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Salted Kits

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Salted Kits

Salted Kits are designed to make cooking at home as easy, stress-free, and delicious as possible. I am the worst when it comes to portion control because I have none. When I cook, it always looks like I'm cooking for 6. Since all the measuring is done, it means less waste and definitely less time grabbing the ingredients I need from the store. 

With each kit, you'll get everything you need to cook a meal that's as incredible as one served at a top restaurant. Each kit serves 2 generous portions. I had coffee ribs YEARS ago in San Francisco, so when I saw the kits available, I had to try their coffee-crusted skirt steak. The kits are portioned, but you just need to grab the protein (in this case skirt steak). 

After removing the ingredients from the box, you will find the simple instructions at the bottom. There's also a link to a video tutorial on the box to make this dummy proof.

Instructions

Serves 2, Prep and Cook Time: 30 minutes

Before cooking, pre-heat oven to 500 degrees and wash potatoes.

1. Slice potatoes in half, length-wise (or into quarters, for larger potatoes). Combine with 1 tablespoon of oil, rosemary, and a pinch of salt & pepper in a bowl. Transfer potatoes onto baking sheet and cook in oven until crispy, 15-20 minutes.
Tip: We suggest letting the potatoes cook for 5 minutes before moving onto the next step, so they’ll be ready when your steak is ready.

2. In a new bowl, combine coffee and brown sugar with cinnamon ginger spice blend.

3. Drizzle 1/2 tablespoon of oil over steak and massage the spice mixture into it. Heat a steel or cast iron pan on high. Put 1 tablespoon of oil in the hot pan and cook steak until charred, about 3-4 minutes per side.

4. Set steak aside and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice steak thinly at an angle, then transfer to a plate and serve with potatoes. Cut lime in half and squeeze juice over entire dish. Enjoy!

Skirt steak was extremely marbled. 

Skirt steak was extremely marbled. 

Medium rare goodness

Medium rare goodness

See more kits Here.

The kits are now available at Gelson (click here to find a grocery store near you).

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Huevos Rancheros

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Huevos Rancheros

I made the simplest huevors rancheros over the weekend. The ingredients used are little, but it is packed with flavor. And hey, who wouldn't want to make this after a night full with drinks? Trust me, it was a hard morning to wake up to, but this plate of goodness really kicked me out of the slum.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 28oz crushed tomatoes
  • 1 15oz black beans
  • Blue Corn Tortilla
  • Chipotle in Adobe sauce (I used 2)
  • Eggs (I used 2)
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 1/4 cup of honey
  • 1.3 cups of water
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • Cilantro for garnish.

The black beans are rinsed before heating. This step is optional. I didn't want too much starch so I reconstituted fresh water. The beans are heated up with 1 grated garlic, 2 teaspoons of salt, 2 teaspoons of cumin, 2 cracked black pepper, and then 1/3 cup of water was added with the heat turned off.

The ranchero sauce was made with 1 can of crushed tomatoes and 2 chipotle peppers. If it's too spicy, just use one and remove the seeds. I added about a 1/4 cup of honey and 1 cup of water to thin out the sauce as well as mellowing out the spice. 1 tablespoon of cumin was added with 1 tablespoon of salt. Feel free to add more honey and water to your liking (or another pepper if you want it spicier).

The egg was cooked for 2 minutes on medium high with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. I didn't add any salt since it's already on the chips, beans and sauce.

Start layering your plate. My combo was chips, beans, sauce, egg, sauce, and topped with a Louisiana green sauce. Cilantro was plucked and sprinkled as a garnish plus more on the side. If available, I would recommend adding queso fresco and avocado (WHICH I HAD AND FORGOT TO ADD).

Watch the full video here:

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

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Seafood Sundays

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Seafood Sundays

I've decided to have a seafood feast during a Sunday afternoon. There are times that life gets so fast pace, we take for granted all that our home provides. It not just a place for shelter and rest, but it's also a place of gathering together sharing unforgettable memories. I've been wanting to do this for so long. Just buy tons of seafood, cook them up, drink tons of wine, and have cigars by the balcony with a glass of Hibiki 17.

I got these lovely Pacific oysters from the Asian market at 89 cents each. I wanted to get these, because they bake extremely well which is what I wanted to do with them. I just give them a quick scrub to remove any dirt and lay them to drain in a basket. I covered the counter with butcher block before shucking these bad boys to make clean up hassle free (totally recommended).

For my seafood feast, I made some compound butter the night before. Just 2 sticks of butter (8oz) set at room temperature so it can soften. I minced up a whole bunch of garlic and parsley to mix into the butter followed with salt to taste. I rolled this back up in saran wrap and left it in the fridge overnight for the flavors to marry. I used this to bake with my oysters and to cook into my black mussels.

Sliced baguette with olive oil for mussels.

Shrimp seasoned with salt and pepper

These were the black mussels. In the same pan where the shrimp was cooking, I added a big pad of my compound butter to deglaze the pan. Mussels are added along with a lot more compound butter (trust me, it's good). When everything is started to get all bubbly and beautiful, I poured in about 1/2-3/4 cup of white wine. Season the broth to taste as you go. The crostini will be used to dip into this sauce.

The beautiful seafood platter. Oysters had a heaping teaspoon of compound butter. Lay a foil on top of the tray and bake on the top rack at 400 for about 20 minutes.

My brother and his fiance prepped some Geoduck Sashimi

Mussels topped with parsley.

