Broiled Ginger Garlic Salmon

At my 22nd birthday "party" my roommate introduced me to a guy named Sean (not actually his name, but go with it).  He was cute, nice and smelled pretty good so I hung out with him a few more times after that.  Then, like every 22 year old that spends five nights a week at the bar flirting with every half way decent looking guy I started ignoring poor Sean.  I would have liked to continue a friendship with him but I'm not so good at the friend zone game...I'm sure you figured that out from my last post.  It wasn't too long before I ran into him at a bar in Bigfork during Whitewater Fest.  He was drunk, I was buzzed and we chatted.  He said "I've been chasing after you and I feel like I'm sitting in a boat on a lake.  I'm in that boat and I'm fishin' and fishin', but there aren't any fish in the lake."  After sharing a good laugh over his description of "chasing" me I smiled and suggested he find a new lake to fish in.  He must have listened because last I heard he had gotten married.  I figured while we were talking about fish, metaphorical or not, that I would give you a tasty fish recipe.

You will need:

1 single portion salmon filet

1 tsp. ground ginger

2 minced garlic cloves

2 T. soy sauce (I used GF/reduced sodium)

2 T. orange juice

1 T. honey

Combine ingredients in shallow bowl.  If your filet still has the skin on it then marinate your fish with skin face up and the meat in the marinade.  I made rice with my fish so I marinated the fish while I started the brown rice, it got to marinate for about 1/2 hour.  Preheat oven to broil.  Place fish, skin down on tin foil covered pan, pour excess marinade on top.  Broil your fish until done, this can be tested with a fork.  It's about 10 minutes cook time per inch of fish thickness.  I recommend checking after about 5 mins, mine didn't take long to cook and you don't want it overdone, dried out fish is not awesome.  I served mine with brown rice and garlic sauteed broccoli and was presently surprised by how good it all was.  Enjoy!

Megan S.

Chicken 'n Rice Bowl

So first off I have to apologize to all of our loyal readers for the long absence.  These spinsters have been in the middle of major life changes, new towns, new jobs, new lives, not to mention the holidays.  Don't worry though because we are back and hopefully we are at least as good as we used to be, if not better.  I remember last year for NYE I did a blog post about my hatred of the holiday.  This year I was asleep by 11pm and I loved it!  I actually had a date lined up and plans for ringing in the New Year with a drink in hand.  Unfortunately (for him) I decided that I needed to put him in the "friend zone."  How do you do that to someone on NYE, a night when you're supposed to kiss your date at midnight?  So I feigned illness and stayed home and to be honest I feel alright about that, he can be "friend zoned" another night.  Tonight though it's time for a new recipe.

You will need:

1 chicken breast
Italian dressing
1 serving corn
1 serving of your fave rice
1 ziploc bag

Dice the chicken breast into bite size pieces and put in a ziploc bag.  Pour enough italian dressing in with the chicken to make sure all pieces are well coated.  Put in the fridge to marinate for a bit while you cook your rice, cook rice as directed on package.  I use jasmine or brown rice which takes about an hour to cook.  If you use Minute rice (eeeewww) make sure you allow your chicken to marinate for a half an hour or so.  Cook your chicken in a skillet while also cooking your rice according to package directions.  When everything is done pile it all together in a bowl and mix it up.  So easy, yet so delicious!  Again, I'm sorry no pic, I'm going to get my shit together I promise!

One last note before I sign off.  I would like to prepare you all for possible guest writers.  You may get to read some bachelor submissions in the future as I know of at least one that would like to submit his favorite recipes...and he's funny, so look forward to that!

Pumpkin mac and cheese

Get ready for your new addiction.  I know, I know.  It sounds freaking weird.  I mean, who puts pumpkin in their mac and cheese?  Seriously?  This girl.  And now you.  You won't regret it.

Admittedly, the recipe might get you a little more than one serving but you are gonna be super addicted so it will be ok.

You will also have another addiction after this recipe.  Your food processor.  No shit.  They're rad.  You can toss so much stuff in there and it's like magic.  My aunt gave me one for Christmas last year and I thought she had lost it but it turns out she's a genius.  Definitely an investment worth making.

So, here's what you will need (other than an open mind)

1 cup elbow macaroni (I chose whole wheat, shocker)
1 tbs butter
1 tbs flour (I chose whole wheat)
a dash of salt
a touch of pepper
1/2 c half and half
1 c milk (I chose almond)
4 oz gouda cheese
1/2 can pumpkin
a TON of snipped fresh sage (nope, dried won't do)
1/4 c soft bread crumbs
1/4 c parmesan cheese (get the good kind.  from the fancy cheese section)
1/4 c walnuts
1 tsp olive oil

Start out by preheating the oven to 350.  Cook pasta according to directions and toss it in a square baking dish when it's done.

