LOVE BIRD

LASDI ©

We don't really celebrate Valentine's Day at Vintağe.  I mean, we DO, but we don’t REALLY. There are several reasons.  One, we celebrate our love for one another EVERY DAY!  No need to pick out one day in particular to prove it as far as we're concerned.  Second, a traditional Valentine’s with all the gifts, roses, candy, and the like, seems like frivolity for our finances.  Now that doesn't mean we don't love love, and we think the world of people who DO celebrate the day!  And being the Themer I am, February means an entire month of wearing red, hearts, and cooking in theme, too!  

This particular meal was definitely dedicated to the Love of My Life, The Hubster.  It was simple, but tasted complex, easy, yet tasted as though I'd been cooking all day!  

Being the low-carb girl of The Fam, I made the rice with bean pasta shaped like rice for the low-glycemic effect, but you can use regular arborio rice or even brown or long grain!  The key here is to make the meal with love, present it with love, and LOVE IT when ya eat it, no matter WHAT time of year it is!

LOVE BIRD

4 slices bacon (see notes)

extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

4 chicken breasts

sea salt, pepper to taste

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 stick butter

1 cup parmesan

1 cup heavy cream

1 lb cooked rice of your choice

1 large jar of roasted red peppers in water

1/4 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350, put bacon on a baking sheet, and cook to desired doneness (see notes).  While the bacon is cooking, heat a heavy pan (I use my cast iron!) until lightly smoking.  Salt and pepper chicken on both sides, sprinkle a little evoo into the pan and carefully add the breasts.  Keep on medium-high heat and sear until caramel brown, about four minutes on each side.  Remove from the pan and set aside; remove bacon from the oven and also set aside.

Add chopped onion and pepper to the pan and lower heat to medium.  Cook until slightly translucent and a bit of brown starts to show.  Sprinkle it with a little sea salt and pepper and stir.  Meanwhile, add butter to a medium-sized saucepan on medium heat.  Once melted, add parmesan and the cup of heavy cream, stirring until combined.  Add your cooked rice and stir.  Remove onion/pepper mixture from the pan and add to the rice mixture, gently folding until combined.  Place in a warmer to thicken to a risotto-like consistency and to stay warm until you're ready to plate.

Add the roasted red peppers and jar water to the chicken pan on medium heat, and cook on high until the water has evaporated.  Remove from heat.  With a hand blender, carefully blend until the peppers have a thick consistency.  Add the 1/4 cup heavy cream and blend again.  Place the pan back on medium heat and add your seared chicken breasts to the pan.  Allow to come to a slight boil, flip the chicken breasts and cook another few minutes until tender.

Plate your rice, then gently place your chicken on top using a small spoon to pour some of the sauce in the pan on top.  Place bacon on top of the chicken.  I also used a red pepper to top the whole thing with a "heart", but that's totally optional!  

Enjoy this rich meal with a glass of rosé and dedicate it to the love of YOUR life, too!

NOTES: I use uncured bacon with no nitrites or nitrates, which can intensify the flavor.  Don't use smoked bacon of any kind in this recipe as it will change the flavor profile.  I also put the bacon in the shape of a heart before putting it in the oven to go along with the theme!  Then I lay the red pepper heart on top for added HEART!

YA SCAMP!

LASDI©

Life As She Does It is a quadrant of talents that can be used to make life easier.  One of the quarter pieces is being a boutique caterer.  It even makes my own life easier!

I had a business lunch meeting, which to me means business would be discussed at a meeting where we ate (obs), but I would be in charge of the LUNCH!  It only made sense! It’s a way I control the ingredients AND get to show off a little cooking prowess!

I wanted something hearty-yet-light, delicious, and EASY!  I went with shrimp scampi pasta, and it was truly all of those things!  It was also a nod to the goodbye to February with the gorgeous red-hued shrimp that when paired with another makes the shape of a heart, and hello to March with the green of the broccli gems I added!  

I  had a lot to do to prepare for the meeting itself, so this had to be as simple as possible to put together, but taste complex as though a michelin star chef had prepared it!  

I'm sharing it with you because this would make a great brunch, lunch, dinner, or snack!  Ya scamp!

SHRIMP SCAMPI PASTA

1 box spaghetti (I use low-glycemic pasta for the low-carb effect!)

1 head broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces

high-heat oil (hho), like avocado

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined, (tails on for that classic scampi feel!)

