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Quick and Easy Pizza

Filed under: Food, Garlic, Italian, Pizza, Quick and Easy, Sauce — Leave a comment
July 13, 2012

 Whether you are from Italy, New York, or Timbuktu; a pepperoni and cheese traditionalist or a gourmet creationalist, most people can appreciate a good pizza. And a home-made one is even better!

Now everyone knows that the crust is the hardest part to get right when making a home-made pizza. What if you could remove that part all together? I know what you’re thinking…. “Come now! You are not suggesting that we buy store-bought pizza dough/crust are you? That stuff is disgusting!” And OF COURSE NOT!  I would never suggest such a thing! It is blasphemy to pizza everywhere! What I am suggesting is to not use pizza crust at all!

I have a made a wonderful discovery. It is called Naan bread! You can buy this in both original or garlic flavored. (as you have probably guessed, garlic flavored is my favorite). It is a premade, flat bread that is sold in a roundish shape and it comes with a recipe for pizza right on the back of the package! It is delicious by its self, so why wouldn’t it be just as yummy with cheese? Here I have gone the traditional route with mozzarella and pepperoni. Next I believe I am going to try mushrooms, greek olives, and feta cheese. The sky is the limit! Even play around with the sauce. I suggest trying pesto, alfredo, or even an avocado paste (such as guacamole) for some extra creative fun!

Where can you find this amazing pizza crust substitute? Well I bought this at Target, but I’m sure it can be found in the bakery department of many national grocery chains. Brookshire’s is always a good place to go for unique and international ingredients. But the best place to find things if you have access is a farmers market or local bakery. 🙂

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Burgers, and Slammers, and Fries Oh My!

Filed under: Burgers, Food, Garlic, Irish, Potatoes, Quick and Easy, Sauce, Seasoning — Leave a comment
July 11, 2012

 

Five star dining is great, but sometimes you just want a nice, juicy burger. Am I right?

ideally you’d be throwing these bad boys on a charcoal flame grill on a nice sunny afternoon. Unfortunately, we don’t always have that luxury. Don’t lose hope though, because a good quality grill press or grill pan can get the job done just as well but with out the mosquitos and sun burn. 🙂

Here I made both full-sized burgers and slammers to accommodate the little ones. I premade the patties the night before and coated them in a mixture of Hidden Valley ranch dip mix and steak dry rub. Even though they were cooked in the kitchen this really helped give them that fresh from the grill flavor. “Liquid Smoke” can help with this effect as well.

As a side I made steak fries. Now there are several ways to make french fries and everyone has their favorite. Mine might be a little fancier than most. I like to cut up my potatoes in thick slices and fry them just enough to get a slightly crispy edge. Then I lay them over a baking pan and lightly coat them with extra virgin olive oil and season with garlic, sea salt, rosemary, and a little Cajun seasoning. Then I bake them until they turn a nice golden brown. Find your own happy place when it comes to things that have no set path, even if it means throwing some frozen fries in the oven because you are short on time.

I’m Irish, and if you don’t know, I love to add an Irish flare to food when ever I can. French fries, or “chips” is always a perfect opportunity for a little flare. Here I have made a malt vinegar dipping sauce. It’s really simple and easy to make. Just a little malt vinegar, fresh garlic, sea salt, ground sage, and just a pinch of ground mustard. Always seasoned to taste. And don’t just limit this to the fries because it can really give that burger an extra kick too! 🙂

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Asian Inspired Chicken and Rice

Filed under: Asian, Bake, Beer, Chicken, Food, Ginger, Rice Pilaf, Sauce — Leave a comment
July 9, 2012

Inspiration is everywhere! Muse is a fickle friend. I got the inspiration for this dish from seeing a marinade bottle.

I seasoned this chicken breast in ground and fresh grated ginger; a little thyme, sage, and ground mustard; with a dash of garlic with sea salt and cajun seasoning. I injected it with injectable marinade and then coated it with just a little sesame ginger marinade. I then baked it.

The rice is a mixture of long grain and wild rice. I added a small amount of sesame seed oil, sliced almonds, and a hand full of sesame seeds to give in a more Asian flavor. I also seasoned it with ginger, garlic, sea salt, and a splash of soy sauce.

I made a dipping sauce out of a little of the sesame ginger marinade, teriyaki sauce, fresh ginger, garlic, and sesame seeds. I also paired this dish with a Japanese beer Kirin Ichiban. If you like beer and haven’t tried it, What are you waiting for?

