Mexican Pork Chops

I’ m a big fan of Mexican food, so I couldn’t wait to try a recipe for Mexican-style chicken from Glamour Magazine ’s 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know cookbook.

Of course, the dish calls for ground cumin, so I took great delight in purchasing this heavenly seasoning for the first time. I also opted to make a few modifications – substituting jalapeno pepper with the milder green bell variety, and omitting ¼ cup of dry white wine (1/2 cup of a chicken stock provided more than enough liquid).

I got so caught up in seasonings and sauce that I’m embarrassed to say I forgot to pick up a key component of the recipe – namely, a chicken breast! Thankfully, I had a pork chop on hand in the freezer.

While defrosting the chop, I savored the rich aroma enveloping my kitchen – sautéed onion, pepper, cumin and oregano. Delicioso.

About an hour later, I had a most flavorful entrée. One that managed not to suffer from the absence of toppings (avocado, sour cream) that, along with the chicken, I also forgot to buy. So I guess you could call my version of this Mexican-lite. No matter -- still heavy with delight!

Here’s the recipe:

Mashed Cauliflower

Since embarking on my culinary journey six months ago, I’ve neglected one important area – side dishes. A recent conversation with galpal and more experienced cook Natalie had me wanting to change that, and to give mashed cauliflower a try.

As someone who loves mashed potatoes, I was especially excited to whip up this healthier alternative, especially when a recipe online seemed to confirm what Natalie had said about it being relatively easy. Unfortunately, this neophyte chef was almost defeated.

Having never really cooked cauliflower before, it seemed to take forever to soften in the pot. When I finally transferred it to a large bowl, I thought pureeing would be the fun part thanks to my brand-new Cuisinart hand blender/mixer. Though it definitely pureed perfectly, I struggled to get the hang of how to use this kitchen tool. After several minutes, I gave up, settling for a partly mashed mixture that wasn’t quite worth the hour-plus investment of time.

I think I’ll be sticking to entrees for the time being.

Rosemary Roasted Chicken And Potatoes

One of my favorite things about being a neophyte chef is the element of surprise. So I was especially delighted to stumble upon McCormick’s Recipe Inspirations collection during a recent trip to the supermarket.

Each packet includes pre-measured spices and herbs and a recipe card. I opted for the rosemary roasted chicken with potatoes, excited to try something that might spice up the chicken breast rut I feared I had fallen into. And much as I love cookbooks and measuring ingredients, this was one of those nights when I was craving a homecooked meal that didn’t require too much thought.

So, in a big bowl, I happily mixed together two chicken breast and baby potatoes with the packet of paprika, garlic, rosemary and black pepper. The rich aroma of rosemary quickly excited my senses and, about 40 minutes after cooking the chicken and potatoes in the oven, voila! A delicious meal made with shortcuts that didn’t scrimp on taste.

My thanks to McCormick’s for ensuring that a touch of laziness on my part had no effect on cooking something memorable. I can’t wait to try out some of their other inspirations…apple and sage pork chops, here I come!

Butter Chicken Wrap

As I mentioned last week, I managed to get a second meal out of my heavenly minute steak with seasoned butter.

After refrigerating the leftover mustard butter, I decided to use it in a chicken wrap for lunch. I sautéed and diced a chicken breast, spreading it and a handful of crisp spinach leaves onto a whole wheat soft tortilla.

Unfortunately when I took a bite of my creation, I was more than a little disappointed. The butter definitely packed more of a wallop when paired with steak, and it tasted like a certain something was missing but I didn’t know what.

That’s the thing about being a neophyte chef – not every culinary gamble pays off. Still, you learn from each misstep and the adventure continues.

Up next…a surprise discovery at the supermarket yields one of my best dishes yet!

Minute Steak With Seasoned Butter

I have a neophyte chef confession to make -- I am a little daunted by the idea of making steak. Or at least I was until recently, when I finally decided to take the red meat plunge.

A combination of insecurity and falling into something of a chicken rut conspired to delay this little milestone. Which only made it that much sweeter when I stumbled upon minute steak in Gristede's -- and then found this easy peasy recipe for preparing it with mustard butter.

