Alton Brown's Fish and Chips

When I was little, our family used to go to Captain D's. I'm not sure how often we went but I remember going pretty regularly until a certain incident. Before that incident, I would always get the fish and chips and drown my dinner in vinegar. I loved it. Probably because I couldn't taste the fish (I'm not a seafood fan). These were on my 23 x 23 list because the hubs has been begging me to try it. He's a "Brit" and absolutely loves this dish.

The batter tastes delicious. And as a bonus, it doesn't make your apartment smell like fish when it cooks! Neil loved it and so did I until I could taste the fish. But up until then, it was really good!

I only tried the batter recipe for the fish but I'm sure the fries from his recipe are just as good! I made it easier on myself and just baked a bag of frozen french fries.

Fish and Chips

Source: Food Network

2 cups flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

dash of Old Bay Seasoning

1 bottle brown beer, cold

1.5 lbs firm fleshed whitefish (tilapia, pollock, cod), cut into 1-ounce strips

cornstarch, for dredging

1 package of frozen french fries

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cayenne pepper, and Old Bay seasoning. Whisk in the beer until the batter is completely smooth and free of any lumps. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Bake fries according to package directions.

Heat the oil in a 5-quart Dutch oven over high heat until it reaches 350º. Lightly dredge fish strips in cornstarch. Working in small batches, dip the fish into batter and immerse into hot oil. When the batter is set, turn the pieces of fish over and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Drain the fish on a roasting rack. Serve with malt vinegar. Enjoy!

Mini Cinnamon Rolls

One of the things on my 23 x 23 list was "Cinnamon Rolls." Cinnamon rolls are one of my favorite breakfast foods. Back in Georgia, we have a lady at our church who makes some of the best cinnamon rolls. No lie. They are of the heavenly, melt in your mouth variety. Every time Neil would come home on leave, before we were married, she would always try and make him a batch. And he wouldn't share.

But I didn't blame him. She hasn't yet given me the recipe but I ask for it every time I see her. Until she caves, I make do with these. This is an incredibly easy recipe that makes delicious cinnamon rolls. You can add as much or as little cinnamon and brown sugar depending on your taste buds. This recipe also has a delicious maple frosting for the rolls but you can change that up as well. Iowa Girl Eats has a beautiful picture tutorial for this recipe.

Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Frosting

Source: Iowa Girl Eats

8 oz tube crescent roll dough

2 tbsp butter

cinnamon

brown sugar

For the maple icing:

1 tsp maple syrup

1 tbsp skim milk

3/4 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven according to directions on the package of crescent rolls. Layout half the dough, 4 triangles, and pinch all the seams together. Flip over and pinch the seams on the back side together too. Using a rolling pin, smooth the seams and roll the dough into a square about 1/4" thick.

Brush with half the butter, and sprinkle as much cinnamon and brown sugar as you want. Roll into a log and cut into 8 pieces.

Place mini cinnamon rolls into a non-stick sprayed mini muffin tin. Repeat steps 1 and 2 with the other half of the crescent roll dough. Bake according to package directions.

Meanwhile, whisk together the maple syrup and milk in a bowl. Add in powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached. Drizzle over warm cinnamon rolls. Enjoy!

Queso Blanco Dip

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before or not but Southern California has some great Mexican food. There are a ton of little hole in the wall places that may look a little scary from the outside but produce the best Mexican food. But, not a single place out here serves queso. Not one. The closest I've seen is a white cheese sauce over a burrito at a chain Mexican place that didn't come close to tasting like queso blanco dip that you get back home in Georgia.

So, every time we go home to Georgia I always want to eat at one of the Mexican restaurants. Sure it might be considered "fake" Mexican food by anyone from Southern California but it's delicious to me. It's always sooooo good but only getting it twice a year isn't enough. I finally decided I wanted to try it at home and figured what better time than now with my Super Bowl Saturdays? Queso has been sitting there on my 23 x 23 list for awhile so I finally made it.

