{Over the Weekend} Hatch Chile Pork Stew & A View

BIG BREATH. This past weekend was one of our last before starting the fall semester. Tear. We used our freedom to do 10+ miles of walking, I did an exploratory bike ride, and Husband showed me how to use several of the weight training machines in the gym. It was a fitness extravaganza!

Then, I spent Sunday night making a Hatch Green Chile Pork Stew. Delish. It is Hatch season afterall. {If you're in Dallas, I hope you made it to Central Market last week; if you're in PGH, don't miss the roasting at Market District this weekend, Aug. 24 & 25!} Hatch is the best, bar-none. This stew goes nicely with the minty cocktails, Husband's specialty.

Check out the recipe after the jump! 

{Over the Weekend} Moving Prep, Shop Love and Curried Shrimp

After a long week of this:

Sunday-Friday

We needed a little of this:

Of Monsters and Men Concert on Wednesday Night

And this:

Friday Evening Happy Hour

Before trying to sell this:

Saturday

and pack up the basement, attic, guest room, etc. {See Moving Sale updates here.} We spent Saturday and some of Sunday chatting with our Dad's for Father's Day, moving items to the storage area in our new apartment {more on this later}, and getting a few odds and ends for the move.
We stopped in The Strip District for a jar or two of spices for our Sunday night dinner, and were drawn into Roxanne's Dried Flower Shop. 

It's a wonderful shop to explore, and they sell everything from terrariums to arrangements. 

Yes, they have "fresh stuff".

What a lovely shop!
They have classes, too. If you want to learn how to make a terrarium, they're teaching a class this coming Thursday (6/27) from 6pm-8pm for $35. All supplies, lecture and light refreshments included. What a deal! Call 412.281.6950 to make your reservation.

We then made out way over to Shadyside to do some errands. Soba now has a patio area! These tables accompany their new space in the corner building. Who wants to go check it out with me?

We ended the weekend with a curry.

This is a peppercorn shrimp curry with a coconut milk sauce, from the 660 Curries cookbook. 

It features chunky peppercorns, tumeric, coconut milk, and curry leaves. Good stuff.

I served it with a saffron and cumin spiked polenta, reminiscent of shrimp and grits. Can't take the Southern out of the girl...

It made enough for class night dinners and lunches. Perfect.

{Peppercorn Shrimp with Coconut Milk}

Adapted from 660 Curries

Ingredients

2 T Ground Tumeric

6 garlic cloves, chopped

1 lb large shrimp

2 T canola oil

2 t Mustard Seeds

1 can light coconut milk

1/4 c fresh curry leaves

1 T lightly crushed peppercorns

salt

Instructions

Combine Tumeric and garlic in a resealable plastic bag, and add shrimp. Toss to coat, then marinate for at least 1 hour, but preferably overnight. Heat oil in a large skillet, add mustard seeds and cover. Let them pop for about 30 seconds, then add shrimp. Sear on each side for 30 seconds. Pour in coconut milk, curry leaves, peppercorns and salt. Cook for 1 minute for flavors to begin to meld, then removed shrimp to a warm plate. Continue to cook the sauce until reduced and thickened, 2-4 minutes. Arrange shrimp over rice or polenta, then spoon sauce over top. Serve!

How was your weekend? Did you get any relaxing time in with your Dad? 

{Over The Weekend} Pan-Roasted Chicken with Carrots and Almonds

We ended this past weekend of cleaning, baseball games and much-needed Skype dates with a chicken dish {and subsequent leftovers}. I found the recipe for Pan-Roasted Chicken with Carrots and Almonds in the May 2013 issue of Bon Appetit magazine, and the photos drew me in.

Finished Recipe

It's a good summer dish, as it marries honey and leafy tarragon with the roasting of the almonds and carrots, effectively caramelizing them. But, that caramelization all happens before you make the delicious pan sauce.

Pan, in my case, meaning cast iron skillet. The chicken simply sears in the skillet, then is tossed into the oven to finish cooking.

Look at that skin, y'all.

Everything fit onto a big platter, so we served ourselves from there. I served the chicken and carrots with herbed red potatoes. As for the two other pieces of chicken, my plans are to shred them and make Ina Garten's Chicken Veronique with extra tarragon. Wine Choice: Pinot Gris.

Top Recipe Posts

Over the past year or so I've posted recipes that you readers loved. So why not remember the good times?
Here's a collection of the highest-viewed recipe posts from {A Dash of Spectacular}:

Boozy Cranberry Sauce. One of the most-viewed recipes that's not only beautiful, but so yummy, all year-round.

Kielbasa & Caramelized Onion Quesadilla. A recipe idea born from a grocery-store challenge. A delicious idea.

