A Week of Cooking

I've been in Lancaster this week, visiting the fiance and a very cuddly bulldog. She's resting her chin on my shoulder as I type. It's probably the ideal way to spend a Sunday evening. Time spent in Lancaster has always been special since I consider Mike's apartment here our home together. I obviously don't live here with him, but we did make the trip out here to search for it together, and we have decorated it together. 

Mike's back to teaching this week, so I took care of some of my own semester prep while he was at work, and then we used the afternoons to do fun things together. We got to work reviewing some of our wedding vendor proposals and have contracts in the works for both our venue and our photographer! We took a trip to the jeweler's so that I could meet the lovely lady that sold Mike my engagement ring and we could browse around a bit for wedding bands. We put together the new entertainment center that Mike's parents gifted us with and marveled at how it transformed the TV. As Mike put it, "the best way I can describe it is that the TV is now wearing proper-fitting clothes." We took the pooch for a walk on the first sun-drenched afternoon we had. We used a restaurant.com coupon to try out a new sushi restaurant and had a delicious dinner and a show (a customer at another table loudly lectured the waitress and manager about how the food should be prepared and presented, but apparently thought the food was tasty enough because she took it home -- we think she just wanted to knock some dollars off the bill), went to the gym almost every day this week, and took a trip to Central Market so I could get my fix for the world's most delicious long john (seriously, they're so good that I'm wondering if we can have them delivered to our wedding). And we've cooked. 

One of our favorite activities as a couple is cooking, and it's been nice to get back into the kitchen after a season of dining our with friends and relatives. Mike is currently cooking up some tofu vindaloo, so I'll have to wait to report on its level of tastiness, but our other two dishes have been huge hits! Hurray for knocking out three Pinterest pins in one week! We'll start with the spinach and mushroom lasagna with pesto. Mike is a firm believer that pesto anything has got to be delicious. Here, the pesto gets mixed into a cream sauce that begins with deliciously sauteed onions, mushrooms, and red bell peppers. The red pepper really helps introduce some crunch and a bite of freshness among the creamier elements. The mushrooms are chopped coarsely so that there's a meaty, textural component to the dish, which is a perfect balance against the creamy spinach ricotta filling. Make it early in the week and enjoy the leftovers for lunch (and maybe dinner, too) for the next few days. 

Spinach, Mushroom, and Pesto Lasagna
From The Other Side of Fifty

9 lasagna noodles (we used whole wheat noodles and ended up preparing the whole box- it took 5 noodles to create a layer that would fill our baking dish)
10 oz chopped frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 3/4 cup ricotta cheese
1 large egg
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
2 cups diced onion
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
dash of crushed red pepper flakes
8 ounces of button mushrooms, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups Half & Half
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp basil pesto (we bought some in the Italian aisle at Giant)
12 oz mozzarella cheese (slices work well)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8"  x 11 1/2" baking dish with cooking spray.

In a separate baking dish place lasagna noodles and cover with boiling water. Let sit for 15 minutes while making the sauce.

In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the spinach, ricotta cheese, garlic powder and egg. Season well with salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a large skillet heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onions and bell pepper, season with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes and saute until onions are translucent, 6-7 minutes. Add the mushrooms and continue to saute until mushrooms lose their moisture, another 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute or two. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir to combine. Continue cooking and stirring over medium heat for two minutes. Add the milk and half & half, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 4-5 minutes until sauce has thickened a bit. Remove from heat and stir in 3/4 cup pesto. Taste to see if salt and pepper are needed.

Drain lasagna noodles.

Spoon 2 tbsp of the pesto on the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Lay three (or five) noodles on top of the pesto. Top with 1/3 of the basil cream sauce (about 1 1/2 cups) and spread to cover noodles. Dollop 1/3 of the ricotta mixture on top of the sauce, then top the ricotta with 1/3 of the cheese slices. Repeat layers two more times. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and place dish in oven. Bake for 25 minutes, uncover, then bake for another 25 minutes, until bubbly and browned. Let dish sit for 10-15 minutes before serving. (Definitely don't rush this last step- it helps keep your lasagna in manageable pieces!) 

So go round up your ingredients and enjoy pictures of our walk with a very cute bulldog.

Hello 2014!

