Re-visit Your Cookbooks

I’m sitting here browsing recipes in my cookbooks and realizing that I was crazy not to have wanted to make some of these recipes in the past!

You see, as I browse through them each time, I bookmark the recipes I’d like to make sometime.  When I’m ready for recipes again, I open said cookbook to the bookmarked pages.  However, every once in a while, I browse through the cookbook again to remind myself of the other recipes in the book.

Almost every time I do this, I ask myself, “Why didn’t you bookmark this one, or this one, or THIS one?!”  I end up bookmarking even more pages.

As I make a recipe, the book mark goes away as I don’t tend to repeat recipes.

That said, I just wanted to encourage my dedicated readers to really go back and look at the cookbooks you have!  You might find something this time through that you didn’t see before.  It’s like rereading a book or watching a movie over again; you notice something that you didn’t notice before!

Just for grins, here’s a look at some of my favorite cookbooks.  Click on each picture to buy it from the Krista Kook’s Store!

 

Sautéed Zucchini with Plum Tomatoes

When I made the Mac N' Seafood the other night, I wanted a great side to go with it. Thus, I check out Gina's blog once more. I love what she cooks up! I decided upon this fresh and tasy side: Sautéed Zucchini with Plum Tomatoes. Don't be discouraged by the Herbs de Provence though; I highly suggest making these types of spice blends on your own. I used Emeril's recipe for Herbs De Provence to make my own blend. I went to Bed Bath & Beyond to buy a few of these to make my spice blends. They are magnetic and are affixed to our refrigerator.

We really loved the fresh taste of this recipe since it's basically all fresh ingredients! It's also a very quick side dish.

Here's the side dish accompanying the Mac N' Seafood!

Krista Kooks' Kitchen

Well, I don't know what the perception has been, up until now, of what type of kitchen I might be cooking in, but I'm here to show you...it's small, not technologically advanced, and overall pretty simple. I say that to encourage anyone who doesn't think they have what it takes to make anything exciting or fancy in their kitchen. You might be able to tell that the sous chef and I are actually in an apartment!

I show this next photo to show you just some of the spices that we have. I laugh at just how many we have as there is a rack here on the wall as well as spinning rack in the pantry.

You'll also notice from pictures above that I keep the front of the fridge free of clutter :) That said, you'll notice that what normal people put on the front of their fridge, I put on the sides. LOL! Of course, you can also see my favorite kitchen appliance in this picture; my Kitchen Aid Mixer.

I just like the following picture because of the Bistro sign :)

See our pantry below! It's super tiny, but it's really all we need. I like it because it makes me realize exactly what I have and doesn't allow me to buy too much thus causing me to forget about some things that I've purchased.

Voila! Below are all of my cookbooks! You can see the bog orange book sticking out like a sore thumb, and that is the one I've been making a lot of recipes from in the last few weeks.

Well, that's where the magic of Krista Kooks happens folks! I don't know what you might have expected, but, my hope is that you are surprised and that it comes as an encouragement for you to get into your kitchen and get to cooking or baking :)

What do you think?!

Grilled Flank Steak

Every time I'm craving steak or red meat, I think this is ultimately what I'm craving. Delicious, think, crusty but tender on the inside, flavorful flank steak! For those of you not into red meat, this probably isn't your favorite post. Trust me, the 16 year old in me is looking at the current day me in disgust, I promise. Around that time I was taking medicine that totally averted me to red meat, but, as you can tell, time had turned me back around :)

As I began to browse for a recipe for a marinade for this steak, I quickly realized I was not willing to wait 3-8 hours on this steak to marinate! What was I to do?!

Enter the FoodNetwork.com :) I found a recipe that provided some inspiration. In addition to this recipe, I had recently bought some Chipotle Chile Pepper, and I thought this would be the perfect time to use it.

Wow, when I opened up this spice, talk about a sensory overload. This stuff smells AMAZING! I took it over to my sous chef and made him smell it, too, because it was that incredible.

Back to prepping the flank steak. I laid the flank steak on a cutting board, cut a few slits against the grain of the meat, seasoned it with salt and fresh cracked pepper, rubbed in E.V.O.O. on one side, sprinkled Oregano on the E.V.O.O. rubbed side, and then finished it off with a good sprinkle of the Chipotle Chili Pepper. I let that sit for about 30 minutes.

