Zucchini Fritters

The other day I got my Birchbox and my Bon Appetit magazine in the mail at the same time. Jackpot. Talk about the little things! I dog-eared the page for these Zucchini fritters as soon as I saw them [while reading my magazine on the treadmill in the gym]. These were really good, crispy on the outside, super hot and moist on the inside. The dipping sauce they recommended was excellent too.

The recipe- here- is really simple. I was so proud of myself when my pictures turned out exactly like those in the magazine. The grating of the zucchinis was the only step that required more than minimal effort. Don't forget to let the grated zucchini drain and then squeeze out the excess liquid... which maybe I forgot to do until the last minute. I grated 2 zucchinis, let them sit in a colander while I went to the pool, squeezed them with a paper towel, then threw in the cornstarch, flour, salt/pepper, and egg. I mixed it all up with my hands and heated up the vegetable oil over medium/medium-high heat. Then I messed around making various sizes of fritters and frying them up. The dipping sauce was made with rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, and brown sugar. Dankness.

Le Inspiration

 

 

Grated Zucchini. Add salt and let drain. Lots of liquid will come out. Surprisingly tasty just like this.
PS- Don't peel the zucchini.

Just like the magazine. I'm telling you, I impress myself.

And yes, these are easy enough to make after a few beers.

These are a definite party food. Mmmm.

Mario Batali's Gnocchi all'Amatriciana

I love gnocchi. I really like homemade gnocchi. But hey, when you can get a package of gnocchi  for less than $2 and save like 30 minutes, why not use that on a recipe you've never tried before... you know, just in case it's not that good?

HA! Like this recipe from Mario Batali wouldn't be that good. I saw him make this Gnocchi all'Amatriciana on The Chew last week and he did it so fast that I figured it couldn't be too tough. It involves bacon and jalapenos and red pepper flakes, so how could it not be amazing? Strangely, when I tasted this dish, I realized that this is not a combination of flavors that I encounter often- salty, bacon-y, and spicy. It was great! I used 3 jalapenos from my own plants [because I'm fancy like that] and just regular bacon, though I'm sure it'd be even better with the Italian Guanciale that Mario recommends. I also used yellow onion because of course I didn't have red onions... There were [supposedly] 4 servings of gnocchi in the package, but Charlie and I ate all of it between the two of us. Sorry I'm not sorry.

Combine oil, bacon, and chopped onion until the bacon is browned a bit. Stir in a quarter of a cup tomato paste, 3 jalapenos and red pepper flakes and keep stirring. Don't forget to save some pasta water! If it seems too dry, add some of that and it will get all wet and awesome again and all the bacon bits can be scraped off the bottom. Makes much more sauce-y goodness

 

 

Add Parmesan of course. Of course!

 

 

Yet again, I didn't have something that Mario recommended- Parsley. But I did have a ton of fresh basil. So, in that goes.

Isn't she a beaut?!

Whatever, I went to the gym that day. I think.

Tortellini Soup

Man I've got so many good food pics that I haven't posted yet. This is a tortellini soup that, by actually following a recipe, turned out really awesome. You could change up the type of tortellini you use, but I like some meat. Previously I used a Trader Joe's fresh pesto and cheese filled tortellini, but this time found some at Harris Teeter filled with italian sausage. I'm pretty sure this is the recipe. I was in the grocery store already with an idea of what I wanted to make, so I just Googled to find a tortellini soup recipe similar to the one in my head to validate my ideas.

I've never really used stewed tomatoes before, but they are a great addition. They're already pretty seasoned and have celery and other things in the can with them. The tomatoes are also really soft and I broke them apart with my fingers so that they weren't in super big chunks when the soup was done. I also added some chopped carrots in early on so they would get soft too. And let's be real, you don't need to measure chicken broth exactly- just put in enough to have a pleasant amount of liquid (and soup to eat) and stop when it tastes good. Too much? Let it reduce. Duh. And add parmesan instead of salt for the most part. But honestly, you always need more salt. Yum.