I started blogging again last fall as I found myself amidst the uncertainly of starting a new job, the sadness of having my boyfriend move away to the east coast, and the hard reality that my research wasn't going to conduct itself. Writing has always brought me comfort, and it was something that I looked forward to in the days when my mind seemed to be racing all the time and I was still trying to settle into a routine. It helped a lot in those initial weeks when I felt a little lost and lonely, and as I started to discover new blogs through the ones I read regularly, I found that there are actually quite a few lovely people who are experiencing some of the very same things. There are always tough weeks, and even tough months, but there's solace in everything if you know where to look.

Looking back, last fall was filled with so many wonderful things. The beauty of a true fall that brought crisp mornings, gorgeous foliage, and a number of pleasant drives, visits with Mike, a stellar guest lecture, spending time with friends and their newborns, and the anticipation of Thanksgiving and then the holidays. The weeks after Thanksgiving were a little tough; my students had little motivation and I, too, found it hard to be lively and bubbly in every one of my classes. Winter break was just around the corner, but it simply couldn't come soon enough.

And then I gave four hours worth of final oral exams, with students coming in one after the next, and I finally felt exhilarated that I would soon be heading home to Maryland and Mike. I took myself over to the cutest little jewel of a restaurant that is truly a gem in Greencastle, Indiana, had the most delicious lunch of Christmas tea, curried sweet potato soup, half a tuna sandwich and coconut cream pie for dessert. It was magical. The restaurant was nearly empty and I slowly thawed from the cold drafts that had been creeping into my office and the light snow swirling around outside as I drank my tea. The half dozen of beautifully decorated Christmas trees was enough to keep my spirits boosted for the entire afternoon. And then I rushed home at the end of the day to have Thai food with Trisha, Grant, and my sweet little nephew.

Fast forward one more week, and I was on my way home to Maryland. I had trouble sleeping, so I woke up at 5, and was on the road by 6 am. My car was packed with load of Christmas gifts and all my best outfits because what I was really looking forward to was Mike's proposal. I knew it was going to happen over winter break, it was just a matter of how. We both got there on Thursday night and immediately went out to pick up some take-out from a local Chinese restaurant. We barely had time to settle in the next day as we rushed to Michaels and the grocery store to pick up everything we needed for an ornament decorating party we were hosting that night. As soon as we got back to the house, I scrambled to make mini apple tarts, goat cheese bruschetta, and a few other snacks for our little party. Thankfully, everyone was running late as usual, so when they all arrived at 6, we were ready to relax and have fun. It was Mer and Guy, Nicole, Mike, and me, and it was such a lovely night.

As Mike and I were cleaning up and getting ready to head to bed, we finally had a minute to process everything. We were back together for the next month and excited for all of the things that we had planned. And then he proposed. It was after teeth had been brushed, faces had been washed, and the pooch had been put to bed. We were talking about the uncertainty that this new year would bring-- both of us going on the job market again, a move to somewhere over the summer, and the beginning of a building a life together. The lights were off, but when he reached over to dig around in his suitcase, I knew what was coming. I didn't move right away-- I wanted to take a minute to remember as many details as I could since I knew this was going to be the moment, but then I realized that I couldn't see a thing. He simply said he loved me, wanted to be with me forever, and asked if I would marry him. Short and sweet. I said yes, and after we sat there for a moment, me leaning over the side of the bed, him kneeling down, he asked if I wanted to see the ring. Since he had closed the ring box, I was in suspense all over again as he sat down in front of me and asked if I was ready. I didn't start crying until I saw the ring. It was a better version of what I imagined. And then I got really excited. I flew down the hall at 1:30 in the morning, arms flailing as I jumped up in down in front of my aunt. She looked at me as if to say, "what is wrong?!" and then I waved my hand in front of her. Then she got excited and did a little dance, and in one of my favorite moments of the whole event, walked over to Mike who was just coming down the hall and gave him a hug as she said "thank you" in a tone that suggested what she was really saying was "thank you for not making her wait any longer" or possibly, "thank you for taking her on". We all laughed. My brother was sleeping, so I jumped on his bed and said "you gotta just open your eyes, just for a second" and when he opened them, I shoved my ring in his face and then gave him permission to go back to sleep. And then it was after 2, and I couldn't sleep. I had to turn on the TV to calm the sheer excitement I felt so we could get to sleep and then wake up the next morning and tell everyone the news!

The proposal came in the wee hours of December 21, just two days before my birthday. It made for a pretty splendid birthday. A fun Christmas Eve tradition of candle-light church service and finger food for dinner followed, along with muffins, gift opening, and a decadent dinner of surf and turf on Christmas. We went to Redwood in Bethesda for an early dinner on New Year's Eve and had one of the best meals we've both ever had. Mike came down with the flu, but quickly recovered a few days later, and then, because I had really been planning our wedding for about three months already, we started looking at wedding venues!

