My New Best Friend Marlene's Healthy Green Enchiladas

Recently I hosted a little recipe swap. Over the course of 10 months, 10 of us worked our hungry way through the alphabet. Along the way some truly awesome recipes were shared, but none surprised me quite as much as Marlene's "Healthy Green Enchilada" recipe. It is, in a word, DIVINE. Light and fresh tasting, but extremely satisfying. We fought over the leftovers, I kid you not. Try it. Immediately, if not sooner. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.


Here's my version. It's not as pretty as hers was. She served her dish with limes sliced thinly laying on top of the enchiladas. So nice!


Great. Now I'm all hungry again, just looking at that picture.

If it sounds gross, change it.

Okay, so this past weekend on Giada's show, she made these sandwiches and none of them sounded all that fantastic. One of them was an egg salad sandwich, but she put gorgonzola in the egg salad. Along with chives. And while all of those things individually taste great, the concept of all of them being together didn't quite sell me. (Plus I couldn't stop thinking about how bad your breath would be after. Eeesh.)

Next she made a sandwich (ahem, PANEENO with an Italian accent) that really pissed Alison off (we texted about it at great length) because Giada went on and on about how her mom never baked her cookies but instead she made her this PANEENO with cheese, rosemary, jam, and brown sugar. You know what Giada? My mom made cookies, okay? Sometimes she even used store bought dough. So don't come at me with your gourmet sand- Errr... PANEENO and tell me that your mom never once made you cookies. I'm sure she just strolled you on down for freshly made Italian Gelato on the daily as well. Giada, I have nothing but love for you, but really. Sometimes I find myself saying things out loud like "Oh, spare me" when I watch your show.

Anyway... I thought the jam in the sandwich YEAH, I SAID SANDWICH reminded me of a Monte Cristo, which I normally love, except that they usually have vile ham on it... plus the whole batter and powdered sugar thing is a mess. I think the last time I had a Monte Cristo was at the restaurant inside Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland. Without ham, of course. I decided to make my own version, and it turned out so delicious, and it was so easy. I used my grill pan, too... since I don't have a Paneeno maker, And P.S. I thought it was Panini anyway? Her version was buttered/olive oiled bread, with fresh mozzarella, rosemary and raspberry jam. Eh... not so much with the rosemary. Ask Alison about the time she made something with rosemary and it took over her whole house. It's a funny story.

My version was buttered bread, with provolone and asiago cheese, then a few slices of oven roasted turkey and a spoonful of raspberry jam and the other slice of bread... Grill until crispy and serve with jam on the side a la the above photo. Giada and I do seemingly prefer the same brand of jam... I don't know what it is called but it's the one with the red and white gingham top that has some kind of French writing on it. What does that say Bonne Mama? Mamman? HEH? Incidentally, my other favorite jams are my friend Chucky's homemade strawberry jam and also the kind you can buy at Ikea. Unfortunately, they don't come around that often. But the mystery French Jam is great. It's like the French woman on Lost. Try the apricot, too.

To make a long story short, I have found that with most recipes, if it's gross, change it. You might end up making a new signature dish! This gets our top rating. 5 Stars for Ridiculous.

Click here for links:
Giada's My Mom Made this instead of cookies recipe
Monte Cristo Sandwich Recipe

Top Chef Masters: Week 1

Tonight was the premiere of Top Chef Masters. Who watched? What did you think? Do you want some Macaroni and Cheese like I want some Macaroni and Cheese?

Here are some of my random and (partially) incoherent thoughts.

• I THINK I FREAKING LOVE THIS SHOW.

• How genius to take only 4 chefs at a time to compete against each other? This prevents any kind of personality overload, while still giving us the opportunity to get to know each chef. I did not expect these "Masters" to be so personable and funny. Just normal dudes, hanging out, sniffing pork. And with only 4 chefs preparing food, the dishes each got the attention they deserved.

• So each week they'll be revisiting past Top Chef Quickfires, you say? GENIUS, I say. To see these renowned men practically get all teary eyed because they have to prepare a dessert? For Girl Scouts?! (And knowing that even I could school Michael Schlow in the dessert department is just wicked, by the way.) It doesn't get any better than that. Unless it's...

• Cooking in someone's real live actual dorm room. Using a hot plate. Rinsing pasta in a shower. Genius.

• The "critcs?" LOVE them. They're not too salty, not too sweet. Just right. And the scoring system? Have I used the word "genius" yet? Cuz it fits.

Bravo, I'm well on my way to forgiving you for The Fashion Show. I'm still holding a little grudge, but if this show doesn't make up for it, I don't know what could.

Lemony Goodness.

