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home cooking

Salted Kits

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Salted Kits

Salted Kits are designed to make cooking at home as easy, stress-free, and delicious as possible. I am the worst when it comes to portion control because I have none. When I cook, it always looks like I'm cooking for 6. Since all the measuring is done, it means less waste and definitely less time grabbing the ingredients I need from the store. 

With each kit, you'll get everything you need to cook a meal that's as incredible as one served at a top restaurant. Each kit serves 2 generous portions. I had coffee ribs YEARS ago in San Francisco, so when I saw the kits available, I had to try their coffee-crusted skirt steak. The kits are portioned, but you just need to grab the protein (in this case skirt steak). 

After removing the ingredients from the box, you will find the simple instructions at the bottom. There's also a link to a video tutorial on the box to make this dummy proof.

Instructions

Serves 2, Prep and Cook Time: 30 minutes

Before cooking, pre-heat oven to 500 degrees and wash potatoes.

1. Slice potatoes in half, length-wise (or into quarters, for larger potatoes). Combine with 1 tablespoon of oil, rosemary, and a pinch of salt & pepper in a bowl. Transfer potatoes onto baking sheet and cook in oven until crispy, 15-20 minutes.
Tip: We suggest letting the potatoes cook for 5 minutes before moving onto the next step, so they’ll be ready when your steak is ready.

2. In a new bowl, combine coffee and brown sugar with cinnamon ginger spice blend.

3. Drizzle 1/2 tablespoon of oil over steak and massage the spice mixture into it. Heat a steel or cast iron pan on high. Put 1 tablespoon of oil in the hot pan and cook steak until charred, about 3-4 minutes per side.

4. Set steak aside and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice steak thinly at an angle, then transfer to a plate and serve with potatoes. Cut lime in half and squeeze juice over entire dish. Enjoy!

Skirt steak was extremely marbled. 

Skirt steak was extremely marbled. 

Medium rare goodness

Medium rare goodness

See more kits Here.

The kits are now available at Gelson (click here to find a grocery store near you).

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Fish Fish

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Fish Fish

I grew up eating steamed fish with ginger and scallions my whole life. It's one of the easiest and inexpensive things to makes. Packs a ton of flavor and something Chinese people would eat all the time.

I usually use striped bass or tilapia. The butcher normally cleans out the fish as well as descaling them. It's super awesome. I stuff the fish with green onions and ginger slices. The exterior gets a few scoring on both sides. A drizzle of olive oil and seasoned soy sauce is poured on which helps season the fish. I don't have a large steamer for this, so I baked it on 300 for 45 minutes (wrapped). I didn't want the heat too high to dry out the fish. At the end, a drizzle of a little more seasoned soy sauce with about 1/4 cup of hot oil is poured on top. Extra ginger and sliced scallions are layered on for more flavor. Delicious with a big bowl of white rice. I eat this about once a week with a side of veggies. 

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Huevos Rancheros

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Huevos Rancheros

I made the simplest huevors rancheros over the weekend. The ingredients used are little, but it is packed with flavor. And hey, who wouldn't want to make this after a night full with drinks? Trust me, it was a hard morning to wake up to, but this plate of goodness really kicked me out of the slum.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 28oz crushed tomatoes
  • 1 15oz black beans
  • Blue Corn Tortilla
  • Chipotle in Adobe sauce (I used 2)
  • Eggs (I used 2)
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 1/4 cup of honey
  • 1.3 cups of water
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • Cilantro for garnish.

The black beans are rinsed before heating. This step is optional. I didn't want too much starch so I reconstituted fresh water. The beans are heated up with 1 grated garlic, 2 teaspoons of salt, 2 teaspoons of cumin, 2 cracked black pepper, and then 1/3 cup of water was added with the heat turned off.

The ranchero sauce was made with 1 can of crushed tomatoes and 2 chipotle peppers. If it's too spicy, just use one and remove the seeds. I added about a 1/4 cup of honey and 1 cup of water to thin out the sauce as well as mellowing out the spice. 1 tablespoon of cumin was added with 1 tablespoon of salt. Feel free to add more honey and water to your liking (or another pepper if you want it spicier).

The egg was cooked for 2 minutes on medium high with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. I didn't add any salt since it's already on the chips, beans and sauce.

Start layering your plate. My combo was chips, beans, sauce, egg, sauce, and topped with a Louisiana green sauce. Cilantro was plucked and sprinkled as a garnish plus more on the side. If available, I would recommend adding queso fresco and avocado (WHICH I HAD AND FORGOT TO ADD).

Watch the full video here:

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

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Spice Mode - Chicken Tikka Masala

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Spice Mode - Chicken Tikka Masala

I've had Indian food only a few times during my life. If I am roughly counting, I probably had it less than 15? It's never been something on my list or to cook at home. I think a big part of that is how intimidating the spices are. It's not like the usual spices we are used to that we can gauge with our eyes. That's when I discovered Spice Mode.

Spice Mode focuses on Indian spices by developing different mixtures for you to feel confident about making any Indian dish at home. What's also great about Spice Mode is how natural their products are. They locally source from midwestern farms, freshly chop the ingredients in-house where they eventually perfect the small-batch sauces without any preservatives added.

With the spices I've received, I will be making Chicken Tikka Masala. The items came with recipes, but of course I made a few edits because I made this in bulk.

Recipe makes 10 portions

  • 10 chicken thighs were used.
  • 1 - 15oz can of garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed)
  • 1 - 28oz can of Crushed Tomatoes
  • 1 - 15oz can of Coconut milk
  • 1 Jar of Spice Mode Masala Sauce
  • 1 Package of Spice Mode Tikka Seasoning
  • Salt and Pepper to taste.

I preheated the oven to 450 degrees because I want the chickens to get browned before creating the sauce. It was a hot day and I really didn't want to beat myself over the stove. I was in a 'set it and forget it' mood.

I rubbed the seasonings (including salt and pepper) all over the thighs to coat. I'm looking for a beautiful tan on these babies after they come out of the oven. I know you see 8 thighs when recipe calls for 10. There's enough sauce and room to make 10.

After the chicken is browned, give it a quick wiggle then drop the beans, pour the crushed tomatoes and the 1 can of coconut milk. I topped the sauce with the remainder of the Tikka seasoning and added extra salt to season. I wrapped the dish with foil and stuck it back in the oven to bake for 40 minutes on 400. I took the foil off at 25 minutes and let it finish for another 10-15 minutes until it starts to brown and get bubble on top.

The chicken is topped with cilantro, served with jasmine white rice, some naan bread, and sugar snap peas. Everything was perfect with this dish. It's super easy and pretty much effortless (if you make it so). I could've easily busted out some pans, got some chicken breast instead, and basically cut the cook time in half. I just didn't feel like cooking at a fast pace, and cooking it in the oven still worked out great so why the heck not. My stove is clean and I am a happy girl.

Most common store that I know carries this is Whole Foods. Learn more about Spice Mode here > http://www.spicemode.co/

Happy Cooking.

 

 

 

 

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