Mexican Breakfast Scramble

This delicious dish here consists of a bunch of random stuff we needed to use up before it went bad (and also to clear some room in our fridge for more stuff that we will ultimately use to create more recipes like this one day). This is nothing but a couple scrambled eggs, some corn, black beans, shredded cheddar, chopped tomatoes, onion, garlic, and cilantro. A mexican morning mixup if you will. I like that…. perhaps that’ll become a series one day… showcasing all the various breakfast dishes we can create with our leftover mexican ingredients we have on hand. Anywho – this turned out great, and was packed with enough protein to keep us full for most of the day! Thank you eggs, beans, and cheese.

Garden Gumbo

This meal is basically just a big mash up of all sorts of fresh veggies we got from the farmer’s market. Though I was  really craving a cajuny gumbo type flavor (maybe it was the okra?), so we decided to basically make a gumbo, sans sausage and seafood. We used a few different kinds of peppers, okra, celery, carrot, onion, and James cooked up a real zesty brown sauce with your typical cajun spices. We served it over some rice, and since it was more veggie than saucy, it almost seemed like a ‘gumbo stir fry.’ Either way, it tasted good and satisfied my craving, but I don’t think anything compares to the added Nawlins flavor you get from that andouille sausage. Check out previous posts “Red Beans & Rice with Andouille Sausage” and “Cajun Gumbo” for our take on that. This meal does go to show that you can do just about anything with a bunch of veggies, even if there’s a particular flavor you’re craving… it’s just a matter of combining the right spices and knowing the flavors your veggies will produce when cooked with them.

Orange Zest French Toast with Fresh Squeezed OJ

We certainly love a good breakfast on the weekends and this one certainly did not disappoint. We had a few oranges on hand so we decided to juice them for some fresh OJ (oh my it was so sweet and slightly tart…. the best). Then we decided to make something we really don’t make that often (hmm.. not sure if we ever have made this together or not actually!) – french toast. THEN we decided to really kick that french toast up a notch and incorporate some of the orange flavor that we were so enjoying in our freshly juiced Jefferson cups. So instead of using milk when making the batter for the french toast, James used orange juice. Then he added a little of the orange zest (peel) as well. It came out REALLY tasty… pretty moist, maybe too moist for those who prefer a sturdier french toast, but it was definitely packed with that fresh orange flavor. What you see on top is a mashed banana cooked in a pan with a little butter and cinnamon… for some added sweetness and substance. Not that it needed it, but we did drizzle a little maple syrup over – which definitely brought all the flavors together in each bite. Served with a cup of melon, peach, and coffee, this orangey morning was a real winner. Maybe next time we’ll try other fruits and flavors in our toast…..

Huevos Rancheros with Pulled Pork

As promised, here is what we made with the leftover pork shoulder our friends sent us home with after the first VT football game of this season (see previous post “Football Season! (Tailgating Snacks).” We woke up this particular Sunday morning and I almost immediately knew what we were going to have for breakfast…. huevos rancheros! This Mexican breakfast dish is one of our favorites when we brunch (so cool right?)… along with shrimp n’ grits, biscuits & gravy, skillets, omelets, ok most anything…. when did brunch become one of the best food groups by the way?! Answer: probably sometime in those transitional years right after graduating from college, trying so hard to make it as an adult but not really wanting to be an adult. ANYWAY, here we had ourselves a delicious, zippy homemade brunch favorite on our hands…. scrambled (local) eggs, cheddar, amazingly seasoned pork shoulder that our friends smoked the day before, black beans, cilantro, salsa and a few tortilla chips to add some crunch and scoop it all up with. It was extremely tasty and really set our Sunday off on the right foot. Never underestimate what you can concoct with a little leftovers and some other everyday ingredients you may have on hand!

Football Season! (Tailgating Snacks)

It doesn’t go unnoticed to those close to us that James and I are huge Virginia Tech Hokie fans. We’re both Hokies ourselves, though we didn’t know each other while we were in school there (even though we spent two years on the campus at the same time and are almost certain we brushed into each other at least once). We consider ourselves diehard Hokies representing all that is VT no matter what time of year it is, but during the fall it’s as if nothing else really matters quite as much as Hokie football (regardless of how great or heartbreaking of a season we may be having). We also of course love to cook, so we get REALLY excited to combine those two things when we have the chance. We made these tasty tailgating snacks shown above for the season opening game that we watched at our friends/neighbors’ house (also Hokies). All of the recipes for these came out of the “Taste of Virginia Tech” cookbook – an excellent/nostalgic/much-used gift given to us that contains recipes from various on and off campus food establishments and some VT tailgaters’ favorites. And then there’s the bourbon because well, we love ourselves some bourbon, especially at this time of year.

So anyways….. what we made! We made some garlic breaded chicken bites (with panko bread crumbs and fresh chopped garlic, baked in the oven), some Parmesan spinach artichoke dip that we baked as well, and then some pigs wrapped in cheesy jalepeno blankets. These little piggies may have been my favorite with the fresh diced jalepeno and shredded cheddar combo (and rolling them in halved crescent rolls makes them SO much easier). I also made a homemade tangy mustard sauce for dipping at the last minute which proved to be quite the perfect companion to both the pigs & chicken.

Our friends made some other delicious tailgating dishes (they have the same cookbook!) like a very festive macaroni salad incorporating pickle juice (YUM) and pulled pork shoulder that they smoked all day before kickoff (who said adult tailgating isn’t as fun and DELICIOUS). Look out for the next post to see what we made with some of the leftover pork we went home with (hint: it’s a morning meal). And you’re also sure to find more of our game day recipe favorites as this fall (Hokie) season rolls on, so stay tuned! And of course, GO HOKIES!