This recipe was perfect. I upped the heat by adding a second jalopeno but you can choose how spicy you want it to be. This also heats up nicely in the microwave.

Queso Blanco Dip

Source: Annie's Eats

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1/4 cup onion, finely chopped

1 jalopeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped

12 oz. white American cheese, shredded (can be found at the deli counter)

4 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

1/4 -2/3 cup milk

1 tomato, seeded and finely diced

2 tbsp cilantro, minced

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and jalopeno to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add both of the shredded cheeses and 1/4 cup of the milk. Whisk or stir until completely melted. Mix in the tomato and cilantro, and add additional milk gradually as necessary to achieve desired consistency. Transfer to a warmed serving bowl and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Pizza Dough

You guys have no idea how excited I am to finally post this recipe. I've spent the past three months trying out different pizza dough recipes and searching for the best one. There have been some good ones and some really bad ones. There have also been recipes that have completely failed. But this one from Annies Eats is perfect. Her Deep Dish one is also pretty good if you're looking for deep dish pizza.

*I used a different baking method than Annie because I didn't have a pizza stone. I followed the directions on the yeast packet and baked mine on the lowest rack at 475º between 10-13 minutes. I put the dough in either a baking pan or a clear bottomed glass baking dish. The glass dish works best because it allows you to check the bottom of the crust to make sure it's browning, not burning.

Pizza Crust

Source: Annie's Eats

1/2 cup warm water (about110º)

1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp) instant yeast

1 1/4 cups water, at room temperature

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

4 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting

1 1/2 tsp salt

olive oil or nonstick cooking spray for greasing the bowl

Meausre the warm water into a liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room temperature water and oil and stir to combine.

Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed. Slowly add the liquid ingredients and continue to mix at a low speed until a cohesive mass forms. Stop the mixer and replace the paddle with the dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball and put in a deep oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until it has doubled in size, about 1.5-2 hours. Press the dough to deflate it.

To bake, place a pizza stone in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven to 500º for at least thirty minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two equal parts. Form both pieces of dough into smooth, round balls and cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no more than 30 minutes.

Working with one piece of dough and keeping the other covered, shape the dough and transfer to a pizza peel or round of parchment dusted with cornmeal. Top as desired. Slide the bough onto the pizza stone. Bake until the crust edges brown and the cheese is golden brown in spots, about 8-12 minutes. Repeat with the remaining ball of dough or freeze for later use. Enjoy!

*Pizza dough was one of the things on my 23x23 list!

Vodka Cream Pasta

This recipe means another check on my 23 x 23 list. That means I'm 3/20 so far. I think I need to pick up the pace on that list.

Rachel Ray calls this her "You Won't Be Single for Long Pasta." I'm not single but if cooking skills could make a guy fall in love, this recipe would definitely give him a push. The hint of vodka with the cream and tomatoes provides a nice balance of flavors.

Vodka Cream Pasta

Source: Rachel Ray, feat. on Dr. Oz

1 tbsp EVOO

1 tbsp butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 shallots, minced

1 cup vodka

1 cup chicken stock

32 oz can crushed tomatoes

coarse salt and pepper

16 oz pasta, such as penne rigate

1/2 cup heavy cream

20 fresh basil leaves, shredded or torn

Heat a large skillet over moderate heat. Add the extra virgin olive oil, butter, garlic, and shallots. Gently saute the shallots for 3-5 minutes. Add the vodka to the pan. Simmer and reduce the vodka by half, about 2-3 minutes. Add the chicken sauce and the tomatoes. Bring to a bubble and reduce heat to simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

While the sauce simmers, cook the pasta in slated boiling water.

Stir the cream into the sauce. When the sauce returns to a bubble, remove it from heat. Drain pasta and toss with sauce and basil leaves. Enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich

This may look like your average grilled cheese sandwich but inside there's a little sumthin sumthin. A nice little kick that takes your average grilled cheese sandwich up a few notches.