The Peach-Ginger-Hit Cocktail. Yes, she's a winner. Really.

Mexican Chocolate Pound Cake. One of my personal favorites for a summer dessert with tropical or spicy cocktails.

{Recipe} Popovers

How are you starting your Super Bowl Sunday this weekend? Perhaps with a ritual or two?
Or, if you're like me, I'm thinking of the food I'm planning to make. With my extreme success of finally making popovers a few weeks ago, I know my menu will feature these beauties.

The foolproof recipe comes from our Air BNB host in upstate New York, Jayden. She was a fantastic host, and was generous enough to share her recipe with me.

{Recipe} Soy and Ginger Glazed Chicken with Baked Crab Rangoons

After many requests {via Twitter! Instagram! Facebook!}, I'm posting my recipes for our Asian-American Sunday night dinner from this past Sunday evening.  I served this meal with a small scoop of brown rice and lime wedges.  I'll warn you - this is no culinary achievement, only an attempt at healthy, delicious food. Enjoy, and you're welcome!

Check out #SundayNightDinner on Instagram for other meals.

{Recipe} Boozy Cranberry Sauce

As we speak, we have buttermilk biscuits in the oven, clove-spiced pumpkin cobbler prepped to go in, and boozy cranberry sauce finished on the stove. As I was Instagramming photos of my cranberry progress, I found that one of my good friends from college said she was making a similar version with amaretto and lemon zest. Sounds fantastic! Either way, you have boozy goodness!

{Recipe} Mexican Potato Nachos

As important as it is to explore new things, you have to give a nod to your roots. Husband and I were looking for inspiration for a game day dinner an couldn't decide between tex-mex {our comfort food of choice} and typical game fare {pizza, hotdogs, loaded potato skins, wings}.
Soon, I found a recipe for Mexican Potato Nachos, and our lives were forever changed.

No really, we LOVED this recipe, and were even able to lighten it up!

{Mexican Potato Nachos}
adapted from a recipe by AllRecipes.com

{Recipe} Lemon-Lime Tea Cakes

This weekend we ended up with far too many lemons in our fruit bowl.  What to do?  Make Lemon-Lime Tea Cakes!

{Lemon-Lime Tea Cakes}

via Everyday Food Light by Martha Stewart Living

{Recipe} Kielbasa and Caramelized Onion Quesadilla

Since you're all dying with suspense for my recipe for the Giant Eagle Market District and Creta Farms "I Heart Picnics" Event, I'll share it before I pop over to the Market District in Robinson Township.  If you're in the area, please stop by!  I'll be there from 11:00am-early afternoon. 
I sincerely hope I don't botch this demo!

Recipe Writing

Happy weekend, y'all!  How did you spend your weekend?  Husband and I installed our new A/C unit, did some errands, had some good friends over for dinner, cleaned up the house, and did a smidge of grocery shopping.  We picked up a few items for an exciting opportunity I have coming up:
Last week a representative from Giant Eagle invited me to participate in their I Heart Picnics event they're hosting with Creta Farms in honor of National Picnic month, which is July! The challenge is simple: Come up with a recipe featuring Creta Farm's lower fat sausage, kielbasa, hot dogs or bologna, then perform a demo of your recipe for Market District customers on July 14. Sounds fun, yes?

Thanks to Market District's supplies gift card, I picked up a ton of ingredients to recipe test with. I'm thinking of taking a multi-country dish that'll be perfect for taking to a picnic. These are the items I'm working with:

Any ideas on what I'm making? 

I'm so thrilled to be able to demo my recipe at the Robinson Township Market District - I went there to shop for ingredients, and it's huge! They even have a Williams-Sonoma style area you can buy any cookware or piece of equipment you'd need. I also passed by an area where they were hydroponically growing lettuce...there in the store!

Anyway, I'll post more information on where I'll be in the store for my demo - I'd love to meet you!

{Recipe} Big Old Oatmeal Cookies

Here it is - the recipe from the cooking demo Chris Fennimore and Rick Sebak did at the Hometown Homegrown event yesterday. It makes about 3 dozen if you make your cookies dainty. Warning: these are not for the faint of heart, and I'd suggest making them small!

{Big Old Oatmeal Cookies}
Recipe courtesy of Chris Fennimore; a variation on Rick{Sebak}'s Big Old Cookies aka Cowboy Cookies

Ingredients
1 cup butter flavored Crisco
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cinnamon {I'd use a tablespoon!}
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup walnuts
1 cup raisins
1 cup chocolate chips

Method
Cream the shortening with the sugars. Add the eggs, vanilla, water and cinnamon and beat until the mixture is fluffy. Add the flour, salt and baking soda, then mix on low until it forms a batter. Add the walnuts, raisins, and chocolate chips, then mix on very low until they are well incorporated. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Use a small ice cream scoop to measure the dough, and place on parchment covered baking sheet. Use wet fingers to slightly flatten the portions. Bake 10-12 minutes, and remove to a cooling rack.