It may not be authentic or found in a hibachi grill, but this Asian inspired dish was delicious and very easy to make!

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Independence Day Ribs

Filed under: Beer, Food, Oven Bag, Ribs, Seasoning — Leave a comment
July 7, 2012

*Sorry this has taken so long. I have had some technical issues.*

Finally! The full post for my Independence Day Ribs!

 

Beer makes an excellent marinade! First I seasoned the ribs with sea salt and garlic then submerged them in Abita Restoration Ale. I let them soak in the ale over night, approximately 12 hours.

Some other good suggestions for marinating with beer are pretty much any Abita, Kirin, Shiner Bock, and Killians.

 

 

 

 

First thing in the morning, I removed the ribs from the bowl of Abita Ale. I placed the ribs, single layer in a Reynolds Oven Roasting Bag and coated them in a dry rub.

This should be done to taste. Use your favorite dry rub or one that will go with your chosen sauce the best.

 

 

After cooking in the oven on low heat for an hour and a half, the ribs came out fall a part tender. I had to use a spoon and tongs just to turn them over to coat in sauce. I carefully moved the ribs from the oven bag to the baking pan and coated them in my own mixture of sauce. I made a blend of a few sauces, combined with a little seasoning.

This is where you can have a little creative fun. Play around with sauces and flavors. Try something new!

Paired with baked beans, garlic mash potatoes, and cold beverage, these melt in your mouth ribs were definitely the hero of this meal!

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Quick and Easy Fajita Dinner

Filed under: Food, Quick and Easy, Sneak Peek — Leave a comment
July 4, 2012

Given the prep work that I am putting into my ribs for the Fourth of July tomorrow, I wanted to make something quick, easy, and requiring very little prep work for dinner tonight. What you see here is a steak fajita on a garlic and herb tortilla, topped with lettuce, tomato, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, salsa and garlic butter. Left over steak or chicken or store-bought precooked meat can make this a VERY easy meal.

Throwing tortilla chips in the microwave for about 30 seconds can heat them for serving and revive stale chips by releasing the moisture. Toss chips with a little sea salt and serve alongside a good thick salsa and home-made queso.  You can easily make a home-made cheese dip with a little Velveeta cheese and a can of Ro-Tel. I recommend “On the Border Restaurant Style” thin chips. They are super thin and crispy and when heated they really have that restaurant quality.

Top off with an ice-cold beverage of choice and you have a wonderful meal with very little preparation or work.

 

********************************** Sneak Peek********************************

For being awesome followers here is a sneak peek for tomorrow’s Independence Day Ribs 🙂

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Tips for the house hold cook on the go

Filed under: Food, Oven Bag, Quick and Easy, Seasoning, Slow Cooker — 2 Comments
July 3, 2012

The modern world is amazing and full of things that actually do make cooking on a busy schedule more convenient. I used to think that using many of these time saving techniques was “cheating”. But I’ve come to realize that I prefer to cook a great tasting meal and have time to enjoy it than to claim to cook everything from scratch. So here are just a few of my time saving tips. Please feel free to comment or respond with your own tips!

 

 

 

Plan ahead~ defrosting and marinating the day before doesn’t just save prep time when you start to cook, it will also make your meat juicer and more tender. Then it’s just a matter of throwing it in the oven/skillet/crock pot.

Oven bags~ a recent favorite of mine. Cooks evenly, keeps meat juicy and moist, locks in flavor, and cuts WAY down on clean up time. For extra time saving, throw veggies straight into the bag with your protein and you kill two birds with one stone.

Crock Pot/ Slow Cooker~ a crock pot can be the busy cook’s best friend. Most recipes can be converted for use in a crock pot and it requires little to no attention for several hours. You can toss in meat and veggies, cook on low for the eight hours that you are at work, come home and a hot meal is waiting! For extra time saving, use slow cooker liners and premixed seasoning packs.

Premixed Seasoning Packs~ from chili seasoning, gravy mix, or marinade mix. Little packets of premixed seasoning can save you time and money! There are some seasonings that are universal and you should have in your kitchen at all times. For the ones that you may not use too often, premixed packets are cheap and easy to use. Even something as easy as making gravy can be tedious when preparing a large or detail oriented meal. Jars of gravy or premixed packets can cut down on time. *use broth or stock instead of water and season well with premixed packets to add flavor and make it your own. Also, you can find seasoning packets that come with an oven roasting bag all in one.*

Focus on one thing~ If one thing in your menu requires a lot of work or attention plan for the accompanying food to be quick and simple. A five star restaurant has several cooks to get all of those amazing dishes out…. it’s much more difficult for you to make four courses from scratch. If your main dish is slightly complicated, pair it with something simple like mac and cheese or minute rice. It does not matter how long it took to make everything if it all tastes delicious.

