Buttery Lemon and Garlic Baked Salmon

It's a small portion of Salmon (3oz.) sitting on lemon slices, topped with salt, pepper, a clove of minced garlic and 1/4 Tbs. unsalted butter topped with another lemon slice. I did NOT close the foil but left it open and baked it at 400 till done which was about 12 min. Here's how it came out of the oven!!!



Then we "grilled" in our cast iron grill skillet some rosemary asparagus like my Dad makes and added them.

It's super easy to make the Rosemary Asparagus just toss with a tiny bit of oil and then season to taste with salt, pepper, and hubby likes to add some dried rosemary and McCormick Perfect Pinch Sweet Onion & Herb. Though you could do any variation of herbs/spices you like. You could also keep it simple and just do the salt/pepper/rosemary and fresh rosemary instead of dried is easy too you just use less to taste. It's just nice to use the cast iron grill pan to get the blackened grilled taste from it, but I'm sure it would be great simply roasted too.



WOW was it so good and the total Cals. for this very light lunch was about 210!!! That makes it pretty easy to add maybe some sort of grain as well like Quinoa, Farro, Rice, or Couscous. But for yesterday I kept it just like this to give me more smaller snacks/meals throughout the day.



Not sure if you can see from the photo, but it was so tender and juicy and it was more than enough butter in fact I would use that amount for a larger piece next time. The butter, lemon, and garlic created a sauce that was just spectacular! It's crave worthy! It tasted like something you'd expect from a 4 Star Restaurant! Add a bottle of Mumm's Cordon Rouge Champagne (which is light bubbly and lemony) and you'd have a very special dinner!

Update:  I've made this Salmon several times now and I use 1-2 Cloves of Garlic each piece of Salmon and typically they are 4oz. and I use 5g of butter dotted on top.  Don't forget to salt and pepper them and use as much thinly sliced lemon as will cover the bottom of the Salmon.

Ceviche Style Shrimp Tacos

I made Ceviche Style Shrimp Tacos for lunch one day.  I used 3 Mini Tortillas (heated on the gas stove top burner) and diced the red onion in with the shrimp.  Hubby had gotten the cooked frozen shrimp so all you have to do is defrost them and use them cold which makes it a very fast grab and make thing. I just chopped a 3oz serving of the shrimp into smaller bits. Then I squeezed lime juice, tossed in some cilantro, smoked paprika salt & pepper all to taste as well as some diced red onion. So it's kinda like a salsa. I think adding avocado would also be yummy.  I really love those little mini tortillas they are so fun and 3 was perfect for a 3 oz serving of shrimp!

Savory Chicken and Mushrooms with Grilled Asparagus topped with Quick Kimchi

Last week we made our own variation of the Top Chef Winner's Blue Apron Recipe! We just LOVE that quick Kimchi!
https://www.blueapron.co
m/recipes/seared-chicken-t
highs-kimchi-with-braised-
lettuce-maitake-mushrooms

We used the recipe for the Top Chef Winner Meal, used 4 cloves garlic instead of the amount they say, and followed the recipe for the Kimchi but I used Hot Hungarian Paprika and it tasted the same as the Korean Chili.

We made our grill pan asparagus as always (heat a cast-iron grill pan till hot, spray with high heat Pam and add the asparagus -1 bundle woody parts snapped off, cut, tossed in 1/2 teaspoon olive oil, sprinkled with McCormik's Sweet Onion and Herb Seasoning, salt & pepper, rosemary- cook stirring occasionally tenting with aluminum foil till tender) and hubby made the boneless skinless chicken breast in the skillet so we can get the fond in the bottom of the pan.  (Add 1/2-1 Tsp. Olive Oil heat on medium high till hot add chicken loosely cover with aluminum foil to keep in heat and let out steam for 3 minutes and 30 seconds, flip recover and cook for a second 3 minutes and 30 seconds (or until cooked through that time is usually perfection for us).  Remove from pan and let chicken rest on a warmed plate covered with aluminum foil for at about 5 minutes. 

When you take the chicken out to rest we added another teaspoon or 2 of oil and I added 2 of those small boxes of pre sliced shiitake mushrooms and cooked them until goldenly scrumptious then I added the rest of the white bottoms of the scallions, garlic, ginger. Then after they were fragrant I added 1/2 cup water, 1 tsp. Korr Reduced Sodium Reduced Stock and 1/2 Tbs. unsalted butter. Cook until combined and it tightens up.

