lamburger + apple vinegar onions + cumin mayo

casey is being a sweetheart and driving down to oregon to purchase some much anticipated gifts. i get to sit here bloggin' while he looks for the best deal/package, most convenient/practical purchase. than when he comes home he gets to install it. i am one lucky girl. and...i might as well take advantage and cook all the nasty things he doesn't like to eat. so at my trip to the store one day I am very pleasantly surprised to find ground lamb meat. i also spoil myself with asparagus and more mushrooms. woohoo!
1 onion

splash of apple cider vinegar

< 1 tsp sugar

olive oil + butter

lamb mince meat

-spices/oils/flavorings

mayo + cumin (stolen from zen can cook)

shrooms (i went with cremini)

i started with caramelizing the onions, once they have sweated add a splash of apple cider vinegar about a 1/4 c. some sugar and lots of sea salt. :)

not sure how other people caramelize onions but i find i have to keep them very moist, preferably with a light beer (it gives such awesome flavor!) or with water or broth. whatever makes you happy. once they are done set them aside and in the same pan soften 3-4 mushrooms. get the lamb meat out while the shrooms are a'cookin. mix with whatever spices you'd like. since my toppings were extravagant I kept it simple with parsley, garlic powder and olive oil, sea salt and pepper too of course, i would have added onions like i usually do but i was too lazy to cut up another one. gah. form into patties. start grilling. heaven to follow. as stated before, i ate this alone but i had plenty of lamb to make two patties. i stuffed my face. so very overly full. give me more!

thai chicken

I'm not thai. I call this thai chicken because it has thai basil and thai peppers.

eh, so what did I have in here, besides those two ingredients? Cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, garlic, chicken...

i marinated the chicken in sesame oil, olive oil, beer, cumin, dry parsley, sriracha, and fish oil for approximately 2 hrs. started caramelizing some onions and garlic, than added all ingredients. not a huge rice fan so i cooked up some pasta, coated it with sesame oil. super delicious! so wonderful. i have fallen in love with thai peppers. they imbue spicy-ness but loads of flavor.

a study in mushrooms

i have no photography skills/education/background. zero. zip. i wanted to take a picture of my shiitake mushrooms I purchased. according to a book I am reading they are very healthy for you. they contain lentinian which stimulates the immune system. rates of stomach cancer in japanese people who consume 'large amounts' of certain mushrooms (of which shiitake is included) are 50% less. mushrooms are also being used in conjunction with chemotherapy. back to photography though, I am learning very slowly. i have to remind myself to play with light and move things around and change locations. it's fun. all in all I now have 19 pictures of shiitake mushrooms. they have the names shroom, shrooom and shroooom.

more beauty

beauty

strawberry arugula salad

no matter what I do I always initially type strawberry as starberry. eh, regardless. yummy salad though maybe better with spinach...strawberries with almonds in arugula with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt. (because I love salt)

miller light chicken pot pie

this chicken pot pie was pretty phenomenal if I do say so myself. every bite was packed with flavorful bits of creamy leek and herby thyme. i'm sure the butter and the beer helped with the homemade broth.

preheat oven to 425. start browning the chicken (1/2 lbs) in butter. than add a 1/4 c of miller light (or some other lager) and 1 3/4 c of water with a few sprigs of thyme and three bay leafs. simmer for 15 min.
while it's simmering chop up one leek and carrots. simmer in butter and add the garlic after it has sweated for a bit.

after the 15 minutes of simmering chicken is done reserve the chicken in a bowl and keep the broth in a measuring cup, you'll need 1 3/4 c. start the roux, 1/3 c butter and two heaping teaspoons of flour. add 2/3 c cold milk, bring to boil constantly whisking until it thickens. add broth. add a handful (or two) of frozen peas.
set up your pan. i think i will try biscuits next time but last night I used puff pastry which never fully cooked (fine with me since I enjoy doughy pastry 'crust') but if I was serving this to people I would have been embarrassed. (trust me the picture doesn't give the doughyness justice). did I thaw the puff pastry for too long? (over one hour) did I not have the oven hot enough? who knows. either way the filling was ridiculous. whoever discovered how to make butter...you are a little weird, i mean really who decides to churn and churn and churn milk?? but nevertheless you rock.

carrot muffins

didn't even bother to adapt this recipe, (minus the walnuts). took it straight from Handle the Heat. very moist. will enjoy these in the days to come.

scalloped 'muffin' potatoes

these were so super delicious. i combined two recipes. one was a traditional scalloped potato recipe where I used the roux-based sauce and the other, a muffin based recipe that included the green onions. to start off I made a blonde roux, added half and half and some milk, added the medium sharp cheddar cheese, added the green onions, I used five, but wish I had added more. i put a very small amount of butter in each muffin holder, put a layer of potato on the bottom, and layered alternatively with sauce, potato, sauce, potato and topping it with a bit of cheddar. cooked it at 350 for 30 minutes.

gorgonzola sauce and a few words on roux

before anything is started cut some cherry tomatoes in half (you can never have too much), stick them in an oven proof dish, slather them in olive oil, salt and parsley and broil them until they look tasty.

adapted the gorgonzola recipe from my kitchen addiction. i didn't use any of the measurements. this was a meal for one... and I was a too lazy to measure. i really feel like a roux can be guesstimated. so first thing, heat three minced cloves of garlic in butter, don't let them burn. I added flour for the roux, it looked pretty clumpy but with heat and a little time it 'relaxed' a bit. honestly I have no idea how much I added. broke out the cookbook from college and it doesn't even give measurements save for saying 'add flour...stir to form paste'. i love it. i made a blonde roux and than added enough (whole) milk to make a slightly thicker sauce than desired. adding the cheese will thin it down a bit. i tried to cook it for about 10 minutes to get all the flour flavor out but really it should be cooked for about 20. took it off the stove and added the gorgonzola (to flavor). YUM!

Don't forget the pasta. mix everything together for some yummyness.