So far, 2014 has brought us the promise of finding our first home together in next six months and the excitement of planning our summer 2015 wedding. It has also brought new potential career prospects for me, and a certain sense of validation knowing that the past fourteen years of language learning are really amounting to something. And that, in turn, has been really exciting for both of us, knowing that new opportunities and adventures await us.

Taken the morning of our engagement. 

A wonderfully thoughtful gift given to us by one of my best friend's parents. 

A Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake Worthy of Any Friendsgiving

I've read a lot lately about Friendsgivings -- you know, Thanksgiving that is celebrated with your friends. I thought it kind of interesting, because for at least the past five years, that's exactly what my Thanksgivings have been. I went to college in Wisconsin, far away from my home in Maryland, so it never seemed to make sense to fly home for the holiday when I'd be returning just a few weeks later for winter break. During those years, I'd go to my aunt and uncle's in Minnesota, but Thanksgiving never seemed like a big, important holiday then. I don't think we made a big to-do about it, and I was mostly thankful to catch up on sleep. 

And then the next two were spent in Taiwan. They were big elaborate occasions, hosted for us by the U.S. representative to Taiwan. Believe it or not, that was the first time I ever tried green been casserole and I loved it! It's funny to see each family's version of staple dishes. I don't ever remember having green bean casserole, but when I was little I do remember the very pretty white dish that was creamed pearl onions (I never touched it, because even though it was pretty, what kid under the age of 12 wants to eat a whole bunch of onions in a cream sauce?). Anyway, at the Thanksgiving hosted by the director of the American Institute in Taiwan, all of the Fulbright ETAs gathered around a low coffee table and ate our dinner while sitting on the floor, laughing and joking, feeling very thankful that we could have such a healthy dose of home so far away. We went around and said what we were thankful for, a tradition I've always liked, and I think it was a really special time for all of us. 

When I started graduate school in Indiana, I was back to not wanting to travel home for Thanksgiving since I'd be making the long drive back just a few weeks later. At the time, my good friend Andrea wasn't much into cooking and I lived (and still do) in my tiny apartment that literally has zero counter space, so we decided to work together and host our own Thanksgiving at her condo. We invited a lot of our Chinese friends who didn't have other plans, and it was a very merry event. That was the first turkey I ever made! 

The following year Mer had started graduated school in Boston, so I made the trip out there to host a Thanksgiving with her. We made all sorts of delicious veggie-friendly dishes: sweet potato casserole, a squash bake, roasted brussel sprouts with pomegranate and a vanilla pecan butter, homemade green bean casserole (so much better because of the crunch), mashed potatoes, dressing, and about three desserts including pumpkin crunch cake and chocolate bourbon pecan pie. We picked up some flowers on the way home from our morning jog, arranged them, set the table, and dined with friends in style. It was a veggie feast! That was also my first trip to Boston and I completely fell in love it; who wouldn't at Christmas time? It was probably the best trip I've ever had. But trips to visit best friends are always wonderful. 

Then last Thanksgiving I jetted off to NYC to reunite with Shana. Shana and I were both Fulbright ETAs and housemates, and she was by far my closest friend in the group. We'd go shopping together on the streets of Taiwan, I would do a lot of the talking, and the clerks would always respond to her (and even give her my change!). Shana's parents are both Taiwanese, and I clearly do not look Asian at all, so we were used to having to explain that we were both American and could both speak Chinese. We bonded over our love for Chinese culture, good food, and romance. And when Chinese New Year arrived, we decided to travel to Japan and Australia together. It had been three years since I'd seen her when I arrived in NYC last Thanksgiving, but everything felt the same. It didn't even occur to me that it was our first time seeing each other in the States. We ran all over the city, shopping at holiday markets, meeting up with friends, touring museums, seeing Mary Poppins on Broadway, and cooking Thanksgiving dinner with her roommates. I had a minor case of whooping cough (no big deal), but the trip was still stellar. 

So thinking about the term "Friendsgiving" and reflecting on how I've spent my last few Thanksgivings, I realize that the significance of the holiday, for me, stems from coming together with friends and creating your own sense of family. It seems to me that people get caught up in the obligatory events that seem to come with many holidays and forget to really enjoy them. I actually love tradition, and I understand wanting to preserve it, but I think it's worth thinking about what the holidays mean to you and how you want to celebrate them. Many of the Friendsgivings I've heard about this year are taking place in addition to family plans. So go make your rounds to relatives, but make sure you spend time reflecting and giving thanks for the things and people who are important to you, even if they're not part of your traditional family. 