Buffalo chicken and mozzarella cheese. This was inspired by a picture I pinned from Foodgawker. Foodgawker is where I go when I'm hungry and I want to torture myself with pictures of delicious looking food that I have no intention of making because my closet doesn't contain the ingredients and I'm too lazy to go out and get them.

But, I had the ingredients for this one folks! I had planned on making buffalo chicken sandwiches and when I saw this I couldn't resist turning it into a grilled cheese. And it was good.

By the way, I'd just like to point out that this is the second thing from my Pinterest "Yum" board and therefore I have already crossed off two things from my 23 x 23 list which is about the progress I had made a month ago on my News Years Resolutions. I've got a good feeling about this list :)

Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Source: Foodgawker inspired

Your favorite recipe for buffalo chicken (I used this one prepared in the crock pot)

Mozzarella cheese

Blue cheese crumbles, optional (I didn't use any but I think it would definitely add to the sandwich)

sandwich bread

butter

Prepare your buffalo chicken. Spread butter on one side of a piece of bread. Place bread butter side down in a heated pan and top with mozzarella and blue cheese. Next, add a good amount of buffalo chicken on top of the cheese. Finally, top with another buttered slice of bread, butter side up. Grill until golden brown on both sides and cheese has melted (about 2 minutes per side). Enjoy!

Pork Chops with Apples

These chops, plus The Grits from a few days ago had sitting on my Pinterest "Yum" Board for about a month, along with a bunch of other delicious looking things. I finally decided during my 23 x 23 post that I was going to start making some of the delicious things I had tagged and this one was my first pick.

The real winner of this Pioneer Woman recipe is without a doubt the grits but if you aren't a grits fan (even if you are) you should definitely try these pork chops, perhaps with some mashed potatoes.

Pork Chops with Apples

Source: The Pioneer Woman

6 whole boneless pork chops, about 1/2 inch thick

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp butter

2 whole Gala apples, diced

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

3/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 dash salt

freshly ground black pepper

Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and butter and heat until butter is melted. Salt and pepper both sides of the pork chops and brown them on both sides until nice and golden. Remove pork chops from skillet and set on a separate plate.

Reduce heat to medium. Add the apples and stir to combine with the oil and butter that remains in the pan. Pour in wine and vinegar, then whisk along the bottom of the pan to deglaze it. Cook until liquid is reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Pour in the maple syrup. Add a dash of salt and pepper. Stir, then return pork chops to the pan. Cover and simmer on low for 20 minutes.

Serve pork chops on top of creamy cheese grits and spoon the apple sauce over the top. Enjoy!

Creamy Bacon Cheese Grits

Alternate post title: Heaven in Your Mouth-at least if you like grits.

I'm in a love love relationship with grits. There's no hate at all for the pounds that are probably added every time I eat them. Ever since I can remember, grits were a part of breakfast whenever we went to South Georgia to visit my Dad's side of the family. My Nanny (that's Grandma to all you uninformed folks) would make them for us and we would gleefully add spoonfuls of brown sugar to them until they turned a nice light brown color and were so sugary sweet they couldn't really be considered a breakfast food.

The only time I remember being appalled at my Nanny's grits was when she added pork brains to them. Yes, you heard right, pork brains. My sisters and I of course refused to eat them and I still can not figure out why anyone would ruin a perfectly good bowl of grits with pork brains.

In college, I was first introduced to the wonderful deliciousness of cheese grits. I lived right across from the 24 hour dining hall and around midnight-1:00 the Snelling staff would put out breakfast foods, including cheese grits. The majority or my all nighters were pulled at a dining hall table with a plate of cheese grits in front of me. And every morning after my 8:00 (ugh I know-I was an ignorant freshie who didn't understand the value of sleeping in) Astronomy class, I would hit up the dining hall for cheese grits and bacon. I'm pretty sure that's the reason for the weight I gained my freshman year.

