BZZZ about Ristorante pizza by dr. oetker

So I signed up to be what is called a bzzzagent. It is pretty cool. Basically they send you stuff to try from different companies like make-up or food products and you write your honest opinion about them. I was really excited to get my first two "campaigns." The first one is a bread one which I have bought but not tried yet and the second one is ristorante pizza by dr. oetker.

 I went to Giant and picked up 2 pizzas from the frozen food section. I got a mozzarella one and a veggie one. 

 The mozzarella pizza was fine. Honestly, it was a little bland but not terrible. It was better than other similarly flavored frozen pizzas I have tried in the past. The ingredients were "real" looking, the cheese tasted like mozzarella which was nice. It didn't have that cardboard taste a lot of frozen pizza have. Still, nothing to write home about. 

The vegetable pizza however, was fantastic! The vegetables were so good. They tasted fresh. There was a really yummy cheese on it. Super good! 

Overall, I will buy and eat the veggie one again for sure. I will pass on buying the mozzarella but plan on trying some of the other flavors. My impression from this brand is that for a frozen pizza, it is about as fresh and healthy as it gets.  

Chicken in a Crock Pot

When you want to cook something delicious, flavorful, and delicious all you need is a crock pot. I was in the mood to make a whole chicken and wanted to make stock and soup from the leftovers. This is my chicken in a crock pot journey.....
                                           
                                          First the chicken dinner
ingredients:
a whole chicken (mine was about 6 pounds)
some red potatoes (I used about 9)
a couple of onions (the regular yellow kind, I got 3)
olive oil
dry sage leaves or powdered sage
garlic
white wine
2 granny smith apples
butter
a bag of breadcrumbs/stuffing mix
celery
a veggie for a side dish or a salad
about 2 cups of chicken stock (canned or whatever)

• Take the chicken and wash it. Pat dry. set aside. You can set aside the gizzards  in a baggie in the fridge if you want for the stock late. I just threw them away but next time will think to save them. 
• cut one of the onions in chunks or rings. Or chunks and rings- doesn't matter
• slice potatoes in half and then slice the halves into three or four pieces. 
• place the potatoes and onions in the bottom of the crock pot 
• pour in chicken stock and a plug of the white wine (not too much- just a splash)
• core and chop one of the apples into big chunks. 
• stuff the apple inside the chicken.  
• Take a bowl or plate and drizzle some olive oil. put a spoon or two of crushed/minced garlic, sage, pepper and any other spices you like. (the amounts are not exact. just eyeball it)                                                                

Here is mine on a fancy paper plate

• Take mixture and rub all over chicken
• put the chicken in the crock pot and if you and add some more onions on top. 

• put the lid on and turn crock pot on high. I kept mine on high all day. For about 8 hours. I've read that you can have it on high for a couple of hours and turn it to low for the rest of the day. Personally, I was home and am too chicken (haha no pun intended) to keep it on low. I had this vision that I'd open the pot and have a raw bird at the end of the day. Not gonna happen but I just didn't want to take any chances. Don't open the lid to check it throughout the day. I have heard that every time you open the lid it adds 30 minutes of the cook time. 
• About 45 minutes before dinner time preheat the oven to 375
• chop some more onion into small chunks and chop the celery and core and chop the apple into small chunks
• take a stick of butter and melt it in a deep sauce pan. 
• saute the onion, apple, and celery for a few minutes- like 5 minutes
• HERE is when I take the lid off the chicken for a minute and scoop out and set aside about 2-3 cups of that really delicious and fragrant broth. Put the lid back on the crock pot
• add breadcrumbs into the butter mixture in pan (you can turn the stove off now) then slowly pour in broth until breadcrumbs are saturated or the amount according to the directions on the back of the bag or box  of  bread crumbs
• stir and then place in a glass baking dish. cover with lid or foil
• bake for about 25 minutes
• make salad or veggie side (I had asparagus)
• Turn off crock pot and enjoy dinner! 

I didn't take a picture of the finished chicken (DOH!) but it looked and tasted great. It was super tender and literally fell off the bone. The stuffing was awesome. I only ate a little because..you know...STICK of butter and breadcrumbs are not the best food choices for a post-op gastric bypass patient. So actually I only a little of the little I can eat. If that makes any sense. 

That night everything was taken out of the crock pot, covered and moved to the fridge. 

Coming up next..... "All Night Chicken Stock" and Chicken and Veggie/Potato Soup

Brussel Sprouts

Thanks to Costco, I have a HUGE bag of my favorite vegetable in the world...brussel sprouts! I love these little guys. They are great roasted, sauteed, or streamed. I just made the best lunch and thought I would post the recipe. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take a picture before I ate it. That is OK though because we all know what brussel sprouts look like.
You need:
olive oil
brussel sprouts (washed and cut in half)
garlic
already cooked boneless chicken breast (skinless and cut into chunks or strips)
red onion (cut into little slices)
goat cheese or parm. or pretty much any white cheese that you like

Take pan and heat enough olive oil to coat the bottom on med/high heat.
add garlic and onion
add sprouts and saute the whole thing for a few minutes until the sprouts are starting to get a crispy brown
add chicken and cook until everything is hot
transfer to plate and sprinkle cheese on top right away (so it melts)
YUM!

