Sriracha-Honey Brussel Sprouts

So tonight I was cruising the internets while I was at work, and on buzzfeed there was a post about roasted brussel sprouts (random, I know!). It basically said to roast them, then at the end toss with sriracha and honey. So when I got home tonight, I decided to make my own version. And we ALL know how much I LOVE sriracha... sriracha rap dun dun!

I didn't have raw brussel sprouts, I just had the steam-in-the-bag kind, so I cooked those up. While they were cooking, I mixed together probably equal portions of sriracha and honey, maybe a tablespoon of each. I like things SPICY, so if you can't handle heat, you might want to use less ;)

When the brussels were done in the microwave, I tossed them with the sriracha-honey mixture and added a little salt & pepper and voila! An easy, quick and tasty side dish :)

Friday Happy Hour: Sparking Pomegranate Cocktail

YAY!! My first Friday Happy Hour post in about 14.765 years :)

At my Coq au Vin dinner party a few weeks ago I made this cocktail to have with our appies. It was super easy and yum!

Sparkling Pomegranate Cocktail

• 1 ounce simple syrup (equal parts sugar & water, bring to a boil and let sugar dissolve, cool)
• 2 ounces vodka
• 2 ounces pomegranate juice
• 3 ounces sparkling wine

In a shaker, mix simple syrup, vodka and pomegranate juice. Strain into ice-filled glasses and top with sparkling wine. ENJOY!

(Sorry there's no pics, of course they were all drank before I had a chance!)

Salad Creations -- at home version

Near where I work is this cool little lunch place called Salad Creations.

They have all sorts of salads and toppings and dressings and I adore going there for lunch because I can be healthy and have a yummy lunch. Problem is, when all is said and done, my lunch costs almost $15!! So I decided to do my own Salad Creations at home; it worked out great and was a LOT cheaper than $15 per day for lunch. :)

At Publix, I bought everything I could want on my salad. At Salad Creations, I get the create your own and ask for almost everything they have. This is what I bought, but feel free to get whatever you like -- croutons, nuts, dried fruit, anything!

• lettuce
• tomatoes
• cucumbers
• shredded carrots
• green pepper
• broccoli 
• mushrooms
• red onion
• canned chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
• canned water chestnuts (drained and rinsed)
• canned corn (drained and rinsed)
• eggs (which I hard-boiled and peeled)
• canned black beans (drained and rinsed) 
• bacon (cooked and chopped or crumbled)
• shredded cheese
• frozen, shelled edamame (thawed)
• frozen peas (thawed)

I spent an afternoon chopping, thawing, draining and rinsing everything. Then I put each item in a Ziploc sandwich bag, then all of them into a bigger Ziploc bag and into my fridge. I also bought some chicken breasts, butterflied them, and threw them in a quick marinade of olive oil, salt, pepper, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard & lemon juice (whatever you have really!). Every night before work, I put a spoon full of each of my ingredients plus a lot of lettuce in a big Tupperware and a small Tupperware full of dressing in (I made an awesome roasted garlic vinaigrette, but use whatever you have in the fridge). I put the dressing in the big Tupperware to keep it from spilling in my lunchbox. I also quickly cooked my chicken in a frying pan, chopped it up and put it in a separate container. At lunch time, I warmed the chicken separately, tossed it into the salad, emptied the dressing, and shook! I also brought a few crackers or breadsticks because I need carbs at every meal (LOL). For maybe $30 worth of groceries I probably got 6 or 7 big salads. Take THAT Salad Creations $15 lunch!

Try it with whatever ingredients you like in your salads! Check out all the combos on the Salad Creations website and make your own Chipotle BBQ Chicken Salad! :)

(Fail whale for me, forgot to take any photos at all of this process. But when I was using all those ziplocks I looked like a real hoarder, I am sure!)

Coq au Vin Dinner Party

A few weeks ago I had some of my friends in Ft Lauderdale over to help me check-off one of my 2012 goals: making Coq au Vin from scratch. My parents actually had both volumes of Mastering the Art of French Cooking (which I have since adopted and brought to Ft Laudy with me), so I had ALL the recipes on hand for my dinner! But I had to do some menu planning  to make my dinner party EXTRA fabulous :)

After menu planning and spending nearly a FORTUNE at Publix, I got to work in the kitchen! To be quite honest, none of Julia Child's recipes (that I've made anyways) are that difficult or take that long. When I made Beef Bourgionon in the spring, it really didn't take ALL afternoon, but there were a lot of steps. The same thing for Coq au Vin. All-in-all, it maybe took 2 hours, but there were a lot of steps. Nothing complex, just a lot of steps. I set a gorg table, and used my favorite plates EVER (still) I got from John & Juan a few Christmases ago.