When I got married, Neil took over making breakfasts. Every once and a while, he would add cheese grits to the morning meal and it would reaffirm my decision to marry him :)

But then, I came upon the grits recipe to rule all the other grits recipes. It's even better than the sugary brown sugar grits of my childhood. Why, it has BACON! And heavy cream. It's a Pioneer Woman Recipe so you know it's full of fat but also incredibly delicious.

If you ever watched the show "Wife Swap" or you just have a cousin who watches way too many YouTube videos, you'll probably recognize Mr. Curtis from this little clip below...

"BACON IS GOOD FOR ME."

"She can't run in those little high heels."

Man I love that video. Anyways, enough randomness. Scroll down, past the picture of us feeding Lucy cheese grits from a spoon to get to the best recipe ever posted on this blog. The Pioneer Woman uses real grits but they only sale instant out here in California so I've included the modified directions for instant grits. Head over to her website if you are lucky enough to live in a place that recognizes the value of non-instant grits.

Creamy Bacon Cheese Grits

Source: The Pioneer Woman

8 slices regular bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 whole yellow onion, chopped

1 cup instant grits

2.5 cups low sodium chicken broth

1.5 cups water

1 cup heavy cream (change depending upon preference)

1.5 cups grated cheese

dash cayenne, for heat

salt, as needed

pepper to taste

In a heavy pot, cook bacon over medium heat for a couple of minutes to render fat. Add onions and cook with bacon for a few minutes, or until bacon is chewy and onions are golden brown.

Add grits, chicken broth, and water. Stir together and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Cook 5-7 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Keep checking on the liquid level and if they get dry, add a little more broth. Once thickened, pour in cream. Cover pot and continue to simmer on low heat for another 8-10 minutes. When grits are done, add salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste. Remove from heat and stir in grated cheese. Serve warm. Enjoy!

*By the way, these were on my 23x23 list as one of the things from my Pinterest "Yum" board!

23 by 23

A lot of bloggers I follow are doing a 25 by 25 (or 30 by 30) challenge. Basically, it's 25 (30) things they want to make by the time they turn 25 (30). I'm a big procrastinator-I once wrote a paper on procrastination for my junior English class and turned it in late-but the thought of having 3 years to accomplish a list of things makes my heart start pounding. I'm not big on commitment, at least not committing to this type of thing. I had no problem committing the rest of my life to the hubs but committing myself to making this stuff in 2 years is too much time and I'll get bored and be over it.

I like to make big lists and then never accomplish them. We'll never buy a fixer upper house because I'll come up with this huge list of things we need to make it fabulous and then I'll just sit down in the middle of the room and freak out about all the things on the list we have to do. I'm pretty sure that's one quality Neil wishes I didn't have but he has learned to love it, or at least tolerate it.

Anyways, I'm pretty proud of the fact that I'm still here blogging away more than a year after first starting this blog. But then I look at my 2011 Goals for this Blog (that I updated here) and realize I haven't completed half of them even though the year is almost 2/3 over. So it may seem kind of silly for me to commit myself to an even bigger to do list in a shorter amount of time but I'm doing it!*

23 by 23

1. Pizza Dough

2. Sour Dough Bread

3. Croissants

4. Pretzels

5. Donuts

6. Cinnamon Rolls

7. Cream Puffs

8. Cannoli

9. Royal Icing Cookies

10. Homemade Girl Scout Cookies

11. Homemade Ice Cream

12. A Decorated Cake

13. Tamales

14. Queso Blanco

15. Carne Asada

16. Huevos Rancheros

17 Beef Bourguignon

18. Chicken and Dumplings like my Nanny makes

19. Vodka Sauce

20. Ribs

21. Fish and Chips

22. Something from my Pinterest "Yum" board

23. Another thing from my Pinterest "Yum" board

*If I don't finish this by next July I reserve the right to turn this into a 25 by 25 and give myself another 2 years to finish it.