Ham, Cheese and Fried Egg Crepes

This is definitely one of my favorite dinners I have made. My boyfriend does not agree, although he thought they were great. He still stands by the shrimp tacos. But I seriously loved these. They would also totally work for breakfast or brunch as well, but the first time I had savory crepes like these was in Paris. Two of my friends came to visit, Courtney being one of them, and after a full day of walking around the Marais, one of my favorite arrondissements of Paris, we ate a restaurant called Breitzh Cafe. It took us over an hour to find it (because I got us lost) and we also had to wait over an hour to be seated. But it was worth it. They were authentic Brittany-style crepes, and I couldn't leave Paris without trying them t least once. That day was one of my favorites from studying abroad, so making these crepes definitely brought back those memories. 

Crepes 

Ingredients 

1 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon white sugar

½ teaspoon salt

3 eggs

2 cups of milk

2 tablespoons of butter, melted

*Tablespoon of shopped chives for about 2/3 of the recipe, the other half of the recipe was used for dessert

good quality white american cheese
4 eggs

¼ lb thinly sliced ham 

In a medium sized bowl, mix together the eggs and milk with an electric mixer. In a separate, smaller bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Sift the flour mixer over the wet ingredients and mix to combine. Mix in the butter and chives.

Over medium heat, lift the pan off of the burner and pour the batter at an angle to cover the entire pan and to prevent creating a thick awkward center. - nonstick is also an absolute MUST

Preheat the oven to 350. Place 4 finished crepes on a cookie sheet. Using good quality white-american cheese, sprinkle a little bit in the center of each crepe. Gently crack the egg on top of the cheese and place two slices of ham on either side of the egg. Fold up the sides of the crepe. Bake for 15 minutes or just until the egg looks cooked (the whites have turned white). You don't want to over cook it because these crepes are best when the yolk is still runny. Season with salt, pepper and chives and serve immediately.

Chicken Fajitas and Mexican Corn (Esquites)

So this is kind of a late post. I made these chicken fajitas to celebrate Cinco de Mayo (and to also get rid of the frozen chicken thighs that I desperately needed to get rid of before I graduate). They were so delicious. I've either mastered Mexican or its just super easy and I over flatter myself. Either way, these are totally worth making and don't require a lot of attention. 

I also think graduation has finally hit me. I have 7 days left. Just 7 days until I'm no longer a college student. I don't want to think about it; it's so terrifying. I'm about to be a real person... Well not really a REAL person because i'll still be going to culinary school and will technically still be a student for at least the next 6-9 months.... I also need to start experimenting with more than just Mexican food, but I have plenty of time for that in school when I have a bunch of fancy ingredients at my disposal....

Also, I know these pictures kinda suck. It was too dark outside and by the time I pulled them up on my computer it was too late and we had already devoured all of our leftovers. Maybe I can updated them when I make them again soon....

Chicken Fajitas 

Ingredients 

3 tablespoons Olive Oil

Half an Onion, sliced 

2 Bell Peppers (I used red and yellow)

dash of chili powder (about a teaspoon) 

about 1 teaspoon onion powder 

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 

juice of half a lime 

other half, sliced 

salt and pepper 

In a rectangular baking pan, combine all of the ingredients. Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate for at least an hour or overnight in the refrigerator. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 and bake for about 30-40 minutes or until the onions are translucent.

Mexican Corn (Esquites) 

Ingredients 
4 ears of corn boiled corn (2 white and 2 yellow)
about a tablespoon of chopped cilantro or parsley 
Juice of half a lime 
2 tablespoons low fat mayo 
1 cup sour cream 
1/2 teaspoon onion powder 
Salt and pepper to taste 

Place all of the ingredients in a bowl and stir. Done and done. can be served warm or cold - both are dang good

Meatball Subs

So blogger redid their site so you can now see the stats of your blog and how many people visit each post and page (but don't worry, it doesn't say who!). It's cool, but also a bit depressing. If you have ever seen Princess Diaries, I totally feel like Mia's best friend Lilly right now. "I just found out my cable show only reaches 12 people. Wanting to rock the world, but having zip power, like me - now that's a nightmare!" I've gotta do something to get my blog out there....but what?... any ideas?

So about the subs - Before this, I had never made homemade meatballs or marinara sauce. I think I was just afraid because making a perfect sauce and an amazing meatball is actually a science. People spend their lives trying to come up with the perfect recipe (ok maybe that's a bit dramatic, but I'm sure there's someone out there like that). I had been admiring a recipe from a blog called The Yummy Life for ages, so I thought I'd give that a try. All I knew about making meatballs before this was that you absolutely have to use both pork and beef.  It's the only way to make it tender and not tough. I just played around with the sauce until I thought it tasted good, mostly because I didn't want to use some recipe that had a million of expensive ingredients.

All I have to say is make these meatballs! They are so delicious! Just make sure you add enough salt. I didn't the first round and they weren't as good. (but it's not like you can taste the raw meat, so it's tricky) It's amazing the difference a little salt can do. The sauce was also really good. I personally prefer a really fresh sauce with minimal ingredients. It's less overwhelming and doesn't mask the flavor of the meatballs, so I think I did a pretty good job. It's also just fun to say you made it yourself instead of using a jar (even though that stuff is good, not gonna lie. I'm a Classico fan myself) 


Homemade Meatballs and Marinara 
The meatball recipe is adapted from a blog called the Yummy Life It's set up a lot like mine in that she takes a lot of pictures and gives a step by step tutorial on how to make them yourself. She also has a feature where you can print the recipe, which is seriously cool. I wish I could figure out how to do that! I cut the recipe in half and still had enough to feed three people for two separate meals. The first night I made spaghetti and the next I made subs - the subs where definitely the winner!