One Recipe...Three Spin Offs aka Sweet and Spicy Kumquat Glazed Chicken/Fish With Various Options

Here's the Original Blue Apron Recipe:
https://www.blueapron.co
m/recipes/catfish-with-kum
quat-chili-basil-glaze-wat
ercress-cracked-freekeh

We wanted to make this recipe but didn't want to get the shipment that week so we had to set out to gather ingredients and I was fully prepared to substitute Farro which we have in our pantry for the Freekeh but we just so happened to stop by a Sprouts and find some Cracked Freekeh there and bought some!



For some reason the Kumquats were hard for us to find too and they just so happened to also have them at the Sprouts we stopped at. That store is not nearby us so it was on a day trip outing that we stopped by there like we usually do when out that way. The bad news was by the time we found the Kumquats there was no good catfish so we substituted Tilapia instead. I also just used our Rice Flour instead of Instant Flour because we already know it works perfectly and we have it. We also had to substitute a Serrano Pepper for the Bird's Eye because we couldn't find any and just needed one to add heat and boy did it add heat!!! I would do half a chili next time! OH and I also simply used less Freekeh than called for the recipe asks for 3 servings and I just cut it down to 2 instead and it was just as awesome. Sometimes the Blue Apron Recipes can have Portion Distortion but I've read comments on recipes of people complaining the portions are too small and I'm like REALLY??? LOL So I think they try to give people bigger amounts because of all the complaints...OY! Like one time I saw people complaining over a 4 Ounce Salmon Portion and I'm like if you look it up that IS 1 portion and what they thought of as 1 portion was in fact 2 portions!!! So a lot of things I tweak in all kinds of recipes is some of the ratios to make a better portion size. We also used an actual portion of Tilapia and not a whole giant filet.

When we were eating this the Kumquat Glaze was fantastic!!! I mean it was spicy, sweet, citrusy and just all around wonderful! The taste reminded us of Orange Chicken...which lead me down the road of creative thinking to come up with other ways to use it! The cool thing about having bought the Kumquats is we only used a small amount of the little box of them so we had more to use up! So here come the Spinoffs!!!



Sweet and Spicy Kumquat Glazed Chicken with Garlic Cracked Freekeh and Wilted Baby Arugula!

This time instead of using a fresh chili, since we used the last one and didn't have anymore as well, we used a little bit of Crushed Red Pepper and it was perfect!!! It might have been about 1/8-1/4 tsp. of the Crushed Red Pepper, it just depends on how spicy you like it and how much heat your crushed red pepper has!!! LOL

We cut the chicken breast into pieces and cooked them up leaving the fond in the pan. Then when they went to rest we made the glaze in the pan to use the fond with it. Then we tossed the chicken back into the glaze when done.

For the Freekeh we cooked 2 servings as per the directions then drained and rinsed it then returned it to the pan and added some sauteed garlic with the bit of olive oil it was cooked in, the white parts of a couple scallions, and a large handful of baby arugula. Added salt and pepper to taste and set it aside for the arugula to wilt while we finished up the chicken and glaze.

To plate we split the Freekeh and topped it with our Kumquat Glazed Chicken and sprinkled the green parts of the scallions on top! Oh it was SO GOOD! We will make this again for sure! We are even dreaming of making this with oranges too, it was so easy to make the glaze that if we had known how easy it was a long time ago we would have made something like this back then! The neat thing about the Cracked Freekeh is it's texture is a lot like rice, but really you could use any grain you wish from rice, farro, quinoa, to even couscous or cauliflower "rice"! I just love how interchangeable things can be and it makes it fun and a creative thing for me to play with!

Last Spinoff coming up!!!



Sweet and Spicy Kumquat Glazed Chicken over Baby Arugula!!!

The Baby Arugula (1 box or bag) is dressed in Trader Joe's Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar (2tsp), Olive Oil (2tsp), Salt and Pepper whisked together and tossed to coat. To plate we split the Dressed Baby Arugula between two plates topped it with half the Kumquat Glazed Chicken, then sprinkled the Pepitas (8g per person), Reduced Sugar Craisins (10g per person) and Edible Flowers on top which was mostly marigolds that just so happen to pair wonderfully with the kumquats! Of course the citrusy vinaigrette went perfect with the citrusy glaze!

When we were at Sprouts I had seen Edible Flowers in the section with the little herb boxes so I grabbed some!!! I've eaten some flowers before like pansies and violas and they pretty much taste like lettuce so I didn't have a fear of using flowers. But I've never tried a marigolds before and I was a little scared of them but I cut the large ones in half and then they kinda fell apart but it worked out because they sprinkled nicely over everything. I was the most surprised that the flavor of the marigolds went so well with the kumquat glaze, it really was wonderful! And FUN!