Which brings us to this Thanksgiving. Mike and I are driving from PA and IN respectively to Michigan to spend Thanksgiving with his family! It'll be my first time meeting his sister, a very long-awaited moment, and her fiance, plus a lot extended family. Their family tradition involves eating Thanksgiving dinner at a German family-style restaurant in Frankenmuth, which happens to be home to the world's largest Christmas store! I stocked up on Christmas ornaments when we made our first trip there back in May, but I can't wait to see it all decked out for the actual holiday season. His mom has got dessert covered with three (three!) pies, but Mike and I will be making this pumpkin spice bunt cake for dessert the following day at his aunt and uncles. I've made this cake twice in the past month for two separate dinner events, and it was a huge HUGE hit. It's not too sweet so you could probably serve it for a special breakfast if you'd like. 

Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

From My Baking Addiction 

For the cake

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (I nearly double this)

1/2 tsp salt

1 15 oz-can pumpkin puree

For the frosting

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tbsp milk

1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 10-inch bundt pant with nonstick cooking spray. 

In a large bowl, combine sugar and oil with mixer until thoroughly blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Add flour mixture to egg mixture alternately with pumpkin, beating well after each addition. 

Transfer batter to prepared bundt pan. Bake in preheated oven for 60-65 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack. Remove pan and cool completely before preparing cream cheese frosting (I've found that you can add the frosting to a slightly warm cake if you make it a bit thicker). 

For the cream cheese frosting: in a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and butter with a mixer until well-combined and fluffy- about 2 minutes. Gradually add in confectioners' sugar. Once the sugar is completely incorporated, mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Mix in vanilla and milk. If frosting appears to be too thick, slowly add in a little more milk until you reach the desired consistency. If desired, add pumpkin spice and mix until well-combined. Spoon over cooled cake. 

Refrigerate any leftovers (up to three days). Bring up to room temperature before serving. 

Introducing: Mike's Corner!

Sometimes, you just need to be really productive. And, sometimes, being productive means clearing your sink of its dishes, doing a few loads of laundry, organizing your closet, going through your mail, and cooking yourself some yummy meals. That's what happened last Thursday; it was wonderful. The day hit a high when I received a surprise bouquet from my beau! It was a pretty good day. 

And last week I cooked up a storm! I made delicious baked sandwiches, french onion soup, and a pumpkin spice bunt cake! It was the perfect marriage of deliciously fall foods. And I felt like a big girl when I asked the boys at the deli counter to slice my block of cheese that I picked up in the "specialty cheese" section and they honored my special request! After all, a perfect layer of uniformly golden, bubbly gruyere is must have for any respectable french onion soup! 

So I ate a lot of cheese this past week. Gruyere, cream cheese, Kraft singles on my egg and cheese breakfast bagels (I won't judge you if you won't judge me). And just in case I hadn't hit my maximum cheese intake this week, I had a grilled cheese for brunch! It wasn't planned, you see. The Bloomington Handmade Market was today, and I'm a sucker for cute, thoughtful Christmas gifts. So I headed over after my Bollywood dancefit class, and saw The Big Cheeze Food Truck! I couldn't resist. I don't think I've ever gotten to eat anything from a food truck! But it's okay because my cheese was served with some chicken and bacon...and ranch. So it was well-balanced...right?

Now, I'm a fan of good food, both in terms of taste and quality, and I like to use fresh, seasonal, and mostly nutritious ingredients. But, I also love my carbs and sweets. And cheese! So I'm not much of a calorie counter. I just try to supplement my "good" eating with some exercise and am happy to indulge in ice cream and the occasional doughnut when the need arises (I may have indulged a bit too much in Lancaster...I think I had 4 doughnuts in a week!)

So, now's the perfect time to bring in Mike. He's a bit more...balanced in the food department. Within our first few months of dating he complained that he'd had more dessert than in the past few years (we'd only had dessert together six times, six!). This will be the first of his "Mike's Corner" posts, and I promise I'll be back with that sinfully delicious pumpkin spice bunt cake recipe! Pumpkin is nutritional, no?

Mike’s Corner: Reflections on a Vegetarian Diet

Since I make the occasional cameo in Nicki’s posts on here, she suggested that I pull my weight and contribute a post of my own. This blog’s culinary theme is right there in its title, so I’ll introduce myself by talking about some of the ways in which I think about my own diet, and I’ll conclude with two versions of my favorite recipe.

