Skeptickle

I don’t know why I had such a prejudice against casseroles in the past. Probably because whatever nutritional ingredients are included in it (practically all vegetables, lean chicken, etc.) get cancelled out by everything else in the dish (processed cheese, mayo, cream, etc). I also particularly dislike vegetables that have been cooked to death, which a lot of casseroles almost require in order for it to be palatable for picky young people. All these thoughts went out the window when I took my first bite of a broccoli and rainbow chard casserole that Rob and I came up with a few days ago. It was so delicious that we even looked forward to eating all the leftovers! It’s probably not the best thing for you, but it’s okay to enjoy some home-cooked southern comfort food once in a while

Click image for source.

Broccoli and Rainbow Chard Casserole Recipe

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 cans (10 3/4 oz.) condensed cream of mushroom soup

3 cups milk

1 onion, chopped

1 1/2 pounds fresh broccoli florets

1 bunch chopped rainbow chard (Swiss chard okay)

2 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried thyme

S&P to taste

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1-2 cups butter cracker crumbs (Ritz crackers are great)

4 cups dry spiral egg noodles

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350℉. Heat olive oil in a pot on medium heat and saute the chopped onion until translucent. Toss in the broccoli, chard, and seasonings and saute for a minute. Stir in the milk and cream of mushroom soup. Meanwhile in another pot, boil the egg noodles in salted water until cooked half-way through (just until it bends). Drain the noodles and combine with the broccoli mixture in a large baking dish. Spread a layer of grated cheddar cheese onto the top of the mixture. Then spread a layer of cracker crumbs on top and oven bake the dish for about 25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Cool down before enjoying .

Image from lansang.com

This is a really quick and delicious recipe if you can obtain the ingredients. The thing I love about Thai food is the wide range of tastes that you can get from one single dish: sweet (sugar), salty (fish sauce), tart (lime), spicy (chilies). This soup can be used as a starter, or pair with steamed jasmine rice or Asian noodles as a main course.

• 1 tablespoon peanut or sesame oil
• 1 can light coconut milk
• 1 qt low sodium chicken or vegetable stock
• 1.5 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon palm sugar (or substitute with white sugar)
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated galangal (or substitute with ginger)
• 1 teaspoon garlic minced (optional)
• 4 whole kaffir lime leaves
• 1 stalk lemongrass cut into 3″ pieces
• 3 sliced small thai red chili peppers (or substitute with serrano)
• juice from 2 limes or lime wedges
• cilantro for topping

Mix in choice of cubed chicken, tofu, seafood (esp. shrimp), mushrooms, vegetables, etc.

Heat the oil in a pot on medium heat. Add grated galangal (or ginger), garlic, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, chili peppers, and any desired mix-ins (I last used tofu, spinach, and shiitake mushrooms). Saute for a minute to bring out the flavors, then stir in sugar, fish sauce, coconut milk, and chicken or vegetable stock. Simmer on medium-high heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off heat and let cool for a couple minutes. Remove the kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass with a slotted spoon. Stir in lime juice then or serve with lime wedges. Top with cilantro. Serves about 4 people as starters or two people as main courses. Enjoy!

Image from http://www.chopra.com/qatar.

It has been pretty hot here lately in Northern California and I found myself often craving thick cold drinks. After a little experimentation, I learned to make a banana shake that’s icy enough to be refreshing and creamy enough to feel satisfying. I’m pretty sure it’s not as bad for you as other milkshakes because it mostly consists of bananas and ice. It’s a very simple recipe -here are what you need:

• 2-3 super ripe bananas
• vanilla bean ice cream or vanilla frozen yogurt
• ice
• milk (preferably nonfat)

Fill the blender half way with ice. Use the “ice crush” button and pulse it a few times to break it down. Pour in about 1 cup milk, 1 scoop ice cream or froyo, and bananas. Blend together just enough to combine. Easy and delicious!

The first time I made lemon squares was right after high school when I lived for awhile in Berkeley. Our neighbor had a lemon tree that grew over the fence until it hung over the yard of my apartment building. I would take a couple lemons to make lemon squares using the recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. To this day, I still use a variation of that recipe to make lemon squares. I’ve once tried to make lemon squares from a box, and let me tell you, it tasted absolutely gross and fake to me. The lesson from that is: always use fresh lemons! My family now lives in a house that has a lemon tree in the backyard and it’s been producing lemons like crazy. Sometimes they send me home with a huge paper bag full of them just so they don’t go to waste. To say the least, I’ve been trying to incorporate lemons into a lot of the dishes I make. However, I always come back to this classic recipe. Enjoy!

Photo from marthastewart.com

Note: This recipe is doubled to make thicker bars, which is what I like personally. If you like thinner ones then halve the amount of each ingredient and reduce the amount of cooking time to 35 minutes (15 mins for crust, 20 mins for crust & filling) at 350℉.

Lemons Bars (adapted from the BH&G New Cookbook)

• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 325℉. In a large bowl, beat softened butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add 1/2 cup granulated sugar; beat until combined. Mix in the 2 cups flour until crumbly. Press mixture evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 7 x 11 inch baking pan (you can also use a 9 x9 inch pan). Bake for about 18-20 mins or until golden.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 4 tablespoons flour, lemon zest, lemon juice, and baking powder. Beat 2 minutes or until combined.

Pour filling over baked crust. Continue baking 35-40 minutes or until the center is set (test by jiggling the pan a little and/or inserting a toothpick into the center). Cool for about an hour. Sift powdered sugar over the top and cut into squares or bars to your desire.

The story that led to us choosing Café Primavera as our caterer is actually quite uncustomary. I started searching for a good but (relatively) affordable caterer after we changed our date. Only two caterers that I talked to who were on the Nestldown preferred vender list fit within our price range. There were a couple more that dropped the ball and didn’t get back to me so I assumed that they didn’t need our business. One of the people I got a hold of was Erika of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme catering. She met with us at a Starbucks and went over what they were about and asked us a lot of questions about the types of food we like and what we imagined things to be like for our wedding. She answered my prepared list of questions very professionally.

We scheduled a tasting at Nestldown while another wedding was going on, which I guess is standard for them. Sorry no pictures of that tasting, but it’s pretty much the same as the one for Cafe Primavera, except PSRT didn’t let us try the vegetarian dish. The food was delicious, but what totally blew us away was their homemade ginger ale. It was the best ginger ale we’ve ever had, with fresh bits of ginger floating in it. We seriously drank a whole bottle of it by the end of the tasting. So we were pretty set: good food, good ginger ale, and we really enjoyed working with Erika. I kept attempting to get a hold of Continental Caterers because they initially responded to my queries but they seemed too busy to get back to me when I was trying to schedule a meeting.

So we sat on making a catering decision because we knew it would be wiser to try out at least one other place before signing a contract. About a month went by and then Erika emailed us to tell us she was leaving PSRT and will be working at Cafe Primavera. Our file will be transferred to someone else within the company and they will be taking care of us from then on. I was both surprised and curious. I asked her more about the company she will be working for. She was reluctant to tell me about them because she didn’t want it to seem like she’s trying to steal clients (which she wasn’t, it was all my own doing). In the end, I convinced her to let us try the food at Cafe Primavera to quench my own curiosity.

Review of Cafe Primavera after the jump

Continue reading My Experience with Wedding Caterers