Chicken, Dressed Baby Arugula and Garlic-Lemon Mayo Sauce Flatbread!

Our lastest Culinary Invention is this delish flatbread that we experimented in making!  We absolutely loved it!  It was spectacular!  In fact we are making it again tonight because we can't get enough!  LOL

Do you see that drip of awesome sauce right there!?!  Yup, the white one!  LOL  That is what inspired this dish!  The first time we had it was in a recipe from Blue Apron, the Japanese Okonomiyaki with Dressed Mizuna & Garlic-Lemon Sauce.  We made the Garlic-Lemon Sauce the same way and dressed the 85g Baby Arugula with Lemon Juice and a Drizzle of Olive Oil!  The flatbread is simply 4 oz. of Bread in 5 Master Dough per person formed into a rustic shape aka not perfect round like pizza.  Then I spread a thin layer of olive oil over the dough, sprinkled with salt and pepper and popped it in the oven to cook.  We also added 2 oz. of grilled chicken to each that we cooked while the bread was baking.  When the flatbread comes out of the oven we split the Garlic Lemon Sauce between the 2 breads, topped with half the dressed Baby Arugula each, and then the 2 oz. of sliced Chicken to finish it.  Tonight when we make this again I am going to add some of the green tops of scallions as the final touch!

This was out of this world garlicy goodness!

Blue Apron: Week of 16 Sept.

First we made the Lamb Sliders with Harissa-Labneh Sauce & Cucumber Salad! This was so very good!  We really enjoyed these little mini burgers and the middle eastern flavors!  We'd make it again, maybe skip the lamb and just keep it simple with ground beef since I'm not even sure we could find ground lamb or a a mix for that matter! LOL  But we really loved these!  It was the perfect amount of spiciness too!

Next we made the Chicken Hiyashi Chuka with Fresh Ramen Noodles & Summer Vegetables!  This also was a home run! Though finding the fresh ramen noodles and the spice blend would make it hard to make this again though if it was easy to come by we totally would!  I forgot to add the corn in before I took the photo but once we started eating we realized the mistake and added it in...too late for the photo, but WOW the corn really went so well with it, one of the best elements!

Last we made the Peperonata & Fried Eggs with Creamy Parmesan Polenta.  When I was a kid my Dad was stationed in Italy and I got to experience a lot of food and culture, one day I remember getting to taste Polenta at school it was part of "Host Nation" class.  Anyway I remember the firm kind that was in a rectangular stick, it was bland beyond belief and I remember it tasting rubbery.  I have a lot of good food memories from Italy but polenta wasn't one of them!!! LOL  So I've always been hesitant when it comes to polenta even though I've never had creamy polenta and seen it left and right on Food Network!  So when we made this dish I was happily curious to finally get to taste it and see if it was better!  And it was!  Yes this creamy polenta was delish!  In fact because of this experience I will be open to making it many more times in the future!

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese Two Ways!

First I had found a recipe for Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese with Crispy Sage on Blue Apron.  I printed out the recipe and made it with white pasta, flour, breadcrumbs instead of whole wheat...I'm not fond of whole wheat things and I already had these things in the white variety so I used them!  This turned out really great!  I added the cinnamon they recommended and I really enjoyed this dish it really reminded me of fall and pumpkin things!  The cinnamon really brings out and enhances the squash flavor.  Also the crispy sage is a real treat!  It's fried in the butter so it gets a nice brown butter taste to it as well, it's something I will make again for sure!  After enjoying this recipe I got an idea for another variation and this is what I came up with since I had a half a butternut squash leftover!

Brown Butter Garlic Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese!  I made it very similar to the original except I added 2 cloves garlic microplaned into paste to the butter!  This was really amazing too and it had a nice garlic flavor and you really didn't realize that butternut squash was in it!  It would be a good hidden veggie dish to make for people!

A side note is that with both versions of this recipe we split it into 4 servings instead of 2!  Split into 2 was just way too huge!  I could even see it split into 6 easily and served with a side salad.

Blue Apron: Week of 9 Sept. Plus Bonus

First we made the Smoky Swiss Chard & Black Bean Tostada!  They were really good but not something we would make all the time because of the Swiss Chard, it's not our favorite green.  It was our first time having Mexican Crema and using Roasted Piquillo Pepper!  We loved both those things!  We both thought that it could have used a tad more spice since beans tend to suck up flavor and can mellow flavor.  We loved the idea and would play around with ideas to make future flavors of Tostadas that aren't typical or traditional because it was fun and different!

