Book Club Dinner Party

As I have mentioned before, I am in a book club with my sister and some friends. This month's book was Water for Elephants and the meeting was held at my house. I read Water for Elephants last summer at the suggestion of a work friend. My friends and I have a movie-going date night planned for next weekend when we are all off. It looks so good! I will not ruin the movie by telling you about the book, so let us just talk about the food.


Just so you know: 1. Our "book club meetings" consist of getting together for dinner, drinking wine, and talking about everything other than the book. 2. That pretty much sums it up. 


I made Emeril's Tex-Mex Gooey Casserole. Read on!


Appetizers: chips, guacamole, salsa, Texas caviar (all store-bought, I might add)

The Main Dish (I put my additions and suggestions). Sorry about the blurry pics, it happens when I turn the flash off.
Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups chopped onions (about 1 large onion, chopped)
• 1 lb ground beef (I used ground turkey)
• 1 pound diced stew meat (could have lived without it)
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons chili powder (didn't have it)
• 2 teaspoons cumin (I used 1 large tablespoon to make up for the lack of chili powder)
• S&P
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 4 cups peeled, seeded, chopped tomatoes (I used 1-28oz can diced tomatoes, drained)
• 3 cups beef stock
• 10 flour tortillas (I used wheat)
• 2 cups grated medium Cheddar cheese (I used 2% milk cheese)
• 2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese (again, 2%)

1. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the onions and saute for 3-4 minutes.

2. Add the ground beef (turkey) and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the stew beef and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Looking back, I would have drained the meat at this point.  

3. Stir in the garlic, chili powder, and cumin. Season with S&P. 

4. Stir in the tomato paste. Stir in the tomatoes and stock.

5. Simmer the mixture for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The mixture will really thicken up at this point.

6. Remove from the heat and let cool.

7. Spoon a couple of tablespoons of the mixture on the bottom of a greased casserole dish. Place a layer of tortillas on top. Scatter the tortillas with some of both of the cheeses. Repeat this process until you reach the top!

8. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes until the cheese is melted. 

I served with a side of Mexican rice and refried beans. Enjoy!

Austin

Last weekend we headed to the home of my alma mater: Austin, Texas. Obsessed. I went to, and graduated from, The University of Texas at Austin. While a name that long sounds pretentious (it is), it is necessary to differentiate from UT Austin/Arlington/San Antonio/El Paso/Dallas. I loved Austin. It is such an amazing city. It is super laid back, beautiful, fun, and a little hippie mixed in. I go back every chance I get. Case in point: the UT/Texas Tech baseball games. The boy went to Tech and we have made it a point to attend as many sporting events between the two. Well, at least the sporting events that we care about: football and baseball. If the Tech basketball team was any good, we would go to that game too... but they are not. Love you Yohnny! 


On to the weekend getaway! I epically failed at taking pictures during the trip, but I hope to redeem myself with my stellar story-telling gift...


We drove up Friday afternoon and stayed with my high school and college friend, Ian. He lives right on Town Lake. Town Lake is a beautiful river that runs through the middle of the city. It is just south of downtown. His apartment looks out over the river and onto Auditorium Shores, which coincidentally held the annual Reggae Fest while we were there. We had a glass of wine on the balcony while listening to the beats from the festival. That night, we headed to dinner at 219 West. It is a really neat restaurant in the warehouse district. All appetizers are 1/2 off before 9PM and the sliders are super cheap and yummy. Winner. Later, we headed back to Ian's and chilled. I had worked the night before and was still suffering from work jet-lag. 


Saturday was absolutely beautiful! We went on a walk around Town Lake with Ian and his dog. 

All around the lake, some art festival put pianos that you could play and write on. Remember what I said about Austin's hippie-side? We decided to let Ian's dog play the piano.

We went to brunch at my favorite breakfast place in Austin: Red River Cafe. It is near campus and totes awesome. It is a seat-yourself, $4/plate kind of place. When I suggested it, Ian wanted to look at the menu online. My response: "Um this is not really the kind of place with a website." And I was correct. Ian was happy to find that they do have a MySpace, since that matters and stuff.


After brunch, we headed to the baseball game. One of Johnny's friends from college and his girlfriend met us at the game. We had great seats, but somehow ended up in the Tech family sections. Gross.

