the University of Arizona and have remained friends 13 year later (scary). Tim has had the opportunity to work in a professional kitchen when living with his mom in Maine temporarily. Initially, he managed the prep of the kitchen, but eventually became the master of desserts. Without a doubt, Tim, has huge natural talent in the kitchen. We all think he should try out for Master Chef, but that suggestion never seems to go anywhere. Tim is known for many things -- rack of lamb is one of many.

Jenna Meyers, yes, Tim's sister, is also in on the fun. Jenna attended Seton Hall on a volleyball scholarship and landed in Arizona a few years ago. She is in the process of planning her wedding which will happen in April 2012 in Kauai. Her soon to be hubby is one of our core judges. Jenna is also very skilled in the kitchen and rarely follows recipes. She is definitely the most creative one in the bunch.

So......It all started with a bushel of leftover CircleK bananas. Who among the four would win the title for "Best Banana Bread?"