Some Kitchen Essentials

We had another of our potluck dinners at work the other night. This time, I made the main course. Now I work a night shift and we usually eat mid-way through which is usually between midnight and one AM. We are limited to basically a microwave or George Foreman Grill and I do not have a crockpot, but I do have an electric wok. So I decided to make a stirfry and I am really happy that I did!

With the electric wok, everything was done in less than 10 minutes and we had a fresh meal cooked right in the office. My coworker enjoyed it so much, she went on Amazon.com and bought an electric wok that evening!

Ok, now for the reason for the introduction, in order to for this to have turned out as good as it was, I discovered three things that were essential to workplace woking.
The first is the electric wok. I am convinced that this is an essential part of any kitchen. Our electric wok was inherited from my grandparents and it is probably 20 years old. It is not fancy and I am guessing that it was not a super expensive model when they bought it. I mentioned that my coworker bought one on Amazon.com and she spent about $40 on it. I would think that you would be able to find a good, inexpensive one at Target, Bed, Bath and Beyond or Kohls too. This is definitely worth the investment!

The next thing that made the meal a success was microwavable rice. Lydia uses this all the time and swears by it. So I thought it might be a good option for my dinner. I ended up buying Uncle Ben's Basmati rice that was ready in 90 seconds. It was super easy: break it up in the package, open a vent, microwave for 90 seconds, serve. I used 2 packs and it was really good! Lydia was right and I would buy this again (even if I wasn't cooking at work).

Lastly, was having a good, premade stirfry sauce. Whenever I go to the Asian section of the grocery store, I spend at least 10 minutes looking at all the sauces and trying to figure out which one to buy. Well for this, I ended up with a Mandarin Sauce and it was really good too. I find that the secret to a good stirfry is to add the sauce last, right before you serve it.

Anyway, I hope this inspires you to think about making a delicious stirfry meal at home (or at work). It takes minimal effort and you will enjoy the payoff!

A Fall Favorite: Soup and Sandwich

Since fall has started to make its presence know, I have been wanting warm, soothing foods - what better than soup accompanied by a sandwich!

The following recipe is supper easy to make. The most involved part is cleaning and chopping the escarole. I made this the other day while on hold with my insurance company (I was on hold for about 25 minutes) and by the time I spoke to a human, the soup was ready! This is a really good recipe - it doesn't look or sound like much, but it is delicious and very satisfying. If you like soup, try it! It is also very low in calories (if you are watching your caloric intake).

Escarole and White Bean Soup

8 ounces escarole
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
4 cans of chicken broth
2 cans (15 oz. each) cannellini (white kidney beans), rinsed and drained
salt & pepper
grated Parmesan cheese

• Cut base off escarole; rinse and drain leaves. Cut leaves crosswise into 1/4 inch wide strips.
• Set a 4- to 5-quart pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add oil, onion and garlic; stir often until onion is limp, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add broth and beans, cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in escarole and cook just until wilted, about 1 minute. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Ladle into bowls and top with Parmesan cheese.

I brought this to work for a pot luck and my co-worker (Jaime) made grilled apple and cheese sandwiches to go with it - it was the perfect accompaniment! The following is Jaime's recipe.

Grilled Irish Cheddar and Honeycrisp Apple Sandwiches

1/2 lb sliced Artesian Irish Cheddar Cheese (or your favorite cheddar)

1-2 Honeycrip apples, sliced thin
1 loaf Rustic sourdough bread (we had a round loaf), sliced
olive oil

• Lightly brush 2 slices of bread with olive oil (only on one side).
• To the "naked" side add a slice of cheese, then an apple slice, more cheese, another apple slice, cheese, the top with the other slice of bread.
• Either use a panini press or grill in a pan - both sides of the sandwich until the bread is nicely browned.
• Cut the sandwich in half and serve with the soup.

You will find that the cheese is gooey and the flavors are wonderful. I really enjoyed this meal! It really celebrated the flavors of Autumn and had I not been at work, a glass of wine would have made this a gourmet meal!

Monday Night Pot Luck

Continuing with the tradition of Monday night meals at work, on Labor Day we had Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff over noodles, steamed (microwaved) green beans, bread (for all the sauce) and Cherry Pineapple Dump Cake. I would love to claim credit for this meal, but it was the brain-child of my coworker, Jamie and it was delicious.

Here are the recipes for the stroganoff and cake. As you can see, both do not require many ingredients and were really yummy! FYI - my crappy pictures do not do either of these dishes justice.

Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients

1 pound cubed beef stew meat
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed mushroom soup
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup water
4 ounces cream cheese

Directions
In a slow cooker, combine the meat, soup, onion, Worcestershire sauce and water. Cook on low setting for 8 hours or on high setting for about 5 hours. Stir in cream cheese just before serving.

Cherry Pineapple Dump Cake

Ingredients
1 can (16 ounce) crushed pineapple
1 can (30 ounce) cherry pie filling
1 package yellow cake mix
1 cup butter
Optional: 1/2 to 2/3 cup chopped nuts

Directions
Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan. Dump in the pineapple and juice, spreading evenly. Pour cherry pie filling over the pineapple, spreading evenly. Add dry cake mix evenly over the fruit. Add nuts, then slice butter and lay all over the top. Do not mix. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 50 - 55 minutes.

Both of these dishes were really good! The cake would go great with coffee, as the sugars in it make a nice crunchy crust that would melt in your mouth with a hot cup of joe. We had the stroganoff over noodles and Jamie and I both thought that adding a little Marsala and extra mushrooms to the recipe would really make this even more mouth-watering.