Holy Guacamole!

I have a confession to make... I am crazy in love with avocado. Give it to me on a salad, in a sandwich, with eggs for breakfast. Let's be honest, I'll eat it by itself with a little sprinkle of salt. (Thank goodness it's loaded with tons of "good fat!" Right?! Right? Shut up.) Anyways, with avocado being the main ingredient, I can't help but harbor the same affection for guacamole. It's only natural.

Ingredients:

- 3 or 4 ripe hass avocados

- 1 Roma tomato, cut into large chunks

- 1 lime, juiced

- 1 jalapeno or serrano pepper, diced small

- 1 small handful of cilantro, roughly chopped

- S&P

Directions:

Thoroughly wash your hands. (You'll know why in a second.) Then, add all of the ingredients to a large mixing bowl.

Once all of the ingredients are present and accounted for, it's time to get your hands dirty. Mix and mash all of the ingredients together until the guac is at your preferred state of chunkiness. 

If you don't want to get your hands dirty, just take a couple of utensils and repeatedly cut & fold the mixture until it's just like you like it! 

And there you have it-- a gloriously chunky (yet oh, so smooth) guacamole. 

Queso Blanco

For my (extremely picky) friend's birthday party, I was desperate to establish a theme for the food that I was going to serve while achieving the impossible-- make something she will like. Well, thank God for the queso blanco. She said it for herself-- it was amazing! I wasn't sure how easy preparing queso was going to be. (I thought it might burn really easily/stick to the pan, blah blah blah.) But, this recipe was surprisingly simple. And, most importantly, it was a hit! (Especially with the birthday girl. Seriously, so proud.) 

Ingredients:

- 12 oz white american cheese, cubed

- 4 oz monterey jack cheese, cubed

- 1/2 to 1 cup cream, half & half, or whole milk

- 1 large jalapeno, diced small

- 1/2 cup yellow onion, diced small

- 1 to 2 Roma tomatoes, diced small

- Small bunch cilantro, roughly chopped

- Olive oil

- Salt

Directions:

Rinse, dry and chop your veggies, then cube up your cheeses.

Mmmmmm, cheeeeeese... 

Turn your stove top on medium heat and drizzle a little olive oil in the pan. When the oil is hot, start sautéing your diced onion and jalapeno. 

Once the onion and jalapeno soften, turn the heat down low, add your cream and cheeses, and stir vigorously until all of the cheese is melted. 

Once the mixture is smooth, stir in your diced tomato and cilantro. Add salt to taste. If you think the queso is too thick, add more milk or cream until it reaches your preferred consistency. Then, eat up!

A Simple Breakfast Sandwich

I'm starting the day off right over here in my neck of the woods. To me, there is no breakfast more satisfying than a breakfast sandwich. When I started crafting breakfast sammys back in high school, I would pile them high with sliced turkey and swiss cheese. But now, one of my favorites is the simplest of sandwiches. Obviously, my most favorite would come with bacon and cheese on it, and I strongly suggest you add it in for yourself, so I can live vicariously through you-- please and thanks. But if you're in the mood for a fresh and simple "I don't feel like clogging my arteries today" kind of sandwich, this is the way to go!

Ingredients:

- 1 egg

- 1 egg white

- 2 slices of bread

- 2 thick slices of tomato

- Mayo

- S&P

Directions: 

Crack your egg and egg white into a small frying pan. Fold the whites over the yolk to prevent breakage when you flip it. Once the bottom side begins to brown slightly, flip the egg and cook until the yolk is at your preferred state of runny-ness. 

While your egg is frying, you can toast your bread in the toaster, or butter and toast it in another pan. I recommend the second option. Everything is better with a little butter, am I right? When your toast is ready, spread on a little mayo followed by the slices of tomato, then top with S&P.

When the egg is finished, slide it on top of your tomatoes. You don't even need a second piece of toast. If you want to eat it as an open-face sandwich, I recommend piercing the yolk and spreading that rich, golden goodness all over the place.

I was feeling like a traditional sandwich this morning. If you feel the same, slice down the middle and let the yolk run out so you can sop it up with your sandwich while you eat!

Cheers!

How to Eat a Hamburger Without a Bun

Well, today was my first day back at the gym since probably mid-October. It was not pretty, but at least my dinner was. My roommate asked me what I call it. I said, "Hamburger Lettuce Wraps." She thought it should have a silly name like "Naked Burger Tacos." Call it what you want. All I care about is that it hit the spot-- and this recipe does every time! If you're jonesing for a hamburger but trying to lay off the carbs and fat, you've got to try this!

Ingredients:

- Ground beef (I use 93% lean.)

