Tasty Tuesdays: Crazy Feta!

Oh my gosh you guys, do I have a recipe for you. I first found it on that wonderful yet soul sucking website called pinterest, and it's one of the only things I've "pinned" that I've felt like I absolutely HAD to try as soon as possible. As soon as possible turned out being about a week later. And it only took that long because it was the last meal I scheduled for Stew and I. Cause I schedule a week or two of meals at a time, so we can go grocery shopping together and get exactly what we need. Cause I'm adorable.

I may not have expressed this very clearly on this blog but there are a few ingredients in cooking that I LOVE. Number one: cheese. Oh lordy, cheese. I have been and could still be a vegan, but damnit I can't let go of my cheese. Crappy, run-of-the-mill cheese fine, whatever. But chevre? gruyere? gouda? What is life without them. Last year, stew and I probably ate nothing but cheese, bread, and fruit for dinner at least once every two weeks. When I'm hungry, I usually crave a hunk of cheese, nothing else. Yep, I know it has opiates in it. I'm an addict, and I don't plan on quitting.
Number two: lemon. What can't be improved by squeezing half a lemon over it? very few things. I always add more lemon than called for in recipes, and if lemon is served as a garnish to any meal, I squeeze the heck out of it over everything on the plate. I love lemon.
Number three: SPICY. I used to hate spice. I'd throw a fit when we went out for indian food and my dad wanted to order anything past mild. I don't know when the switch flipped but somewhere in high school I started loving all things firey. Jalapenos on everything. Fire sauce at TB. Sriracha and chili powder on mac n cheese. Chalulah on hash browns. I just can't get enough, guys. I love the burn.
Number four: garlic. but everyone loves garlic, so who the eff cares. garlic is the spice of the gods and we all know it.

SO, theres no question why I'm deeply, madly in love with this spread/dip/meal if you eat it straight from the bowl with a spoon like I was tempted to. It's a combination of feta, roasted jalapenos, roasted garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, and olive oil. oh, my.

Apparently It's from a DC restaurant called Cava, but the recipe I used was one that had already been adapted from whatever recipe the restaurant uses. It's awesome, delicious, and if you can handle a wee bit of spice, you'll love it. And so will whatever guests you invite over to the party you're serving it at because seriously, you should not trust yourself alone around a bowl of this stuff.

I made this with some baked zucchini cakes which came out meh so I wont give you the recipe, stuffed into halves of whole wheat pita bread with tomato, lettuce, and onion. It was TO DIE FOR and really low in calories too. Surprisingly low. I'll tell you more about that after the recipe.

Crazy Feta- (btw, i halved this recipe from the original and it still made 24 1 tbsp servings. If you're putting it out for a larger party, just double the amounts I have given.)
Ingredients
1 8 oz block feta cheese- I used trader joe's
1.5 jalapenos
1/2 head garlic
1/4 cup plus 1/2 tsp olive oil
zest from 1/4 lemon (or half small lemon)
juice from 1/4 lemon (or half small lemon)
pita chips, pita bread, fresh veggies, or whatever your want for serving.

Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees. Take your 1/2 garlic head, cut off the top bit (not the part that keeps all the cloves together) and drizzle with the 1/2 tsp of olive oil. Wrap the garlic in foil and put on a baking sheet. You'll probably have some excess oil from the 1/2 tsp, so use it to coat the jalapenos. I roasted two and just saved the leftover roasted half. Place the oil coated jalapenos on the same baking sheet, and stick it in the oven. The jalapenos will take 10-20 minutes to get slightly charred (flipping them halfway is helpful) and the garlic will take about 40 minutes. go longer if you want. it just gets softer and more caramel-y.

when you remove the jalapenos (after about 20 min), let them cool and then remove the skin, cut in half and remove the seeds, and then chop into very small pieces.

while the garlic finishes roasting, crumble your 8 oz block of feta into a bowl. The smaller pieces the better- this is a dip after all. Then add your chopped jalapeno, and the zest and juice of the lemon. the 1/4 of a lemon is just a guideline. I like a LOT of lemon, so I was actually wishing I had more of it in my dip. If you're a lemon lover like me, go crazy. if not, stick to the recipe. Take your garlic out of the oven and using a hotpad or some other device squeeze the soft, caramelized cloves right into the bowl. You should have something like this:

