"I'm sorry for being a crazy woman" dinner for my Fiance.

So, school is officially kicking my butt. I knew Culinary school would be hard, but good lord! I am turning into a crazy woman. Yesterday I had a midterm in my American Regional class that I was completely unprepared for. I attemped to stay up past my usual 9:00 bedtime (living on the edge, I know), but to no avail. I fell asleep watching the reality TV I had missed on Sunday night with my book in the bed.

I woke up at what I thought was 5:30 freaking out that I got up late and didn't have time to get ready and finish studying. With an elbow to his side I scream at Ryan to get out of bed and "make me some fucking coffee". Being the good man that he is, he does get out of bed and makes my pot of coffee and even writes out my recipe cards needed for class that day. Sweet, right?

The only problem with all of this is that is was not 5:30, it was 1:00 in the morning. I made him get out of bed, make me coffee and do my homework in the middle of the night.

So tonight I am making him a much deserved meal of Roasted Cuban Pork Loin with Roasted Asparagus and Strawberry-Rhubarb and Thyme Shortcakes.

But I will begin with the asparagus today. It's the easiest recipe ever but so yummy!

Roasted Asparagus

1 pound asparagus

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt to your liking, I used about 1 tablespoon of sea salt

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Wash and break the ends off your asparagus. If you don't know how to do this all you do is hold both ends of the asparagus and draw them down towards each other till it snaps.

Line the asparagus up on a baking sheet and drizzle the olive oil over them. Then sprinkle on your salt.

Throw those babies in the oven for 15-20 minutes (depending on the thickness of your asparagus). When they are done they should be a little darker in color and wrinkley, but still have a little crunch to them. Adjust the seasoning if you need to and serve immediately.

I will post the rest of the recipes from this delicious apology meal tomorrow.

A trial in whole wheat pancakes

So, pancakes and I for some reason don't quite understand each other. As much as I try to learn the language it never translates. Either they burn, or don't cook all the way through, or are just ugly unappealing shapes. I just can't win.
But inevitably for my Sunday brunch I was craving pancakes, and thought to myself,"Okay, you stubborn bastards, this is the last time".
I found a super easy recipe (figure I will start simple) and crossed my fingers.

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 cup buttermilk (I didn't have any so I made some by mixing one cup milk with one tablespoon of white vinegar)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 egg

Fresh berries (optional)

Begin by mixing the dry ingredients (except for the brown sugar). Once those are mixed together, whisk together the brown sugar, buttermilk, vegtable oil and egg then mix into dry ingedients. The batter should be lumpy, if you over mix the batter your pancakes will come out dense instead of like little blankets of clouds covered in syrup.
Let your batter sit for 5-10 minutes. While that sits heat your nonstick skillet or grittle heat up over medium high. Once hot pour 1/3 cup portions onto your pan, at this point you can drop your fresh berries on each pancake (I used blackberries). Cook the pancakes until little bubbles form on tip. Flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Serve warm and done!




Unfortunately I didn't document any of the steps to my first successful pancakes, but the next time I (hopefully) succeed.