Ingredients 

2 eggs, slightly beaten

2 tablepoons water

½ cup buttermilk

¾ cup Italian bread crumbs

4 cloves of minced garlic

½ medium onion, finely minced

½ cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

½ tablespoon dried leaf oregano

2 teaspoons kosher salt

½ tablespoon ground black pepper

About ¾ lbs. ground pork

About 1 ½ lbs. ground beef

Directions: 

(my pictures came out really dark of the process so I don't have as many as usual)

Preheat the oven to 375˚.

In a small bowl, mix together the eggs, water, buttermilk and breadcrumbs and let sit for 10 minutes. The breadcrumbs will absorb the liquid and the mixture should become thick.

After the mixture has thickened, mix in the garlic, onion, parsley, cheese, oregano, salt and pepper.

In a large bowl, combine the two meats and gently mix them together with your hands (you can use a fork but I think using your hands is most effective).

(...it's small raw b/c meat pics are gross)

Pour the breadcrumb mixture into the large bowl and mix together with your hands until fully incorporated. (don’t do this too much though because you want the meat to stay tender and as underworked as possible – it’s just like making cake batters or cookie dough)

Form the meatballs using an ice cream scoop (or just your hands) and place them on a cookie sheet covered in tin foil and bake for 30 minutes. 

After the meatballs are cooked I used a spatula to lift the meatballs off of the tin foil before they had time to stick. (They stuck the first time and it was harder to get a full meatball off the foil without it tearing in half)

This is only half of my recipe by the way....you can even half mine if you wanted. (which would be 1/4 the original)

Marinara Sauce
(notice the ingredients are a lot like the meatballs - that's why I didn't want to use a recipe for this. I'm kinda cheap...)
 

Ingredients

½ can peeled, whole tomatoes

2 cans tomato puree

6 cloves of garlic, minced

½ onion, finely chopped

About a tablespoon of chopped parsley

1 teaspoon dried leaf oregano

6 tablespoons olive oil

½ tablespoon of garlic powder

3 tablespoons of granulated sugar

Salt and pepper to taste  

In a large pot over medium heat, lightly brown the garlic in olive oil. Then add the chopped onions and sauté until they are translucent.  

Pour in the tomato puree. Crush the peeled, whole tomatoes with your hands above the pot (and be careful because this part makes a mess!)

Add the rest of the ingredients, stirring until combined. Cover and cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes. (How long you cook it actually isn’t imperative. I just made it first and cooked it until the meatballs where finished.)

Seriously wanna take a bite of this one right now......

Honey Baked Chicken Thighs with Parmesan Crusted Asparagus

I have been so lazy recently. I just have zero motivation to do anything.  TV bores me, I’ve surfed every online shopping site I can think of (x2), and when I try to take a nap, I can’t sleep. It’s complete agony. Basically, I have the worst case of spring fever, and I have no idea what to do about it. Next weekend I plan on going shopping with some of my friends though at this incredible mall that’s 45 minutes away. It’s probably not that incredible compared to what a lot of people are used to, but considering locations like lakeside or even Alamance Crossing, this place is pretty nice. Not to mention its conveniently far from campus, has an really pretty outdoor component, a Panera, a movie theater and, most importantly, an Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, Nordstrom , Gap, J.Crew, and Banana.  It’s basically a little slice of heaven. Just thinking about it proves this is exactly what I need to get out of this funk.

I have been cooking quite a bit though which is good. It’s the only thing I can actually motivate myself to do. It’s the blogging part where I fall short. In the past few days I’ve made the NY times chocolate chip cookies, a delicious spaghetti squash (but the pictures didn’t look very appetizing so I probably won’t post them), banana cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, homemade waffles ,quesadillas, and the chicken and asparagus from this post. And now that I see the list, I can actually see how lazy I have been about the blogging. The problem is, the more I let it build up on my camera, the longer it takes to edit the pictures, and thus the more work I have for myself. Oh well! Hopefully over the summer I’ll be a lot better about it because I’ll have a little more free time….

Anyway, this chicken is SO GOOD! It’s so moist and tender and of course super easy to make. The hardest part is waiting 40 minutes for it to bake when you are already starving…Chicken thighs are also a lot cheaper than breasts and they are extremely versatile. I used one less than $5 package of thighs to make the quesadillas, the spaghetti squash and this dinner for both me AND my roommate. Pretty impressive – and surprisingly college friendly (I mean, Fontina, American and fresh parm in one recipe? Not exactly cheap to say the least…) 

Honey Baked Chicken Thighs

Ingredients

3 chicken thighs 

About a tablespoon and a half of honey

2 tablespoons margarine

Teaspoon of olive oil

¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan

¼ cup Italian bread crumbs

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

Pinch of salt 

Directions 

Preheat the oven to 400˚.

In a small bowl, melt the honey, margarine and olive oil in the microwave.

On a plate or in a cake pan, mix together the parmesan, bread crumbs, powder and salt. 

Dip the thigh into the honey mixture, and then dip into the drop, making sure it’s completely covered in seasoning. 

Bake for about 40 minutes or until the top is crusted brown and the chicken is nice and juicy. 

Parmesan Crusted Asparagus 

Ingredients 

Bushel of Asparagus  

about 2 teaspoons olive oil 

freshly grated Parmesan cheese   

about a tablespoon of bread crumbs 

Pinch of salt and pepper

Directions 

(oven should already be preheated to 400˚.) 

Drizzle olive oil on top of the asparagus and toss around to fully coat 

Sprinkle breadcrumbs to your preference and toss around to fully coat. Sprinkle the freshly grated Parmesan to your preference.