 Here's us working on the Eggplant Parmesan!

 The next day we made the Eggplant Parmesan with Chia Seeds.  Instead of egg for a binder they used Chia Seeds, it was our first time working with Chia Seeds they worked okay but I'm not sure that it's not easier to just use egg!!! LOL  We loved the flavors it was good but I felt it didn't have enough Parmesan.  If I made it again I would rework how it was made and would do like what I did the next day with a few extra components we had left over!

Reworked Eggplant Parmesan!  I used a breaded eggplant slice and set it in a little Corningware dish then I topped it with a 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce, placed the basil, then the mozzerella cheese, but I topped it with a 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese and popped the whole thing in the Broiler on Lo for about 2 min. and the cheese was nice and browned and crispy and the flavor with the extra parmesan was amazing!  I would make it exactly like this from now on!

Last we made the Heirloom Carrot & Toasted Farro Salad with Labneh Cheese & Pickled Dates!  We LOVED this dish!  It was so wonderful!  We loved everything about it the dates and almonds, the Lebneh Cheese that we had for the first time, the mint, the Toasted Farro, the roasted carrots with sumac!  We would totally make it again!  Now if we can find the Labneh Cheese that would be awesome!  LOL  The Labneh tasted kind of like a cream cheese but with more of a yogurt taste to it and the texture was similar to a Greek yogurt.  If I can't find Labneh I might consider trying to make something using other ingredients to give a similar taste and texture, like say mixing cream cheese with plain Greek yogurt.

For the Bonus we bought the ingredients for the Pork Chops with Smashed Sweet Potato, Roasted Broccoli & Herbs!  And yes we got the wrong kind of sweet potato, not the one with the orange flesh so it looks like regular mashed potatoes in this photo!!! LOL  Ah well!  It was okay, this wasn't our favorite, I prefer my broccoli cooked a bit different I think if I were to try to roast broccoli again I would first steam it half way and then roast it in the oven the other half, by just roasting it was still a bit undercooked but a tad burnt at the same time, the blackened bits were good tasting but ya I would just like it a bit more tender than it was.  The smashed sweet potato was okay as well, the maple flavor wasn't strong enough, I would probably consider using a maple syrup if I tried it again.  But I am happy to have found Maple Sugar and I love it mixed in yogurt now!  Also the pork chop was good but I would have preferred some sort of spice rub on it.  So there ya go!

Blue Apron: 4 Recipes This Week

This week we opted for the Vegetarian Options to be sent to us but I really wanted to try the Chicken Recipe for that week too so we bought the ingredients for it and made it as well!  Here's the results of what we made!

First we made the Japanese Okonomiyaki with Dressed Mizuna & Garlic-Lemon Sauce!  I was a bit worried about this recipe, I'm not fond of whole wheat flour and such and I was unsure about the cabbage as well.  But we loved it!  All of it!  The two sauces really made the whole thing taste amazing.  One sauce was sweeter and the other sauce was nice and garlic-y and the two played together really well!  As for the cabbage I didn't really notice it so it was a great combo of veggies, and the whole wheat flour you couldn't really tell that was there because the sauces were strong enough!  Also the Mizuna dressed with lemon really added a brightness that also played amazing with the sauces.  I had never had mizuna before or a Japanese Okonomiyaki and I loved it all!  We would make this again for sure!  It was one of those things we would never have tried or made on our own but did because of Blue Apron!  I really appreciate how many things I'm getting to make and try new and loving them!

Next we made the Fresh Cavatelli & Sun Gold Tomatoes with Basil Seed Ricotta & Opal Basil.  This one we really enjoyed the ricotta with basil seeds but the pasta was good but not our favorite and I put a bit too much red pepper flakes so it was a tad too hot for my tastes and for some reason I don't really care for those little cherry tomatoes.  I think it might be the skins on them are a bit too, what's the right word to describe maybe tough or too thick.  I also wish I had added a bit less of the basil.  I do like basil but if it's too strong it's not my favorite.  I could see lots of people really liking this, it's just not my preference is all.  Again really loved the ricotta with the basil seeds that was a really nice touch!  I could see stuffing some little tomatoes with that mixture for a little snack or appetizer!

