Beauty and the Beast Cleans Up

When I was little and became sick, I got to watch a movie. The movies, though different, never varied much. In fact, now I can look back and remember that they were almost in a list in my head. Those certain movies were jokingly nick-named Meaghan's Sick Movies, because I would always watch them then. Some of the movies included the original Parent Trap, the BBC Silver Chair, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Sword in the Stone, and Beauty and the Beast. When I go back to watch those movies, I remember certain times when I was sick and had picked this or that one to watch, but none bring back those memories of being little so much as Beauty and the Beast.
The movie starts and the very first scene, the view of the castle from the forest, is still in my mind the most beautiful picture ever animated. It makes me grin and get all excited. Then, the movie continues with wonderfully old animation and amazing musical numbers. I mean, watching Be Our Guest and Human Again is just amazing. The way everything works together...aaaah, it's so cool!!! For a long time now, I've debated within myself over which Disney movie has the best songs. I'd finally whittled it down to between Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. Well, watching the later yesterday, proved everything to me.
Yes, Beauty and the Beast, is for me, the most beautiful of animated movies. It's also got the best music of a Disney movie. And, it has probably the best comical partnership of a Disney movie as well. Oh, and watching it on Blu-ray makes it even better. ;)

"Serve him tea. Sit in the master's chair. Pet the pooch!"
"I was trying to be hospitable."

"I want to do something special for her, but what?"
"Well, there's the usual things: flowers, chocolates, promises you don't intend to keep...."

Country Music

Kathryn doesn't like country music. She says that while you get some songs about love (Achey Breaky Heart) the predominance of songs are about the singer's dog or truck. Now over the years, I've become more partial to country music. I don't know why I'm liking it so much. Still, I do enjoy it. Yesterday, I made a pandora station and the first song I got was about a car, the second song was titled Big Green Tractor. In this song, Jason Aldean sang about how his girl got all dressed up and had no place to go. He told her they could go into town, or watch a movie, or they could just go ride around on his Big Green Tractor. They could make it go slow, or make it go faster. Wherever they went, it *don't* much matter, as long as they were together.
I must confess, I was not able to controll my laughter at this song. This may be due to the fact that I couldn't help but imagine Kathryn's disgust for such a song. Or, maybe I'm too much of a city girl, but I would not want to get dressed up and go ride on a tractor with my honey. Just my personal preference.
Later on while on pandora, a song popped up that was very different. The chorus was this: "God is great. Beer is good. And people are crazy." This song earned much of my laughter as well. Where do writer's come up with this kind of stuff.
Well, even if I never find any songs on the station that I like, I can always be sure of a good laugh. See ya later, alligator.

Cooking on day 4-last one

Menu Item? Fish Piccata (courtesy of Cook Melissa D'Arabian)
Sides? Cous-Cous and a Vegetable Mix
Estimated Time? 20 minutes
Actual Time? 1 hour

Yes, today marked my last day of cooking for the week. I've enjoyed it, but I'm happy to give the reigns back to the real driver. I was excited about making fish for the first time and also trying capers as well. I ended up using Sol instead of Tilapia. I blotted the fish, seasoned it, dredged it, and put it into the saute pan. (By the way, all yesterday, I was completely unable to get the words 'saute pan' out properly. I always said, 'saupe tan.')

The last fillet

The frying was a little scary, because of the ocassional popping oil. Also, the fillets kept breaking. There were a few that stayed whole, though. I poured the chicken stock (instead of the wine) and the other stuff into the pan to make the sauce. It was also my first deglazing of a pan. :)

The dish came out well, and Kathryn liked it especially because of the lemon flavor. And, because of said flavor, it was not a huge favorite with the chef. I did find the capers interesting, good but a little briny.



All plated



So end the tales of my exploits in the kitchen this month. I have enjoyed them and look forward to next month when I shall try some other new things. Thank you for following along on my Journey Through the Kitchen. Till next time!

The recipe is here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/fish-piccata-recipe/index.html

A Breaking News Bulletin

It has been decided that there are enough leftovers in the refrigerator to make an entire dinner out of. Therefore, I will not be cooking tonight, which I'm just a tiny bit happy about. It'll give me a break. So, all of you guys are going to have to hold on and wait until to tomorrow to know how my cooking extravaganza ends.