Carrots, spinach, tomatoes, healthy?

 

Would be a much better pic without that little broken piece of pasta wasn't there... dangit

 

 

And then add as much Parm as you like. And I like a lot [more than this really, but ya know, it's for the pic]

Chicken Marsala

So I made this Chicken Marsala last week before heading to the beach, and it was pretty delicious. I found it on Pinterest because of its pretty picture and turns out it is from Saveur, a magazine that I can't really afford. Today I focused on Secured Transactions [still a day behind on Kaplan's schedule] and it was pretty straightforward but also awful since I never took that class in law school. Anyway, this chicken marsala- and the beautiful pics that came from it- really make me feel better about missing like 10 out of 24 questions on that checkpoint quiz...

Pound chicken flat- they recommend to a quarter inch thick, but that seems impossible with my tools.
Dredge chicken in flour and spices, heat butter and olive oil, cook about two minutes on each side. Remove
Add a bit more butter, saute mushrooms until golden, take em out and put them on the warm plate with the chicken.

I pretty much followed the recipe by Saveur. I didn't add very much of the flour that it calls for to thicken the sauce, but I also did not measure the flour that I dredged my chicken in, so I had kind of a lot leftover. I probably could have pounded the chicken a little thinner too, but the neighbors might have called the cops since I used a heavy-ish pot instead of a meat mallet [silly unnecessary thing to buy, but I will take one if you're making a list of potential gifts for me]. Of course, I subbed yellow onions for shallots, just because it's what I had. Other than that, yeah I followed the recipe.

Add oil (or more butter), onions (finely chopped), and garlic. Cook for a bit. Add some flour. Cook for a bit.
Throw in the marsala wine and reduce...

When the consistency gets awesome (a little thicker), add the chicken and mushrooms to the mix.

Then add the noodles of your choice (these are whole wheat penne). Mix around more.

Eat.
Man, so good.
 

And that is the most beautiful post ever on Chicken Marsala. You're welcome.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Last week before heading to the beach, Charlie finally agreed to an Indian food night. I always want to get Indian, but he says it's at inopportune times... like the brunch buffet at the local Indian restaurant Mint. That place is so good. But making it is easy and a lot cheaper. My favorite spice packet is this one. I follow the instructions almost exactly, except I used the dried powdered ginger I already had rather than buying fresh and don't use as much water as it calls for. I also doctor it up a little bit by adding about half a can of coconut milk after the tomato sauce goes in. It would be tasty just like that, but I like a few vegetables too. And since Tikka Masala is already a tomato-based dish, I threw in a can of diced tomatoes... and a few chickpeas. I love this stuff. Can't get enough. Of course you need some rice to serve it over. They even sell brown basmati rice now! It's in one of those bags you can just microwave for 90 seconds. I've tried out several Tikka Masala spice blends, but this one definitely turns out the best. Oh, but make it spicier, add a lot of red pepper.

Saute your diced onion with the spice packet for 2 minutes. It makes the house smell excellent.

It turns into a soupy mixture. I like to let it reduce until it gets kinda thick.

I got excited and put so much in the bowl that I covered up all the rice. I do this at the restaurant too. I just love it.

So you can see the brown rice! Amazing. Love Chicken Tikka Masala.

Time Off

No posts for a while due to the heavily eventful weekends and enormous amount of studying going on. The workloads have increased, as the Kaplan people said they would. It's getting harder and harder to complete everything before the weekend rolls around. Anyway, I had an exciting and overly fun lake reunion with undergrad friends. A lot of pics resulted, but most of them were not on my phone unfortunately. Still, a great time...

Good times all around.

 

Looks way more peaceful than our weekend was...

 

 

Compliments of Kate's Instagram abilities.

 

More pics of roasted vegetables, chicken marsala, tortellini soup, and Indian food to come... Whenever I get time and have wireless.

Beach, Wedding, Shrimp & Grits Bar

The title pretty much sums up the highlights of my weekend in Wilmington and perhaps the most perfect reception I've ever attended. The weather could not have been more wonderful, the married couple more beautiful, and the food, the band, the beach, all just... you get the point.

