Obsession: Zara

Look at me posting daily! Home again with a recovering boyfriend...watching the Bears kicks some ass hopefully.

Anyways I'm bored again and decided to dedicate a post to my new favorite store Zara. I'm completely obsessed with it. I went there a few weeks ago with my friend Adrienne and bought these adorable boots:

this cute sweater:

and this dress:

There is a little bow around the waist that you can't really see it the picture...it's totally adorable.

Next time your out shopping, make sure you stop in. You'll be pleasantly surprised...both men and women. Their prices are reasonable too!

I hope to take some pictures of my outfits once I stop being a bum and wearing sweatpants everyday. Gotta love unemployed life...not. I love fashion and putting outfits together but lack of a money and schedule has left me totally lazy and bummy.

By the way, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Forgot the mention that in my other post. Hope everyone is ready for Christmas....It's coming up fast :)

Vanilla Bean Shortbread

Well today sucked to say the least. Mark woke up puking at 8am and hasn't stopped all day, poor guy. I totally woke up in the Christmas spirit too; ready to put up the tree, lights, bake gingerbread. But nope, instead I sat around with sicky ALL day, listened to him complain, acted as his servant, and watched a plethora of decent movies. I'm such a great girlfriend.

Around 7 p.m. I couldn't even take sitting around any more...I had to do something. So I decided to do my most favorite thing ever: BAKE! Seriously, If baked goods weren't so packed with fat and calories I'd be baking all day, everyday. Mean it. So I picked up a bottle of wine and some vanilla and made these babies I've been eying in my "Cooking Light: Quick Baking" magazine. I was supposed to make these with vanilla bean, however I could not bring myself to buy ONE vanilla bean for $13. So I replaced the bean with extract. It's definitely not the same as using the bean but still pretty yummy. If I had the money I would totally use it and would suggest you splurge for the beans...the flavor is so much better.

As for my wine...$4.99 Turning Leaf Pinot Grigio. Nothing special because I was too broke for a really good wine. It's not bad though, kind of sweeter than most pinot grigio's I've drank. Much better than the other cheap wines I've had recently!

Vanilla Bean Shortbread (Vanilla Shortbread?)

Ingredients:

• Cooking spray
• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (or 2 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line bottom and sides of a 13x9 metal baking pan with foil; coat foil with cooking spray and set aside.
   
   
3. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl; stir with a whisk.
   
   
4. Place softened butter in a medium bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add canola oil, and beat with a mixer at medium speed 3 minutes or until well blended.
   
   Gradually add sugar, beating well. Scrap seeds from vanilla bean, and add seeds (or extract) to butter mixture; discard bean. Add flour mixture, beating at low speed just until blended. Spoon dough into prepared pan. Place a sheet of heavy-duty plastic wrap over dough, and press to an even thickness.
   
   Discard plastic wrap. Bake for 30 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool shortbread in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack; cut into 32 pieces (mine were more like 20). Carefully lift foil from pan and cool squares completely on a wire rack.

They were pretty good...even Mark scarfed one down after not eating all day! Monday I'm going to be making pasta so look forward to that. I'm going to try and cook more at home while I'm still unemployed so hopefully the posts will keep coming :) Now to watch Fargo and listen to more complaining...

Country Captain

About a month ago I bought the "Throwdown" cookbook. As cocky as Bobby Flay seems (is?) I still love that show. After flipping through it I saw country captain and HAD to make it. I saw the Throwdown a while back and it looked so weird, but yummy. Raisins, carrots, curry, bacon altogether...what?! I didn't even want to make Bobby Flay's to be honest; the Lee Brother's (winner) looked 10 times better! So finally tonight, my boyfriend and I made it...and it was just as delicious as I expected. And I have tons of leftovers. I can't wait to eat it as it sits for a few days! I would highly suggest this to everyone, especially if your a curry virgin. And no wine today...limeade instead. I have to give myself a sober day every once in a while :)

Country Captain

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of chicken stock
• 1/2 cup of dried currants or raisins (I wanted to use currants but couldn't find them)
• 1 T curry powder
• 1 T garam masala
• Salt and pepper
• 4 oz of slab bacon or fatty country ham, chopped (bacon won of course)
• 12 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
• Canola oil, if needed
• 1 large dried chile, split and seeded
• 2 1/3 cups thickly sliced carrots
• 2 cups diced yellow peppers
• 2 cups diced onion
• 3 garlic cloves, unpeeled (I used the bottled, minced garlic)
• One 28oz can crushed tomatoes
• 2 T fresh grated ginger
• 4 cups cooked, white rice
• 2/3 cup slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup chopped flat-leave parsley