Cooking on day 3

Menu item? Pulled Pork Sandwiches (courtesy of Chef Tyler Florence)
Sides? Coleslaw (not Tyler's) and French Fries
Estimated Time (for making the rub)? 20 to 30 minutes
Actual Time (for making the rub)? 1 hour

Greetings to you all from my third day on the job as the executive chef at the Kelly Restaurant that only serves dinner to its four regular customers. I was originally planning a different dinner tonight, but changed when I realized we were planning on doing dinner while watching TV. The other dinner, the one planned now for tomorrow, wasn't a really good dinner for in front of the TV. So, I opted for the sandwiches.
This recipe was very easy. All you do is dump all the ingredients into a food processor (all but the pork, of course) and mix it together to form a gooey paste. Then, you put the pork in the dish you're going to bake it in. Next, you plunge your hands into the paste and proceede to smear it all over the pork, making sure to push your sticky fingers into the little holes around the fat. :D I know I'm just making your mouth water right now.

Oh, you can see from the picture that my pork has two pieces instead of Tyler's recipe which uses just one piece. Well, after rubbing in all of the paste, you put it in the refrigerator for 3 hours. After three hours, you take it out, and put it in the oven for 3 hours, (I knocked off the 1/2 hour because of the two pieces of pork). When the timer goes off, you pull the pan out, let the meat rest for 10 minutes, and then grab two forks and get to pulling.


                                      Before

                                                                                                      After

     It was REALLY good. The other three customers informed the executive chef, that moisture of some kind, perhaps BBQ sauce, was needed. However, the executive chef, who is known for eating dry cereal  and dry BBQ sandwiches thought it was perfect.                                                                                     

Here's the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tylers-ultimate/pulled-pork-sandwich-recipe/index.html

all put together

 "PORK! Mother."-Emma

Craving for Cake

Tonight, I had a rather strong desire for some cake. I didn't want ice cream. I wanted something solid and doughy and chocolatey. The problem was that I had just made dinner and was in no mood to go back into the kitchen to make a cake or anything remotely similar. Also, Kathryn was not willing to make me anything. :) So, I was resigned to eating some cookies. *sad face* I voiced my longing for chocolatey goodness to The High Mogul, and she told me, "Oh well." *really sad face* Then, she turned to me. "You know," she said, "I've heard of recipes where you can make cake in a mug in the microwave."
Hope dawned like the sun or a lightbulb being turned on. I went to get my computer, typed in google, and looked up recipes for cakes in mugs. One linnk popped up at the very top that only took 3 minutes, with a fairly simple list of ingredients.
I sojourned into the kitchen and gathered my ingredients. Pulling out Mom's mug, 'cause it's bigger than mine, I plopped all the stuff into it. I was very happy that the only dishes to get dirty was the mug, a tablespoon, and fork. Everything was stirred up and put in the microwave. It was very hot coming out, a little too hot, but I still tasted it.
While not stellar or anywhere near the best cake I'd ever had, it was still good and satisfied my craving for cake which was the only real purpose for it anyway. After eating a bit of it, I decided to dump it into a bowl and put just a bit of vanilla ice cream on top.

Here's the recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/3-minute-chocolate-cake-in-a-cup-339696

Cooking on day 2

Menu item? Spicy Orange Beef (curtesy of Chef Guy Fieri)
Sides? Rice and Vegetable Mix
Estimated Time? 55 minutes
Actual Time? 1 hour and 15 minutes

This recipe's original title was Spicy Tangerine Beef. However, Kroger was barren of tangerines, so I opted for the orange element. This recipe was a lot simpler than yesterday's, which was welcomed. I put the rice on, then got to slicing the beef. I used sirloin instead of the suggested flank steak/ tri-tip. It was very interesting on slicing the beef thinly on the bias. After marinating the beef, I put it into a large saucepan and "stir-fried" it. :D

Sadly, I did not get any pictures of the prep time. However, I did get a picture of the end result.  

This dish was greatly liked by all for the flavors, though there was not a strong orange flavor. Dad and I especially liked the dish. However, there was a bit of a problem and I can explain it in one simple way. Right by Dad's plate was his jar of red pepper flakes that's always there, and he puts them in almost everything. For this dish, he said it didn't need any peppers. Yes, the "spicy" in the title was well put there. It had quite a punch. So, if you like things a bit calmer, you might put in just one tablespoon of chili sauce instead of two. 

The recipe is here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/spicy-tangerine-beef-recipe/index.html  

I'll leave you with a quote. "Argentina has good beef. Beef...and Nazis." - While You Were Sleeping