1-750 ml bottle of sauvignon blanc (see notes)

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 1/2 sticks butter

sea salt, to taste

course black pepper, to taste

1 tbs paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

parsley, minced

Cook pasta according to instructions (see notes).  During the last minute of cooking, add your broccoli.  Strain and rinse all with cool water to stop the cooking process.  Leave in the strainer, and heat a heavy skillet (I use my cast iron!) on high heat for about two minutes or until slightly smoking.  Add enough hho to just barely cover the bottom.  Add your shimp (see notes) and cook for about one minute on each side.  Remove from heat and set aside.  In the same pan you made your shrimp over medium-high heat, add the wine.  Let it reduce to about half, add the lemon juice and bring to a simmer.  Add your butter, one pat at a time, whisking whilst  you work until it's all melted and the sauce seems thickened and slightly frothy.  Add your seasonings and let simmer for another thirty seconds or so, and remove from heat.  Place pasta / broccoli mix into a large bowl, add your shrimp and pour scampi sauce over.  Mix gently with tongs until pasta, shrimp, and broccoli are coated.  Sprinkle with parsley and you're ready to eat!

NOTES: Buy two bottles of the sauvignon blanc...one for cooking, one for drinking!  You can use any white wine you like, but there is something about sauvignon blanc that lends a crisp, light taste. Be sure you salt your pasta water BUT GOOD!  It will not only flavor the pasta, but in this case, the broccoli as well!

PLUMERIA

LASDI ©

Remember when you tried to grow your bangs out, and there was that weird time where they were too short and not quite long enough? That’s how I feel about September. It’s not really Summer anymore, and yet, it isn’t Autumn just yet. But with the purple primrose, bluebells, and thistle growing wild along the highway, stonefruit in the full throws of its season, and the indecisive thermometer doing its own thing, September carries its own lovely label when it comes to food!

This meal carries it’s own uniqueness in that it uses turkey cutlets as the protein. The caramelized plums & purple onion take your palate to a different level, and serving it with roasted beets with crushed pistachios and warm citrus vinaigrette, as well as rosemary barely-smashed potatoes makes this meal one of the best September could offer! And just to add some more seasonal color, the potatoes were the baby potatoes with gold, purple, and red skins. BEAUTIFUL!

So go ahead and grow those bangs out…as long as you do it in September!

PLUMERIA

4 turkey cutlets (see notes)

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

sea salt, to taste

pepper, to taste

avocado oil (or some other high-heat oil)

4 plums, pitted and sliced

2 large purple onion, sliced

1/2 tsp clove

1 tsp brown sugar

1 cup broth of your choice

Set your oven to high broil. Place your cutlets together in a bowl and pour the evoo over them. Sea salt and pepper to taste and toss, coating each cutlet evenly. Place on a sheet pan and shape into a circle (see notes). Place under the broiler for five minutes, until lightly browned on top. Turn off the oven, allowing the cutlets to stay in there to rest as the oven cools down. Heat a heavy pan (I use my cast iron skillet!) on high heat until it is lightly smoking. Sprinkle enough avocado oil to cover about half the bottom of the pan, and lower your heat to medium. Carefully pour your onion into the pan, stir to cover with the oil, and let sit untouched for about two minutes. Sprinkle them with sea salt and pepper, and add your plums. Stir slightly so as to mix together and let cook for another two minutes. Sprinkle with the clove and brown sugar, stir and pour a slight bit of broth into the mix, then stir again. Allow to cook together until the broth is absorbed, continuing this process until all the broth has been used and the onion and plum have become a beautiful purple color, and has thickened, about ten-to-twelve minutes. Remove your cutlets from the oven and serve with a heaping helping of the plum-and-onion mixture on top.

NOTES: If you can't find turkey cutlets in your local grocery store, you can use turkey tenderloin or even chicken. If using the turkey cutlets, know that they come in a very weird shape, so pulling the two ends together on the sheet pan to form it into a circle will make them cook into that shape! They look very whimsical this way, especially once the vibrant mixture is on top! Perfect for Date Night at home, too!

MOLÉ AMORÉ

photo cred: HERE

Oh, February! I love how you make it totally acceptable to cook with chocolate and other gratifying extravagances! In Life As She Does It’s affinity partnership with Oil Wife Life (Covenant Testing Technologies, #CovenantCares), I was given the challenge to create a recipe using Nutella. CHALLENGE. ACCEPTED.

Some people luh-huh-huuuv the chocolate-y hazelnutty delight, but I also know that some people seem to shame the blameless jar of wonder. Personally, I think that’s because they envision themselves tucked in a blanket on the couch on a dreary day, watching their favorite Hallmark Channel movie with nothing but a jar of Nutella and a spoon to keep them company. Well, you will receive no judgment from me!

Even though I am a low-carb girl that tries to eat as healthy as possible, I also believe in rewards and indulgences from time-to-time. I found this recipe to be a fantastic mix of both and let me just tell you - The Hubster and I were thrilled to have it! It is a rich and luscious, and just perfect for a chilly night!

So my challenge to YOU is to make it for your Valentine, and then get TWO spoons to share the rest of the jar for dessert!