Quick and Easy~ Cooking wonderful, complicated meals every night can burn you out. Decide on a few quick and easy meals that you can implement a couple of nights a week. Whether that is a default take out place or a various collection of frozen or microwave meals that everyone enjoys, make sure you give yourself a break. I highly recommend frozen broccoli stuffed chicken breast or Birds Eye Voila frozen pasta meals.

Make it your own~ No matter if its a recipe you stumbled upon or a quick and simple meal like minute rice find a way to make it your own. Not every recipe has to be followed to a tee. Play around with spices and seasoning. Throw in some fresh garlic or a hand full of sliced almonds. You’ll be amazed at how completely a hand full of bacon bits and a little garlic and transform Kraft mac and cheese. When it comes to recipes, never go with the first one you find. Google it! Take your top five favorite. Mix and match ingredients. Discover your own style. The main thing to take away from recipes is an appropriate cooking time and temp…. everything else is art.

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Dinner with Friends

Filed under: Food, Rice Pilaf, Roast — 1 Comment
June 30, 2012

I have recently discovered a wonderful invention….. Oven Roasting Bags! Not only does it keep food from cooking into and caking onto my pans, it helps my food cook evenly and keeps on the juices and seasoning locked into the meat. I honestly used to think that to be a good cook I had to do everything the long or hard way. If I still thought that, I’d never do anything but cook! I have a job, a family, school work, and a life! So I realized, you can take some short cuts and the food still tastes wonderful. Which is what really matters anyway…. Not how you got there.

So last night I had some wonderful long lost friends come over. I made a chuck roast and potatoes marinated in garlic and herbs in an oven roasting bag. I also served long grain and wild rice pilaf with almonds and a nice simple side salad. I felt that the roast came out a bit tough and I wish I had the time to marinade it over night like usual. There was a comment that the rice tasted buttery (which isn’t necessarily bad thing if you like buttery). This comment lead to several minutes of trying to figure out why, because I had not added butter. 🙂 I’m not sure if we ever came to a conclusion…. But I love you anyway Brandon. All in all it was a good meal and a great evening with friends. I couldn’t have asked for a better night!

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Lunch at Zocolo

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Filed under: Restaurants — Leave a comment
June 29, 2012

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So I am trying a new restaurant and a new food for lunch. Zocolo has a wonderful atmosphere! I ordered fried pickles and crayfish and corn chowder. Fried pickles are a bit of a weakness for me and I like to try them where ever possible. These did not disappoint! They are think sliced and seasoned well. The dipping sauce is different from the ranch variations that I’m used to, but it has totally won me over. Now I have never had chowder before. I have slight trepidation over the thickness and not being able to see the ingredients. However the taste is amazing! This place really knows how to use seasonings! Something I have found to be a rarity among too many restaurants as of late. So I’d have to say that this place has definitely enticed me back for another visit. Maybe I’ll check out their dinner menu.

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New Pages

Filed under: Welcome — Leave a comment

Thanks for all the support that I have been receiving! You have no idea how much it is appreciated! I just wanted to write a quick post to let you know that two of my pages are up and operational! The Essence of Ginger page gives you a little information about myself and the blog. I have also included a Photo Gallery page. Almost every post will include a photo, but just for a quick look at all the photos in one place you can visit the Gallery. There are pictures up right now and posts to go along with them will follow soon. If there are any other pages you would like to see or additional information you would like me to include please just comment, message, or email me.

Also be sure to check out the side bar. You can enter your email to be notified when new blogs are posted. Don’t forget to “like” Just A Little Ginger’s facebook page as well. Also don’t overlook all the ways you can share your favorite blog posts! Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, Reddit, Email, and even Print! 🙂

Full food related blog posts will be up soon. Thank you for baring with me during the jump start of this blog. 🙂

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Hello world!

Filed under: Welcome — 2 Comments
June 28, 2012

Welcome to my new blog! I working on getting everything up and running smoothly so bare with me for a short time. 🙂

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