The last recipe we made from the shipment was Rose Romaine & Painted Oak Lettuce Salad with Plums, Cucumber & Toasted Brie Baguettes!  This was a real winner!  We will make this again for sure!  One note the instructions say to peel the cucumber and I say DON'T!  I kept the peel on for the nutritional benefits and it was still amazing!  The new delectable treat I got to try for the first time was BRIE!!!  Oh my goodness I've been missing out!  LOL  I also loved making the vinaigrette it was fun and I loved the flavor of it too.  It was sweeter using the sherry vinegar and honey as well as the shallots being sweeter, it was a nice tangy-sweet dressing!  It pairs so perfectly with the flavor of the Brie!  The plums really made the sweetness stand out and the cucumbers went well too.  We'll make this dish again.  We've already bought some Brie and I plan on making baguettes from the Artisan Bread in 5 Master Dough.  For the lettuce I'll just buy a baby lettuce mix, it's easy to substitute since it's simply a leafy lettuce and a romaine so any combo of those types will work.  Also I'll probably up the size of the salad and lower the size of the bread and use only 1 serving of cheese next time.  I do so love my salads!  LOL

Here's the bonus meal we made!  And it's for sure a winner-winner-chicken-dinner!!! LOL  It's the Chicken & Snow Pea-Radish Sauté with Candied Pistachios!  This is OMG!!!  We made sure we bought chicken breasts with the bone in and skin on and I'm so glad we did because it was so juicy and flavorful!  It's simply seasoned with salt and pepper but oh wow it was like eating at a restaurant!  You use the fond and juices from the chicken left in the pan to saute the potatoes, radishes and snow peas and it's just amazing!  I've never had cooked radishes before and I have to say I liked them that way too!  They mellow out and aren't spicy like they normally are raw.  All the flavors worked together so well like the sweetness of the snow peas and the candied pistachios were out of this world good and went with all the flavors really well too!  They were so easy to make I was so surprised and we will make them again just on their own as a special little treat!
The only difference we had to make was that I can't find fresh tarragon locally so I had to settle for adding a quarter teaspoon of dried tarragon when I added the shallots to the saute pan.  It worked, but of course the fresh herbs make a huge difference.  I'm now dreaming of an herb garden with tarragon as one of the new herbs I have fallen in love with that is used a lot in Blue Apron meals!
Have you any doubt that we will be making this one again?!! LOL  This is one I would say you HAVE to try and make yourself even if you normally wouldn't!
And for this meal we tried out Kendall-Jackson's Vintner's Reserve Sauvingon Blanc 2012 the brightness of the lime and crispness of this wine went well with this meal as well as the nice mineral finish and it had a sweetness too!  It just really worked.  It reminded me of an unoaked chardonnay.

Baby Kale Maitake Mushroom Salad

I tried out Baby Kale for the first time and found that I really enjoy the taste of it!  So for lunch one day I dressed some Baby Kale in a serving of Panera's Balsamic Vinaigrette and topped it with a serving of Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (28g) and then topped it with some Sauteed Maitake Mushrooms (about 3oz).  It all tasted really good together the brightness of the balsamic really contrasted nice with the earthy flavors of the baby kale, mozz and maitake mushrooms.

Another Week of Blue Apron Meals!

First we made the Tomato, Watermelon & Farro Salad with Seared Halloumi!  It was wonderful, a home run, a surprising spectacular treat!  LOL  We loved it so much that we have already made it a total of 3 times, though we can't find Halloumi we used Yanni Grilling Cheese instead and I think I prefer the texture of the Grilling Cheese even better!  The watermelon in this was the most surprising to me, it was a nice sweet bite and I really enjoyed it in this dish so very much!  The mix of basil and mint was really fun and refreshing tasting too.  Also the Farro was dressed with a honey and red wine vinegar dressing before added to the watermelon, tomato, shallot combo.  I would never have thought to do something like that and the results were very succulent!   This recipe is also pretty easy to make and the longest amount of time is for the farro to cook!

Next we made the Palak Paneer with Naan Bread & Kachumber Salad!  We loved this recipe as well and plan on making it again too!  It was fun wilting the spinach down and was our first time doing that.  The results were very fresh and good tasting.  I've worked with frozen spinach in the past and didn't like the taste and now I know that I can simply wilt spinach myself and have much better flavor results!  We were surprised at how easy it really was to make and had never tried to make anything like this before because of how daunting it seemed.  Well it's easy-peasy!  So simple and the results are worth it too!