- Steak Seasoning

- Olive oil

- Boston lettuce

- Tomato

- Onion

- Pickle

- Mustard

Directions:

Take your ground beef out of the fridge, form into patties and rub on the steak seasoning. You can use whatever seasoning you want. I prefer Montreal Steak. Let the meat come to room temperature before frying. Once the meat is ready, drizzle a little olive oil in the pan and get it hot! Add the patties and cook until there's a nice, brown crust on the bottom, then flip and repeat until cooked through. You should not have to flip your burgers more than once!

While your burgers are frying, slice up your favorite toppings. Also, remove several leaves from the head of Boston lettuce. 

Once the burgers are finished, cube them up into large chunks. Then, layer two pieces of lettuce on top of each other, followed by the burger chunks and the rest of the toppings! 

Finally, fold it up like a taco and chow down!

A Berry Cheesy Relationship

Sometimes salads can be really boring, unless goat cheese is involved. If you ask me, goat cheese is the cheese of cheeses. I thought I loved the sheep (feta)... until I experienced the goat. And there is something about the combination of goat cheese and berries. MmmMMM! They just go together so well. One time, I had a mixed berry & goat cheese gelato. OH LAWDY, it was heaven! Anyways, if you can't tell already, this is a salad that involves goat cheese and strawberries. And let's not forget the third and final factor to this taste-equation: toasted walnuts! All three ingredients come together and form a magnificent marriage of flavors. You get the sweetness of the berries, the salty-tanginess of the goat cheese and the richness of the toasted walnuts. You've just got to try this and see, smell, taste for yourself!

Strawberry, Goat Cheese & Walnut Salad

Ingredients:

- Arugula or Baby Greens

- Strawberries, trimmed & halved

- Goat Cheese, crumbled

- Toasted Walnuts (I crack a little S&P on these, then toast them on the stovetop. Also, if they're whole walnuts, I give them a rough chop before tossing them on the salad.)

- Scallion, chopped

- Vinaigrette (Sometimes I use a bottled vinaigrette like Brianna's French Vinaigrette, and sometimes I make my own. Recipe follows.)

Simple Vinaigrette:
- 1 clove garlic or shallot, minced
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- S&P

Directions:
Combine all of the ingredients & enjoy!

Twice Baked Potatoes

Alright, people. You're in for a treat. I mean, this recipe is good... really good. Sometimes when you see twice baked potatoes, they're these wimpy, little potato skins with whipped potatoes inside and yellow cheese sprinkled on top. And when the wimpy-twice-bake-creators are feeling a little squirrelly, they add on a dash of paprika. OOOH-WEEE! No. If that's what you think this is, think again. These famous twice baked potatoes call for the works: several different kinds of cheese, pancetta, sour cream, butter & panko bread crumbs. These are my Florida friends' #1 food request whenever we go down for the holidays. To be clear, if I were Kelis, my Twice Bakes would bring all the boys to the yard. Ya'dig?

Ingredients:
- 4 or 5 Large Russet Potatoes
- 8oz pancetta, diced small
- 8oz colby jack cheese, diced
- 8oz gruyere cheese, diced
- 1 yellow onion, diced small
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 stick of butter
- Panko bread crumbs (Optional)
- Parmesan, grated fine (Optional)
- S&P
- Olive oil

Directions:
Wash and pierce your potatoes, then rub them down with salt & olive oil. Bake for an hour at 450 degrees.

While your potatoes are baking, fry the pancetta until most of the fat has rendered. Once it's done, transfer the pancetta into a mixing bowl, then start cooking your onions. You can cook them until translucent, or you can do like me and caramelize them. It's the best way. Once the onions are done, dump them in the bowl with the pancetta followed by your diced cheeses, sour cream & butter!

When your potatoes are finished, remove them from the oven and turn the temp down to 350 degrees. Once they're cool enough to touch, cut the potatoes in half, length-wise. Then, cut around the inside of the halved potato leaving about a centimeter of potato left on the skin. This makes it easier to scoop out the insides. Also, if you don't leave enough potato around the edges, the skins will be too flimsy and probably tear. When you're finished cutting around the potato, scoop out the insides, transfer them to the bowl with the rest of the ingredients, and mix, but do not over mix! You want to keep it chunky!

At this point, I recommend doing some quality control. You have to taste this heavenly concoction once all of the ingredients are combined. It should be very moist with a little pancetta and cheese in every bite! If you think it needs extra moisture, add more sour cream or butter... or a little of both. No shame.