            I’m approaching my second anniversary as a vegetarian. I don’t remember the exact date when I decided to stop eating meat, but it was very soon after Thanksgiving 2011. I still have a hard time articulating exactly why I made this decision. Part of it had to do with my increasing awareness of the damaging economic and environmental effects of industrial farming. My own health and family medical history was a factor as well. Although I’m a philosophy professor, the philosophical work on animal rights was not much of an influence, although to explain why would take too many words for this post. (Maybe next time.)

            In any case, for the past two years, I’ve abstained almost entirely from both meat and fish. (I’ve eaten fish on a couple of occasions when there was no other option, and chicken once at an event that had no veggie or fish options.) As a result, I’ve had to pay close attention to my diet. This is because I’m an avid weightlifter, and this imposes nutritional demands on my body that go beyond what is required for ordinary healthy subsistence.

            In particular, protein is extremely important for anybody engaged in regular intense exercise. It’s especially important for anybody who does strength training. One word that shows up a lot in weightlifting circles is ‘overtraining’. This condition occurs when the body is worked beyond the point where it can recover and rebuild normally. One way to overtrain is to work out too much without allowing for sufficient time between trips to the gym, but another way is to withhold what the body needs to rebuild the muscle fibers that get broken down by lifting weights. In order to do this rebuilding, the body needs protein above all.

            Of course, when most people think of protein, they think first of meat and fish. This becomes very apparent if you watch a lot of cooking shows on TV, like I do. In the culinary use, the word ‘protein’ has a precise meaning that doesn’t correspond to its nutritional one. It seems to be used to refer to meat and fish only. (In a way, the word ‘fruit’ is similar. A tomato meets all of the biological criteria of a fruit, but in the kitchen, tomatoes are vegetables.) So, since I don’t eat these, I’ve had to work to develop a vegetarian diet that provides me with enough of the protein (in the nutritional sense) that I need.

            There are a lot of protein supplements out there, and I do make use of those. A lot of them are dairy-based, but since I haven’t gone fully vegan, I don’t shy away from them. (There are vegan protein supplements, and I have tried them. For a variety of reasons, however, the dairy-based ones are better.) I typically get between 50 and 100 grams of protein per day from shakes that I mix. For my level of activity at the gym, however, that isn’t enough, and the rest has to come from food.

            I have a number of high-protein vegetarian recipes stashed away. One of my favorites combines two of the best plant-based protein sources: beans and quinoa. I’m sure that beans are quite familiar to you. Quinoa may be too, since it’s been a fad over the past couple of years. It’s one of the best plant-based sources of protein around, and it can be used in a lot of recipes. I tend to used it in place of rice a lot, including in the recipe below. There has been some controversy about the economic effects that quinoa’s increasing popularity might have on the farmers in South America who cultivate it, but this appears to be much less of a problem than some initial reports about it suggested. So, I’ve felt comfortable continuing to cook with it a lot.

            The recipe below actually comes it two varieties: a play on Cajun-style rice and beans and an Indian curried-chickpea style. I’ve provided the recipe for the Cajun version; below it, you’ll find the modifications to use if you want to make the Indian version. Keep in mind that I like my food to pack a punch, so be sure to decrease the amount of chili sauce and cayenne pepper if you like things milder.

Cajun-style quinoa-and-beans

4 cups low-sodium vegetable stock or broth

2 cups uncooked quinoa

2 cans low-sodium black beans, rinsed and drained

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 tsp. Louisiana-style hot sauce

1 tbsp. salt

½ tbsp. black pepper

1 cup frozen green peas

Canola oil

Heat a bit of oil in a large pot. Sauté bell pepper, onion, and celery until soft (about 12 minutes).

Add garlic, sauté everything one more minute

Add quinoa, cayenne pepper, and cumin, and stir until the spices coat everything

Add stock, hot sauce, salt, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Stir in peas, cover again, and simmer 5 more minutes.

Add beans, stir everything together, and cover for a few minutes to let the flavors mix.

For the Indian version, make these changes:

- Replace the black beans with chickpeas

- Replace the cumin and cayenne pepper with 1 tbsp. curry powder

- Add 2 tsp. minced fresh ginger (sauté with the garlic)

- Replace Louisiana-style hot sauce with sambal ulek (an Indonesian chili sauce) or Sriracha, and use at least 1 tbsp.