I decided on an app I made for the Orlando gays awhile ago: Pancetta Crisps with Goat Cheese & Figs. It's seriously SO easy and so delicious. And I randomly bought honey-flavored goat cheese at Publix that day, and I drizzled a little honey on top instead of the fig jam, and it was AMAZING! The boys LOVED them. (And so did I!)

I also made a delish Sparkling Pomegranate Cocktail which was so refreshing on a Saturday afternoon!

We had a green salad, which was easy and delicious. I mixed arugula and spinach, topped with some cherry tomatoes and thinly sliced red onions and a honey-balsamic vinaigrette:

Honey-Balsamic Vinaigrette

• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinager
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste

Mix first 3 ingredients, then stream in olive oil while whisking. Add salt & fresh-ground pepper to taste. (Okay, yes, I went there with the "fresh-ground pepper"... but honestly, it makes a big difference in recipes where the flavors are simple and easy.) This has become my go-to dressing for everything, it's just THAT good.

You can KINDA see the salad in this shot of the table.

Then we had the Coq au Vin, which was simply amazing. Julia Child makes some GOOD FOOD. I made some mashed potatoes (from scratch of course) and bought a few baguettes at the store (I would've made them but didn't plan enough in advance!), and our meal was complete with LOTS of red wine.

For dessert, I made Vanilla Panna Cotta with chocolate whipped cream. The easiest dessert but it tastes amazing and if you put it in classy glasses it looks REALLY fancy!

So that leaves me with ONE item left on my 2012 food hit list: croissants. I have 2 months and I feel pretty good I can find another group of friends to grin and bear it while I make some croissants.

Go out there and have a fun party and cook some good food!!

Oreo Footballs

I am SUCH a failure. I made these ADORABLE footballs for the office potluck today and I totally forgot to take any pictures at all :( so that's a downer. My friend Flossie made them a few months ago for a Superbowl potluck we had and they were a big hit! So I decided to recreate them for today's potluck.

Anyways, here's the link to the recipe: Oreo Football Cookie Balls

And here's an adorable picture I stole from the Kraft website:

Mine looked similar but definitely not as polished. But they tasted SUPER yummy, everyone loved them!

My trusty kitchen aid did most of the heavy lifting in this recipe. First I crushed the oreos with the paddle until the pieces were small, then I added in the cream cheese. The hardest part was definitely shaping them, then dipping them in the chocolate. I made the mistake of putting them on a cookie rack and the chocolate stuck to the rack so prying them off was a little challenging too. For the laces, I got white icing and put it in a ziplock bag, then cut a tiny hole in the corner.

Try these! They're easier than they look and SO amazingly delicious :)

Ranch Oyster Crackers

My mom has made these ranch oyster crackers for literally decades, and I've seen the recipe popping up in one way or another on pinterest. We're having another potluck tomorrow at work so I whipped up a batch because they are so quick and easy. And always a HUGE hit!

Ranch Oyster Crackers
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning Mix
1/4 cup oil (I used vegetable, but the original recipe calls for Popcorn Oil--you can find it next to the popcorn kernels)
1 package oyster crackers (I got the 14 oz Publix-brand box)

In a ziplock bag, mix the oil and the oyster crackers together until they are combined well. Then sprinkle in the ranch seasoning mix and shake shake shake until it's fully mixed.

A lot of the recipes online call for you to bake them, but my mom just lets them sit for a few hours.

ENJOY!

Spicy Beer Bread

A few weeks ago I posted about a Honey Beer Bread I made that was literally the easiest bread ever to make. Well, last weekend, my roommate and I were out at our favorite local watering hole, Riverside Market. Side note--Riverside Market is literally the coolest, most chill place to go and have a beer. It's a little off the beaten path, but they have amazing food and a ridiculous beer selection. If you live in Ft Lauderdale, definitely check it out when you're jonesin' for a chill day or night. The past few times I've gone there I've had my eye on this Billy's Chilies Beer and I tried it when my roomie and I were there.

The beer actually gave me an ulcer I think...I can totally handle REALLY spicy food, but I think it was the combo of the spiciness and the carbonation that did me in. My tummy hurt really bad. But then I thought that it might make an interesting combo in the bread.

So I bought an extra bottle and whipped up a loaf Sunday morning after my run (I also was out of honey so I used maple syrup instead and you couldn't taste the difference). And the bread was... interesting. Not bad, but it definitely tasted like the beer, just a more subtle spicy flavor. The peeps at work loved it (I'm beginning to think they'll eat anything??) so that was a positive! I think it would've been really great with chili or to make spicy crutons on gazpacho.

But, just goes to show, you gotta experiment with things! I always say, follow the recipe to the T the first time, and afterwards adjust it as you see fit. (Although, following that rule has definitely done me in a few times, when I've read something and said.. WAIT no that can't be right.. and then I do it and it definitely isn't right.) And always, USE what you have!! The internet is a great resource and I would've never thought to use maple syrup instead of honey, but it worked out!

Have you ever experimented in a recipe and it worked out? Or didn't work out??