Within just 20 minutes, I had whipped up the seasoned butter and cooked my little steak to medium rare perfection. Any anxiety about not being able to get it just right melted as the flavorful, meaty taste hit my mouth.

What's better than a yummy, quick-to-make entree? Getting a second meal out of it too. Up next...how my first steak inspired lunch leftovers!

Fettucini Amatriciana

Though I've been cooking regularly for five months now, there's one relatively simple concoction that continues to bedevil me -- pasta sauce.

For as much as I've become adept at following (and where necessary modifying) recipes, I can't seem to prevent my sauces from thickening too much. It's happened to me with bombolina, bolognese and, now, amatriciana.

Once again, I turned to Glamour Magazine's 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know, my sentimental cookbook favorite these days. The instructions were simple enough -- heat up a few tablespoons of olive oil, add in a garlic clove, 4 ounces of crumbled bacon and 28 ounces of canned chopped tomatoes.

Woops. Did I say 28? Actually, that's what Glamour said but I somehow ended up with only a 14-ounce can on hand when the time came to cook.

Needless to say, doing without half the amount of liquid recommended here probably contributed to the paste-like consistency. But that doesn't explain why other perfectly proportioned sauces have gone all goopy on me.

My good friend Caroline maintains that my amatriciana attempt was a tasty one (I think it helped that I threw in some diced chicken breast) . I give it a B minus.

Easy Penne Bomolina

When you’re learning how to cook, sometimes you need to take a break from cookbook recipes and keep it simple. Or, as my beloved sister-in-law and culinary goddess Barb likes to say – use enhancements with pre-made ingredients.

Recently, during a girls night in, I did exactly that. On the menu – penne with Newman’s Own tomato and basil Bomolina sauce. To liven up the already tasty sauce, I added ¼ cup of onions, a tablespoon of olive oil, a dash of green peppers, 1/3 cup of sliced mushrooms and 5 basil leaves homegrown (natch) in a little pot on my window sill.

The additions brought out Newman’s sweetness, and made for a perfect, easy pairing with some garlic bread and a bottle of Beaujolais.

Delicioso.

Meat-free Paella With Tofu & Veggie Sausage

There are some recipes that end up humbling a neophyte chef like me. Meat-free paella with smoked tofu and veggie sausages, my second selection from Glamour magazine's 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know, turned out to be one of them.

I had already started the cooking process when I discovered the dish called for five cups of vegetable broth -- and I only had three. Thankfully, modifying how much rice I used (1 cup instead of 1:5) took care of that discrepancy. Another mistake was less easily corrected.

The recipe calls for ½ a teaspoon of turmeric and 2 teaspoons of sweet paprika. Well, I forgot which seasoning I had in my hand and ended up dumping 2 teaspoons of turmeric in the pot instead! Upon realizing my gaffe, I quickly scooped up what I could before it absorbed into the already brewing liquid.

This meat-free concoction truly got my out of my comfort zone – and all the way to Whole Foods in Union Square. Smoked tofu and veggie sausages aren’t exactly standard supermarket fare, and I have to say it was worth the trip for my first visit to the organic mecca of food shopping. You can tell many of the people who buy here are serious about what they eat/cook, and I couldn’t help feeling a little extra dash of inspiration from it.

Overall, I would say this is a dish that requires a little patience and a lot of organization. Total prep time is 80 minutes, and includes needing counter space for various items mid-cooking -- space that my galley kitchen (like most in NYC) has little of. But I didn’t let any of that defeat me, especially since the paella is dubbed as an alternative for Glamour’s so-called Engagement Chicken. Dating or not, us single gals need some home cooking we can cozy up to.

Here’s the full recipe:

Creamless Broccoli Soup

Now that summer is here, I find myself craving lighter fare when I’m in cooking mode. Soup has been on my to do list for awhile, so I took a crack at Food.com’s recipe for creamless broccoli soup.

There’s something about pureed soup that epitomizes comfort food. And I love that this dish is both filling and, since there’s no cream, guilt free.

