Trying something different today... I'm going to write about my restaurant experience and my recreation in the same blog post.
If you know me, you know that I keep myself pretty busy. I am a nursing student, so busy should really be my middle name. I also really enjoy photography. I decided to combine the two and became class historian. It's fun, and it gives me an excuse to carry my camera to school.
A few weeks back, the class officers got together to talk about fundraising ideas to help offset the cost of graduation for the class. We met at a restaurant called Ledo's Pizza. They had a nice little meeting room we could use. They have a pretty impressive menu... but the thing that stuck out to me was the Buffalo Chicken Wing Calzone. When I first moved down to Fredericksburg, I was on the hunt for the closest thing to a true Buffalo Wing. I went many places and found that Buffalo Wild Wings was really the only place (at least so far... but I'm willing to take suggestions.) Quaker Steak and Lube is a close second. But, this calzone perked my interest... I just had to try it.
It was huge! Barely fit on the plate. It was cheesy and had a really tangy buffalo sauce and perfectly cooked chicken. Even better, you could get blue cheese crumbles on the side! Yep, none of that ranch stuff. Real Buffalo Chicken Wings are NOT served with ranch.
I really enjoyed the calzone. I was only able to eat half of it, but I did take the other half home and had it for lunch the next day, with my left over blue cheese crumbles.
Finally, I decided to try to make it for dinner the other night. I waited until I had a day where I could make my own crust. While the crust was rising (basic pizza dough recipe I found in my Joy of Cooking cookbook), I cooked the chicken. I pounded a skinless boneless chicken breast out, seasoned it with salt, pepper and a splash of Frank's Red Hot sauce. I put that in the oven at 350 until it was cooked. (I should really look at the time when I put things into the oven, but I watch them like a hawk to see when they are done cooking.)
To put the calzone together, I took 1/4 of the dough and hand stretched it into a round, pizza looking crust. I put mozzarella cheese, some asiago cheese and the chicken (cut into small pieces) on half of the crust. I topped that with more Frank's sauce and then folded the uncovered side of the dough over like making pierogies. I put that on a foil lined baking sheet and into the oven at 400 for about 25 minutes. I actually made two, one for me, and one for Darryl. These calzones were smaller than the one I had at Ledo's, but I still had left overs. Darryl really enjoyed it, so they became his lunch for the week. He also requested that it be added to our regular meal rotation.
I served my calzones with blue cheese crumbles on the side. The blue cheese is nice because it cools the heat of the hot sauce, but adds its own flavorful punch.
This meal is pretty easy to make. It can be a quick meal on a busy night if you buy all of the ingredients at the grocery store. I know that Wegmans has pre-made pizza dough, sauce, cheese and flavorful toppings all in one quick grab area (by the bakery in my store). You could also get the pre-cooked shredded chicken in the grocery isle by the canned tuna to make the wing-meets-calzone recipe.
By making everything on my own, this was a pretty affordable meal. I always have flour on hand. I've been buying yeast to make my own french bread. Add a bit of salt and some water (perhaps a little bit of sugar to the water and yeast combo to help the yeast along) and, in about an hour you have a great pizza dough. For the chicken... I am a bargain shopper. I love getting to Wegmans really early on a weekday morning to look for my favorite bright orange stickers that say "special today." These signal that the meat is nearing the last day the store can sell it (not the last day it is fresh) and usually the meat is marked half off. I have a freezer full of meat that I bought this way. If chicken is not marked down, I can get the chicken breasts for pretty cheap if I buy them in the "big pack" which is like bulk or club pricing (think BJ's massive tub of mayo pricing). I use one and freeze the other 9 or so.
I will be making another calzone today. I'll take pictures as I go. Tonight I have something to do for school, and Darryl will be on his own, so he'll be able to reheat this when he gets home from work, and then take what's left for lunch tomorrow. I didn't use all of the dough when I made the other two, and I left some chicken out. Today, I think I will add the blue cheese right into the calzone and see if he likes it that way.
Hope I've inspired you. Let me know what you think.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Ham and Potato Soup, Part II
Sorry for my delay. I made this dish last week, and now I'm finally finding time to sit at the computer and write. I do have blogger for my phone, but it is just not the same as typing away at the computer.
So, after having a wonderful meal at Seasons in Williamsburg, I decided to try to make the potato and ham soup at home. I've been working on cleaning the house, making it look all pretty pretty, so I decided I would make it in a crock pot (or slow cooker... depending on your naming preferences). I found a recipe on-line. I found this website: www.allrecipes.com to be very useful. It was pretty easy to make. It took about five hours to make, an hour of prep time and four hours of cook time. To make the "broth" you actually use a can of condensed cream of chicken. Add in some red potatoes and ham (both cubed to bite sized pieces), diced yellow onion, a cup of corn kernels and some herbage. This one calls for parsley, dill and celery seed. Then salt and pepper to taste. I did not add any salt, and found the recipe to be pretty salty in the end.
