Fridge Friday: Episode 10

Hey! It is Fridge Friday! Did you think that I forgot about giving you little peeks into my fridge? Never. I may have neglected your inquisitiveness, but I didn't forget. I am back this Friday with a gem.

Check it out. That is my hotel room fridge. We have all the basics: water, wine, leftovers, and a Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treat. What could I possibly blog about from that fridge, you ask? Honestly, nothing. Or, at least nothing that I would want to eat when combined and heated in the little in-room microwave.

Instead, I am going to tell you that when we left home, Hubs had his mind made up that we were going to eat Mexican food. All day, I salivated at the thought of perfectly seasoned and grilled shrimp folded inside a warm corn tortilla with some creamy coleslaw to make the most awesome shrimp tacos. I wanted. I wanted badly. With beans and rice. Then, we got to the big city and Hubs decided he wanted pasta. So much for Mexican food. *shrug*

However, that doesn't mean that I couldn't still share a great Spanish Rice recipe with you. I have been making Denise's Spanish Rice for several years and pairing it with Spicy Black Beans whenever I serve a spicy Mexican/Tex-Mex themed meal. It is, in my opinion, excellent. Why wouldn't it be? It has bacon. Everything that includes bacon is good. Period.

So...it is Fridge Friday, and I have just a miserable hotel room fridge, and I didn't get Mexican food, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't jump at the chance to have Denise's Spanish Rice On My Plate.

Denise's Spanish Rice

6 strips bacon

1 tablespoon butter

1 medium onion, chopped

1 small green pepper, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup chicken broth

1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chiles (Rotel...mild or hot, your choice)

2 cans roasted green chiles

1 cup long grain white rice (I use Jasmine)

In a large skillet, fry bacon until crispy.
Set aside on paper towels to drain.
To bacon grease, add the butter and melt.
Add the onion and peppers, sauteing until the onions are translucent.
Add the garlic and cook until soft, being careful not to burn.
Add the tomatoes, green chiles, and chicken broth.
Simmer about 5-10 minutes to blend flavors.
Add the rice, cover and simmer approximately 20 minutes, until tender. (May need to add more liquid.)
Before serving, crumble bacon over the top of rice. (Serves 4)

Fridge Friday: Episode 9

I am cranky today. There is too much on my to-do list, and not enough hours in this day. The wind is a hot and blustery 20 mph pain in my backside with 30-40 mph gusts just to remind me that it can (and will) do whatever it wants. The dogs are barking at imaginary sounds, people are pestering me, and my bottle of Aleve is almost empty. It is one of those days, but here is my Fridge Friday fridge...

Is it just me and my grumpy mind, but does my fridge pretty much always look the same? Most likely, it does. Why wouldn't it? I tend to buy the same types of groceries over and over. On the top right, we have milk, OJ, and a few sodas; the top left holds assorted condiments and at this point, an impressive stack of blocks of cream cheese (I wanted cream cheese for the Candied Jalapenos, but forgot that I had already purchased some. *shrug*). The middle shelf always has the eggs, pickles, extra butter, and some veggies (cauliflower, broccoli, red & green cabbage this time), and today has a bowl of limes and a lemon. Bottom shelf is another mish-mash of fresh veggies (zucchini, green onions, spinach, celery, sweet corn, brussels sprouts), an icy cold beverage, and luscious blueberries and strawberries. There is also a Gladware container with a package of ground beef and some bacon perched on top of the beer. More odds and ends of produce in the bottom right drawer and some cheeses in the bottom left. I am a bit of a creature of habit, and pretty much always put things in the same places. I could probably be a hundred miles away and tell you were to find the jalapenos in my fridge (bottom right drawer, by the way).

Part of the agenda for the day includes Hubs smoking a pork butt at the farm for dinner with some family tonight. The cabbage will be made into coleslaw at some point, and I will fry up the bacon and ground beef to add to my big pot of Cowboy Beans to round out the side dishes for the meal. I don't have those things made yet (and if I don't get my butt moving and get this blog post done, we might just have to have pulled pork and no sides...like that would fly *eyeroll*). So, I am going to zero in on the bowl of limes. Last night, I zested and juiced a few of those tart jewels and whipped up a batch of White Chocolate Lime Cookies.

I am torn by these cookies. They are everything that I love in a cookie: sweet, but not too sweet; tart with real lime; soft and chewy; and EASY. I think that is what makes me feel so guilty. They are so completely, utterly, totally, easy because they start with a cake mix. (OK, serious bakers can click away now. Sorry.) Think what you want about my baking skills, but it has been a trying day and at this point, you might have to just shoot me before I would give up these White Chocolate Lime Cookies On My Plate.