In the meantime, pour a glass of wine.  Duh.  Take a medium saucepan (the kind with the high edges)  and melt the butter over medium heat.  Add flour, salt and pepper.  Toss in the half and half and milk.  Stir it up.  Wait until it kind of thickens and looks bubbly.  While you're waiting for that to happen take our your food processor (which I so hope you have) and get the gouda into small pieces.  Otherwise you have to grate it and if that's the case I wish you luck.  And more wine.  Toss that cheese in with the milk and stuffs along with the pumpkin and a bunch of fresh sage.  Stir up until it gets well blended and creamy.  Pour over the macaroni.

Now comes the delicious bread crumb topping.  Yeah, it gets better.  Toss the walnuts and the oil in the food processor and get it into small pieces.  Then add the parmesan and chop that up in there as well.  Now add the bread crumbs and some more fresh sage.  Once it gets to an awesome bread crumb texture sprinkle it evenly over the mac and sauce.  Bake for 20ish mins or until the bread crumbs are golden and bubbly.

Now eat up!  And drink up :)

Cheers!
Megan J

Tomato Fennel Soup

Autumn has definitely fallen upon those of us in Montana, judging by the snow it may actually be winter.  With colder weather one starts craving hot soups and delicious comfort food.  I got my first taste of tomato fennel soup while shopping in Missoula.  Not normally a fan of tomato soup I decided to try it as I had limited options.  I was pleasantly surprised that the fennel actually made me like tomato soup.  After internet searches and recipe modifications I came up with my own version, now I'm going to share it with you.  I recommend pouring a glass of delicious wine, turning on loud music and singing along as loud as you can.  Wine and music make everything better-even tomato soup.

You will need:

olive oil
1/2 a small onion, diced
1 shallot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
one large carrot, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 fennel bulb, diced
1 can diced tomatoes-do not drain
1 cup chicken broth
2 T. fresh basil
dash of oregano
dash of parsley
salt
pepper

In saucepan heat oil and cook your veggies until they are tender.  Add diced tomatoes and chicken broth and let simmer about 5 minutes.    Remove from heat and add chopped basil, sprinkle with basil, oregano and parsley.  Puree the soup with an immersion blender or transfer to a regular blender to puree.  Salt and pepper to taste.  I garnished mine with some of the fennel leaf but that's not necessary.

Enjoy!

 In honor of Halloween's approach I am offering you this ridiculous picture of me with my even more ridiculous looking friend, Ruthie in the background.

Black Bean Dip

I have to apologize for the delay on recipe posting, our little blog's future has been somewhat unknown due to personal changes.  I'm hoping that I will continue to have the time to write despite an upcoming move to Missoula (depending on job prospects) and eventual return to school to work on my master's in social work.  I hope that my co-writer will also be able to find time to submit as well, dependent on her own busy schedule.

You may have noticed I've been really bad at taking pics for my posts, mostly I'm a bad photographer but also I usually just forget.  When we started this blog I just took pictures of anything and everything I made, just in case it was "blog-worthy," now I'm lazy.  My apologies, I will try to get better at the picture taking.  This recipe I made for a pot luck and it was quite a big hit.  You can use it just as a dip for tortilla chips or use it as a topping on baked chicken or whatever comes to mind. 

You Will Need:

2 ripe avocados, peeled and diced
juice of 1 lime
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 red bell pepper, diced
2-3 tomatoes, diced
about 1/8 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 T. olive oil
1 tsp.red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
tortilla chips for dipping

In a small bowl combine avocados and lime juice, let sit until all other ingredients are mixed.  In a large bowl combine beans, corn, pepper, tomatoes, cilantro and garlic.  In a small bowl combine oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and whisk together.  Drizzle over the bean and corn mixture, mix to coat.  Fold in the avocado mixture.  Chill until cool, I chill overnight, the flavor seems to be better that way.  When I make this it becomes my snack for days, I get to snack and feel like I'm eating mostly healthy.  Next time I make this I'm going to use some of it on baked chicken, maybe with a little cheese on top.  Nummy!

Megan S.