Broccoli & Shrimp over Orzo

Disclaimer: I was clearly off my game the day I posted this… that’s BOW TIE PASTA that those shrimpies & broccoli florets are over! Goodness gracious… please forgive. In any sense, I do stand by what I wrote about the versatility and wonderfulness of orzo, so I’ve decided not to change the original post below. Just know that this particular dish was served with bow tie (just as easy and delicious). Cheers!

Orzo is one of those wonderful items that can pretty much go with anything (SOMETHING) that you’ve got on hand. For that reason we always have a box of it on our shelf. It cooks quick, and serves as a great base for veggies, beans, meats, seafood, sauces, spices, you get it. This particular go-round we had some broccoli and yellow cherry tomatoes that we needed to use before they went bad, so we threw them over the cooked orzo with some shrimp and grated Parmesan. Easy, quick, delicious, and a great way to get those vitamins in too. Orzo is also a great thing to use for flavor experimentation. It’s inexpensive and a little goes a long ways, so you can cook small portions and play with the ingredient and spice combinations you add to it.

Mexican Street Corn

I had my first experience with Mexican street corn at a food festival here in town a couple years back, and every now and then I have flashbacks of its flavor explosion and dripping chipotle sauce as I ate it with one hand. Well, finally I decided it was time to attempt to make it myself and while it was a lot less saucy, it still packed a big bang of flavor. I made a sauce of mayo (weird yes, but such a great sauce/spread base), hot sauce and some spices, spread that on the corn, then barely heated them on the stove. Sprinkle the warm cobs with a little cheese and cilantro, serve with your favorite Mexican dish (one of ours being turkey tacos – with a little homemade salsa verde) and you’ve got yourself a Mexican fiesta of flavor!

Toasted Chickpeas

I saw this recipe a while ago and stored it in the back of my mind for when I needed something easy and different to snack on. This recipe really is super easy…. just toss some chickpeas (I used dry that were soaked overnight) with a little olive oil and any spices that you like then bake them on a cookie sheet for about 40 minutes, giving them a nice shake a couple times throughout. That’s it! And they came out quite tasty too. I made two different kinds here… one with an Asian flare (toasted sesame oil, a little ground oriental mustard, and sesame seeds) and one with a Mexican flare (cayenne, chili powder, cumin, and cilantro). Easy (chick)peazy snack that’s packed with protein and kickin with flavor.

Melon Mint Sangria

We ate a lot of watermelon this summer…. like, a LOT. To the point that I could almost say we got tired of it… but I won’t dare. So after snacking on the delicious watery melon for days and days, melon after melon, we decided to get a little more creative. In addition to James’ famous watermelon milkshakes we decided to make a more adult friendly refreshing cocktail type bevvie. Sangria is one of the easiest alcoholic concoctions you can make… basically just pouring of liquids and chopped fruit into a single pitcher. Well, if you don’t know, watermelon ends up getting a bit gritty and foamy after a bit if you just let it sit in said pitcher, so in order to capture its flavor without the watermelon mustache we decided to juice it. And since watermelon is as watery of a fruit as they come, a little goes a long ways AND it doubles as the liquid addition to the wine. So we juiced the watermelon, added it with some vino verde (this adds the bubbly effect to the sangria without having to use a sugary soda), threw in just a few cubes of watermelon and honeydew, and some lemon mint leaves. Oh my, this certainly turned out to be quite the refreshing summer treat. It tops my list as far as sangrias go (though the milkshakes are still a fave).

Tomato Pie

This is hands down one of our favorite summer dishes. We look forward to it and lust after it all winter and spring long. It’s so delicious that it’s like our reward for making it through the doldrums of winter. Yes, we could certainly gather these ingredients and making it any time we wanted, but it would be cheating ourselves. There is just nothing else that compares to the sweet ripe taste of a fresh tomato (especially if it’s grown by you or someone you know) in the summertime. We are fortunate enough to get fresh off the vine tomatoes from my grandfather’s garden throughout the summer, so we take full advantage of all of the wonderful summer dishes and recipes they lend themselves to. Tomato pie being one of the best.

It sounds a bit strange… do you eat it hot? Is it saucy? Is it time consuming like those crazy apple pies with the lattice top can be? Well folks, luckily this is one of the easiest dishes in the book (on the blog). I will admit that we cut a corner and buy an already prepared, frozen pie crust – but if you made a homemade one I bet it would blow our version out of the water. So we baked the crust for about 10 minutes after pricking it just to let it turn golden. Then it’s just a matter of layering. We start with a layer of spinach (helps soak up some of the juice, minimizing soggyness), then a thin layer of sliced red onion, fresh garlic and basil, and then layers upon layers (until you reach the top of the crust) of sliced tomatoes. We’ve learned over time that the trick is to let the sliced tomatoes sit in a colander with a little salt sprinkled on them for about 10 minutes to release some of their moisture. Then pat them dry with a paper towel. Of course the pie was still delicious before this trick dawned on us, just a bit more messy.

The best part of the pie (after the tomatoes) is the topping. It’s a mixture of shredded parmesan, cheddar, and mozzarella with enough mayo to make it spreadable. Then you just smear that over the top – and if you REALLY want to go nuts, add a little crumbled bacon (wow), plus a little oregano and basil. Bake it for about 20-30 minutes or until the cheese is golden and bubbly, and then get ready to eat one of the best summer meals of your life.