A Parmesan to Please Anyone

My brother is a notoriously picky eater. Seriously picky. The food items he added to his list of good eats last year? Garlic bread and guacamole. Who isn’t born loving garlic bread? This kid. His diet during his teenage years consisted of meat and cheese sandwiches with mayo, spaghetti, cheese pizza, the most basic Chinese food (i.e. lo mein or beef with broccoli), and assorted fast foods.

It’s amazing what things he’ll try when he’s in the home of others. I think he once had beef tongue at a Columbian friend’s house. I want proof. Nonetheless, when he’s at home, and we ask him to try something new, he’ll usually shrug away, and if he doesn’t like what we’re eating, well, there’s a McDonalds down the road.

So when I was home for winter break, I made it my mission to make a meal for my family that everyone, especially my brother, would love. I started brainstorming with the basics: meat, cheese, and pasta, and came up with Chicken Parmesan.

Even though I thought my brother would love it, I have never once in my life ordered Chicken Parmesan. I’ve seen others order it in restaurants and it always seems to consist of thin pieces of chicken weighed down by a thick and heavy fried coating with some sauce, cheese, and pasta. The dish itself just doesn't seem like it could be all that spectacular. But then I began making this recipe, and my love affair with Chicken Parm (and Emeril recipes) was born.

Just wait until you smell the sauce roasting in the oven. The heavenly smell will give you no choice but to believe that you are in for a delicious meal. I’ve talked about the sauce before. It’s my favorite tomato sauce. And the chicken? Don’t be afraid to use fat plump and juicy chicken breasts. It turns out that once you get a nice sear or crust on a piece of meat, you can transfer it to the oven and it will turn out moist, tender, and perfectly cooked. You’ll need a cast-iron skillet for this because what starts on the stove top will be finished in the oven. My skillet has become my favorite thing to cook with because it heats quickly and evenly. And it really helps achieve a crunchy coating. You’ll also need an immersion blender (a good old-fashion blender works just fine) to puree the sauce. The sauce takes an hour to prepare since it’s oven-roasted, but if you make it ahead of time, you could pull this meal together in 15 minutes or so. And I’ve never been much of a leftover girl, but even this chicken tastes good a day or two after; the coating is so thin and crisp that it doesn’t get soggy in the fridge!

And vegetarians, don't fret! You can make a delicious Parmesan with tender eggplant! In fact, this sauce is so bangin' that I improvised this veggie version for my beau on our forth date to win him over and it totally worked! He'll get a craving for this every once in a while, and it takes us back to our first few weeks of dating. I knew he liked it, but when a friend recently asked if I made a mean Eggplant Parm, and Mike had a little moment where he pursed his lips, furrowed his brow, and said, "Ooh, yeah she does," I was surprised by just how much I have to thank this recipe for my relationship. 

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. I think Mike would prefer a stomach filled with quinoa, bulgar wheat, and kale, but it makes me happy that he'll indulge in my Eggplant Parm. If I made a dinner entirely of hash browns, I think he'd be mine forever...

Chicken Parmesan with Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce

slightly adapted from Emeril Lagasse

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 teaspoons Emeril's Essence

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 tbsp milk

3/4 cup dried bread crumbs

4 tbsp olive oil

Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce

sliced mozzarella or provolone 

2 tbsp chopped basil

prepared pasta of your choice (I use whole-wheat linguine)

grated Parmesan cheese

Make the Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce:

3 lbs of Romanita tomatoes (I have never found these, so I use the recommended combination of Roma tomatoes and grape tomatoes), seeded and cored.

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

12 cloves of garlic, peeled

2 tbsp fresh oregano leaves (Use fresh herbs! It makes a huge difference! If you are ever substituting dried herbs for fresh, remember you only need about 1/3 the amount since dry herbs are more potent)

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 400. In a large 14-in cast-iron skillet, combine all the ingredients. Stir to blend then transfer to the oven and cook for about 30 minutes. Remove skillet from the oven, stir well, and return to the oven to cook for another 30 minutes. Tomatoes should be blistered and caramelized. Let the tomatoes cool and then transfer to a blender and process until coarsely pureed. You can refrigeration leftover sauce in an air-tight container for up to 4 days. 

Bring a pot of salted water to boil for pasta and follow the directions for preparing it al dente. 

