Best-Big-Fat-Chewy-Chocolate-Chip-Cookie

WOW!!! These are too good to be true! I just sat outside the oven door and stared because they just looked so perfect! My dog even agreed and swipped 6 of them off the counter while they were cooling. He later came to regret that decision...poor thing....

Here is the recipie from Allrecipes.com

http://tinyurl.com/yxmmh6

Puffy Tacos

I've been craving puffy tacos for a few weeks, but I've always been to nervous to try it for myself. It wasn't the easiest thing I've ever made! I totally screwed up the first few, but by the end, the last few actually resembled taco shells! They turned out pretty good!

I found my recipes from The Tex-Mex Cookbook by Robb Walsh

Puffy Taco Shells (Puffy, Crispy and Crazy)

2 cups Masa Harina

1 teaspoon salt

Peanut oil for frying

1 1/4 cup warm water (I think I ended up using 2 cups)

Combine Masa, salt and warm water and mix until smooth dough forms. Knead until flexible. Pull off pieces of dough abd roll into golf ball size pieces.

Place ball betewwn 2 pieces of plastic and flatten with a tortilla press. The ball should be around 4 1/2-5 inches in diameter and 1/8 inch thick.

Fill a skillet with 1 inch of oil and heat to 375 degrees.

Slip a tortilla into the hot oil and, with a spatula, baste hot oil over the top until the tortilla puffs up. After 1 minute, flip it over and use the spatula to crimp the tortilla in the middle to form a u-shape or boat shape (I found the boat shape MUCH easier) and continue frying for 1 minute. After a few minutes it should hold it's shape. Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately!

Taco Filling

The recipe says this is spicy, but I'll definitly double up on the chiles and seasonings next time!

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 onion chopped

1 pound ground beef

1 garlic clove, minced (I used 2 and it still wasn't enough)

1 serrano chile, stemmed and chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and cook the onion until it begins to wilt. Add the meat, sear and break it up until all the pink is gone. Add garlic and chili and cook until the garlic is soft, around 2 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and a tablespoon of water, mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes until well blended.

Serve over taco shells and top with desired ingredients. Our choice was lots of shredded cheese and some sour cream for DH. We also had some Spanish rice on the side. Wonderful!!!!

Smothered Pork Chops

We tried Tyler Florence's Smothered Pork Chops last night. They were very yummy! The picture I took was before I poured extra gravy over the dish since I figured it would look prettier :) The gravy was wonderful, though. My dogs were certainly appreciative that there was extra gravy to liven up their dog food, too! The only thing I'd change next time is to use a little more spice. Maybe more cayenne and garlic powder!

Smothered Pork Chops Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence; Food Network

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons onion powder

2 tablespoons garlic powder1 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 pork chops, 3/4-inch thick, bone-in (I used boneless)

1/4 cup olive oil - You could get away with a little less

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup buttermilk

Put the flour in a shallow platter and add the onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne, salt, and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly. Pat the pork chops dry with paper towels to remove any moisture and then dredge them in the seasoned flour; shaking off the excess. Heat a large saute pan or cast iron skillet over medium heat and coat with the oil. When the oil is nice and hot, lay the pork chops in the pan in a single layer and fry for 3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove the pork chops from the pan and add a little sprinkle of seasoned flour to the pan drippings. Mix the flour into the fat to dissolve and then pour in the chicken broth in. Let the liquid cook down for 5 minutes to reduce and thicken slightly. Stir in the buttermilk to make a creamy gravy and return the pork chops to the pan, covering them with the sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes until the pork is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with chopped parsley before serving.

I was a little lazy and served the pork chops with instant mashed red potatoes. They were sooo good, though! Give me a break...I don't even get off work until after 7pm, so some things have to be instant!

The Simpsons....The Feast...

So, I didn't cook any of this, but it was too yummy not to share! Last night we went to a Simpson's Movie Feat. Basically, you watch the movie while you're served a fancy 5 course meal, complete with alcohol! What could be better? Well, I'm not exactly the Simpson's freak that DH is, but the movie was funny enough. The food, however, was amazing!

I really wish I had pictures, but we were in a dark theatre, so the menu descriptions will have to do. Trust me, though, it all looked and tasted awesome!!!