Since she is my culinary hero and everything, I thought it was about time I included a review of an Ina Garten: Barefoot Contessa recipe. Honestly, every one of her recipes I've tried has turned out amazing, just like she promises on her show. There's nothing worse than watching someone prepare a recipe or seeing photos of some yummy food, and then attempting it yourself and finding out that you would have been better off with a $1 hamburger from Wendy's or a bowl of cold cereal. So when I want to make something delicious, I turn to Ina. Consistency is so important, don't you think?

Here's just one example of her greatness, her fabulous Lemon Bars.


I don't have her team of handsome gents on hand to make my presentation look flawless, but you get the idea. Every once in a while I get a craving for something lemony and buttery and this is the perfect antidote. I cut the recipe in half and bake it in an 8" x 8" pan, and it works just fine. Try it, you won't be disappointed.

The musical fruit.

I know, I know... I couldn't resist that old song about beans. But seriously. These beans are the beans. I made them over Memorial day weekend, but they are perfect for any summer BBQ action you have going. And easy too. This recipe is from my friend Laura and her sisters. And boy, do they know beans. (Okay they don't like, own a bean company or anything. This recipe is just super good.)

Take one can pre-fab baked beans (like those cheapo pork n' beans), a can of lima beans (I can never find the can, so I use frozen that have been thawed) a can of light kidney beans, and a can of butter beans. I have also used pinto beans and Northern beans, but the butter and the lima are a must. Pour them all in a drainer and rinse. Then, take the pre fab can and fill it up about 2/3 with water and save it. Trust me. Then put all the beans in a 13x9.

Cut up a package of bacon into 1-inch pieces and get it all working in a pan, almost crispy. Drain it off, and then cook a small chopped onion in the same pan. Add back the bacon, and the water from the can with all the bean can floaties in it and one cup of brown sugar. (Packed. Like I have to tell you that though. That's a major food rule. Have you ever heard anyone say, don't pack your brown sugar? Not me.) Stir for a minute and then add a 15oz can of tomato sauce. Heat for a sec, and then pour all of that on top of the beans in the 13x9 and stir. Bake for about an hour or so @ 350ish and then transfer to a crock pot on high for an hour to thicken up the sauce. Turn it down to low and eat them up. So easy and so tasty. And it makes a ton... so have people over. Grill up some hot dogs like me and Mister did. He likes just mustard, as you can see.

Feel free to add whatever you like too... the last time I made them, I added a little ketchup and then shhh... don't tell anyone, but when I transferred them to the crock pot, I added a small spoonful of the bacon grease. I know, I know. But it keeps it all copacetic.

P.S. Check out our new food hottie, too. If I were Ina I would say "T.R., These beans are so easy and delicious. How bad can that be? No really, how fabulous is that?"

Brace Yourselves.

It's my first bad review.

I love the Pioneer Woman. I want to curl up on her front porch and live off her table scraps. I want to mosey around the ranch and name all the calves. I want to hang out with her kids and hold her sister's adorable baby. Which makes what I have to say very hard.

The recipe she posted for Hummus was yucky.

I once had Hummus at a Greek restaurant and I immediately fell in love. Store bough versions never came close to tasting the same. So when I saw her "Classic Hummus" I thought BOOYA, and I went out and bought all the ingredients. I think the ingredients themselves were right on, but the amounts she has listed are waaaaaay off. I followed the recipe exactly and ended up with cement. There's not a chance you could actually pull this recipe off in a blender. Unfortunately, I had company that evening (WHATUP PEEPS!) and couldn't really mess around with it to try to fix it up. They were good sports and ate it anyway. But there was so much left over that I decided to experiment.

I tripled the amounts of lemon juice, olive oil and water and it almost came close to what I remembered. This is what it looked like with three times the amount of liquid listed.

Still a little bit thick for my taste. Sorry, but this one is definitely not a keeper. 1 star.

Guest Contributor Day!

My best friend Missie says this is the best way to make Roasted Butternut Squash...

Ingredients: 1 Butternut Squash cut up into bit sized cubes! The cubing is essential! Olive Oil (EVOO) duh, Rachael Ray.
Kosher Salt
Cracked Pepper
Pinky's (If you know the supplier)
Toss together and roast at 400 till they start to get brown.
Serve with a grilled steak or chicken.

I'm reluctant to share it with you, though, since most of you do not have access to the secret ingredient here known as Pinky's. Pinky's is what makes it... but alas, it is only available in limited quantities, courtesy of a certain cowboy from Poteet, Texas named Armand. (Her Father in Law.) If you want some... maybe go comment on Missie's blog: HERE. And check out her darling little girls while you're there. I can't make you any promises on the availability of Pinky's though. I'm lucky enough to have some Pinky's in my pantry (that sounds so cute!) and I'll tell you, it smells amazing. But what's in it? I haven't a clue.

Thanks, Missie my love, for being our first guest and for rocking the show. Love you!