Lastly we made the Whole Wheat Gramigna Pasta with Roasted Corn & Baby Greens.  We enjoyed this one too, not as much as the other two but I would make it again using different pasta like penne or farfalle.  If anyone is a fellow Trekkie you might enjoy that this looks a lot like Klingon Gagh!  LOL

Zucchini "Pizza"

Well I had seen an idea for Zucchini "Pizza" on Pinterest but decided to do it my own way instead of following another person's preferred method.  I also had a very LARGE zucchini from the garden that I needed to use up.  You can still use them large though you have to scoop out the more mature middle with seeds.

While the oven was preheating to 400 I simply scooping out the middle, and coated the halves with olive oil, sprinkled with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Then added my fave pizza sauce, Mezzetta, and then added 56g which is 2 servings of shredded mozzarella cheese to each half, then I cut some pepperoni into quarters and only used 3 and a half slices total for each half.  Then I stuck them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and cooked for about 15 min. till the fork could pierce them and then I transferred them to the broiler on low for 2 min.

I tell you the broiler does magical things!  LOL  The result was nice browned cheese, crispy pepperoni, and a nice tender-crisp zucchini flesh!  The favor was amazing, everything you love about pizza but meanwhile transforming zucchini in a new way!  The zucchini flavor was hidden by all the flavors and you just got really yummy pizza to eat!  I would do the same thing for normal size zucchini, simply adjusting the amounts of things, but it's nice that the larger one resembles French Bread Pizza!  And the middle was nice and oooy-gooy cheesy!

I will make this again and again!

Steak, Cauliflower Rice, and Heirloom Tomatoes

I've really been loving Heirloom Tomatoes lately, I mean look at how pretty these are!!!  I simply dressed them with red wine vinegar and salt and pepper.

We cooked the steak in a pan so that we would get the tasty fond, the brown bits, and extra juices left behind to flavor the cauliflower "rice" with.  See I learned that trick from Blue Apron!!!  Fond is your Friend!  LOL

For the cauliflower rice, it was a trying-something-new experience for me!  I used a recipe I found on Pinterest for Roasted Cauliflower Rice from A Spicy Perspective Blog.  After adding a teaspoon of oil and some onion to the pan with fond, and that being ready, I added the "rice" to it so that it would collect up all the flavor there!  It turned out really well!  Now I would NOT say that it is the same as rice because it's not in so many ways...I think it fails as rice.  However, I loved the cauliflower rice itself and would make it for it's own yummy uniqueness but I would not use it the same as I would use rice.  It would simply be a side dish instead.

Last Weeks Blue Apron Meals

This weeks meals were not our favorites so far but there were a few things we did like in a couple.  First we had made the Roadside Noodles with Bell Pepper, Tomato & Broccoli Rabe.  I'm not sure what happened but it did not turn out like the photo on the recipe.  We thought we followed the directions correctly but you never know if we messed something up unknowingly.  But even if we would have done it perfectly neither of us liked the flavors of this one.  We ended up making something else for dinner instead.  You win some and you lose some, not every meal is going to be a perfect love it experience but from what we've been experiencing the ones that are amazing make it all worth it in the end!

The next recipe we tried was the Summer Vegetable Stew with Cranberry Beans & Crispy Mushroom Salad.  We liked this one okay, we ate it willingly but decided we wouldn't make it again.  What we liked about this one was the Crispy Mushroom Salad that had fresh corn cut from the cob and used oyster mushrooms!  I think if it hadn't had that salad topping it we wouldn't have enjoyed it at all so it really saved the day!  We also liked the okra in this dish.  I've always like okra and love the nutty flavor of it!

The last meal we made was the one I was really looking forward to making the most!  It's was the Zucchini Fritters with Endive, Nectarine & Parmesan Salad.  I think what we didn't like about it was simply the mistakes that we made making it.  I think we didn't salt it enough, the directions said to salt to taste but didn't give a good starting measurement to go by so we tended to under season it.  The batter didn't turn out right and I think it was the lack of salt causing the zucchini to not sweat into the batter and liquifying it to the desired consistency.  I would try this again to see if we could perfect making it and have it turn out better the next time.  Because the fritter batter ended up being to dry after all it was more like a hash than a fritter!!! LOL  Oh well, I see it as a good learning experience!  We did eat it all though!  And I really really loved the Endive, Nectarine & Parmesan Salad!  I didn't really know what endive tasted like but it has a very normal lettuce type flavor and I was surprised how the parmesan went so well with the nectarine!