Mmm...Steak

Recently I had the pleasure (I mean displeasure) of taking care of a whole crap load of farm animals for one of my bosses.  There were cows, cats, chicken, ducks, turkeys, and worst of all, geese. I was shown the ropes by my boss's wife and left to my devices.  One of my responsibilities was wrangling the geese into their corral in the evening.  So the first night I head outside and start shooing geese into the general direction of their corral.  As you're aware geese stick pretty tightly together so I didn't think it would be too hard.  All was going well until I realized one of the calves had found its way into the corral.  Now what?!  Could the calf get out on its own, did I have to coax it out of the goose corral?  I tried encouraging the calf to abandon it's location, but I was a bit scared, even a small cow is a LOT bigger than me.  After a few valiant attempts at calf removal I gave up.  That calf could stay there for all I cared.  As I headed back to the corral gate to resume goose wrangling the geese panicked and ran away.  I regain control of the gaggle by waving my hands and what do you know, it works, they're all headed through the gate quacking and flapping away.  Then I realize, much to my dismay...four geese have missed the gate.  I think to myself "no biggie, I can handle this."  Unfortunately, the four separated geese see their gaggle on the other side of the corral netting and are determined to join them.  To do this they start running at the netting.  All their heads are getting stuck in the net and I'm starting to panic.  Holy shit!!!  I'm going to kill my boss's geese!!!  As luck would have it the weight of the geese forced the fence down and three of the four found their way into the corral and were happily reunited with their gaggle.  Now I only had to deal with one goose.  As bad luck would have it this goose continued launching him/herself at the netting, getting it's head stuck in the netting over and over.  I try holding the net down thinking maybe this goose will be able to get over the top like its buddies.  This doesn't work, so I'm thinking I'm going to have to get in close and I might even have to touch it.  I slowly work my way towards him and he starts quacking, then his protective friends in the corral start coming at me, they're quacking and flapping their wings, but worst of all they are HISSING at me!!!  That's right, hissing, who knew geese hiss?!  That's when I gave up and slowly backed away from the scary gaggle of geese.  I was not getting attacked by a goose, oh hell no!  It was at that time the remaining goose found its way back to the gate and I safely locked the gaggle away for the night.  Oh and if you were wondering about the calf, amidst the melee of my geese wrangling it found its way out of the corral on its own.  I happen to think it was just as afraid of the hissing geese as I was and ran away.  Now that I've given you something to smile about (hopefully), it's time for a new recipe.

You will need:
1 sirloin steak
2 T soy sauce
1 T vegetable oil
1 T brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground mustard
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
a dash of pepper

Mix everything but the steak together in a tupperware container.  Once mixed coat steak with mixture on both sides and then allow steak to marinate overnight.  Once done marinating, grill steak a few minutes on each side.  I'm not giving you time estimates because in my experience people prefer their steak rarer than I prefer mine.  So grill it how you like it, rare, medium rare, whatever.  Pour a nice red wine, or a cheap red wine (if you haven't already) and enjoy!

Megan S.

Sea scallops and green beans

Have you ever noticed that Megan S is all up to date on her blogs and ahead of the game?  I know, I'm envious too.  I am clearly the slacker.  I promise I've been doing cool things to make up for it though!  Like hiking and drinking many margaritas.  Oh, and working too.

If you don't like swears and liberal agendas you'll probably want to skip straight to the recipe.  Just a warning.

As long as we're on our serious story time I wanted to voice my approval for Megan's last post.  I am a hippie dippy liberal tree hugger.  It's true.  I am vegetarian (although for health reasons), force people to recycle, drive a Subaru and FIRMLY believe that any one should be allowed to any one as long as they love one another.  People seem to have all sorts of bullshit arguments as to how same sex marriages are destroying the moral fiber of our society and causing problems but we all know that's a giant load of shit.  People are just scared of what they don't understand and need to find a group to persecute.  Well, assholes, knock it off.

And on to the food :)

You will need:

1/2 shallot, finely chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
juice of half of a lemon
1/4 cup white wine (I went for pinot grigio cause I wanted to drink it too!)
1 tbsp dijon mustard (stone ground is preferable)
a dash of black pepper
2 quarts water
a decent handful of fresh green beans
1 1/2 tbs butter
1/2 lb sea scallops
1/4 tsp salt

Start out by combining the first 5 ingredients in a bowl with a dash of the pepper.  In the mean time, bring the water to a boil.  You can also use the time while your water is heating to prep your green beans by snapping off the weird ends and getting them into manageable sized pieces.  Once the water is boiling add your beans.  Cook about 3 minutes and then drain 'em.  Melt butter over medium heat and add the shallot mixture and cook for about 1 minute.  Add beans and saute over low heat for as long as it takes the scallops to cook.  In a separate pan heat up a little butter.  Place sea scallops in and lightly dust them with salt and pepper to taste.  Cook about 2 minutes on each side.  One trick with scallops is to cook them for less time than you think.  If you over cook them they get gross and super chewy.  They should be soft on the inside.

Combine everything together and eat up :)  And while you're at it, why not finish that bottle of wine you used while cooking?

Cheers!
Megan J