Rave Review: Trader Joe's Thai Green Curry Simmer Sauce

Rave Review: Yum x 2

This weekend my girlfriends and I ran away to a cabin for a ski get away. Well I guess it's technically not a ski get away if you don't go skiing. Details. My friend Amber who is an amazing chef cooked us some great meals. On our second night she used Trader Joe's Thai Green Curry simmer sauce to make a great vegetarian curry. I couldn't stop thinking about how easy it whipped up, and how great the sauce tasted! So I ran out to the store and grabbed some for a wednesday night dinner.   I feel that i'm usually let down by pre made sauces, but this one was different! It's creamy and flavorfully with quite a kick! (It's downright spicy so if you like mild this isn't for you) 

source: www.smitaphotoblog.com

I used a container of Asian Stir Fry Vegetable mix (also from Trader Joe's). It had red and green peppers, baby corn, water chestnuts, mushrooms, red and white onions, snow peas, and carrotts. I also chopped up some zucchini and threw that in there. I sauteed all the veggies with a little olive oil in a large frying pan for about 7 minutes before adding in the simmer sauce and cooking for an additional 10 minutes. I served this over quinoa because that's what I had, but I preferred it over brown rice.  I'm really excited to have a new quick, healthy weeknight meal to add to my regular go to's!

Side note: On our trip Amber surprised us with the most amazing wine sippy cups!! Such and awesome gift. I totally know what I'm bringing to the office gift swap next Christmas!! They come in all sorts of colors and you can buy them at http://store.theproductfarm.com. You can complain about being snowed in if you have wine in Sippy Cups!

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Shallots

Recipe Review- You'll forget these are vegetables they taste so good! Even people who don't normally like Brussels sprouts will gobble these up.

We never had Brussels sprouts growing up. I'm not really sure why. Maybe because of the connotations that Brussels sprouts are not kid friendly. I've heard them described as bitter before. I'm not sure what kind of preparation said sprouts are undergoing because since trying them in my adult life I've never met a Brussels sprouts recipe that I didn't like. Steamed, stir fried, broiled or baked I find them delish- but this quick prep is a crowd pleaser. Its only has a few ingredients and steps. Sometimes simple is the best. Plus- who doesn't like bacon! I'm pretty sure that shallots and bacon can make almost anything taste better.

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Shallots
adapted from recipe by Rachel Ray

4 slices of bacon
1 large shallot
1.5 lbs Brussels Sprouts
Salt & Pepper
1 cup chicken broth

Place bacon on a cold pan and heat until crispy- flipping periodically. Remove from pan but do not drain grease. Coarsely chop bacon and reserve. Add Shallots to the pan and cook until light brown. Prepare Brussels sprouts by removing bottom and slicing in half. Add Brussels sprouts and season with salt & pepper. Cook for 3-4 minutes and then add in broth. Bring to a simmer, then cover and reduce heat to medium low. Cook for 10 minutes or until softened. Drain and transfer sprouts to a serving dish. Mix and bacon and additional salt and pepper if needed. Serve immediately.

printable recipe 

Thin Mint Truffles

Recipe: Decadent Dark Chocolate and Mint truffles that are a cinch to make!

Welcome to part one of my Thin Mint themed baking experiments. I'm not really sure how many follow ups there will be, but I'm already thinking of some thin mint cupcakes and brownies. Lets start off easy though with some no bake Thin Mint truffles.

These yummy treats are very similar to cake balls, but instead are made with cookies, so they are actually even simpler, and don't require your oven. I think that thin mints are perfect for this- but you can use Oreo's too. If it's not Girl Scout Cookie season, you can find Keebler grasshopper cookies year round .  

(Ummm hey Girl Scouts this box of cookies is a whole lot smaller than when I used to sell them, yet the price is the same. not so cool.)

Thin Mint Truffles
makes about 3 dozen

2 packages of thin mints
8oz cream cheese, softened
1 bag of dark chocolate melts

Dump cookies into food processor and pulse into fine crumbs. In a large bowl combine crumbs and softened cream cheese and mix until thoroughly combined. Roll into small balls and refrigerate for 15- 20 minutes.

According to package directions melt chocolate. Dip cookie balls into chocolate, transfer to a baking sheet lined with wax paper, and allow to set. If desired sprinkle any decorations on before chocolate hardens. Store in fridge for up to a week and enjoy!

printable recipe

These are seriously easy to make if you just master the dip technique. (Which admittedly took me quite a while.) I use a toothpick to dip, and then blob a little more chocolate on top to cover the hole. Sprinkles and other decorations make things cute and cover mistakes and imperfections. Another tip is you should try not to burn your first batch of chocolate. I microwaved on high rather than 50%. Super Fail.

Sidebar: It has always bothered me that truffles means both chocolate and delicious fungus. Truffle french fries and cheese are ah-ma-zing, but would be considerably less so had they been drizzled in chocolate. Turns out the chocolates are named after the fungus (can we classify it as something else? the word fungus grosses me out) because they look similar. Truffles from the ground look sorta like little chocolate lumps. 

Starting to Scallop

*** I need to vent how incredibly frustrated I am with blogger. I posted this last Tuesday, and then Blogger went down. Since then they have been undergoing maintenance, and announced that they had rolled back to an older version of blogger- aka before Tuesday, aka before I made my post. They assured people that their posts would be restored. Well I've waited a week and this post didn't come back so I had to recreate it. Blogger is posting happy little updates about how all blog posts have been restored when that isn't the case. Very very frustrating. ***

Recipe Review- Bay Scallops in a white wine and garlic sauce, simple yet elegant, a perfect summer meal

"Are you sure you want to blog this one? You do an awful lot of scallop recipes..." -Kevin
"Yes! I love scallops- the more scallops the better!" -Me
"You might have to rename the blog Starting to Scallop if you keep this up" -Kevin

So- here's yet another scallop recipe- I hope that you're not getting tired of reading about scallops because I'm not tired of eating them.