Even those these 3 weren't the most amazing we've had, we learned tons along the way and look forward to what is still to come!  Oh and we've also been making the Spice-Rubbed Pork Medallions with Peach Salsa & Cilantro-Green Bean Rice here and there, and have actually made it a total of 3 times now!  That one is such a hands down winner!  My friend, and also my sister have both made it with success and love it too!  OH and for the spice rub we substituted dried tarragon instead of the ground fennel since we couldn't find it and the flavors are similar and it worked well.

Garlic, Butter, and Olive Oil Angel Hair Pasta with Maitake Mushrooms

Today my order of Maitake Mushrooms arrived today so I was inspired to whip up some Angel Hair Pasta using them!  This is about 100g Maitake Mushrooms browned in a teaspoon of Olive Oil and 1/2 Tablespoon Butter.  I added a cloved of garlic minced up to that when they were near done.  I added the cooked Angel Hair Pasta, I only used 1oz. pasta which is a half serving since it was only lunchtime, added salt and pepper to taste and when it sizzled I plated it!
I was too hungry to take a really good photo but I did snap this one for Instagram/Facebook and then after eating it and being like "OMG this tastes so awesome!" I had to grab the photo and blog it here too.  I can't wait to make this for dinner but I would do a full serving of pasta next time instead of the half serving of 1oz.  I just made less for lunch.
I tell ya, I am in love with Maitake Mushrooms!  The taste is different from the normal mushroom taste.  More nutty!  It went well with the butter and garlic flavors!

Food Adventure with Blue Apron's Fresh Gnocchi & Maitake Mushrooms with Sweet Corn & Thyme Brown Butter

   Last night we made the third meal that was shipped to us this week by Blue Apron!  It's the Fresh Gnocchi & Maitake Mushrooms with Sweet Corn & Thyme Brown Butter!  WOW was it great!  I'm already a fan of Gnocchi since as I said before I lived in Italy as a kid because my Dad was stationed there.  I remember the first time I ate Gnocchi I was being picky at a restaurant where my Dad had taken me with him to go to lunch with someone.  I was a difficult one, being picky, I knew what I liked and didn't like, but he convinced me somehow to trust him and try the Gnocchi.  So I received a shallow bowl of little white oblong things with a bright red tomato sauce over it!  Now I LOVED tomato sauce so I figured I would like it...maybe that's how he convinced me to try it in the first place!  LOL  I tentatively took a bite and YUM!!!  Soft and pillowy!  And the tomato sauce was so fresh and simple, I still try and recreate that simple beautiful tomato sauce it's hard to come by!  One day I will hit upon how to make that sauce, or find one that matches...it will be a great day!  So over the years I've tried various store bought Gnocchi and they are never as good as what I remember in Italy, hardly anything is...LOL!  I've also made my own a couple of times and it's kind of tricky but I have made some that came pretty close.  This one being the closest!  I think with practice I could make them perfect, the only trouble is they are very time consuming!

    That leads me back to this delicious little bite!!!  I really loved the buttery, nutty flavors, with a light sweetness!  I tell you the bright thyme flavor played so well with the sweet creamy flavors too, I really enjoyed this dish and I want to make it again!  If there was a downside I would say it was the actual Gnocchi they sent.  While it WAS impressively fresh, they were a bit gummy to me, still better than most store bought kinds so I enjoyed them still.  Just not how I remember the perfect Italian Gnocchi tasting like.  I believe it was the use of egg in them, an authentic Gnocchi doesn't use egg at all.  I think if I made my own and then used them in this recipe it would be even more out of this world than it already was!  And what you see that looks a lot like Roast Beef is Maitake Mushrooms!  This is my first time having them and cooking them and I REALLY loved them!  I am wanting to see if my local grocer can stock them because I think these, if I can get my hands on them, will become a regular part of my diet!!!

   Another first for me was taking corn on the cob and cutting the kernels off.  I would normally just buy frozen corn to add in the recipe instead but I figured why not give it a try and see what difference it makes.  Not sure it makes that much of a difference, especially if you use a very good frozen kind that tastes the same as fresh, but it's more convenient than cutting the corn off the cob yourself.  I enjoy eating the corn ON the cob the best when I get it in cob form!

   Lastly, but definitely not least!  The wine paring!  We chose a nice toasty Dark Earth Chardonnay, that has a wonderful buttery note that plays so well with all things buttery!  (We found it at our Local Stater Bros.) When we first tasted this wine we loved the creamy toasty flavors and then Hubby stated "You know what, I think this would go well with?  CORN!" and at once I replied "YES, it totally would!" so we did what any sane wine pairing connoisseurs would do and whipped out a fresh Corn On The Cob we had in the fridge, cooked it up, split it between us and slathered it with butter and a sprinkle of salt and WOW does that pairing work spectacularly!!!  The buttery corn just sang with the creamy-toasty-buttery chardonnay!  It was food and wine synergy at it's best!  It's worth hunting down this chardonnay just to try it out with with buttered corn on the cob!

