A Cook's Quest

During the warm summer months I am always trying to find new ways to make corn.  A few years ago I discovered this delicious fresh corn salad and a new way to make creamed corn .  Both dishes have been crowd favorites at family gatherings and potlucks. After seeing a post on Pinterest that instructed how to roast frozen corn in the oven, I decided to start experimenting. The final product was beyond tasty!  It was sweet, caramelized, and just a tiny bit spicy.  My family loved it, and I think it will be my new summer corn dish.  I can't say enough how much I loved it.  Honestly, I probably would have eaten most of it by myself if my family hadn't been around. Next time you need to make a side dish make this one.  ENJOY! Pan Roasted Corn Recipe Source: Jenn  1 tbl. olive oil 1 tbl. butter 3-4 ears of fresh corn, kernels removed from the ears 1/2 cup chopped red onion 1/4 tsp. salt a sprinkle of cayenne pepper (this is ...

I am so excited to share this recipe with all of you today!  Why, you ask?  Well two reasons.  First, because today is Secret Recipe Club reveal day and I was assigned to an AMAZING blog and second, because the AMAZING blog is packed full of healthy, but delicious recipes. The recipe I am in love with is Baked Chipotle Sweet Potato Fries with Garlic Aioli Dipping Sauce and it comes from Laura over at The Healthy Jalapeno .  Her blog is full of recipes that are made with fresh ingredients that are good for your body.  She says she has, "no special talents," but don't believe that because her food is awesome!  Every recipe she makes for her new hubby and herself looks tasty, with a capital T!   I first contemplated one of her many smoothie recipes  , because I am always in a rush in the mornings and need a filling, healthy breakfast.  Then I spent some time on her snacks page drooling over a ton of options for my wine book c...

In order to get ready for my family to go back to school in a few weeks I have been trying to stock my freezer with meals and side dishes.  With my recent discovery of the perfect baked potato  I decided to make twice baked potatoes, and put them in the freezer for an easy side dish.  These potatoes have been around for a long while with many variations, I am sharing with you how I prepare them for my family. This potato is delicious with a creamy cheesy filling, flavorful skin, and brown, crispy top.  We love them with grilled meat and a light salad or even for lunch once in a while. They are easy to change and adapt depending on your family's likes and dislikes.  I hope you ENJOY! Twice Baked Potatoes Recipe Source: A Cook's Quest 5 Baked potatoes , cooled slightly 1 cup sour cream 2 tablespoons butter, softened Shredded Cheese Salt Pepper Seasoning Salt **The sour cream is an estimate.  The amount you will need will ...

I love potatoes.  Again, in case you didn't read it the first time, I LOVE them.  As starches go, they are my first pick.  They can be prepared just about any way possible, and I will devour them.  When I was in high school, and with little money, I would often eat at a fast food restaurant that served baked potatoes.  They were less than a dollar and so good.  Even better were the baked potatoes served in steak houses with crispy outsides and soft fluffy insides.  At home we ate them at least once a week, and always, always, when meatloaf was served.  But, as an adult I haven't made baked potatoes much.  The reason why is because I didn't know how to create that delicious steak house potato that I love, but now that has all changed. As I was scanning Pinterest last week I found a pin for a potato that promised crispy skin dotted with salt.  It was the perfect potato, the kind I always eat when I go to a restaur...

It is secret recipe club time again.  My life has been a rush of finals, research papers, and of course all the running around required with baseball, dance, and other family obligations.  I have been on the look out for fast, easy and delicious side dishes to go with our slow cooker dinners.  Melanie over at Fabulously Fun Food has a lot of great side dishes that are not only tasty, but easy too.  She gives a great description of the pros and cons of each dish as well as the changes she plans on making the next time. For this recipe I listened to her suggestions and eased up on the oil but I didn't know how much ginger to use so I just guessed.  I will probably add more next time or use thicker slices because we really like ginger in our house.  Overall though it was delicious!  Perfect to use as a side dish or to make into a vegetarian main dish with some other veggies.  I really loved the flavor of the ginger with the broccoli and nutty...

