FOOD-FEATURE FRIDAY: TIM

I'm starting a new series that features friends of mine-- some I've known for years and others I've gotten to know over the inter-web. I've hand picked my entries and I want you all to get inspired by their cooking.

I'll be featuring appetizers, desserts, breakfast quickies, entrees, breads and more. If you want to bless us with your cooking, please shoot me an e-mail at steph {dot} ilene {dot} johnson {at} gmail {dot} com.

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Today my buddy is blessing us with some dinspiration (clever, right? dinner + inspiration = dinspiration). Tim was unfortunate enough to work with me to plan and serve our entire menu for a work retreat of 45+ people. I'm glad he put up with me because I learned a lot from him! Tim is hilariously witty and smart. He's an amazing example of someone who knows what he wants and goes for it. Watch for his name in politics because I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up being the winning campaign manager for one of our future presidents. Because my readers are mostly (okay, probably entirely) women, it looks like it's just Tim and the girls!

Chicken Tikka Masala

Tim used this recipe from the Food Network-- I wish I was there when he made it. 

Ingredients

Marinade:

1 cup plain yogurt, whisked until smooth

3 tablespoons Ginger-Garlic Paste, recipe follows 

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts poked with a fork, and cut into large bite-sized chunks

Sauce:

2 teaspoons olive oil

3 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup Ginger-Garlic Paste, recipe follows (or 6 cloves garlic and 2-inch thumb ginger minced)

2 serrano peppers, minced (seeds removed if you don't want it spicy)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon garam masala

2 teaspoons paprika

8 Roma tomatoes, diced

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 to 2 cups water

Oil, for grilling

1 tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves (optional)

1/2 cup heavy cream

Minced fresh cilantro, for garnish

Cooked rice, naan, or crusty piece of bread, for serving

Ginger-Garlic Paste:

1/2 cup cloves garlic, whole

1/2 cup fresh ginger, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch slices

1/4 cup canola oil

Look at this list of ingredients... a GINGER-GARLIC paste? I'm drooling right now. I love that this dish sets me up for a challenge. It's not something I would typically make. 

Get full directions by clicking on the link above--

here are Tim's tips for the recipe: 

Make sure you pay close attention during the sautéing of the garlic-ginger paste, Serrano peppers, tomato paste and spices. It's the most important part of developing the flavors for the dish, so don't skip doing each ingredient separately like the recipe asks. Keep the heat lower than you think you need because it's easy to burn these components which has a bad effect on the whole dish. 

Also, the recipe calls for grilling the chicken, which is great if you have one, but if you don't, a skillet or frying pan with just a small amount of Pam works too. 

Lastly, I like to simmer the chicken for about 30 minutes in the sauce, covered, just to make sure it's cooked through. 

Ummm, a man who can cook? Yeah, he'll make a lucky-lady very happy.

I'm nervous to cook with curry. 
I LOVE it. I've never cooked with it. Is it something I should try?

What are you making for dinner this weekend? 
I hope it something half as good as Tim's dish. 

BLT-CA: A SANDWICH HE'LL LOVE

I hope your week has been going well. I really do. It's always nice to start the week off with a holiday and I can't believe that tomorrow is Friday! Stay tuned because my first Food-Feature Friday will be coming your way. Woopee.

Last night when I got back from the gym, I started to make dinner and tidy up the place a bit. I found the nice, new pair of shoes I got G for Christmas sticking out from under the couch and I pulled them out to put them away. Low and behold, there was blood stained up around from the soles to the toes.

WHAT? 
Okay, so there wasn't tons of blood. In fact, there was a minimal amount. I am surprised I even noticed.

Being the reactive person I am, I stormed through the office door, cautiously holding his shoes in front of me. After his quick explanation and reassurance that some hydrogen peroxide would undo the dirty, my heart melted a little bit. You are probably all thinking that we are some sick couple, but get this: G helped deliver two, cloned baby calves. One of the little cows, fresh from the womb, stumbled her way over and fell at G's feet. Gross, but also kind of cute, right? That man of mine is quirky, but I love that he's passionate about his work... even though I don't like that it comes home with him sometimes.