Savory Goat Cheese Cheesecake with Caramelized Onion and Fig

I had a wonderful dinner at the Elkridge Furnace Inn a couple of months ago. I had a little bit of French onion soup, some veal scaloppini with walnut ravioli, and savory goat cheese cheesecake with fig vinegar and caramelized onion.  I have been obsessing about making a savory goat cheese cheesecake since.

About a month ago, I was Googling recipes with goat cheese and fig. I came across one for “Baked Goat Cheese with Caramelized Onion, Garlic and Mission Figs.”  Yum, perfect. This recipe looks amazing. After reading it, I immediately started fantasizing that it would be SO GOOD that I would make it my signature party dish. That I would walk into holiday parties and people would say “Oh thank god, Joy is here with that baked goat cheese and fig dip! Christmas is finally here! “ I of course would modestly wave the compliments away saying “Oh, this is just a little something I whipped up” while silently thanking the Elkridge Furnace Inn for fueling my goat cheese fire and inspiring me to Google the recipe.

Here it is (courtesy of the Food Network.com)

Baked Goat Cheese with Caramelized Onion, Garlic and Mission Figs

Ingredients

·         2 pounds goat cheese

·         14 dried Mission figs (1 cup), sliced

·         1/4 cup dry sherry

·         1/4 cup olive oil

·         2 large Spanish onions, thinly sliced

·         10 garlic cloves, crushed

·         3 rosemary sprigs

·         2 teaspoons salt

·         Freshly ground black pepper

·         2 sliced baguettes, for dipping

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Crumble the goat cheese into an oven safe dish and set aside.

In a sauce pot combine the figs and sherry with enough water to barely cover the figs. Place the sauce pot over high heat and bring up to a bubble, cover and remove from the heat and let the figs plump while the onions are cooking.

Pour the olive oil into a large skillet and place over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper and cook, stirring often, for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Using a slotted spoon remove the plumped figs from the sauce pot, leaving behind any of the pluming liquid. Add the figs to the cooked onions, stir to combine and then spoon over the goat cheese. Place the dish into the top half of the oven for 20 minutes, until the edges begin to bubble.

Remove and serve immediately with sliced baguettes

It turned out to be really gross. Maybe I didn’t make the figs small enough. I don’t know what went wrong but something did and the end result was so OFF that I decided then and there that I hated figs and I would never, ever, EVER make it again.  Needless to say that I didn’t take any photos.

So that brings me back to square one. I really want to make a savory goat cheese cheesecake. I LIKED the fig sauce at Elkridge Furnace Inn and…hey, thanks to Costco, we happened to have a shit load of goat cheese in the fridge. The plan is to go really light on the fig and to doctor a recipe I found online to taste (hopefully) how I want it to taste. It is on!

·         About ½ of large sweet yellow onion (although I may try red onion next time for a little more kick)       

·         1tbs butter for onions and 2 tbs butter for crust

·         1 cup finely chopped/crushed walnuts

·         1 cup bread crumbs

·         Rosemary and garlic for seasoning the onion topping

·         10 ounces goat cheese

·         8 ounces (1 pack) of cream cheese

·         2 eggs

·         Store bought (or homemade if you ambitious) fig preserves

I made them in mini muffin pans. First I preheated the oven to 350 and sprayed the pans with cooking spray.

Then I chopped up about half of a large sweet yellow onion into little pieces and put it in the pan with some butter and rosemary and a little garlic to make the topping. I started the pan out on med-high heat and after they started getting soft, I turned the heat to medium.

While the onions were cooking I started the crust Put breadcrumbs and crushed walnuts in bowl with softened butter and blend it all together until it is mixed. Put a scoop into each little mini muffin section and press down with fingers so that it is tightly pressed into the bottom of the pan.

   Then take a small (about ½ spoon) of fig preserves and place on top of crust.

 Set pans aside while you make the filling and …go stir the onions!

Put cream cheese in large bowl. Take a mixer (like the kind you use to mix cake batter) and start mixing the cream cheese on a low setting. You want to get some air in there.  After doing that for a couple of minutes, add the eggs and goat cheese and some salt and pepper.

 If you are so inclined, add a pinch more rosemary.  Blend with mixer until everything is well blended and creamy. Spoon mixture on top of crust/fig preserve.  Then take the onion mixture and place a little pinch on top of each cheesecake.

 Put in oven for about 15-20 minutes until puffed up.

 Ta-da! 

I think they turned out well. Using a very little bit of fig preserve turned out to be a perfect compliment to the onion nad goat cheese. MUCH better than using chunks of actual fig (again..yuck!) To be honest, they are very rich and one or two is enough to get rid of the savory cheesecake craving for a long time. I made them a couple of days ago and even though I really liked them, I have zero desire to eat any of the leftovers. Anyone want some? 

Day One- A Place for Food

As you may know, I have another blog (http://myadventuresinjoyland.blogspot.com/) which I am extremely unfaithful to. I have been really into cooking and trying new recipes lately and want to write about it but My Adventures in Joyland just didn't feel like the right place to do it. THAT is my place to vent and be a smart ass. THIS will be my place to write about the food.

I love food and love to cook. Any recipes or ideas are welcome!