Preparing the chicken:

Place rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 400. Season each chicken breast with 1/2 tsp of Essence and 1/3 tsp salt. Set out your respective flour, egg, and bread crumb bowls. Dredge chicken in flour, dip in egg, and then roll in the bread crumbs (shake off excess between each step). Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place chicken in the skillet and cook for 4 minutes. Turn the chicken, add remaining 2 tbsp of oil and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat. Spoon some of the tomato sauce over each chicken breast and top with the cheese of your choice (Emeril recommends smoked mozzarella). Transfer the skillet to the oven and cook about 4 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (firm to the touch) and cheese melts. Turn to broil and cook until cheese is bubbly and golden. 

Veggie option:

Slice an eggplant in about 1/4 inch slices and salt liberally on both sides. Let sit for 30 minutes and then rinse the slices and pat them dry. Salting the eggplant removes the bitterness and will yield tender, yummy eggplant. Season with salt and pepper and then proceed to bread the eggplant as you would the chicken. Baking time is obviously less for eggplant-- simply brown in the pan and bake for just a few minutes in the oven. 

Mix the leftover sauce with the amount of pasta you want to serve and add in the basil and some grated Parmesan cheese. The amount of sauce I usually have leftover is just enough to coat the pasta, so if you like really saucy pasta, you might want to have some extra on hand. Serve alongside your chicken/eggplant. 

Personal Touches

In August, just after attending Amanda’s wedding, I packed up and made the drive from Indiana to Pennsylvania to help Mike get settled into his new home. We had done the initial search together back in July, and although I wouldn’t be making the move to PA as well, it felt nice to go through the process together and help Mike put his stamp on the place.

 I lost the battle on curtains. He deemed them unnecessary, and although I insisted that they would really complete the room, I had to agree that they weren’t totally necessary since he already has blinds. But I got him to make the switch from a comforter to a duvet and coverlet, add a little end table along with a mood lamp, and pick up a masculine-chic throw. 

After getting all of the furniture situated, we took to hanging photos and artwork. We had about twice the amount of wall space to work with if not more since he upgraded from a one-bedroom apartment to a two-story townhouse. His favorite piece of art from the Detroit Institute of Arts made it into the living room above the sofa along with his map of the London subway system which we hung above the TV. The window-pane picture frame I gave him for his birthday was filled with photos of us and hung between his two six-foot tall windows, and the 1920s lithograph of a bull walrus that I gave him last Christmas was nestled in the corner, just left of the couch. That left us with one key spot on the wall opposite of the windows.

In my own apartment I’ve hung some of my favorite photos that I took during my time in Taiwan. I wanted to showcase them while reminding myself and my visitors of some of my favorite places and things. I have a calligraphy piece that a former colleague in Taiwan made for me, a really cool paper cutting that was also gifted to me by another Taiwanese coworker, my Chinese name written by one of my college Chinese professors and close mentor, an oil painting of fall foliage that I bought in Taiwan when I walked into a restaurant and my heart nearly burst when I saw the vibrant reds and oranges and instantly yearned for home, and my favorite thing of all time, the four water color paintings I bought outside of the Neolithic Museum in Xi’an. They were done by farmers on scraps of paper, and they’re so simple yet so lively. I paid the equivalent of about $12 USD for them, which was probably still way more than I should have, but a complete steal considering how much they mean to me. My aunt had them framed for me for my birthday when I got back from studying abroad, and when I moved into my first apartment, 4 years later, I couldn’t wait to hang them on the wall.

So, personal art means a lot to me. I know Mike feels similarly about art in the sense that he doesn’t believe it should just fill space, so I wanted to think of something meaningful we could add to his collection. I suggested that we make our own canvas. Mike said he’d like to do something related to Detroit, and when I told him it would be totally doable to do the skyline, he seemed both surprised and genuinely excited.  I was inspired from this little number here that I read about a while ago on Everyday Reading.  So I got to work finding an outline of the skyline.

Once we found one we liked, we got to work on purchasing the materials. We purchased a primed canvas and assorted acrylic paints and brushes. We chose black for the buildings, white for the outline, and red, orange, and yellow for a more abstract sunset. We sketched the skyline onto the canvas in pencil using a straight-edge, and then I tackled the buildings while Mike painted the sky. We had a difficult time finding a brush thin enough to give us a clean line, and the paint pens we bought were good, but it was hard to control the flow of the paint. Since we had to paint the buildings first before we could do the outline, we were also trying to work around wet paint, but we were pretty happy with the results. It definitely has a homemade touch to it.

Our Masterpiece

And for someone who swears he has not an ounce of artistic capability, I thought Mike did a great job with the sky. It was fun creating something together, and I think he was kind of surprised at the outcome.