So, how did it turn out? Well, not as good as what I had at the restaurant. I think using the short cut of condensed cream of chicken took away from what I was hoping for. I have a different recipe that is more of a potato cream than the chicken cream. Although the chicken added another layer of flavor, the soup tasted more like a chicken soup than anything else. Also, because you add some water to reconstitute the condensed soup, the broth was not creamy. I had to thicken it up with some corn starch before serving.
How did it taste? Over all, I enjoyed it. Like I said above, it tasted more like chicken soup than a potato soup. The potatoes were perfectly creamy. I think the red potatoes were the right choice for this soup. In the past I've used Russet potatoes because they are a bit cheaper and they are larger... but it was worth the switch. The ham absorbed the flavor of the soup broth. I think, if I make this again, I'll add the soup in towards the end. It is already cooked, so really the ham just needs to reheat. I really liked the flavor that the parsley, dill and celery seed added. I've used the parsley and dill before. This was my first time using celery seed (I even had to open the spice container, which reminds me, I should probably start replacing some of the spices in my spice rack... the rack is just over five years old and seasonings should be replaced every six months or so).
The recipe I used made about six servings, so we have left overs. The soup is great as a left over. It made for a very easy meal yesterday while I was cleaning the house. It also went nicely with some home made french bread. The bread is really easy to make, just a bit time consuming because of the "rise" time involved. The other great thing about the bread... it costs me just a few cents to make it, where the same loaf would cost $3 in the store.
I have so many ideas for my next blogs. I may be venturing into the world of frozen yogurt... I have become addicted to this new place by my house (walking distance), called Sweet Frog. I made Darryl walk there with me last Friday night, and yesterday when I said I was craving ice cream he said "If you only said that before we started drinking our wine, we could have walked over. How about we walk there this Friday." I think it's true love! (For both the frozen yogurt and my husband).
So, after having a wonderful meal at Seasons in Williamsburg, I decided to try to make the potato and ham soup at home. I've been working on cleaning the house, making it look all pretty pretty, so I decided I would make it in a crock pot (or slow cooker... depending on your naming preferences). I found a recipe on-line. I found this website: www.allrecipes.com to be very useful. It was pretty easy to make. It took about five hours to make, an hour of prep time and four hours of cook time. To make the "broth" you actually use a can of condensed cream of chicken. Add in some red potatoes and ham (both cubed to bite sized pieces), diced yellow onion, a cup of corn kernels and some herbage. This one calls for parsley, dill and celery seed. Then salt and pepper to taste. I did not add any salt, and found the recipe to be pretty salty in the end.
So, how did it turn out? Well, not as good as what I had at the restaurant. I think using the short cut of condensed cream of chicken took away from what I was hoping for. I have a different recipe that is more of a potato cream than the chicken cream. Although the chicken added another layer of flavor, the soup tasted more like a chicken soup than anything else. Also, because you add some water to reconstitute the condensed soup, the broth was not creamy. I had to thicken it up with some corn starch before serving.
How did it taste? Over all, I enjoyed it. Like I said above, it tasted more like chicken soup than a potato soup. The potatoes were perfectly creamy. I think the red potatoes were the right choice for this soup. In the past I've used Russet potatoes because they are a bit cheaper and they are larger... but it was worth the switch. The ham absorbed the flavor of the soup broth. I think, if I make this again, I'll add the soup in towards the end. It is already cooked, so really the ham just needs to reheat. I really liked the flavor that the parsley, dill and celery seed added. I've used the parsley and dill before. This was my first time using celery seed (I even had to open the spice container, which reminds me, I should probably start replacing some of the spices in my spice rack... the rack is just over five years old and seasonings should be replaced every six months or so).
The recipe I used made about six servings, so we have left overs. The soup is great as a left over. It made for a very easy meal yesterday while I was cleaning the house. It also went nicely with some home made french bread. The bread is really easy to make, just a bit time consuming because of the "rise" time involved. The other great thing about the bread... it costs me just a few cents to make it, where the same loaf would cost $3 in the store.
I have so many ideas for my next blogs. I may be venturing into the world of frozen yogurt... I have become addicted to this new place by my house (walking distance), called Sweet Frog. I made Darryl walk there with me last Friday night, and yesterday when I said I was craving ice cream he said "If you only said that before we started drinking our wine, we could have walked over. How about we walk there this Friday." I think it's true love! (For both the frozen yogurt and my husband).