  It is time again for the monthly Secret Recipe Club.  I love participating in this group because I get to try recipes and visit blogs that I probably wouldn't get to otherwise.  My family loves it to because this forces me to try recipes that I maybe would try. This month I was assigned to Veggie Whiz a vegetarian blog with tons of great recipes.  I couldn't have received this blog to research at a better time than now.  Lent started last week and I am always on the lookout for delicious dishes without meat in them.  I ended up choosing a side dish instead of a main dish to make for the Secret Recipe Club, but I have many other recipes marked to try very soon. These honey mustard roasted potatoes are delicious!  Slightly sweet and tangy but not over bearing.  The potatoes seemed to absorb the flavors without losing that potato taste that my family loves.  I left out the lemon zest simply because I tossed the lemon out witho...

My only eating encounters with this version of corn preparation have always come from a can, and always tasted like sweet gooey corn.  Not surprising considering the ingredients in commercially made cream style corn. One name brand Cream Style White Corn contains corn, water, sugar, modified food starch and salt. Did you notice what I noticed? There is no cream on the ingredient list!  hence why it is only called cream style corn.  It was never a side dish I asked for, nor is it one I make on my own now as a grown up cook.  But, here I am posting a recipe for creamed corn  because my friend and co-worker, who is a creamed corn convert, told me how utterly wonderful this version is. When I say creamed corn I mean made with cream, not mashed up corn to make a creamy consistency.  There is no added sugar.  I have not added extra food starch.  And there is no added water.  I made this recipe from all things good and...

I've said it before, but I'm going to say it again I love the produce in the area I live.  Not only is there fresh vegetables to be found all summer long, but people love to share their harvests with friends.  My most recent score was a huge box of corn from one of the customers from my work.  He grew the corn himself then brought some into the bank for all of us.  Much like the cherries from earlier in the year my co-workers took what they wanted from the box and I got the rest. Now, I love corn on the cob but a girl can only eat so much. And aside from the typical, shuck, boil, cut off the cob and freeze method I didn't know what else I was going to do with all this corn.  Then, by mere accident I stumbled onto this corn salad recipe while I was browsing recipes at The Sister's Cafe.  The original came from Ina Garten, and like the sisters I didn't alter it other than reducing the amount of salt.  Something about the sweet corn, the...

I don't think any backyard BBQ is complete without beans.  Now I love homemade baked beans but I had never tried to make them.  I had, until now, been content with eating canned beans that I doctor up a little bit, or even better the homemade versions that others so kindly bring.  That is until I found this recipe posted by Heather at Gourmet Meals For Less , when she guest blogged over at Eatin' on the Cheap .  These beans are hearty, sweet, and utterly delicious with any food cooked on a grill, not to mention easy easy easy on the budget!  **Cook's Note-I am posting this exactly as Heather posted it originally. No changes or alterations were need by this cook!  Her pricing is close to what mine would be, check out the total at the bottom--I love a good deal! Calico Beans Recipe Source: Heather from Gourmet Meals For Less Serves 12 3-4 medium onions, halved and sliced 1.00 5 bacon strips, diced 1.00 2 garlic cloves, minced .08 1 cup p...

I would bet money that there isn't a potato dish that I haven't loved.  You know what I adore about potatoes?  There are so many ways to prepare them so they never get boring and they are so inexpensive to make.  You can dice them, shred them and slice them; you can boil, bake, and my personal favorite method, fry them; you can add any variety of ingredients and 99.9999% of the time the result is something that is mouth wateringly delicious.  I am constantly on the lookout for potato recipes because potatoes are insanely cheap.  I usually go for a Russet or Yukon Gold because they are easy to find in the potato state that I reside and usually in my budget.  But, my favorite by far is a small red potato such as the Klondike Rose.  Red potatoes are low in starch which makes them perfect for boiling and roasting, not to mention the sweet flavor they have.  Pair a red potato up with a little salt, pepper and butter and I am in starch heave...

Rice-a-Roni, a San Francisco Treat!  You know the jingle, it began airing on TVs across the country in the late 1950's and may still be going to this day.  It promoted an easy rice side dish for families who needed something fast and easy to put on the table.  I grew up eating this stuff, and I must say I really do like it.  I remember standing next to my mom watching her brown the vermicelli or orzo in butter, then adding water and the little packet of seasonings then thinking it was going to be the most delicious meal ever. (I know, most kids don't get excited about rice a roni, but my love of food started very early.)  What I don't like is the ingredient list, I just get a little weirded out by ingredients that are listed as "natural flavorings," what is that supposed to mean? Or ingredients that are too hard for me to pronounce, if it sounds like a chemical used in a science lab should we really be ...