   Now that you've heard the background story, you can see why we chose this wine to pair with this meal, and it certainly worked really nicely with the browned butter and sweet corn as well as the mushrooms and potato gnocchi!  I also think that the Toasted Head Chardonnay would also pair well since it's also very toasty and creamy.

Food Adventure with Blue Apron's Pan-Seared Chicken Thighs with Roasted Baby Zebra Eggplants & Fennel Salad

Here's the results of last night's food adventure which for us was meal 2 of the 3 we received from Blue Apron this week!  It's the Pan-Seared Chicken Thighs with Roasted Baby Zebra Eggplants & Fennel Salad.

We enjoyed it, the chicken skin was nice and crispy, we only had a couple spots that were a little soft still but it was still a good learning experience for how to crisp chicken with the skin on.  Me and Hubby tag-team our cooking, he handles the meats and I do the other things and we both prep and do what's needed!  It's fun to cook together.  We both agreed that it was good, we ate the whole thing and we would eat it again, but it wasn't our favorite meal either.  As with any food adventure you are taking a risk and so sometimes you will find something out of this world, and other times it will be a great learning experience!  The flavors weren't really our thing with the strong fennel in the salad portion.  I'm not the biggest fan of fennel flavors but there are always exceptions so I'm willing to try it in different ways.  The roasted eggplant and mash was really great.  The mash from the eggplant was I think my favorite thing in this meal!  It had a bit of tart from the sherry vinegar and it worked really well with the earthiness of the eggplant.  Definitely making it again!   As a whole we would not make this meal again, but did enjoy some of the different components of it that are repeatable.

I'm totally in love with Blue Apron right now, they have so much information on their site and even have a YouTube Channel with lots of videos that teach you different things and I've already learned so much!  I love how they are helping home cooks have exciting food at home that we cook ourselves!

Food Adventure with Blue Apron's Spice-Rubbed Pork Medallions with Peach Salsa and Cilantro-Green Bean Rice

Me and Hubby signed up for Blue Apron and got our first box in the mail tonight!  We tried our first recipe tonight and OH WOW was it amazing!  It was the Spice-Rubbed Pork Medallions with Peach Salsa and Cilantro-Green Bean Rice!  Everything we needed arrived already proportioned out so all we had to do was follow the instructions.  It was really fun and I simply trusted the recipe and made it all as is.  I was worried about the basil being a bit too much but when it was all put together it was all perfect!  In fact we loved it all so much that we are planning on buying the ingredients on our own to make it again!!!  It was just really fun to make something I would have never done on my own and have it be such a success!!!  There was a lot of firsts, I never zested a lime before and we've never cooked pork at home and had it be edible before either!!! LOL  The Peach Salsa went perfect with every bite of Pork it was just amazing!  The spice rub played really well with the sweet peach and tart lime and basil flavors!  The rice...oh the rice...it had flavortown all up in there since it used the aftermath of cooking the pork to flavor it!  I really enjoyed that the green beans were in it too and they didn't overpower the awesome flavor going on in the rice!

For a wine paring we had a hard time deciding but ended up picking a 2013 New Zealand Marloborough Sauvignon Blanc by Nobilo's Regional Collection.  The flavors paired so well with the peach salsa with it's basil and lime because of it's tropical and citrus fruit notes as well as it's subtle herbal notes!  It really brought out the sweetness in the peach!  We found this wine at our local Von's!

By the way, you can make this recipe as well since Blue Apron freely shares the recipes and instructions online!  How cool is that!  I must say I probably would never have made any of this on my own, but I am so glad that it all came to my doorstep so I could try it out after-all!  So even if it's something you might not make, maybe you should!?!

UPDATE (8/28/14): We have been making this recipe again here and there, and have actually made it a total of 3 times now!  It is such a hands down winner!  My friend, and also my sister have both made it with success and love it too!  OH and for the spice rub we substituted dried tarragon instead of the ground fennel since we couldn't find it and the flavors are similar and it worked well.  We simply used 1 Tbs. Brown Sugar, 1 Tsp. Paprika, 2 Tsp Dried Tarragon, 1/2 Tsp Hot Curry Powder and found it a decent match, it's not exactly the same as what they sent us but it is very similar and the flavors that we loved are there!