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Pour the stock into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Put the currants in a small heatproof bowl and pour the hot stock over them. Set aside to plump.
3. In another small bowl, combine the curry powder, garam masala, 1 1/2 t of salt and 1/2 t of pepper.
4. Scatter the bacon in a 4- to 6- quart enameled cast-iron pot or Dutch oven set over med-high heat. Stir the pieces around occasionally until the bacon is firm and just golden brown, about 5 mins. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a small bowl.
5. Pour off all but 2 T of the fat in the pot, reserving the excess fat in a small bowl (it lasted FOREVER). Brown the chicken thighs, in batches, over med-high heat, taking care not to crowd them in the pot, until they are golden brown, about 5 mins per side. If the pot becomes too dry, add a little of the reserved bacon fat, 1 t at a time. Remove the chicken to a medium bowl.
6. Add 2 t of the reserved bacon fat to the pot (if there is none left, use canola oil). Add the chile and toast until very fragrant, about 30 seconds per side. Add the carrots, bell peppers, onions, and garlic, and cook until slightly softened, about 6 mins. Add the tomatoes, curry powder mixture, ginger and the currants and their stock. Reduce the eat to med-low and simmer until the tomatoes have cooked down to a puree and the sauce has thickened around the vegetables, about 8 mins.
7. Nestle the chicken thighs gently in the sauce so that the skin side faces up and is above the surface of the sauce. Tent the pot loosely with foil and transfer it to the middle rack of the oven. Back until the country captian resembles a roiling stew around the chicken thighs, about 20 mins.
8. Remove the foil and back until the sauce has thickened further and the chicken skin is just beginning to crisp, about 15 mins.
9. Remove from the oven, skim any excess fat from the surface, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Discard the chile (or you could eat it like Mark did haha).
10. Spoon 1 cup of white rice into a bowl. Use tongs to arrange 3 thighs on top. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and rice, and garnish with the reserved bacon, almonds, and parsley (I was soooo hungry i just put the almonds and bacon on top).

P.S. This is me and bacon. Big deal since this is the first time I've eaten/cooked bacon in years. Mark was so proud.

Caramelized Onion Flatbread with Spiced Olive Oil

Hey babes,

Tonight I was sort of depressed...so I decided to buy a bottle of wine and cook some yummy food! I saw this recipe on Food Network last year and attempted to make it for Christmas Eve with my parents. Well...it turned out horribly. We couldn't eat it. The bread was bumpy and unevenly cooked. I was so upset; my father was looking forward to it so much! (He puts caramelized onions on absolutely EVERYTHING.) I saw it the other day again and said you know...I'm going to try this again. I couldn't let this recipe defeat me. Annnnnd....it was a success! I would suggest making this for more than one person. It would be a great appetizer for the holidays! I also drank Alamos 2009 Malbec from the Mendoza region of Argentina. It's a very dry red wine but very good. As you will come to find out...I loveeeee South American wines.

Happy cooking!

Caramelized Onion Flatbread with Spiced Olive Oil

Ingredients:

• 2 medium yellow onions, quartered and sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced (I used the bottled garlic...lazzzzzy)
• 1/4 cup of butter
• 1 lb of refrigerated pizza dough at room temperature (I used Pillsbury. It was like...13.9 oz or something. It worked fine though)
• 2 T chopped fresh herbs (The recipes says to use a combo of thyme, rosemary and oregano, but I used DRIED thyme, basil and oregano. About 1/4 t of each)
• 1/4 cup of grated cheddar
• 1/4 cup of grated parmesan or pecorino
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1 T crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a large skillet, over medium-low heat saute the onions and garli in butter for 20 minutes or until golden brown and caramelized, stirring with a wooden spoon, throughout the cooking process. Remove from the heat and set aside - Mine took longer than 20 minutes...more like 30
   
   .
3. Turn dough onto a lightly greased 12-inch pizza pan. Press the dough out into a circle about 10 inches in diameter with your hands; (this does not have to be perfect). Using the handle end of a wooden spoon handle, make deep indentations about 1-inch apart on top of the dough.
   
   Top with the caramelized onions and sprinkle with fresh herbs and cheeses. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Drizzle with olive oil and bake at 400 degrees F until golden brown, about 18 to 20 minutes
4. Meanwhile, pour the balsamic vinegar into a small saucepan, over medium heat and simmer until reduced by half
   
   
   .
5. Combine the oil with chili flakes in a small bowl. Let sit for 15 to 20 minutes to let the chili flavor infuse into the oil
6. Remove the pizza from the oven and drizzle with the balsamic reduction and chili oil before serving
   
   .

Here's the link: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/robert-irvine/caramelized-onion-flatbread-spiced-olive-oil-recipe/index.html