After combining all of the ingredients, mound the mixture into each potato skin until there is none left in the bowl. Top with parmesan cheese and panko bread crumbs, then bake for 30 more minutes. You can also broil them at the very end to give them that nice, golden brown color on top! YUM!

I'm sorry, y'all. You're waistline will not benefit from this, but I swear it will be worth it. Nevertheless, you can surely count on winning over several hearts & stomachs with this gem! And once you've mastered this recipe, you can start substituting in other ingredients. Last summer, I made a batch with chorizo, pepper jack & munster cheese. Needless to say, they were AH-MAZING!

The Light(er) Hamburger

Oh, dieting. It's such a sad thing. If I could have it my way, I would be using 80/20 beef, American cheese, and a Merita bun on this baby. However, I made do with what healthy ingredients I had, and this was the product. I must say, it was actually, quite tasty-- believe it or not. So, for those of you who are cutting calories, here's my "Light(er) Hamburger."

Ingredients:

- Sliced bread or hamburger buns (That wimpy stuff is the 45 calorie a slice kind. Go figure.)

- Ground beef (I use 93% lean.)

- Your favorite, fresh toppings & condiments (Tip: mustard has almost zero calories, fat & carbs.) 

- Butter and/or Olive Oil

- Steak Seasoning

Directions:

Take your beef out of the fridge, form into patties, and season with your favorite Steak Seasoning. It doesn't matter if it's a blend or just plain, old S&P. I use Montreal. Let your burgers sit and come to room temperature before frying. Once the patties are ready, get your skillet nice and hot. Throw a little oil or butter down and follow it up with the patties. You should be able to hear them sizzling as soon as they hit the pan. Fry for a few minutes until there's a nice, brown crust on the bottom, then flip and repeat until the burger is cooked through. You shouldn't need to flip the burger more than once! While your burgers are frying, slice up your toppings just like you like 'em. You can also butter and toast your bread if that's your preference. (I did. It wasn't the healthiest of choices, but something's gotta give. Right?!) Once the burgers are finished cooking, assemble with your favorite ingredients, and that's all she wrote!

I will warn you, if you want to use this 45 calorie (ridiculous excuse for) bread, do not expect your sandwich to hold together. Mine was messy, but it was still very yummy, and it really hit the spot! 

Enjoy!

Pilot

Welp, I'm finally going to (attempt to) DO IT! I've wanted to start a food blog for a very long while, and I believe it's time! So, here we go!

I've loved food my whole life. I was quite the chunk as a child. My mom called me a "Buddha Baby"-- just to give you a visual. When I asked her why she fed me so much, she said, "Because it made you happy." Well, I can't argue with that. Sometimes, there is just nothing better than the perfect cheeseburger, and I also have to agree with Mrs. Paula Deen when she says, "Love comes in the form of butter." Seriously, they put words like "soul" and "comfort" in front of the word "food" for a reason. So, I guess you could say not much has changed since my "Buddha Baby" days. I am down a few thigh rolls and a double chin, but there is something I have gained. Although I've always loved food, I didn't always love to cook. 

It all started with "Beef Broth & Noodles." This was my signature dish-- claim to fame, if you will. I guess it's like a fancier version of ramen. Whenever there weren't any leftovers in the house, you can bet your bottom dollar I was boiling me up some beef broth and noodles. Aside from the BB&N specialty, I was the salad dresser of the family. Mom and Dad would be frying up steaks and baking potatoes for one of our regular, weeknight meals, and when dinner was almost ready, they would call me into the kitchen to chop a few tomatoes and dump some olives on the salad. I guess because I was always surrounded by people who loved to cook and did it so willingly, I never felt the need to learn. Yes, I mastered boiling noodles in broth very early on (Impressive, I know). I also learned how to fry eggs and make a mean breakfast sandwich during high school. However, I never had the desire to embrace it and broaden my skills until I went to college. 

As soon as I left home and moved to Boston, cast iron skillet and recipe book in hand, something clicked. When I wanted my mom's Roast Chicken with Potatoes & Onions, I had to learn how to make it while, of course, following the recipe book very closely and calling Mom to coach me along the way. Even so, Mom's Roast Chicken was just the beginning. It was the spark that ignited my passion for home-cooked meals. Once I learned to do that, it was all over. Soon enough, I was making Pot Roast for good friends, Bruschetta for a midday snack, Stratta for Easter brunch, and the list goes on. Food began to mean so much more to me as I realized it was something I could do for me and for other people, and we could all enjoy it together. 

So, there you have it. I'm a foodie. I haven't been cooking for very long, but I'm learning as I go, and I'm not planning on stopping anytime soon. 

FTLOF,

Jordan

Mom's Roast Chicken