Now that I've fully ruined your appetite, here's a quick and easy recipe that everyone is sure to love. I almost made myself a second sandwich after I inhaled my first. I couldn't pass up some bacon at the store yesterday because I know it holds a special place in my husband's heart. Wanting to make something he'd love, I was inspired to grill this up!

BLT-CA
Bacon, lettuce, tomato, cheese, & avocado
Serves 2

Go ahead and switch up the amounts of anything and everything in this.
These are my recommendations:

4 pieces of well-done, THICK cut bacon
4 slices bread of your choosing
(my favorite bread to get for sandwiches is Harper's Homemade: Bran. High in fiber,
low in refined grains and made from only a few ingredients, ALL of which I can pronounce)
Lettuce leaves of your choosing
1 globe tomato, sliced
4 oz. sliced sharp cheddar
1 ripe avocado, mashed

While your bacon is crisping to perfection in a skillet, start mashing up your avocado. I like to mash mine until it's pretty smooth-- that way it spreads easily on your toasted bread. Place cooked bacon on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb extra and unnecessary grease. Cool, clean, and re-heat skillet to medium.

Lightly butter two slices of bread and place buttered-side down in your skillet. Top with half the cheese and bacon on each slice. When cheese is melted, remove and plate. Slightly toast other two slices in warm skillet. On your cheese-less slices, smear on a good helping of the avocado. Assemble your sammies atop each cheese/bacon slice with tomatoes, lettuce, and avocado toast.

Drool.

Enjoy. 

What's your favorite twist to a BLT?

Do you have a go-to bread when you shop for groceries?

Any gross stories from your week you wouldn't mind sharing? Again, sorry for mine.

HAPPY PRESIDENT'S DAY & EGGS

Greg and I have spent the weekend in Davis county visiting our parents and are beyond happy to have today off work and school. Here's a quick recap of our weekend: 

Saturday I made a trip past my gym for measurement and a pep talk from my trainer. I was pleasantly surprised to have dropped in body fat % (But, maintaining weight! Yay for lifting!) and even more surprised when I was told it was okay to quit my quitting sugar. I will write more about that experience later, but basically I made it 5 weeks with no sugar. No fructose. No treats. No fruits. 8-week detox fail, but experimental sugar-cleanse success! I definitely will stay off refined sugars and feel stronger against my sugar addiction, but I just didn't see as many changes as I would have liked to. 

Later that evening, Greg and ventured to my old stomping grounds to chaperone the Viewmont High Valentine's Dance. It was absolutely fun and I am proud to finally say that all my high school memories aren't full of heart-ache;) I went to a high school dance with Greg! On our way out, we noticed that our car got egged. Seriously? What a mess. 

Sunday was an easy-going day that ended with some nice catching up with G's family and selfies from our cutie niece. 

We tried to wash the egg off our car last night, but alas, we had waited to long. I need a spackle knife...

In honor of our weekend, I made G some scrambled eggs this morning with whatever I found laying around my parents kitchen. Onions, bell-pepper, cheese... All with fresh eggs from the chickens out back. 

Eat something tastey toda on your day off! I am headed to watch me some Olympics.

How do you like your eggs?

Have any god high school dance stories? 

What are your plans for your President's Day break?

PINK TREATS

Yesterday, I baked.

I made some amazing sugar cookies that have been my favorite at Cutler's, a local favorite from my hometown of Bountiful. Thankfully Si, over at ABountifulKitchen.com, shared their actual recipe... I confess: I tasted the glaze when I made it. And I took a bite of G's cookie. You can't trust a cook who doesn't sample her own product! 

I have lots... anyone want any? 

But seriously, do you?