I recently saw this on Pinterest, and would like to make something similar for my next canvas project. For our one-year anniversary, I had a subway sign made that included places, things, and dates that have held a special meaning for us over the past year. (We're hanging it up this week and I'll be sure to add a photo! I'm really happy with the results!) I chose the color palate of charcoal grey and white to match his bedroom linens, and I am thinking of inverting the color scheme for this upcoming canvas. If you’re interested in purchasing a sign of your own, you can check out the seller Jen Shuck and her shop RusticPineDesigns on Etsy. 

Let Them Eat Cake!

These past two weeks have been a whirlwind. Somewhere between grading assignments, calculating midterm grades, and trying to keep all of my students on track as we began delving into more complex grammar, I forgot(!) to read my favorite blogs and write in my own! Good thing next week is our fall break! A whole uninterrupted five days to read, reflect, and write. 

I can't really complain though, because I got to spend most of this last week with my hunny. This was a bit of a longer visit, so we were able to balance the fun outings with down time. And then there was the eating fest. It kicked off with our favorite take-out Chinese on Thursday night, followed by Thai on Friday, hibachi on Saturday, authentic Chinese on Sunday, and Middle Eastern and Indian on Monday. It was truly impressive. Good thing we walked to a few of the restaurants and took a tour around DePauw's campus. There was also the shopping we did at the mall...that counts as walking, right? I mean, I was exhausted after...

It was all so good. So, so good. But, if I had to pick a favorite meal, it'd have to be the hibachi. It's been kind of a special date-night meal for us. But, the real reason I love hibachi? THE LOBSTA'! I love me some lobster. Even without butter, it still tastes like butter! And it's tender and just the right amount of chewy, and...(sigh), it's just so so good. Mike likes to tease me about my lobster indulgence, but it's okay, because he finds it charming. I can tell. So I go along with it (except I really do love it that much). Once, when we were on vacation, I declared that we had to return to the same restaurant the next day for lunch so that I could order the lobster pasta with lemon cream sauce. It was just a sandwich place, so I humbly ordered a tuna salad plate on the first day (it would have been too extreme to get lobster pasta on a whim), but once I pointed it out to Mike and having adequately prepared him, I felt like I could order it the next time around. And return the next day we did! My lunch cost $17; his cost $9. 

At Panini, Panini in Michigan City, Indiana

But the best lobster happens at hibachi restaurants. Served sizzling in butter, soy sauce, and garlic, it is the most tender and tasty lobster you will ever have. I portion out my bites of lobster so that I can have bites of utter happiness throughout the entire meal. 

And the gluttony didn't end there, no sir! On Sunday evening, after a meal of eggplant with potato and green pepper and potato and a stew of kimchi and tofu, we had a dessert party with Misti and Eddy. Our contribution was a delicious chocolate cake that I'd been eyeing on Pinterest. As much as I love cake, I've never been a huge fan of homemade chocolate cake because I've often found that it lacks richness and true chocolatey goodness. But this recipe promised to be different because it contained a secret ingredient: espresso powder! And it was totally delicious! I ate a piece, Sunday, Monday, yesterday and will likely have the last piece today. I mean, I'm leaving town on Friday and can't let a good piece of cake go to waste...

The Best Chocolate Cake {Ever}

From Robyn Stone / Add a Pinch

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup cocoa

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp espresso powder (in the coffee aisle at the supermarket)

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

Frosting

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

1 cup cocoa powder

5 cups confectioners sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp espresso powder 

Preheat oven to 350. Grease two 9-inch cake pans with baking spray or with butter and flour. Add flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder in a large bowl and whisk to combine and remove any lumps. Add milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to flour mixture and mix on medium speed until combined well. Reduce speed and carefully add boiling water to batter. Beat on high for about a minute to add air to the batter. Distribute batter evenly between cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes (I think my oven runs hot; I pulled them out after 27 minutes) until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool before removing from the pans. Cool completely on rack before frosting. 

To make the frosting:

Add cocoa to a large bowl and whisk to remove lumps. Cream together the butter and cocoa powder. Add sugar and milk to cocoa mixture by adding 1 cup of sugar followed by about a tablespoon of milk. Repeat until all sugar and milk have been added. Add vanilla extract and espresso powder and combine well.

(I like to store the cake in the fridge and let it warm up a bit on the counter before I serve it. The frosting softens quite quickly but you still get the benefit of having chilled cake. I also make sure to have lots of milk on hand. Or red wine...)