(This concludes my picture contributions. If you come to this blog to see my beautiful face, you should stop reading now)

After the game, we got a snack, rested, showered and headed to dinner with the aforementioned college friend and girlfriend at Z Tejas. They started talking about going to this bar made out of train cars with red carpet from 1962, a live band, and plenty of old people to go around. Naturally, we went as soon as the bill was paid. 


The next morning, we went to an all-you-can-eat Mexican buffet brunch at TNT. After rolling ourselves out of the restaurant, we went kayaking on Town Lake. I wanted to take Johnny to the Green Belt. This is a water trail in the city with fun places to swim, relax, take dogs. However, there was not a SINGLE drop of water in it. Maybe next time?

Katie's Wedding in Williamsburg

My friend Katie got married in Williamsburg, Virginia two weekends ago. (I am just now catching up on my posts!) The parental units, the boy, and I headed out there for a fun and beautiful weekend. I have never been to that part of the east coast and it was so fun to get to see the colonial/historical area. Keep reading!


We flew out Friday into Richmond. We rented a car, and after 10 minutes of learning how to open the trunk, we drove to Williamsburg. The drive was super easy and pretty. That night, we went to eat dinner at a restaurant recommended by Katie and Austin (the groom) with my friend Charlotte and her mom. It was so neat! It is an old house converted into a restaurant. It is lit only by candles and the staff wears the time period garb. Fun!

Charlotte and me at dinner wearing the obligatory neck napkins.

The parental units

The next morning, we headed out to Jamestown. This is the site of the first successful settlement in America. We decided to take the guided tour. I have way more fun on tours like this than reading mind-numbing plaques.

We sat in one of the Indian tents while on our tour. This one reeked of animan hide, as you can assume from the pic.

Remake of where the colonials lived. Cold!



The ships that were recreated were amazing! They have actually been sailed along the east coast and one to Europe. 

At the wedding! It was held at Katie's parents' country club. 

Karen (bridesmaid and friend), Charlotte, and me at the wedding.

The cake was beautiful and delish

All the high school girls with the bride! The wedding was super fun and we had a blast!

Sunday, we all had late flights so we were looking to kill some time. On the drive to Richmond, there were several civil war battle sites we could check out. We went to the Seven Days Battles field at Gaines' Mill.

I am so happy to get to see this unique area of the US.

Eggs in Purgatory with Salami

I think this has been one of my top 3 fave dinners I have made. Amazing. I found it in my Food Network magazine and made it immediately. This recipe is dirt cheap to make and super easy for a crowd. It is healthful and could easily be made for 1 person. This is my take on this yummy recipe.


Eggs in Purgatory with Salami
Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed but kept in 1 piece
• 4 ounces deli-sliced salami
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 cup tomato puree (I used tomato sauce from a can)
• 1/4 cup parsley leaves
• 2 eggs per person
• grated parmesan cheese
• small baguette to make the crusty bread (directions to follow)

1. Prep your ingredients: chop the parsley, slice the salami, onion, and peppers.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the garlic and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove the garlic and toss out. 

3. To the skillet, add the salami, onion, peppers, and red pepper flakes. Cook until the salami starts to brown, about 5 minutes.

4. Add the tomato sauce and 1/2 cup water and cook until the veggies are tender, about 5 more minutes.

5. Reduce the heat to medium. Scatter the chopped parsley into the mixture. Make indentations with the back of a spoon for the eggs. Break your eggs, one or two at a time, into a small bowl. You want to put them into a bowl first to make sure they are still good! Pour the eggs into the indentations. Repeat with the remaining eggs. Sprinkle with the cheese. Cover and cook until the whites are set.

6. While the eggs are cooking, take the bread, slice enough for a few slices per person and drizzle with olive oil. Bake on 400 for a few minutes. Keep a close eye because bread like this can burn easily!

7. You're ready to go when the eggs look like this:

Enjoy!

SHS Girls Dinner

My group of girlfriends from high school decided to start a monthly dinner club. It has been so much fun! We rotate houses, chit chat, eat, and share good times with each other. I hosted this month. I have included the recipes and the party stuff. 


Bar Area:

I had red and white wine, and water. This was really just an excuse to use my wine decanter, Cork Pops wine opener, and water servers! 


Appetizers:

The main dish was Italian so I had some coordinating apps- 2 types of olives in my new olive boat, crackers with cheese, and store-bought bruschetta with toasted bread.