White Chocolate Lime Cookies

1 box white cake mix

1/2 cup butter, softened at room temperature (melting it makes the cookies texture tough)

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon grated lime zest (don't skip this, it is worth it)

1 1/4 cups which chocolate chips

3 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons grated lime zest (again, do it; really)

5-6 tablespoons FRESH lime juice (don't open a bottle, squeeze a lime, please)

Preheat oven to 350°.
Cover cookie sheets with parchment.
With mixer, combine cake mix, softened butter, eggs and 1 tablespoon lime zest until blended and smooth.
Stir in remaining white chocolate chips with a wooden spoon or spatula.
Drop dough by teaspoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto prepared cookie sheets.
Bake 10-13 minutes or until set at edges and just barely set at center.
Cool 1 minute on sheets; transfer to wire racks and cool completely.
Combine powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons lime zest and enough FRESH lime juice make icing just thin enough to drizzle off fork.
Drizzle icing over cooled cookies. (4 dozen cookies)

Did you think I was going to let this post slip by without another voyeur slide show of other people's fridges? Of course not. I love it when you are willing to share your fridges here on the blog. 

Also, be sure to check out Jeanne at Jeanne Eats World and her fabulous Fridge Friday posts. Scallops on her plate tonight. Doesn't that sound good?

Fridge Friday: Episode 8

This episode of Fridge Friday should probably be called Fridge Friday Flop. I don't know if I jinxed myself in my earlier rant where I claimed that I didn't mind if some of my menus didn't exactly turn out as I had planned, or if it is karma kicking me for making fun of a commenter that stated they have never "served a bad or mediocre dish" on Epicurious's How to Throw Terrible Dinner Parties. (I cried bullsh*t. We have ALL made something that wasn't up to par.)

Now here I am, facing the time crunch of Friday ticking away from me and staring disgustedly at a pan of what was supposed to be a Baked Omelet Roll which is hopelessly overcooked and not willing to roll at all. Fridge Friday Flop. I had the eggs, ham, and cheese in the fridge and thought that this recipe that I have made a thousand times would be a perfect addition to the blog. The eggs had other ideas.

Thankfully, I had just baked a gorgeously delicious pan of Lemon-Glazed Blueberry Muffins last night. The remainder of the carton of blueberries is still in the fridge (second shelf, between the pickles and the cherries, under the strawberries), and I can save this Fridge Friday post by sharing a beautiful muffin.

The recipe is from The America's Test Kitchen Cookbook. They tell us that they were looking for "rich, moist, and dainty muffins, not the big, bland, coarse muffins so popular today." Let me tell you, with the addition of sour cream, there is no flop here. They hit their mark. While I certainly loved the light as air Blueberry Cinnamon Crunch Muffins that I posted back in March, the heavy batter of these muffins is more cake-like (dare I say possibly even pound cake-like?). Rich and even more beautiful when brushed with a lemon syrup and dusted with lemon zest and sugar, I won't mind a Fridge Friday Flop On My Plate with Lemon-Glazed Blueberry Muffins.

Lemon-Glazed Blueberry Muffins

Muffins:

2 cups unbleached flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 cup sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1 1/4 cups sour cream

1 1/2 cups blueberries

Lemon Glaze:

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup sugar

Muffins:
Heat oven to 350.
Grease muffins tin.
Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
Whisk egg in a second bowl until light-colored.
Add sugar and whisk vigorously until thick.
Add melted butter in 2 or 3 addition, whisking to combine after each addition.
Add sour cream in 2 additions, whisking just to combine.
Add blueberries to dry ingredients and gently toss.
Add sour cream mixture and fold with rubber spatula until batter comes together and berries are evenly distributed.
Use ice cream scoop to drop batter into greased muffin tin.
Bake until light golden brown and toothpick inserted in center of muffin come out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
Allow to cool on wire rack for 5 minutes.
Lemon Glaze:
While muffins are baking, combine 1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon zest and 1/2 cup sugar in shallow bowl.
Bring 1/4 cup lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar to a simmer in a small sauce pan.
Simmer until mixture is thick and syrupy and reduced to about 4 tablespoons.
After baked muffins have cooled 5 minutes, brush tops with glaze, then dip tops of muffins into lemon sugar. (12 muffins)