I made a few necessary changes to the recipe -- thyme instead of dried dill (no luck finding any at the supermarket) and no celery (didn’t realize I had none until I got home). Thankfully, the finished product didn’t seem to suffer any when I gave my soup a taste test.

Food.com says total prep time for the soup is one hour. Between reserving a cup of florets and having to puree the soup in batches, I would say it’s closer to an hour and twenty. Still, totally worth the time. Yum.

Warm Pasta Salad

With summer finally here -- huzzah! -- it’s the perfect time to start trying out recipes of the lighter variety. So I was very excited to stumble upon Salads: A Collection of 100 Essential Recipes.

I’m a big fan of pasta (carbs = bliss), so I recently tried out the cookbook’s recipe for warm pasta salad. My favorite part was whisking together the olive oil, vinegar, sugar and mustard. Who knew making tasty dressing could be so simple?

Total prep time is about 25 minutes. For a healthy, delicious dish ideally suited to the season, you can’t beat that. Here’s the full recipe:

Seared Salmon Steak

Like everything else in life, learning how to cook is made much sweeter with the support of fabulous girlfriends. My friend Lisa recently reminded me of this when she surprised me with 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know, a cookbook from the editors of GLAMOUR that’s been on my shopping list since it came out a few months ago.

Craving something healthy after a weekend of gastronomic indulgence in Boston, I turned to the seafood section and a recipe for Simply Sophisticated Seared Tuna Steak. When a trip to the supermarket revealed a $16 differential between tuna and salmon, the recessionista in me opted to go with the latter.

One of my favorite things about this recipe is that it taught me something I didn’t know – namely that seafood can only be marinaded (in this case, an hour) for a limited amount of time before it starts to cook. My other favorite part – the exquisitely simple but delicious marinade itself: ginger, soy and brown sugar mixed together. Combine that with olive oil in the pan and the result is yum-ola!

“Glamour.com assistant editor Meredith Turits calls this her go-to dish anytime she wants to make something easy and impressive,” says the recipe intro.

Simply Sophisticated indeed.

Prep Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 8 minutes

Here’s the complete recipe:

Squash Gratin

When it comes to culinary inspiration, one of my favorite muses is most definitely my beloved sister-in-law Barb. In addition to her extensive repertoire, she has a great collection of cookbooks. I recently thumbed through one that featured entrees under 300 calories per serving, and was excited to find a recipe for butternut gratin.

Having never made a squash dish before (or a gratin, for that matter), this was uncharted territory for me. I didn’t realize how large a butternut squash in until I saw it in the supermarket, at which point I happily made the suggested substitute for acorn squash instead.

One of the things I love about this recipe is how easy it is. You nuke the squash and then the gratin mixture, and prep time is about 30 minutes. The flavor combination of squash, pork chops, onions, bread crumbs and reduced-fat cheddar cheese is delicious. A satisfying entrée that scrimps on calories and not taste. Here’s how to make it:

Baked Chicken Cutlets In Olive Oil, Acorn Squash With Buttered Maple Syrup

Now that I’ve been cooking regularly for a couple of months, I’m feeling more confident about creating dishes without the help of a recipe. This week, during a girls night in with my beloved twentysomething cousin Alexandra, that’s exactly what I did.

For our entrée, I made baked chicken cutlets. In a bowl, I mixed together 3 tablespoons of olive oil, and 1 tablespoon each of chopped basil and onions. After dredging the cutlets in the oil, I placed them on a Pyrex dish lined with aluminum foil, topping them off with sliced tomatoes. I cooked the cutlets for about an hour at 400 degrees.

As a side dish, it doesn’t get any easier or tastier than acorn squash. After piercing one squash several times, I nuked it in the microwave for ten minutes until it was tender. Cutting the squash in half lengthwise, I removed the seeds and drizzled buttered maple syrup -- here, I turned to Paula Deen for guidance -- and cinnamon over the sides and cavities.

Alexandra said the meal was yummy. If I do say so myself, I agree with her!