The 2 wines paired for the seafood. Stag's Leap has a more complex, dry, flavor - a bit herbaceous with hits of apple/pear. The Groth was sweeter and smoother with stronger notes of apple/pear. These 2 were great pairings, and I honestly recommend you trying both of these Sauvignon Blancs to figure out which one you liked the most. I say, it really depends on your mood.

There were a total of 6 of us. Everything went to plan and ended with some comforting flavors such as coconut pineapple with berries.

Our night day didn't end there. We decided to head over to Costco to pick up some steaks for dinner. Cooked that up with some asparagus and guzzled on some red wine... and the boys went out to get more cigars.. OH and we had a coffee cake for dinner.

That's all we did I promise. So.. on that note, I recommend all of you to visit your butcher and the man at the seafood market. Grab fun ingredients. Doesn't have to be fancy. Keep it simple, but get an abundance of seafood because the satisfaction it comes with it is unforgettable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Spice Mode - Chicken Tikka Masala

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Spice Mode - Chicken Tikka Masala

I've had Indian food only a few times during my life. If I am roughly counting, I probably had it less than 15? It's never been something on my list or to cook at home. I think a big part of that is how intimidating the spices are. It's not like the usual spices we are used to that we can gauge with our eyes. That's when I discovered Spice Mode.

Spice Mode focuses on Indian spices by developing different mixtures for you to feel confident about making any Indian dish at home. What's also great about Spice Mode is how natural their products are. They locally source from midwestern farms, freshly chop the ingredients in-house where they eventually perfect the small-batch sauces without any preservatives added.

With the spices I've received, I will be making Chicken Tikka Masala. The items came with recipes, but of course I made a few edits because I made this in bulk.

Recipe makes 10 portions

  • 10 chicken thighs were used.
  • 1 - 15oz can of garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed)
  • 1 - 28oz can of Crushed Tomatoes
  • 1 - 15oz can of Coconut milk
  • 1 Jar of Spice Mode Masala Sauce
  • 1 Package of Spice Mode Tikka Seasoning
  • Salt and Pepper to taste.

I preheated the oven to 450 degrees because I want the chickens to get browned before creating the sauce. It was a hot day and I really didn't want to beat myself over the stove. I was in a 'set it and forget it' mood.

I rubbed the seasonings (including salt and pepper) all over the thighs to coat. I'm looking for a beautiful tan on these babies after they come out of the oven. I know you see 8 thighs when recipe calls for 10. There's enough sauce and room to make 10.

After the chicken is browned, give it a quick wiggle then drop the beans, pour the crushed tomatoes and the 1 can of coconut milk. I topped the sauce with the remainder of the Tikka seasoning and added extra salt to season. I wrapped the dish with foil and stuck it back in the oven to bake for 40 minutes on 400. I took the foil off at 25 minutes and let it finish for another 10-15 minutes until it starts to brown and get bubble on top.

The chicken is topped with cilantro, served with jasmine white rice, some naan bread, and sugar snap peas. Everything was perfect with this dish. It's super easy and pretty much effortless (if you make it so). I could've easily busted out some pans, got some chicken breast instead, and basically cut the cook time in half. I just didn't feel like cooking at a fast pace, and cooking it in the oven still worked out great so why the heck not. My stove is clean and I am a happy girl.

Most common store that I know carries this is Whole Foods. Learn more about Spice Mode here > http://www.spicemode.co/

Happy Cooking.

 

 

 

 

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Pork Chop Agrodolce

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Pork Chop Agrodolce

My memories of eating pork chops are always those crispy fat edges and the leftover bone everyone eyes on. Pork chops are pretty inexpensive, so my parents would purchase them quite often. Just sprinkle with Lawry's garlic parsley salt with a dash of white pepper and we are good to go.

I'm going to share with you a recipe that's extremely simple, but will be a crowd pleaser (always important) at any dinner event. Pork Chop Agrodolce is just, pork chop for one, covered in a sweet and sour sauce. I feel like every cuisine has their own versions of a sweet and sour dish. This Italian version is one of my favorites at the moment. I am excited for it and hope you will be able to enjoy this in the near future.

Ingredients

  • 3 Pork Chops - mine were around 1 inch.
  • Lawry's garlic parsley salt for seasoning
  • black pepper
  • olive oil

Algrodolce Sauce

  • 1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons of honey (adjust to 2 if preferred)
  • 2 smashed garlic cloves

Heat your pan to medium high with olive oil. Season the pork on both sides with Lawry's garlic salt and fresh cracked black pepper as you would season your meat. I am a little generous with the garlic salt.. it's my favorite.

Let it be for a good 4-5 minutes or so to let it get crusty. Again, this really depends on how thick your chops are.

Let it go for another 5 minutes. Add more olive oil if needed, you want to make sure both sides have browned beautifully. Removed your chops and set it to the side.

Grab a towel to dab the fat off your pan. Pour in the vinegar, honey and garlic and deglaze the pan with a wooden spatula. Make sure to get all the bits! When it starts to simmer, I added my pork chops back in and flipped them around until coated.

There are many ways to make this. I made this with the ingredients I had at home and it still worked out (tasted) wonderfully. Some parts of the pork may appear "pink" but pork has natural tints in some sections, and no matter how you cook it the tint will always be there. If unsure before you eat them, just stick a thermometer. USDA guidelines says cook till 145 with a 3 minute rest.

Enjoy!

 

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