Warm Tomato Bruschetta

Recipe Review- Classic Bruschetta- capers are the secret ingredient!

One of my hobbies outside of the kitchen is running. (Gotta work off all that food somehow!) One of the best parts of going on a long run is knowing that you can eat something amazing afterwards, and also getting to carb load before a big race. Kevin and I were getting ready for the La Jolla Half marathon, so we invited a few running friends over and made a big pot of pasta, chicken Parmesan, garlic bread, and some bruschetta as an appetizer. Bruchetta is one of my favorite things to make when people are coming over for dinner. The prep is rather simple, everyone seems to like it, and I'll take any excuse to eat some capers.

Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Potato Cakes

This is a very exciting blog post for me. To start off its my 50th blog post! Since I started blogging in the fall I have really come to love it and look forward to every post that I write. Blogging has lead me to try making new things that I never would have tried, and I now have new hobbies to pursue, (cake/cupcakes decorating, and food photography) that are fueled by the blog!

Second- Kevin and I invented the most delicious food! Usually I cook from a recipe, and I was making a sweet potato and spinach hash that I had seen in Real Simple magazine, Kevin was watching the process (which involves grating the sweet potatoes) and suggested that we make them into cakes and fry them like latkes. Since this was a huge departure from the recipe I let Kevin take the lead, and we mixed in an egg and some bread crumbs to the spinach mix, fried them up, and oh. my. goodness. They were amazing! We were both incredibly surprised by how great these tasted. No they aren't the prettiest, and we probably should have baked them instead of fried but wow. Just wow.

Grilled Scallops & Fennel Risotto

Recipe Review- My very favorite scallop recipe that my family has been making for years, accompanied with creamy fennel risotto and a simple spinach salad

I love all foods- but if I had to pick a favorite it would be scallops. Kevin agrees with this sentiment- If there are scallops available on a menu at least one, if not both of us are sure to order them. My favorite way to make scallops is on the grill. The recipe that I use has been a favorite in my family for as long as I can remember (it was originally published in 1987). It's quick and easy to make and turns out amazingly every time. Kevin and I had both had a pretty crummy week, so I decided to make some scallops to cheer him up (I had originally intended to treat him to dinner- but he ended up helping make most of it).

Chicken Yakitori & Asian Vegetables

Recipe Review: Easy to Make Asian Marinade to use for grilled chicken (and veggies!)

I cook all the time. Everything from fancy recipes to easy dinners, and I'd like to think that I'm a pretty good cook. In general most of what I make gets good feedback from the people who have tried it, but the most enthusiastic review that I've ever gotten back from Kevin is for Chicken Yakitori that I made for the first time this fall. The recipe was originally from the New York Times and passed on to me by my dad. We made it again this week and it was just as good as we remembered.

Weeknight Steak

Don't get me wrong, I love a good cooking adventure, but sometimes you just wanna eat dinner- right now! Just because its a weeknight doesn't mean you should have to eat something boring though. After a run Kevin and I threw together a quick dinner that took less then 30 minutes and after we ate I sat there thinking- "Hey even though this isn't fancy its really good! There's no reason I shouldn't write a blog about it"

Pan Seared Pacific Snapper & Mashed "Fauxtatoes"

Pacific Snapper Review: Tasty fish with minimal prep and cooking time.
Mashed "Fauxtatoes" Review: Tasted so real I'm never eating actual mashed potatoes again.

I'm going to jump right in with the Fauxtatoes, because I'm absolutely elated with how good they came out. I was dubious at first, thinking nothing could taste as good as real mashed potatoes, but this was amazing! My senses were completely tricked into thinking I was eating delicious carby mashed potatoes, when I was actually eating mashed cauliflower.

Three Bean Pasta Fagioli Soup

Recipe Review: Hearty Italian Soup that's filling but not heavy

I'm feeling crappy and sick. So that means that I make soup. I usually don't have much of an appetite when I'm not feeling well, and like to stick to soups and hot tea. I had planned on making this before I started feeling bad, so only needed to grab a few things. I took a slew of cold medicine, washed it down with some green tea, waited 20 minutes for it all to kick in and got to chopping (side note: Kevin got me an amazing set of knives for Christmas I got to use it for the first time to chop up the veggies in this soup).  I adapted the soup from this crock pot recipe, but changed up the beans and the ingredient ratio a bit.

Frittata!!

I've never been good at eggs. My omelettes don't turn out light and fluffy, they are overcooked on the bottom, and undercooked on the top. I can't flip them. So whats the solution? Frittata! I had a ton of eggs that needed to be used up, and other odds and ends in the fridge that were on their last legs so I made an impromptu breakfast, that was supposed to be an omelette but ended a Frittata. 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Recipe Review: Hearty Mexican soup that is a full meal in a bowl- Thumbs up all around, spices can be adjusted to make the soup mild or hot

I needed something to make that was a departure from heavy traditional Thanksgiving food. Also I needed something quick to throw together on a work night. This soup is incredibly easy to make (the only cooking skills needed are the ability to chop up an onion, and open cans) and it tastes really good without having any "heavy" ingredients.