Valentine's Dinner- Rosemary Bread

So once upon a time, say around October/November, I went out to eat with my husband, my mother-in-law, and her mom at Macaroni Grill. It was my first time eating there and I absolutely fell in love with their bread (and really the rest of their food). As I was eating it, I was writing down any and all ingredients that I could taste in hopes of making it one day on my own. Well fortunately for me, I did not have to try too hard because I soon found a copycat recipe on recipezaar. My dad and I made it for Christmas dinner and then I made it again last Saturday for Valentine's day. It was absolutely delicious. I will mention though that when you make it, try your very hardest to use fresh rosemary. The first time I made it, I used fresh since my dad still had some in his snow covered garden. Just this last time I made it, here at our apartment I was going to try and save money and just use the dried stuff we had. It made a big difference taste wise. Not saying that our second attempt tasted bad, it just tasted a whole lot better with the fresh rosemary.

Romano's Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread
found at Recipezaar

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons rosemary
• 2 tablespoons butter

Directions

1. Place yeast, sugar and water in large bowl or food processor and allow mixture to become bubbly.

2. Mix in 1 T butter, salt, and 2 cups of flour.

3. Add one tablespoon of the fresh chopped rosemary.

4. Knead for about 10 minutes by hand or in food processor about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.
   

   

5. Add more flour if necessary. (I have always had to add more flour)

6. Oil a bowl, put dough in it and cover with a towel.

7. Let dough rise in a warm place for one hour until doubled.

8. Punch down dough and divide in half.
   

   

9. Let dough rest about 5 minutes.
   

10. Spray baking pan or cookie sheet with cooking spray.

11. Shape the dough into 2 small rounded oval loaves.

12. Sprinkle remaining 1 Tablespoon of rosemary over the loaves and press lightly into the surface.(We also put some garlic powder and kosher salt on at this point as well as sprinkled corn meal on the bottom of our pan/stone to keep the bread from sticking)
    

1. Let loaves rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 375°F.

3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned.
   

4. Carefully remove from oven, brush with remaining butter and salt if desired
   

Valentine's Day Dinner - Green Bean Bundles

Mmmm...delicious. The first time I had green beans wrapped in bacon was at Christmas time two years ago after my maternal grandmother found a recipe for them. Ever since then, I have asked her to make them whenever the family gets together. And so of course I decided that I needed to make them for Brad and my dinner on V-day. I found a similar recipe online to my grandma's, except this one includes a sauce to drizzle over the beans once they are done cooking. I took a reviewers advice (lovestohos- jun '07) and sauted the beans up in the sauce before sticking them in the oven with the bacon and they were delish.

Green Bean Bundles
photo and recipe courtesy of Virginia Stadler

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
• 8 bacon strips, partially cooked
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
• 3 tablespoons butter, margarine or bacon drippings
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook the beans until crisp-tender. Wrap about 15 beans in each bacon strip; secure with a toothpick. Place on a foil-covered baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until bacon is done. In a skillet, saute onion in butter until tender. Add vinegar, sugar and salt; heat through. Remove bundles to a serving bowl or platter; pour sauce over and serve immediately.

Valentine's Dinner- Hanger Steak with Warm Bulgar Salad

This year Brad and I decided to go along the more "creative" route since we don't have a whole lot of room to deviate from our budget. So this year, Brad and I decided to stay in and I would cook a "fancy" dinner for us. On the menu? Hanger Steak with Warm Bulgar Salad (except Hanger Steak is hard to find so I went for the more expensive alternative, Flank Steak), Homemade Rosemary Bread, Green Bean Bundles, Chocolate Covered Strawberries, and Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. Let me tell you, the steak turned out delicious! The bulgar, not my favorite but Brad thought it was okay. The green beans were excellent, the strawberries fabulous, and the cupcakes were pretty tasty. Rather than putting all the recipes in one post, I am going to break them up a bit. So first off

Hanger Steak with Warm Bulgar Salad

From Food & Wine
(Hanger Steak is a less expensive alternative to Flank Steak. However, as I found out, it is also much harder to find)

Ingredients

1. 2 garlic cloves, minced
2. 1 tablespoon ground cumin
3. Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
4. 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
5. One 2-pound hanger steak
6. 1 1/2 cups bulgur (9 ounces), rinsed
7. 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
8. 1 1/2 cups boiling water
9. 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
10. 1/2 large white onion, chopped
11. 2 carrots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
12. 1 turnip (8 ounces), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
13. 1/2 cup chicken stock
14. 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
15. 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
16. 2 tablespoons chopped mint

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. In a small bowl, mash the garlic, cumin, 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper with 2 tablespoons of the oil; rub all over the steak. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium baking dish, mix the bulgur and cinnamon. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the oil and the boiling water and season with salt and pepper. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 20 minutes, until the water is completely absorbed. Fluff the bulgur with a fork, then cover and keep warm.
3. In a large saucepan, melt the butter in 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat until barely softened, about 2 minutes. Add the carrots and turnip, season with salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes, until just softened. Add the stock and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook over low heat until the vegetables are tender, 10 minutes. Stir the vegetables and liquid into the bulgur with the lemon juice, parsley, mint and 2 tablespoons of the oil.
4. In an ovenproof skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add the steak and cook over high heat, turning once, until browned, 8 minutes. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast for 25 minutes, turning once, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 135°. Transfer the steak to a cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes. Thinly slice the steak and serve with the bulgur.

Easy White Chicken Chili and homemade cornbread

I can't remember how many years ago my dad first started making white chicken chili but I do know it has been a tasty family "tradition" of sorts since then. It all started when my dad came across the recipe in our Kalamazoo Gazette. Since then my dad has committed the recipe (more or less) to his memory and though we aren't sure exactly where that newsclipping ended up, it's still some pretty tasty chili. Tonight was my first night making it by myself (I had always watched by dad make this but for some reason or another never helped out enough to know how to make it myself without multiple calls with clarifying questions that I made today.) and it turned out fairly well if I may say so. Along with the chili, I made corn bread (homemade, not jiffy) from the recipe one the back of the corn meal canister plus a few extra ingredients. That recipe can be found below as well.

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients

• 1 - 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubbed
• salt
• pepper
  
• 2-3 jalapeno peppers (depending on taste)
• 45 oz Great White Northern Beans
• 1 sm can of Chicken broth
• 1 Tbsp Thyme (more or less depending on taste)

Procedure

1. Brown chicken in a pot with olive oil, season to taste with salt and pepper. Once browned, add chopped (and seeded) jalapeno peppers to the chicken and cook until peppers release their aroma/flavors and are slightly "roasted
2. Add beans (including liquid), thyme, and broth. Stir together making sure to scrape any "fond" that is left on the bottom of the pan from the chicken.
3. Let simmer for approximately 40 mins. and then enjoy! (Feel free to add extra jalapenos to your bowl after serving. It gives it a bit more spice and crunch)

Easy Corn Bread
adapted from Quaker Yellow Corn Meal canister

Ingrediants
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Corn Meal
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup skim milk
1/4 vegetable oil
2 egg whites or 1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup corn

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 8 or 9 inch pan.
   
2. Combine dry ingredients.
3. Stir in milk, oil, and egg, mixing just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in corn.
   
4. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 20-25 mins or until light golden brown and wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm.