Category Archives: Emily Favorite

Emily Favorite, Fruit, Mexican, Pork-a-licious, Sandwich

Cuban Sandwiches with Tomato Jam

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So after a HUGE and DELICIOUS Thanksgiving meal courtesy of Mama Ingle (thanks Mom!) I really wanted to do something light and healthy, therefore I chose a sandwich jam-packed with Gruyere cheese, grilled onions, jalapenos, prosciutto, pickles, shredded pork and a homemade tomato jam. Yeah, light and healthy just like I said. this Cuban Sandwiches with Tomato Jam recipe from Food and Wine magazine after eating everything in sight the past few days, but alas I did and I’m quite happy about my choice thank you very much.

I don’t know what the heck compelled me to try

This recipe looks more labor-intensive than it really is. It’s actually more “set it and forget it” than lots of steps that make you want to pull your hair out. You let the pork roast for four hours and make the homemade tomato jam that sits for about an hour at a low temperature. After the jam and pork were done, everything else assembled pretty quickly and then you simply grill the foil-wrapped sandwich which made the cheese melty and the bread nice and crispy. This sucker throws a flavor uppercut so prepare to be floored by how yummy everything is once it is grilled. I loved all of these flavors together and honestly was a little surprised that it all worked out as amazingly as it did.

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Try making this on a lazy, football Sunday (ha I just came across this video when looking for fitting “Lazy Sunday” images) and you will have a tasty and unique sandwich for the Sunday night game. I served baked chips and fresh mango on the side. Also, I reserved the leftover tomato jam (since it’s just me) for a later use and the remaining pork I will use for lunch to place inside some corn tortillas with some light sour cream and fresh avocado. Love it!
Emily Favorite, Potato, Quick and Delicious, Spicy, Uber Healthy

Eating Rainbow…Eating Rainbow!

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As I was eating my meal tonight, I had the theme song to Reading Rainbow in my mind the entire time. How much is this a flashback for some of you? This was one of my favorite TV shows growing up and I can still remember how excited I would get when the show started with this catchy tune. Ha, I love the dog that turns into a little star.

So why did I have this song in my head? Well, you guessed it, I was eating the colors of the rainbow for my dinner. If you’ve read food and nutrition literature over the past few years, you know that this is a very good thing. My delicious, nutritious and colorful meal was this Halibut with Spicy-Mint Chutney over a bed of fresh spinach and a baked sweet potato with a little bit of butter, maple syrup, cinnamon and a few chopped walnuts. For dessert, I had a mix of fresh pomegranate seeds and raspberries. Let’s see, I definitely got my green, orange, red and yellow from the little bit of lemon juice. Awesome.

I loved every aspect of this meal and that chutney is spicy, creamy and perfect. Gosh I just love sauces, chutney and relishes. To me, anything you can drizzle, dip, glop, gloop or pour over something else is ideal , and Cooking Light has a thing for nailing delicious, low fat/low-cal sauces. Love, love this dish!
Emily Favorite

Yer Favourites

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I’ll give someone a digital high five if you can tell me, without Googling it, where that title comes from. Not only is it from one of my favorite bands, but the it reminded me that I actually made it to my 100th post. Now I could say something like “you know anyone can make it to 100 but it takes true intestinal fortitude to get to 103.” Yeah right, it actually just slipped my mind that I made it to this not very important milestone, however it is one that I would like to celebrate anyway!

Seriously though lambs, to all one to two of you who do happen to read my cooking “memoirs” I have just loved updating this blog with my memories, thoughts and cooking tales these past 100ish posts and I’m raising a glass to you for what I hope will be 100ish more.

For this special occasion I wanted to look back over Cooking Inside the Lines and do a best of/worst of just for fun. If you want to listen to Barbara Streisand’s The Way We Were while reading please be my guest.

My top 10 favorites recipes tested so far and in no particular order
  1. Strawberry, Pistachio and Goat Cheese Pizza
  2. Milk-Braised Pork Shoulder
  3. Open-Face Pork Tacos
  4. Doughnut Holes with Raspberry Jam
  5. Open-Face Crab Burgers
  6. Cod with Mussels, Chorizo, Fried Croutons and Saffron Mayonnaise
  7. Asparagus Salad with Soft Poached Eggs
  8. Grilled Pork with Blackberry Sage Sauce
  9. Coffee Rubbed Cheeseburgers with Texas BBQ Sauce
  10. Cheddar BLT Burger with Tarragon Dressing
The recipe that I thought was going to be delicious but um, just wasn’t

Recipe that looked delicious but didn’t think it was going to knock my socks off the way it did
Dumbest Post By Yours Truly
Winner: All of Cooking Inside the Lines :) Kidding kind of, but I think this one might be one of the dumbest.
Month with the most posts and why
September. I’ll admit it, I learned to clone myself. That or I went through that cleansing process and posted my thoughts for seven straight days. Let’s go with cloning, I like that reason better.
Month with the least posts (besides November since I’m just getting started) and why
February. Well it was my blog’s birth month so I’ve got to stretch my legs a little bit right?
My Favorite Post
I would love to hear from the two of you any favorites (or stupid moments) that might have inspired you.

Thanks,
Me

Dessert, Emily Favorite

Salted Chocolate Ganache Cake

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I love salt. If I ever have to choose over that bowl of salty potato chips or sweet chocolate, the chips will always win. Now, if you can combine the two, kind of like they do with Whoppers (or other favorite chocolate treat) and movie popcorn I am one giddy lady. If you are saying that you’ve never tried this, you are either (a) lying or (b) haven’t truly lived. Now kicking this salty/chocolate-y combo up a notch with their Salted Chocolate Ganache Cake, Cooking Light has delivered a stellar cake recipe.
For a cake, this was very simple for even someone like me to make. Also, it’s an impressive looking cake so it makes you look like an absolute superstar without having to try too hard. Kind of like that old Rice Krispy treat commercial where the mom comes out covered in flour and feigns exhaustion except this is tastier and with salt – lovely, lovely, crunchy, crunchy Fleur de Sel salt. This cake is in the magazine’s special cooking section for the holidays but I say heck make it for any special occasion. Cat passes a hairball? Salted Chocolate Ganache Cake. Sat through an entire episode of the new season of Heroes without rolling your eyes once? Salted Chocolate Ganache Cake. You get the point.

Emily Favorite, Soup

Two New Favorites

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Yesterday was a whirlwind cooking day for me. Not only did I make two soups so I could enjoy them for the week, but I made my morning smoothies and froze them, snack pack trail mix to aid in my mid-afternoon snack attack where I tend to reach for chocolate, a granola and my dinner which was a recipe from Gourmet that I didn’t like very much.

Two new favorites from my test kitchen are both from Cooking Light – hello Molasses-Almond Granola and Two-Bean Soup with Kale. I had the granola for a snack, or should I say meal almost, because it was that delicious. I also know a few lovely ladies in my office enjoyed it too!


The Two-Bean Soup with Kale is perfect. As you can tell from this blog, kale is my new obsession and as my dietitian friend and co-worker Allison said, “that’s a really great thing to be obsessed with!”. I seriously do love the stuff and it really sings in this dish. I didn’t add black beans because for my other soup option I made a black bean soup, otherwise I followed this to the tee and it is excellent. Here is a handy dandy video to demonstrate how to make the recipe, if only I looked this good when cooking!

Go try these two now, I think you will enjoy them as much as I did.

Emily Favorite, Everything is better fried, Lengthy recipe but worth all the whisking, sweat and tears, Seafood, This may contain fish sauce or anchovies

I Heart Portland (Maine that is)

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Can I share a vision in my mind with you? I envision Portland, Maine as this super duper gentle place full of delicious food and chilly, fall days with beautiful coastlines. I know they have summer but shushie we are in my vision. Maybe something like this…

Now, I have never been to Maine, let alone Portland (someday lambs, someday), but I am still quite happy for the city to receive the honor of America’s Foodiest Small Town 2009 from Bon Appetit. I kind of hate that word foodie or foodiest but that’s another story, because I would go there in a heartbeat after reading about the food.

Wanna hear why? An excerpt from the magazine article to tickle your tastebuds:

First, it’s got great product, from oysters to fiddlehead ferns. Second, the town has attracted stellar chefs who know how to turn these resources into great food. Third, it even has a signature meal, breakfast, that turns the first fare of the day into a celebration of all this bounty. And finally, it has citizens who expect a lot, and get even more.

They had me at breakfast.

The magazine featured this absolutely bonkers recipe from a local restaurant in Maine called Cod with Mussels, Chorizo, Fried Croutons and Saffron Mayonnaise. I say bonkers because wow you guys did I pick a lengthy recipe for the week night or what? What was I thinking? I’ll tell you exactly what I was thinking, I had to try this now and nothing was going to stop me. I also use the word bonkers because the combination of these ingredients was intense, just look at the title of the recipe to paint your own mental picture.

Yes, there was a lot going on here but it all really came together for me to truly love it. From the creamy, saffron mayonnaise and delicious, moist cod that has been roasted in clam juice (hold on it’s not bad) and white wine (see I told you) to the spicy chorizo and succulent mussels with their delicious broth plus the fried sourdough croutons that soaked up said broth to absolute perfection. Wow.

Wow.

I’ll pack the bags you go start the car.

(Recipe photo from Bon Appetit.com)

Emily Favorite, Quick and Delicious, Salad, Uber Healthy

A New Goddess in My Kitchen

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(Photo from Food & Wine.com)
And you thought there could be only one! Ha! This lovely dish graces the cover of the September issue of Food & Wine magazine and let me tell you it is worthy of such an honor. After a late work night, I came home and seriously thought of just pouring myself a bowl of cereal and mouthbreathing on the couch – I’m glad I didn’t. Now, I have made some Green Goddess Dressings in my lifetime – including this one from Molly Wizenberg that rocks – but this recipe’s dressing mixed with the kalamata olives, celery, bread, jarred piquillo peppers (who knew!) is worthy of being served to Aphrodite.
I particularly liked all the salty, crunchy parts with the creamy, herb-y dressing that coated everything perfectly. I’ve never included Piquillo Peppers in anything and it was a nice alternative to typical jarred bell peppers and packed a little more punch. This was really, really easy to put together and did not interfere with my couch potato time one bit.
I had plenty for leftovers today and it was still quite amazing. Bow down to the goddess, no, not me silly! šŸ˜‰
Emily Favorite, Lengthy recipe but worth all the whisking, sweat and tears, Pork-a-licious

Amazing Dish from Austin’s Own Olivia Restaurant

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So, I know for certain there is some sort of God or higher power because he or she has bestowed this Milk-Braised Pork Shoulder with Semolina Gnocchi recipe to us humans here on earth. This recipe, from Austin’s own Olivia Restaurant, is featured in Bon Appetit’s Top Ten Best New Restaurants. Go Austin! I have never been to Olivia, but if this recipe that can be made at home is any testament to what can be enjoyed at the restaurant…table for one please? (Picture from Olivia Restaurant ‘s Web site)

Just to note, this dish from start to finish takes two days – yes, a whole 48 hours – to make but I have to say even for someone who likes to take on challenging recipes, this one was long in time but not too labor intensive. In fact, a lot of it is sitting time to give the pork shoulder time to break down in the DELICIOUS milky, tomato sauce that kind of reminded me of tomato bisque soup but better. Plus, the semolina gnocchi was super easy to make. I found the semolina flour in the bulk section of Central Market so I wasn’t spending too much money for a specific flour. Thank you to Lindsay from Apron Adventures for pointing out the bulk section which I tend to pass by in the grocery store each time never knowing the gems and jewels hiding inside like spices, flours, nuts and even chocolate. Please go explore your store’s bulk section if you haven’t had a chance, I feel like such a moron for not doing so before!
I finished the semolina in the oven and warmed the pork shoulder deliciousness on the stove. As I poured the pork shoulder and sauce on the gentle semolina square I shivered with excitement from the intoxicating aromas. I took my first bite and…whimpered. Yes lambs, I whimpered and then clapped my hands with glee. This is the best dish I’ve tested so far on Cooking Inside the Lines.

When you think of a snugly blanket, a fireplace and something warm to eat to continue the snuggle factor, THIS IS IT PEOPLE. Yes, this recipe takes time and I know it has some special ingredients, but I’m ordering you to try this now. :) Heck, even just make the pork shoulder and sauce and you could be set, but I’m telling you with the tomato bisque-ish sauce with the tender, cinnamon infused pork that’s mixed with the soft, polenta-style cakes filled with Parmesan and nutmeg flavors, this is the epitome of “comfort” in a bowl.
This is a 10 out of 10 for me. Loved it and I’m going to Olivia soon!

Picture from Bon Appetit Web Site

Dessert, Emily Favorite, Everything is better fried, Fruit

Doughnut Holes with Raspberry Jam

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I saw this recipe in the July issue of Food & Wine magazine and had been dying to make it, but could never seem to find the time. Finally, I did and thank goodness!Ā 

I got all the way through step two and my stupid dough would not form at all, I was frustrated to say the least but nothing would stop me now. I got through step two again and voila! the dough formed and I let it rise for an hour.
They didn’t have raspberries at HEB so I decided strawberries would work just fine. I followed the steps for making the jam, quite simple if you ask me, and I had a perfect dipping jam for the holes which I still had to make.
When I was working with the dough, which was quite sticky, I thought “I’ve messed these up again!” but when I formed into balls and deep fried them they looked like doughnut holes but I couldn’t tell until we tried them…
THESE ROCKED! The sugar coating was fantastic and I lovedĀ smotheringĀ them in the strawberry jam. These are labor intensive but I definitely can see these being a unique party snack, a fun dessert after dinner or anytime you want to treat yourself.
Here is what the doughnut holes are supposed to look like (photo from Food & Wine), mine were a little more misshapen but who cares they were still amazing!
Emily Favorite, Lengthy recipe but worth all the whisking, sweat and tears, Mexican, Pork-a-licious, Potato, Spicy

Ancho Mama’s Pork Chops

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I love Chile Rellenos but I never seem to seek them out in restaurants or I guess don’t see them too much in my recipe search. In fact, the last time I had one was this delicious little beauty we tasted for the National Mango Board. Seriously, this was an awesome spin on the traditional chile relleno. So, when I was flipping through the new Bon Appetit recently and came across this Pork Chops with Chiles Rellenos and Ancho Sauce recipe, I recalled the mango chile relleno and decided to try this one for size.

Fabulous, just fabulous, is the only word I can use for this dish. When I read all of the ingredients and preparation, at first blush I thought this might be too spicy or smokey even for my heat-loving palate but it most certainly was not.

The pork chops sit for two hours at room temperature with a simple blend of salt and ancho chile powder. While that sits you can make the simple ancho chile sauce and chile rellenos. I loved the easy-to-make chile relleno filling that had oregano, cheese, boiled Yukon Gold potatoes and toasted cumin seeds. YUM!

The pork chops were smoky and delicious and the chile relleno (which I cooked-off in the oven at 350 degrees) was amazing, plus the ancho sauce with its sweet, smokey notes drizzled on top of of it all was perfect. Since I was cooking the pork chops inside, my one recommendation is to be sure to turn on the oven vent and open a window, that chile powder is intense.

This is definitely going on the top of my recent favorites and will be a fun and delicious dish to enjoy throughout the year.