Add the 1/4 cup of olive oil, grab a fork, and mash away. Mash until the jalapeno is evenly distributed and there are no more large chunks of garlic or feta. It should be between the consistency of a dip and a spread... nice and thick but not too thick :)

This recipe made a cup and a half of dip, or 24 tbsp. the calories equal out to 45 cals/tbsp. Not bad at all considering it's mostly cheese and oil. the average mayonnaise is about 90 cals/tbsp, and it's no where near as delicious as this stuff.The pita I used was 160 cals a full round so 80 for a sandwich pita, and the lettuce, tomato, and onion only come to about 10 calories. the zucchini patties were 18 cals each (one per pita) but they weren't that great so you don't have to worry about them :)

that makes a healthy, delicious, filling meal at just 180 cals if you use 2 tbsp of crazy feta, one half pita, and a decent amount of lettuce, tomato, and onion. I love good for you yummy meals :)

Oh, we also made Firefly Arnold Palmers (just in case you felt like you were being too healthy) made with Firefly Sweet Tea Liquor (have you tried it? it's amazing! like Arizona sweet tea with alcohol. Stew being 21 has opened me up to a whole new world of alcoholic beverages), Simply Lemonade, and a wedge of lemon. Soooo good. and the perfect complement to this fresh, tasty Mediterranean meal.

Be back later, have a wonderful tasty tuesday my lovemuffins!

love,
Em

St Paddy's Countdown Day 3

Just pretend this was posted yesterday, ok? ;)

St Patrick's Day drinks pretty much revolve around three things: beer, whiskey, and irish cream. You could combine all three in an epic curdle-y gross irish car bomb, or you could just stick to one poison... and there's also always the option of going through the mcdonald's drivethrough for a shamrock shake- but the idea of going to mcdonald's is almost as gross as the idea of an irish car bomb.

I wanted to do something different. I'm sure people have made these before, but a quick search on google didn't bring up any results. The drink is called a Green Irish- a twist on the White Russian.

The components are pretty much the same- one shot hard alcohol (vodka in a w.r.), 2 shots liqueur (coffee liqueur in a w.r.) and half and half to fill the glass. My version swapped irish whiskey (jameson is a good option) for the vodka and bailey's irish cream for the kahlua coffee liqueur. The half and half stays the same, but I added a few drops of green food coloring to give the drink a fresh, irish tint.

Tastes just how you would expect- like a white russian with an irish twist! Very yummy and decadent. whip up a few for your st paddy's day party :)

1 oz irish whiskey
2 oz irish cream such as Bailey's
half and half
green food coloring (opt)

mix whiskey and irish cream in a glass. Fill with chilled half and half. add a few drops of food coloring and stir well. serve!

Later today I will be back with some awesome irish eats. So excited! I'm going to start cooking right now :)

Happy Mardi Gras!

Bonjour mon chers! Aujourd'hui est Mardi Gras, ou "Fat Tuesday". C'est une celébration très magnifique! Mon cheveux est dans un chignon français pour l'occasion.

Just kidding. If you can't read my cryptic french or are too lazy to go to google translate, the above says
"Hello my dears! Today is Mardi Gras, or "Fat Tuesday". It's a very magnificent holiday! My hair is in a french bun for the occasion".

Mardi Gras is such an awesome holiday! Doesn't it just sound like the most fun idea? Huge street parties with plastic beads and cakes with sugar sprinkles and french creole food and all sorts of other fun stuff. The problem is that it's really hard to capture all that fun the farther away you are from New Orleans... which for me is pretty far. I've tried to throw a couple mardi gras parties in my day, although usually they coincide with someone's birthday or the superbowl so it becomes a joint party. This year I don't have time to go all out with a party, but I decided to do something fun and festive anyways. How do jello shots minus the alcohol because it's a tuesday sound?