CHOCO-NUT CHICKEN MOLÉ

i 1 small pkg boneless skinless chicken breasts, trimmed (of any extra fat or skin)

1 small pkg boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed

extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

sea salt

pepper

paprika

cumin

2 chipotle in adobe, chopped finely

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, chopped finely

1/2 cup marcona almonds, chopped coarsely

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp fresh oregano, or 2 tsp dried

1 can rotel

2 tbs tomato paste

1/4 cup Nutella

1/2 bar unsweetened chocolate, chopped coarsely

3/4 cup chicken broth

Heat a large, dry skillet on high heat for two minutes (I use my cast-iron, of course!). Pour enough evoo to coat the bottom of the skillet and allow to heat another minute. While heating oil, season both sides of chicken with sea salt, pepper, paprika, and cumin by lightly sprinkling to coat. Lower heat to medium-high. Cook about three-to-four chicken pieces at a time in the skillet, careful not to crowd the pan, for about five minutes on each side, placing each batch on paper towel covered platter.

Pour about two tablespoons more evoo into the skillet, and add the chipotle in adobe peppers, garlic, and onion. Cook on medium-high heat for about five minutes, stirring occasionally. While the pepper mixture cooks, slice your chicken and set aside. Add marcona almonds and stir to combine. In a small bowl, stir together sea salt, pepper, allspice, paprika, cumin, and garlic powder, then add to the onion mixture and stir. Sprinkle with oregano and stir again.

Add rotel and tomato paste. Stir and let simmer one minute. Add Nutella, chocolate bar, and chicken broth and stir slowly. Cook and stir until thickened and smooth, about six minutes. Add the sliceed chicken to the pan, cover and simmer on low heat for ten minutes.

Sprinkle with a drizzle of sour cream, some cotija cheese, and serve over brown or cauli rice!!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I LOVE WAFFLES

.....and The Hubster.  I love him enough to do THIS to his waffles.  I mean, let's be real here: marriage is hard work in order for it to be successful, and the only extra time this took was about a minute longer to use a cookie cutter to cut them out.  That's not hard work.  That's love, if you'll pardon the cliché.  I used a mold for the egg and fixed the plate up all purty-like and he loved it!  And he loves me.  And I'm ever-so-grateful.  Grateful enough to share my vanilla waffle recipe with you!!  It's fast and easy, and you'll love them!  (And maybe you'll learn to love me, too.)

VANILLA WAFFLES

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tbs baking powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

2 tbs sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 tsp vanilla

1-1/2 cups milk

1/4 cup canola oil (or other medium-to-high heat oil)

Get your waffle iron going by preheating it while you make your batter.  Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  Make a hole in the center of your dry ingredients and and add the eggs, vanilla and milk. Stir like a crazy person until well-combined, though your batter may be just a tad lumpy.  Add the oil to your batter and stir again.  Using a ladle, pour desired amount of waffle batter onto your preheated waffle iron, and cook until desired brown-ness (is that a word?).

NOTES: Since carbs, sugar, and flour are a treat in this house, I at least use all-organic ingredients, including the oil, but this is not a necessity in order for the waffle to taste crazy-amazy.  #LoveYou

PASTA LOVE

SHE2016©

It is a Leap Year so we got an extra day in February!  So because this was the last Sunday in February I had to make sure it was a Sunday Supper of Love to remember!  I decided - even as the Low-Carb Girl in the house - to go all out and make The Hubster home-made pasta!  I topped it with chicken Parmesan and made a side of squash stacks of eggplant, yellow squash, and zucchini, and some lovely garlic knots.  I finished it off with almond-liquor raspberry-topped cheesecake and a Bishop Burgundy cocktail.  It was nothing short of amazing, but was still pretty easy!  Who would you like to show some love to?  The way to the heart is through the stomach, no?  

SHE2016©

FAST & EASY HOME-MADE PASTA

3 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
a pinch of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup flour

Add the eggs, salt, pepper, and olive oil to a food processor fit with the blade attachment, and pulse two or three times.  Add half the flour, and pulse until it is absorbed into the eggs and you have a bit of a paste. Add the rest of the flour, and continue to run the blade until you see a ball-shaped mass of flour and eggs bouncing around the processor. If the dough is still too sticky to the touch, add an extra tablespoon of flour. If it's a bit dry, then add a little water as needed.  Take the pasta dough out and roll/shape according to what you're looking to accomplish with your dish.  For us this time around, it was fettuccine-shaped with marinara sauce.  I cooked it in the sauce for about five minutes, as fresh pasta takes a lot less time to cook.  And it was incredible.

NOTES: Carbs doesn't mean unclean in my house.  I still use organic ingredients, including the flour and olive oil.  I really do believe in this particular case, it makes for a better-tasting pasta.  Happy eating!