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Potato and Ham Soup... Part I
I am planning on doing a variation on this soup for dinner later this week. My spin, I'll be making it in my crock pot. I'm excited about trying it this way. Even better: it will allow me to go and see Darryl play soccer and we'll have dinner ready when we get back to the house. (He always jokes that I only go and see him play soccer because we end up going out to eat afterwords since it's so late and will take too long to make dinner.)
Friday, May 11, 2012
Ice cream and tea, the perfect combination!
This post is not about a restaurant I went to, and then the meal I re-created afterwords. It's about two things I love, and I just morphed them together.
Back in February, I had a tea party. Not just any tea party, but one where a good friend of mine came in, set everything up, made all the tea, and served all of my guests. Karin has been a good friend of mine since I met her at a similar party at my friend Shelby's. Karin works for a home-sales company called Tealightful. It's a wonderful way to host an afternoon party with your friends and/or family. Karin pretty much comes in and does all the work. But you all know me... I can't just sit back and do nothing. The night before, I decided to make ice cream to serve as dessert. Not just ice cream though... my special touch was adding in my favorite tea: Chai. I followed the directions for my ice cream maker's cooked vanilla ice cream. While simmering the cream (which takes like 30 minutes), I tossed in a tea bag of Spice is Nice Chai to simmer away with the cream. The outcome: pure heaven. Well, almost. I did make it a wee bit strong (learned wee while in Scotland), and there was just a touch too much sugar. So, the next time I make it, I will make it into pure heaven.
I am thinking of trying to make a sorbet with some of the herbal teas. I don't think citrus will work too well with cream, but sorbet would be perfect. At the tea party we made a Sangria tea punch with Sangria herbal tea and a bottle of Moscat di Asti. It was wonderful. The Moscat added a perfect amount of sweetness to the very fruity sangria tea. I think I could "kick it up a notch" (thanks Emril) by turning it into sorbet. If I do try it, I'll be sure to let you know how that turns out.
About this tea I use... Tealightful. It is a great tea product made in Rochester, NY. I had to move to Virginia to find it, when all along it was right under my nose every time I visited my husband (well, boyfriend at the time). He grew up in Rochester, about an hour or so drive east from where I lived in Buffalo. All of the tea they make is sold in a loose leaf style, and you get it in packages of 4oz. When you are ready to enjoy your tea, you brew it to the directions on the package in a brew basket, or a tea filter of your choice. I usually use my brew basket and then compost my leaves after making the tea. It pretty much eliminates the waste. My favorite tea is the Spice is Nice Chai tea. So far it is the best tasting one I've had. I did try one from this little tea shop in downtown Fredericksburg, but their flavor was really off. (I sorta think the owners are a bit off as well). The tea is also very affordable. It's similar to buying food in bulk... when you buy tea in individual tea bags, you pay a good premium. When you buy tea in loose leaf form, each cup of tea is only a few cents. I don't know the exact math, but I think it's like 30 cents or less per cup. I encourage you to visit their website and see what it's all about. It's a great cup of tea to enjoy while reading my blog.
Back in February, I had a tea party. Not just any tea party, but one where a good friend of mine came in, set everything up, made all the tea, and served all of my guests. Karin has been a good friend of mine since I met her at a similar party at my friend Shelby's. Karin works for a home-sales company called Tealightful. It's a wonderful way to host an afternoon party with your friends and/or family. Karin pretty much comes in and does all the work. But you all know me... I can't just sit back and do nothing. The night before, I decided to make ice cream to serve as dessert. Not just ice cream though... my special touch was adding in my favorite tea: Chai. I followed the directions for my ice cream maker's cooked vanilla ice cream. While simmering the cream (which takes like 30 minutes), I tossed in a tea bag of Spice is Nice Chai to simmer away with the cream. The outcome: pure heaven. Well, almost. I did make it a wee bit strong (learned wee while in Scotland), and there was just a touch too much sugar. So, the next time I make it, I will make it into pure heaven.
I am thinking of trying to make a sorbet with some of the herbal teas. I don't think citrus will work too well with cream, but sorbet would be perfect. At the tea party we made a Sangria tea punch with Sangria herbal tea and a bottle of Moscat di Asti. It was wonderful. The Moscat added a perfect amount of sweetness to the very fruity sangria tea. I think I could "kick it up a notch" (thanks Emril) by turning it into sorbet. If I do try it, I'll be sure to let you know how that turns out.
