Green Market WPB

Ben and I went to the Green Market this past weekend. It's one of my favorite things about living downtown...

I Heart Orchids.

And Fresh Peps :)

Tough Decisions.

Spinach and Feta Quiche.

Cranberry Scone.

 Cafe Con Leche. (bottom left)

*not pictured: hot apple cider doughnuts. You might say we went a little overboard?

 

Kitchen Necessities

Anthropologie....gets me every time.

I will own this apron one day, and wear it proudly

Bruschetta Benedict with White Wine Hollandaise

I loooove Eggs Benedict. Love it. I'd say about 99% of the time Ben and I go to brunch (which is just about every weekend), I order Eggs Benedict of some sort. With Canadian bacon, with spinach, with crab cakes (yum!), etc.
I also looove bruschetta...so I decided to combine these 2 loves...
Here's what we need:

Start with the bruschetta. Dice up about 8 plum tomatoes, and chop up about 6 leaves of fresh basil

Next, mince 2 cloves of garlic...OR, if you have a Garlic Zoom (see previous post) just drop them in there and zoom it around your kitchen. Action shot, as promised:

Stir together tomatoes, basil, garlic, salt & pepper, about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, and a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar...let that chill in the fridge

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add a splash of white wine vinegar. One at a time, crack the eggs into a ladle, and slowly lower them into the boiling water

Leave them in for about 2.5 minutes, then remove them  with a slotted spoon, draining the excess water

After all your eggs are poached, set them aside on a plate and cover them to keep them warm.

Melt 2 sticks of butter (sometimes i cook healthily...this is not one of those times.) in a saucepan on medium low heat.

While the butter is melting, slice up the french bread, and brush extra virgin olive oil on both sides of each slice. Broil for about 2 minutes on each side.

Pour 4 egg yolks and a quarter cup of white wine into a blender (I used a hand blender). Turn the blender on low, and very slowly pour in the melted butter, blending all the while. Once the butter is all in, squeeze in the juice of 1 lemon (still blending). If you like a little spice in your life, add some cayenne pepper, and blend that as well.

Top each slice of french bread with a couple spoon fulls of of the bruschetta mixture, a poached egg, and as much hollandaise as your heart desires. Garnish with fresh parsley....

ahhhhhhhhh, the combination of the lemon and white wine in the hollandaise sauce, and the garlic and basil in the bruschetta.....perfection:

 Didn't last very long...

A Few of my Favorite Things...

 

I absolutely love this stuff, SUGAR LEMON perfume, lotion, and shower gel...smells delicious

BEST LIPGLOSS EVER

CO Bigelow Peppermint Lipgloss. Not only does this little tube of happiness leave your lips shiny and smooth, it also gives you fresh minty breath. They also make cinnamon flavor, which i love as well.

Get yo'self a tube asap!

Ahhhhhh where do I begin? Reading has always been one of my favorite pastimes. My older and wiser sister had been trying to get me to read  Harry Potter for a couple years, and i always just brushed it off...being the diehard twilight fan that i was/still am (although i liked it a lot better before the movie came out and the Robert Pattinson craziness ensued), i would think to myself "eh, wizards? no vampires? no thanks."  Oh how wrong I was. I eventually came to my senses and started the series, and just recently (and tearfully) finished the final book...I've now turned into a full blown Potter fanatic. If you haven't read the serious DO IT!

Zoom Zoom Zoom

The Garlic Zoom! This little man is one of my favorite tools in the kitchen. If you like to cook with garlic, (which i definitely do!) and don't own one of these, you'll want to fix that problem as soon as possible. Instead of risking finger tips by chopping up tiny garlic cloves with a knife, you just open the hatch, drop a few in, and zoom it around your countertop a few times...and you have fresh, perfectly chopped (or minced?) garlic.

I'll try to post some action shots with it in one of my future recipe posts - something to look forward to ;)

Fiesta Fiesta

This meal is one of Ben's FAVORITES that I make. I'd say it even makes his top 3. I thought it a safe bet for my first recipe post. It is definitely not a difficult meal to make. You can find a simple enchilada recipe on the back of a tortilla package. I've  made it several times now, each time experimenting with my own additions to the basic recipe.
I have finally decided exactly how I like to make it...

The ingredients:

 (I forgot to include the spices in the pic: ground cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and chipotle Tabasco)

Start by browning about a pound of ground beef on the stove top (You can  easily make a healthier version of this meal if you prefer, using ground turkey, whole wheat tortillas, reduced fat cheese...or even a vegetarian version by skipping the meat and just using refried or black beans)

 

While the meat is cooking, shred the cheese. When melting cheese, it us much better to shred your own as opposed to using the bagged shredded cheese. (My mom taught me that ;) I like to use a combination of pepper jack and sharp cheddar.

 

Those of you who know me well know that these are not my hands...they belong to my sous chef for the evening, Jodi.

 Next, chop up some green onions (about 5) and a handful of cilantro.

Once the meat is brown, drain the fat, and add a teaspoon of ground cumin (give or take), teaspoon of cayenne pepper, and about a tablespoon of chili powder (again, give or take?). Add about half a cup of red enchilada sauce, and let that simmer on medium heat for a few minutes. I like to add a few splashes of chipotle Tabasco, but it's not entirely necessary.

Assembly time...

Start each enchilada by spreading a thin layer of cream cheese on the tortilla

Next add a layer of refried beans, a layer of meat, some shredded cheese, and green onions

 

Roll it up, and place in a baking dish (in which you have already poured a thin layer of enchilada sauce)

Once they are all in, pour a good amount of enchilada sauce on top of that

 Once it's drenched to your liking, add the rest of the shredded cheese on top

Bake it in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes

When it's done, garnish with cilantro

Isn't she beautiful?

Very easy to make and it's sooooooooooooo good.

NewlyWedded Bliss

God has blessed me more than i could have imagined with my amazing husband and best friend, Benjamin. We have been married just over 6 months now, and I'm loving life as a  new wife.
I love my husband, I love to cook, and he loves to eat (as do I)...thus the aforementioned wedded bliss ;)
Having lived in a college dorm for two years, and in a tiny house with 4-5 other girls (whom i love and miss!) for several years after that, I am new to cooking for such an eager recipient, especially in a well equiped kitchen. I am in the process of learning and expanding my culinary horizons. My hopes and dreams for this blog are to document my adventures in the kitchen, along with other enjoyable highlights of our new life together...
(photo courtesy of JessicaLorren.com)