At the reception. Charles has kind of a goofy smile in this. That's why he didn't make the Facebook profile pic cut.

We stayed at the Red Roof Inn which was kind of a dump, but the price was right. I bought a bunch of snacks at Trader Joe's beforehand to have in the hotel room before the bar [tab that the couple provided] that night in Wrightsville at Red Dogs. We had crackers with cream cheese, smoked salmon, and capers. I also brought two cheese, Coulommiers [soft and brie-related] that was on special and some Havarti with dill. Some cherry peppers caught by eye too, but they were not as spicy and delicious as my beloved peperoncinis. And some olive tapenade. And my cucumbers in vinegar. And a rose that I found during a wine tasting afternoon at TJ's one time. Then of course something sweet, dark chocolate and almond cookies [a whole tub of them which I have since let get stale but kept on eating anyway].

Ok, it doesn't look that fancy, but it was compared to this hotel. At least it wasn't a smoking room.

We were going to go downtown to the riverfront to see the free concert series they have all summer on Fridays [Zac Brown cover band that night], but it was getting late and the beach bars would be a long drive [cab ride] from there. I would mention our dinner at Hieronymous Seafood as I took pictures, but it really just wasn't very good. The She Crab bisque, pretty good. The crab dip and baked oysters, not so much. We just went because it was literally across the parking lot from our hotel and it's ranked by a local magazine a good place for seafood. It was fine though, because we kind of filled ourselves up before we went. The draft beers were good?

The bar that night was a really good time and we saw lots of UNC people. The next day we went on the boat with a law school friend, Taylor, and his parents. They played bocce ball and I sat in a beach chair. I also floated some too. The weather was great and it was very hot, sunny, not a cloud in the sky. A great break from indoor studying.

I just supervise.

The wedding was in a church downtown at 6:00 that evening and the reception was at Landfall Country Club and was just fabulous. No expense was spared. Cocktail hour was outside with white tents and lights; it lasted until dark. Inside was a buffet of food from a pasta bar, pulled pork sliders, some station where you chose your ingredients and had the chef choose them [I didn't want to wait, so I skipped it], and a separate shrimp and grits station- possibly some of the best shrimp and grits I've ever had. The wedding cake was glorious, but for some mysterious reason, we never had any of it. After a lot of dancing and hearing the band, the waiters passed out ice cream with something chocolate and pretzel-y. Oh, oh, oh, and there was a Scotch and cigar bar. I may have participated in some cigar smoking before hitting the dance floor. There were feather-y masks to wear and flashing rings which I thought might give me a seizure. And confetti to throw of course. It was a great time.

Yeah. Perfect. Also, on the water.

Bartenders would just make up drinks for you.
We actually met a guy that worked at Landfall out the night before in Wrightsville.
"Yeah, somethin with vodka and grenadine... and throw a cherry in there too. Thanks."

Um, heaven. Red or regular grits [I've never even had red ones!]. Creamy saucy shrimp.
Toppings included biscuits, chorizo, white cheddar, TOMATO JAM, fried jalapenos, onion straws, and probably more I can't rememeber because I was overly excited.

My masterpiece.

Orecchiette with white cheddar sauce. Gnocchi with brown butter and pesto. These people must live in my dreams.

Pulled pork sliders. Sadly, I was too full to eat these. Charlie says they were good.

My gluttonous extravaganza.

Options. Even lovely boxes of matches with the bride and groom's names. Many people were just taking cigars "for later."

 

Is this even edible? Shiny...

And then this happened... After, getting the trolley [for guests] back to the beach hotel, we called our newly found favorite cab driver Mike to take us back to the Red Roof... which happened to be located next door to a Waffle House. Which we went to. In our fancy wedding clothes. And I asked for gravy on top of my Texas toast sandwich... I'm not proud.

Happy Wedding Day, Alex and Brent! Thanks for the good times. I love the beach. Now, back to reality: Constitutional Law. Great...