Tell me what your favorite Valentine treat is-- want to know something totally gross? Conversation hearts are my favorite and I nearly cried when they changed their recipe a couple years ago. An old boyfriend's of mine mother would track down the original Necco brand and get them for me. I wish I could find them now! I could go on and on about Valentine's day treat... Cherry chocolates, cinnamon hearts, cookies, pink wrapped favorites like Laffy Taffy and Reese's. Ugh. Someone help. 

What do you love/hate about Valentine'a day?

Do any of you have a classic, favorite cookie recipe? 

FRENCH TOAST TOPPERS

I'm obsessed with French toast. 

It's my favorite menu item at breakfast restaurants and when I get a new box of eggs from my family's chickens you can bet I am grilling toast 'till the eggs are nearly gone. 

Normally, I pile mine with berries, syrup, cinnamon and brown sugar-- the works. But, quitting sugar has been tough on my favorite dish. This past weekend I played around with some things I had on hand and came up with some amazing toppings for french toast. For those of you who think quitting sugar would be hard, try eating stuff like this!

French Toast Batter - Serves 2

Whisk together:

2 large eggs

1/3 C. almond milk

A dash of salt

1/2 tsp vanilla (optional) 

Quickly soak 4 pieces of stale/toasted bread in batter, grill on lightly buttered skillet. 

Whipped Cream 

1 small carton of heavy whipping cream

1/2 packet of Stevia

A few drops of lemon extract 

With a hand or stand mixer, begin beating cream on low. Slowly increase speed until stiff peaks form. Quickly mix Stevia and lemon. Store leftovers for a day or so in the fridge. 

Cinnamon Butter

1/2 stick of butter, softened

1 Tbs warmed coconut oil

1/2 packet of stevia

1 Tbs cinnamon

Beat butter and oil until smooth, add Stevia and cinnamon. Spread on toast and enjoy. 

Tell me what your opinion is on artificial sweeteners? Do you use artificial sweeteners to cut back on added sugar, or do you prefer something natural like Stevia?

What's your favorite breakfast item?

DISCLAIMER

*I do not have one of those fancy pants Canon DSLR Rebel ULTRA to the MAX cameras.

I take pictures of my food with my iPhone (gasp!) and so DUH the pictures don't look like this. When you cook, I'm pretty sure you don't tie burlap around your mason jars filled with salad or serve pasta with flags in it. I am an amateur and I want readers to feel like they can make the dishes I post! Raise your hand if you have ever tried to make a recipe and it didn't turn out like the professional picture at all-- I know I have.

*Sometimes I say that the dishes I make are "lighter fare" or "healthy," but let me assure you that someone, somewhere is already sending me a message about how I should use spelt flour or how I shouldn't be using any salt. Somebody is rolling their eyes because I used butter (instead of some fake, processed alternative that has less calories). Someone thinks that I should be using rice syrup or some type of paste instead of a particular ingredient in my recipe.

Oh well.

Here's my motto: Moderation in all things. When I say my recipes are healthy, I mean that I have made adjustments to traditional versions of recipes to make them "better" for you. My opinion of "better for me" means I don't feel guilty after eating it. I don't press my own almond milk, but I use store-bought almond milk often. I won't even be in the same room as Kale chips, but I do make some mean oven dill-fries; however, I will ask questions about how you would change recipes to make them even "better"for us, or how you would make my sweet taco chicken if you don't have Stevia on hand.

*I'm not just going to post recipes. I've decided that I want to blog more and along with my love of cooking comes my love to write. I've made it easy for you to sift through my posts-- just click the live, love, or eat tabs at the top of my page to filter my posts by your desired topic. Woo!

*I get way too excited when people comment. I love your advice and support. I love how technology can connect people in all sorts of interesting ways.

*Sometimes cooking gets pushed aside and I order out. You should, too.

HARD HAT REQUIRED

Under Construction

If you were looking for something to read, check these ladies out out:

Alyssa 
Kelsey 
Catherine

I really, REALLY love them.