Of course, if you want you can add in the alcohol. But if you leave it out it can be a cute little kid-friendly dessert! The idea with these was to make them look like confetti/jewels- because there's a whole lot of both at Mardi Gras! They are also in the colors of green, purple, and gold (the traditional colors of mardi gras). If I had had time I would have bought clear unflavored gelatin and played around with mardi-gras flavors, maybe concocting some sort of jello shot cocktail taste-a-like. However, I did not have time. I ran to the store after dropping stew off at school because I needed floss, and then I noticed the jello aisle. Turns out fry's does not carry plain gelatin. who knew? so anyways, grape, lime, and lemon it is.

At the end, you can go simple and sophisticated with squares, or go all out using cookie cutters or a knife to make creative shapes. You can also decorate them with colored sugar to make them sparkle!

Here's how ya do it:

These are incredibly simple. Hello, it's jello. A four year old can make this stuff.
What you need:
1 pack yellow jello
1 pack green jello
1 pack purple jello
3 cups boiling water
1/2 cup milk/soymilk
colored sugar sprinkles for decorating
2.5 cups cold water OR
1/2 cup water
2 cups vodka

you will also need:
a medium mixing bowl
two medium sized square containers. Just the right size so that when you pour one prepared package of jello into it the liquid comes up to one inch.

1. Begin by making your green and purple jellos. These will need to set completely before you can make your gold jello. To make, bring two cups of water to a boil. In separate mixing bowls or one at a time, measure one cup of boiling water and combine with the contents of each jello package. Stir for about a minute or until dissolved.

2.  Add one cup of cool water to each batch and stir. Pour into separate square containers, cover, and move to the fridge for four hours or until firm.

If you are making alcoholic shots: Pour 1/4 cup of water into each batch of jello. stir and wait about 5 minutes to let the mixture cool a bit. Then add 3/4 cup vodka to each batch and stir. Pour each batch into separate square containers. Cover and move to the fridge for four hours or until firm. 

3. Once firm, remove the jello from the fridge and cut into neat one inch squares.

4. Begin making the gold jello. Boil one cup of water and add it to the contents of your third jello package. Once again, stir until dissolved.

5. Add 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 cup cool water to the jello. stir, and let cool for about ten minutes.

If you are making alcoholic shots: replace the 1/2 cup cool water for 1/2 cup vodka.

6. When the jello is slightly warmer than luke warm, pour it into a slightly larger square dish. Add the squares of green and purple jello and stir so that there is some variety is position. Cover and chill for an additional 3-4 hours.

7. Cut the jello into two inch cubes and garnish with colored sugar sprinkles. Serve and enjoy!

Hope you guys have a fun mardi gras. Celebrate in some way! It's the little things like these holidays and opportunities to celebrate that make life so fun :)

(I might put up pics later, but my jello isn't totally set yet and I don't want it to be all deflated and goopy in the pics!)

1st Day Of Christmas

Yay!! I can finally start posting all my fun 12 days of christmas posts. Now, I can't afford to make gifts for a ton of people- pretty much just my immediate family, in fact. Regardless, I'm going to have to post disclaimers at the beginnings of some of these posts so that some people don't accidentally read them and find out what they're getting from me haha. So... mom, dad, sis, don't read this until after christmas!

Alright, let's get to it! One of the first things I decided to make this year is infused vodka. Originally I was going to make a whole bunch and give little bottles to all my friends and family, but I'm not made of money so I decided that just my immediate family and one or two close friends will be receiving these.

Aren't they pretty? By the way, please excuse the crappy photo quality in this and the next few posts. Like I mentioned a few days ago, I left my nikon d40 charger in prescott over thanksgiving, so I've had to resort to using stewie's little coolpix. needless to say, they aren't exactly equals when it comes to photography. please bear with me :)

Anyways, I wanted to make two different types of infused vodka. I knew I wanted to use rosemary in one of them, because there are giant bushes of rosemary growing outside one of the buildings on the U of A campus and it seems like a damn shame not to use some of it for culinary purposes.

I decided lemon would be a nice compliment to the rosemary flavor. When I started brainstorming about the second infusion, I knew I wanted it to be very christmasy/wintery/holiday-y. So, I decided to use cranberries, apples, cinnamon, and cloves. Kind of like a mulled cran-apple cider!