About this tea I use... Tealightful. It is a great tea product made in Rochester, NY. I had to move to Virginia to find it, when all along it was right under my nose every time I visited my husband (well, boyfriend at the time). He grew up in Rochester, about an hour or so drive east from where I lived in Buffalo. All of the tea they make is sold in a loose leaf style, and you get it in packages of 4oz. When you are ready to enjoy your tea, you brew it to the directions on the package in a brew basket, or a tea filter of your choice. I usually use my brew basket and then compost my leaves after making the tea. It pretty much eliminates the waste. My favorite tea is the Spice is Nice Chai tea. So far it is the best tasting one I've had. I did try one from this little tea shop in downtown Fredericksburg, but their flavor was really off. (I sorta think the owners are a bit off as well). The tea is also very affordable. It's similar to buying food in bulk... when you buy tea in individual tea bags, you pay a good premium. When you buy tea in loose leaf form, each cup of tea is only a few cents. I don't know the exact math, but I think it's like 30 cents or less per cup. I encourage you to visit their website and see what it's all about. It's a great cup of tea to enjoy while reading my blog.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Oh My Gosh! I miss food?
I have finally put away the school books from this spring semester, and sadly, from the previous fall as well. Can we say I was a little behind? Being a non-working college kid again sure does have it's disadvantages.... it sure cuts into the eating out budget. But I can proudly say that school is paid for thanks to all of the budgeting and working I did in the ten years prior (and with some budgeting guidance from the best husband in the world). Bonus, all of my school loans from my first time through school are all paid off, and I am not taking any out this time around.
With all of that, back to the restaurant part of my challenge. Eating out has been a challenge. Yes, I have gone out... but we tend to pick places that we can get discounts. We have been to some pretty amazing places on occasion. We met some family up in Baltimore, MD for a birthday celebration at a cute Italian restaurant... sort of reminded me of the restaurant where my wedding reception was held. You could just feel the Mafia presence. We did travel over Christmas break to Scotland with family to visit family. I played it safe there eating things that I was pretty sure I would like. Learned about Mushy Peas and mushy sausage. Also learned that an appropriate breakfast consists of baked beans and beer at 7:00 AM. I did not partake in the beans or the beer. Made a quick trip to Kenneth Square, PA for a friend's wedding and stopped at a cute bar in the historic downtown area. The funniest part about that one was when Darryl finished his Buffalo Philly Cheese Steak and was disappointed that it didn't have the same zing as a Buffalo Wing.... not realizing that the meat was buffalo meat (rather than cow).
I have started to experiment with my cooking a little bit. Now that school is out, I plan on trying a few new things. Today I made fruit smoothies and put them in my freezer. I now will have nice snacks during the day, rather than chips. The other day I made some creamy orzo with cream cheese, dill, and some Romano cheese for a salty touch.
I plan on doing more with cooking. I started pinning ideas on Pinterest. I waited until school finished to start playing on Pinterest. So far I've seen some great ideas. I think I'm going to add blog entries about my attempts at creating some of the things I have made from this.
At some point this summer I am taking an exciting trip. We finally decided to go on a cruise. It will give me some new meal ideas and hopefully a lot of blogging ideas. I'm hoping in the next few weeks to start catching up on meals from Scotland, and from the few places we did go to this semester. It is kinda sad to think I didn't do so hot on my challenge, but I've been busy rocking nursing school.
For anyone who was following last summer, I hope you will join me again this summer.
With all of that, back to the restaurant part of my challenge. Eating out has been a challenge. Yes, I have gone out... but we tend to pick places that we can get discounts. We have been to some pretty amazing places on occasion. We met some family up in Baltimore, MD for a birthday celebration at a cute Italian restaurant... sort of reminded me of the restaurant where my wedding reception was held. You could just feel the Mafia presence. We did travel over Christmas break to Scotland with family to visit family. I played it safe there eating things that I was pretty sure I would like. Learned about Mushy Peas and mushy sausage. Also learned that an appropriate breakfast consists of baked beans and beer at 7:00 AM. I did not partake in the beans or the beer. Made a quick trip to Kenneth Square, PA for a friend's wedding and stopped at a cute bar in the historic downtown area. The funniest part about that one was when Darryl finished his Buffalo Philly Cheese Steak and was disappointed that it didn't have the same zing as a Buffalo Wing.... not realizing that the meat was buffalo meat (rather than cow).
I have started to experiment with my cooking a little bit. Now that school is out, I plan on trying a few new things. Today I made fruit smoothies and put them in my freezer. I now will have nice snacks during the day, rather than chips. The other day I made some creamy orzo with cream cheese, dill, and some Romano cheese for a salty touch.
I plan on doing more with cooking. I started pinning ideas on Pinterest. I waited until school finished to start playing on Pinterest. So far I've seen some great ideas. I think I'm going to add blog entries about my attempts at creating some of the things I have made from this.
At some point this summer I am taking an exciting trip. We finally decided to go on a cruise. It will give me some new meal ideas and hopefully a lot of blogging ideas. I'm hoping in the next few weeks to start catching up on meals from Scotland, and from the few places we did go to this semester. It is kinda sad to think I didn't do so hot on my challenge, but I've been busy rocking nursing school.
For anyone who was following last summer, I hope you will join me again this summer.
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