Salad:

We started with a simple salad of mixed herb greens, cherry tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, and selection of dressings. 


Bethenny's Skinnygirl Baked Ziti
This recipe was super exciting to me because I got to use my other Le Creuset casserole dish. The only pic I could find was lid-less but mine has a pretty lid. The other Le Creuset recipe can be seen in my Beef Stew post.
Ingredients:

• 16 ounces whole wheat ziti or rigatoni- I like Ronzoni Healthy Harvest 
• 15 ounces part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt (I do not have garlic salt so I just used a little less salt)
• 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 8 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• Optional: chopped parsley or basil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Boil water and cook the pasta for 8 minutes. Do not overcook the pasta, it will cook more in the oven while it bakes.
3. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray.
4. Drain the ziti, return to the pot, let cool. 
5. In a separate bowl, mix the ricotta, parmesan, garlic salt, black pepper, and egg white. 

6. Stir the ricotta mixture into the pasta.

7. Once everything is combined, add the tomato sauce.
8. Transfer the pasta to the casserole dish.

9. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top.

10. Bake for 20 minutes.

11. Top with chopped parsley and basil.

Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake


Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup crushed graham cracker crumbs (about 3 large crackers-I put them in a plastic baggie and mashed until crumbled)
• 1 tbsp light butter, softened
• 8 oz package reduced fat cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 6 oz fat-free vanilla Greek yogurt (not plain flavor, Vanilla!)
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 tbsp lemon juice (about 1 lemon's worth)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar free strawberry jam 

1.  Heat oven to 350°. Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with non-stick spray.

2. Mix together graham cracker crumbs and butter with a fork until evenly moistened. Press evenly into bottom of prepared pan.

3. Gently beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth using an electric mixer. Gradually beat in fat free yogurt, egg whites, lemon juice, and flour. Do not overbeat.

4. Pour over graham cracker crust.

5. Stir jam until smooth. Drop by small spoonfuls over surface of filling. Using a knife, swirl jam gently through filling to create marble effect. I made a bunch of figure-8s to make this pretty look.

3. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool to room temperature. Chill a few hours in the refrigerator. 

*Soooo, I had not read the recipe all the way through before I made it and missed the "chill a few hours" note. After a mild freak-out, I thought back to a few episodes of Cupcake Wars. When the contestants get in a crunch and need to cool their cupcakes quickly before icing them, they throw them in the freezer. I copied, and it worked!

On a side note: hats off to my Williams-Sonoma 10-Piece Glass Bowl Set. While making this dinner, I used 8 of the bowls. 

My Use of Panko

Problem: After buying all of the ingredients for the Asian Turkey Meatballs, I felt guilty about only using a small amount of the panko (Asian breadcrumbs). Solution: Supercook.com. You go to this website, enter an ingredient you have on hand, and it will give you a compilation of recipes from various websites that use this ingredient. Perfecto! 

Don't get me wrong, I know these next two recipes (mainly the gratin) are less than healthy... BUT when you make it at home, you get to modify and make it as healthy/unhealthy as you want. Win-win if you ask me. Let's get started. 

Pesto-Panko Baked Fish

Ingrdients: Ummmmmmmm

• Pesto (I got store-made pesto because I don't have a food processor, HINT HINT)
• Panko
• Fish (any white fish such as cod, halibut)

1. Pat the fish dry. (easy enough)

2. Top the fish with pesto and some panko

3. Bake at 350 until fish is cooked through (my fish monger said 7 minutes per inch of thickness, well I had to bake for about 15 minutes)

Zucchini and Yellow Squash Gratin

Note: I used about 1/2 of the butter/cheese/panko that Martha suggested. It still tasted amaze. I also made 1/2 of the recipes, hence the missing ingredients in the picture.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 medium sized zucchini
• 2 medium sized yellow squash
• 2 shallots
• 2 garlic cloves
• S&P
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (I used half-and-half that I had on hand)
• 1 cup panko
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Prep your ingredients: cut the zucchini and squash into 1/2 inch slices, mince the shallots and garlic.

2. In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat; add zucchini, squash, shallots, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until zucchini and squash are crisp-tender, 4 to 6 minutes.

3. Add cream, and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat; stir in 1/2 cup panko and cup Parmesan

4. Spoon mixture into a shallow 2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining panko and Parmesan; season with salt and pepper. Bake at 450 until top is golden, 8 to 10 minutes.