I started with plain old 10-dollar plastic handle vodka. I had about 1.5 handles. Now, I didn't want to give my friends and family crap vodka but I didn't have the money to buy something more refined. However, I saw on a Good Eats episode once that Crappy Vodka, when filtered with a run-of-the-mill charcoal water filter, becomes Good Vodka. Hooray! So, I just strained the vodka through my water filter a couple times and it did the trick. I mean, the taste didn't make me want to kill myself so I assume it did the trick. Obviously I threw out the filter after that. No vodka-flavored water for me, thanks!

I kept the vodka in the filter until I was ready to use it. For the first infusion, I used about 4 or 5 sprigs of rosemary and the peel of one lemon. I cut the yellow peel away from the lemon (rather than zesting it) and tried to get as little white pith as possible. I also added the juice of half of the peeled lemon and about 2 tbsp white sugar. I put all of those things in one of the empty plastic handles (I rinsed it out with very hot water first- that's why there is whitish condensation obscuring the view in the next few pictures)

Then, I filled it up with half the vodka- it came to about 3/4 of the way up. I put the lid on tight and shook the handle until all the sugar was dissolved.

For the second infusion, I used one pink lady apple (cored and thinly sliced) and about 1/2 cup cranberries, a slit cut in each one to release flavor. I also added two whole cinnamon sticks and about 5 or 6 whole cloves. Finally, I added about 1/3 cup white sugar- the sugar isn't to make the vodka sweet like a liqueur, more to just bring out the flavors. I repeated the process of filling with vodka and shaking.

I let the vodka sit for five days at room temperature, shaking up each handle a few times every day. I taste tested on the third day and check to flavors and then again on the fifth day before I decided to strain.

In preparation, I set out a large bowl (large enough to contain all the vodka), a mesh strainer, paper towels (coffee filters would work to), a measuring cut with a pour spout, and 8 2.5 oz bottles (cleaned beforehand with soap and hot water).

By this time, both vodkas had changed color. The lemon-rosemary was a nice, pale yellow and the cran-apple spice was a pretty shade of orangish-red. I had already strained the lemon-rosemary vodka when I took this picture, but you can get an idea of how both vodkas looked after sitting for five days:

To strain, I lined the mesh strainer with a paper towel and positioned it over the bowl. I poured the vodka into the strainer slowly, allowing it to filter through into the bowl. I then used a measuring cup with a spout to scoop up the vodka and pour it into bottles.

After everything was strained, I was left with 8 bottles of pretty, lightly colored, wonderfully scented/flavored and perfectly clear liquid.

I decided to decorate each bottle with a navy blue ribbon and a little recipe card for a cocktail that could be made with each type of vodka. Obviously I had to actually test the recipes I had come up with to make sure that they were worth making- and I'm glad I did! I think I came up with some really awesome holiday drinks.

The first recipe is for a Lemon-Rosemary Fizz. It reminded Stewie and I of a mojito- only lemon takes the place of the lime and rosemary takes the place of the mint! It's very simple, very refreshing, and very good. Here's the recipe:

1 oz lemon-rosemary vodka (I used one full shot glass to measure)
3 oz sparkling water
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp honey, agave nectar, or simple syrup (I used honey- delicious)

Combine in a cocktail shaker with ice and STIR, do not shake (shaking with cause the sparkling water to build up gas and the cocktail shaker will explode on you. Trust me). Strain into a glass and garnish with rosemary or lemon zest, if desired.

The second recipe is a cran-apple spice martini. This one was my favorite (stew liked the fizz better I think). It tastes just like how the holidays ought to! Delicious, sweet, slightly tart, and full of warm spices. Here is the recipe:

1 oz cran-apple spice vodka
2 oz apple juice
juice from half an orange

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and then strain into a glass. Garnish with cranberries if desired.

yum yum yum! Well there you have it: cheap, delicious, and easy infused vodka. It's such a great gift! And, I posted it early so that there is still time to make it for holiday presents this year ;)

Happy first day of [blogger] christmas!

<3
Emily

Halloween Countdown Day 4: Creepy Cocktails!

  Whaaat? But I thought today was the pumpkin post...

Yeah, it was, and I was pretty darned excited for that post. Unfortunately Stewart had to go and go to work on me, and it's not like I can carve these pumpkins up myself... so that's going to have to wait for tomorrow. Oh well. That just means that for now I can give you some super cool drink recipes!