Finished cookie!

{31 Blogging Days of May} DIY Friday...or Sunday!

Friday was one of those days when you come home from work, shed every piece of restrictive clothing/shoes, plop down on the couch, and vegetate. It was a busy week, and all I wanted {and needed} to do was relax. So, we made a quick dinner of leftovers, watched a bit of DVRed TV, and crashed.
Thus, no DIY{31 Blogging Days of May} post for you to read.
Today, however, I will be a blogging fool. I've got a fun DIY-style recipe for a pasta primavera {complete with vegetables from Soergel Orchards & Farms}, my own riff on Giada DeLaurentiis' recipe from her early days. Here's the original recipe, and here's mine:
{Pasta Primavera}

{31 Blogging Days of May} DIY Friday: Mexican Chocolate Poundcake

Kyla asked for us to share a DIY {Do It Yourself!} with our readers today. Those that know me know that I love doing crafts, but I love cooking more...and what is more DIY than cooking?! 
Tonight I'm sharing a recipe I recently came across, by talking to my Mom on the phone. Yes, we gab about food. She was telling me about a chocolate pound cake that a coworker had made for a office party.   As she went on about the cake, the details got me: Mexican chocolate, buttermilk, cocoa... How could I not ask for the recipe?

Photo Blink!

I've been working on odds and ends over the past few weeks, mostly on our third floor guest suite {Sounds fancy, huh?}. Our weekends have been full of shopping for furniture, pillows, bathroom towels, and fabric. We've also worked on updating our dining room furniture, as you'll see later. 

I've been busy with those details, and Husband has been nice enough to cook me an Oates Family classic, the Cowboy Breakfast.

{Cowboy Breakfast}

Ingredients:

1 slice of bread

1 tsp. butter or margarine

1 tbsp. mayonnaise {we use light Hellmann's}

Cooking Spray

2-3 thin slices of deli meat {we use turkey, but it's traditionally ham)

1 slice American cheese or a melty cheese, sliced very thin

1 egg

coarse salt and pepper

Toast the bread, while collecting all of the other ingredients. Spread on butter then the mayo. In a small skillet, brown the deli meat with a little cooking spray, one minute on each side and browned on the edges. Place the meat on a plate in a 200 degree oven to keep warm. Then, fry the egg in a little more cooking spray, then begin assembling the ingredients as follows: bread, meat, cheese, egg, salt and pepper. The cheese should melt between the meat and egg before serving.

I love this for a weekend breakfast!

Here's a hint at the fabric for the dining room chair overhaul:

 We stopped by Labriola's Italian Market in Cranberry Township to stock up on Italian goodies. I see a seafood pasta in our future!

 We checked out Smoke BBQ Taqueria last week, which Husband has been itching to try since we got here in December. Stay tuned for the PGH Dining review of this one!

 Husband tried his hand at pickling, which I've done in the past, to no avail. Evidently, the pickling thumb stopped at his mom and didn't carry over into the next generation. Alas. They were far too spice-laden, even if we followed the directions to the letter.

 At least they were pretty.

 Finally, I do have a "What I Wore" post up my sleeve. You'll notice I'm wearing somewhat warm clothing...all of that warm weather has disappeared, and it's now somewhat normal March temperatures. Yay, layering!

Have a great rest of your Sunday!

Husband's Pea Soup

In an ever-long quest to cook healthy but still enjoy what we're eating, Husband decided to make this Pea Soup {ala Laura Calder} a few weeks ago. It was so delicious and simple, that it's reprised it's role several times since then. 

{INGREDIENTS}

• Salt
• 4 cups/1 pound/500 g frozen peas
• 1/2 cup/125 ml heavy cream {We used fat free half & half.}
• Freshly ground pepper

• Chopped fresh mint leaves {We added these in before blending.}
• Grated Parmesan, optional, for serving

{DIRECTIONS}

Bring 1 1/2 cups/375 ml water to a boil in a saucepan with a pinch of salt. Add the peas, bring back to a boil, cover and cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Blend to a puree with an immersion blender. Strain into a clean saucepan. Stir in the cream, reheat and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with mint and Parmesan if using.

Of course, Husband had to add a healthy cracking of black pepper.

And, a lump of salty Parmigiano Reggiano.

If you're looking for a good "work lunch" that's warm, but still has a touch of Spring, give this soup a shot!