Amuse Bouche:
Chief Wiggum's Chili
A Roast Fresno chili stuffed with 5 chile-chili. (Very Hot)
Paired with: Duff Ice

First
Blinky With Tamacco Sauce
Halibut roast in a Boggy Creek Farm smoked tomato sauce with caviar and white asparagus eyes. (Sooooo Goood)
Paired with: Duff

Second
Pinchy In a Bathtub Broth
Poached lobster in shellfish consomme with leek, celeriac and carrot. (Yummmmm...)
Paired with: Duff

Third
Marge's Pork Chop
A grilled, bacon wrapped, Homer-sized pork chop in Marge's special pork spice blend with a caramel dipped apple, Moe's million dollar birthday fries and roast corn. (This was huge and wonderful. I was so full at this point!)
Paired with: Duff Stout

Fourth
The Ultimate Donut
Mmmm...Sacrilicious, Donut Casserole, thousands of doughnuts in a casserole soaked in cream and pressed into one, topped with pink icing and sprinkles. (I love donuts, but can never eat more than one. This was like the equivalent of, like, THREE and I polished it off!)
Paired with: Raspberry Duff

Spicy Garlic Lime Chicken

We were going to do smothered pork chops tonight, but DH informed me that we're having bacon-wrapped pork chops tomorrow, so I threw together the garlic, lime chicken at the last minute. I really liked it! I didn't find it spicy at all, though. Loved the limeyness! I decided to make zucchini instead of broccoli and I served it on the side b/c I didn't think DH would like it. I just roasted it it in some balsalmic vinagrette.

Spicy Garlic Lime Pasta (Source: Amber's Delectable Delights)
1 cup chicken broth

1.5 tbls lime juice

1 tbls corn starch

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp dried parsley
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into bite size pieces)
1 tbls butter

Few drizzles of olive oil

8 oz pasta

1-2 cups broccoli florets

Optional - Parmesan cheese for topping

Directions

1) Bring pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. During the last 5 minutes of pasta cook time add the broccoli into the boiling water. Drain. 2) Mix together all the sauce ingredients (chicken broth through parsley) and set aside.3) Meanwhile, heat butter and olive oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add bite size chicken pieces into heated pan. Cook chicken until no longer pink. Pour the sauce ingredients into the pan with the chicken and bring to a simmer. Let simmer until chicken is cooked through and sauce has thickened. 4) Toss cooked broccoli and pasta with the chicken and sauce. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese if desired and serve.

I just added Foodie Blogroll!

With help from the gracious Queen (www.leftoverqueen.com), I've added the Foodie Blogroll to my little blog. It's a great way to find other food blogs and find some great tips and recipes!!! Check it out!

Garlic and Herb Oven Fried Halibut (or in this case...Talapia)

I'm usually scared to cook fish b/c I don't want to mess it up, but this recipe in Cooking Light looked relatively easy. I gave it a shot and it turned out great! I used Talapia since Halibut was more expensive and if I was going to screw up a fish dinner, I didn't want it to be an expensive one! Next time I'll get smaller fillets, but that's about the only change I'd make. I served it with our favorite Near East Pecan Garlic Wild Rice. We couldn't finish it all. That's usually not an issue for either one of us!


Ingredients
1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 teaspoon onion powder 1 large garlic clove, minced
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1 large egg, lightly beaten 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 (6-ounce) halibut fillets 3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Cooking spray
Preparation
Preheat oven to 450°.
Combine first 5 ingredients in a shallow dish. Place egg whites and egg in a shallow dish. Place flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper. Dredge fish in flour. Dip in egg mixture; dredge in panko mixture.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 3 fish fillets; cook 2 1/2 minutes on each side or until browned. Place fish on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 tablespoon oil and remaining fish. Bake at 450° for 6 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 293(29% from fat); FAT 9.6g (sat 1.4g,mono 4.9g,poly 1.8g); PROTEIN 39.4g; CHOLESTEROL 90mg; CALCIUM 89mg; SODIUM 446mg; FIBER 0.5g; IRON 1.8mg; CARBOHYDRATE 9.2g