Using our handy dandy All-Clad Grill Pan (thanks Brandon and Gradee!), I was able to fit this whole flank steak into the pan and get it grilled :)

Yes, ideally this would be grilled outdoors, but that's not possible for us right now.

Nonetheless, for a good flank steak, you should get a good crust on the outside and cook this to medium or medium well. Having a pink center on this lovely piece of meat is what makes it so tasty, in my opinion.

How pretty does that look?! Don't worry, I'll tell you about those potatoes in the foil boat in a later post :)

All-Clad Stainless Steel Measuring Cups and Spoons

I buy these magnificent little cooks' tools for everyone I can, especially girls having bridal showers and about to start their own kitchen with their new husband! My sous chef and I registered for these fabulous tools when we registered, and I use them each and every time I cook.

I'm a big fan of the odd-size ones above. You can find these at Williams Sonoma!

Pampered Chef Hold 'N Slice

Source: The Pampered Chef

This awesome product is only $4.00! I know it doesn't seem like much, but I absolutely love this product when I'm trying to slice a tomato, onion, lemon, etc. It makes the perfect sized slices. It spans the size of most Roma tomatoes, small onions, and similar sized fruits and vegetables! I'm not a kiwi person, but I'm sure it'd be great for those, too! Your knife just slides right through each of the slots while holding the the item you are cutting in place. It's a neat little gadget to add to your cookware items! Click on the picture to see the Hold N' Slice on the Pampered Chef Website.

Pampered Chef Chicken Club Ring

Every bit of an awesome chicken club wrapped up in crescent rolls for brunch, lunch, or, in my case, a great main dish for event showers! This past weekend I threw a bridal shower for one of my great friends (yey Jordan!), and I made two of these rings as part of the food spread.

Several years ago, Courtney Mayfield (whom you've already seen recipes from below) was a Pampered Chef consultant. She had a party at her duplex (which I later lived in) and showed us all how to make this recipe. I still remember her mixing all these ingredients together on her dining room table in her Pampered Chef Classic Batter Bowl.

Anyway, as you can see from the picture above, I used the stoneware that I cooked the Club Ring on to display the food as well. I think it adds to appetizing appeal!

Below is the recipe that I used to create this yummy masterpiece!

CHICKEN CLUB RING

Ingredients:
3 cups coarsely chopped cooked chicken
4 slices bacon, crisply cooked, drained and chopped
3/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley
1 garlic clove, pressed
2 plum tomatoes, sliced
2 cans of Crescent rolls (8 count)
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese

To Cook:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In Classic Batter Bowl, combine chicken, bacon, 3/4 cup of the Swiss cheese, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, parsley and garlic. Mix Well.

2. Arrange the crescent rolls around the stoneware in alternating directions. If your first crescent roll points to the outside of the stone, then have the next one point to the inside of the stone.

3. Using the large scoop, scoop filling evenly over desired shape. Top with tomato slices and finish by folding shape together (I took the corners of each piece of dough and folded them into the middle). Brush with egg white and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese.

4. Bake at 375 degrees for 11- 13 minutes or until the crescent rolls are cooked through.

Yield: 8 servings

I also found several other variations of this recipe, so feel free to check out these as well. Some of them seem to also use bell pepper and/or lettuce.

Alternate Recipe #1

In order to make life easier, I actually didn't cook bacon...drain it....wait for it to cool...and then chop them. I bought prepackaged bacon pieces, but not bacon bits. Nonetheless, take this recipe and use it for lunch or dinner and even when guests come over! People love the creative idea of this ring. Enjoy!

Hammered-Aluminum Champagne Bucket

Well OF COURSE this isn't a recipe, but part of cooking for me is hosting. Thus, I'm always have my eye out for awesome tools that I can use for hosting events. This afternoon, I was at the mall shopping for clothes. I was done with my clothing shopping, but I could feel Williams-Sonoma tugging me towards their heavenly store. Problem is, it was on the other side of the mall. No problem, I headed over there anyway.

I knew I had to resist going into the store, but as I passed by, I saw this beautiful champagne bucket in the window. It was like a huge diamond sitting among a so-so table setting. I just couldn't believe how gorgeous it was! I'm not made of money therefore I do not serve champagne much less have a gorgeous bucket to serve it in... but if I did...this would be the bucket that would be serving my champagne. Fortunately, it's on sale now at Williams-Sonoma!

Sale. Sale? Sale!

Hunny.....!