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February 27, 2010

Baked Potato Chips

We are definitely not the kind of people who are against junk food. Everyone needs those days to eat way too much junk food, right? In an attempt to not be quite so glutenous we decided to make an adult version of potato chips by baking them and adding tons of herbs. Our only regret was that we didn't make a bigger batch. This was our first attempt and I don't think we would change anything if (...when) we make them again.

INGREDIENTS
(there's not very many)
3 Russet or red potatoes
garlic olive oil
thyme
oregano
parsley
garlic powder
salt

STEPS
Preheat oven to 450. Wash all the potatoes and cut into really thin circles.

Now place the rounds onto a big foil covered cookie sheet. We recommend you cover the tray in foil and spray it with non-stick cooking spray or use that non-stick foil to prevent the really thin slices from sticking. Brush the potatoes with a little garlic olive oil and lightly salt. Put the potatoes in oven for 10 minutes.

Mix the thyme, basil, oregano, and garlic powder together. Take the potatoes out and flip them over. Sprinkle a little of the herb mix on each potato and put back in the oven for 5 minutes.

Take them out and eat with some sour cream (or in Mikey's case, A LOT of sour cream).

Tomato and Mozzarella on a Baguette

Today we were in the mood for something light but with a lot of flavor. This is another one we didn't really have a recipe for, we just went with it. Everyone knows about mozzarella with tomato and basil but we did our own thing (mainly because basil was too expensive for just one dish). Anyway, we also decided that once we toasted the baguette, a little blend of the tomato and mozzarella on top would be perfect, basically like Bruschetta. There is no denying that we made something amazing that tasted phenomenal.

What You'll Need:
1 sourdough baguette
2 Roma tomatoes
8 oz mozzarella cheese
garlic olive oil
salt
pepper


Cut baguette into diagonal slices to get a slightly longer slice. Turn your broiler on just so it's ready (it'll be ready when there's a pretty steady flame from the top). Place the slices on a foil covered cookie sheet and arrange them so they're even. Pour a little of the garlic olive oil in a small bowl and put aside.

Put the bread in the oven for around 5 minutes. Half way through take out the cookie sheet and brush a little of the olive oil on the toast and place back in the oven for another few minutes. It's a pretty quick process. Wait until the bread turns a medium to dark golden brown, turn off the broiler and leave the bread in so it stays warm.

Now, cut the tomatoes and mozzarella into cubes the size of a centimeter. Drizzle some olive oil over the mix and add a dash of salt and pepper for a little more taste. Spoon the mix onto the slices of toast and eat it from there.

We bothered with plating and all that, but truth be told we ate off the cookie sheet too...

February 25, 2010

Real (Easy) French Toast

It was just one of those days where we were destined to have something with a lot of syrup. Wheat bread is the usual for us but we went all out for this. After a morning full of classes, thick slices of french toast drenched in syrup was pretty much exactly what we needed. We used the thick bread (apparently made just for this kind of thing) and it was worth it! I don't know if I can go back to regular bread after this... The best thing about it- because we're broke college students- is that the bread is all we had to buy, everything else is stuff that we all have in our cupboards. Now, there is no specific measurements for this one so just go with it. If in doubt, add a little more...

What You'll Need:
6 slices of think French Toast (but regular bread will work too)
vanilla extract
3-4 eggs
cinnamon
milk
Pam spray (because it's important to be healthy)
real butter
syrup



Crack all the eggs into a medium size bowl. With a fork, beat eggs. Add a few strong dashes of cinnamon.

Add milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. Start off with a little. If it looks like you want more go for it. Mix all three ingredients well.

Spray pan with Pam (AWAY FROM STOVE!) and put pan to heat. Dip each slice in the egg mix and place quickly on pan.

Wait until each side turns a deep gold color, they should be soft and fluffy. Plate them and butter them. Mikey likes powder sugar but that's optional.


The extra egg mix that's going to be left (unless you really soaked the bread) has a lot of potential. Take what's left and put it into the pan you just used for the french toast on low heat. They are going to cook really fast so watch them and keep stirring them.

They're full of cinnamon and taste really good with a little syrup, too. No waste here.

February 24, 2010

Mo's Special

This is one meal that I make that we both keep coming back to. It is literally the perfect mix of pasta, sauce, and shrimp! And it's so simple to make. We found a version of it online but have added a lot of our own touches. Don't get us wrong, we can't afford shrimp dinners every night but we definitely make this recipe an option whenever shrimp is on sale. Mikey suggests we substitute the shrimp, Mo says absolutely not. Its kind of amazing the way it is. We hope you feel the same.

INGREDIENTS
1 pound of extra large shrimp
1 T. butter
1 T. olive oil
1 small onion
1 cloves of garlic (at least)
2 T. butter
2 T. olive oil
1 C. white wine (drink the rest)
8 oz. can of tomato sauce
8 oz. heavy whipping cream
1 pound penne pasta
(not pictured: White wine) :(

STEPS
Remember, start the water for the pasta! Get it out of the way. After you get that going, peel and devein the shrimp. We recommend cutting the shrimp into smaller pieces before you cook it because a lot more of the juice runs out of the shrimp after its been cooked. We found that cutting one shrimp into 3rds is the perfect size for mixing with the sauce later on.
Also, it is easier to cut the onions before cooking the shrimp because the shrimp doesn't take very long.
In a hot skillet add butter, oil, and shrimp. Cook the shrimp until pink and set aside when it's finished.
In same skillet used for shrimp, add the butter, oil, garlic, and onion. Cook everything until the onions start to soften and get a little darker in color.At this point the water for the pasta should be at a rapid boil so go ahead and add the pasta.
Now, back to the sauce. When the garlic and onions are done add the wine, tomato sauce, cream and heat through.

When heated through, add the shrimp to the sauce. Now is the time to also add any extra salt and pepper, too. The pasta should also be about done (you know, al dente blah blah blah...), strain it but NEVER rinse it. Add drained pasta to sauce mix. Fold it in.

Add a good amount of Parmesan cheese and mix one last time. Hope you enjoy! :)
**By the way- this meal goes really well with the Our Chedder Bay Biscuits... Just saying...**