October 6, 2011 • 4 notes
Never before have I literally cursed myself aloud in pride and joy. Seared Ahi Tuna with Avocado is one of my favorite dishes. If I see it on the menu, I’m likely getting it. It was one of my California favorites (fresh seafood and avocados? Naturally.) and one of the things I was determined to attempt this year, even if I never mastered it. For the price, I figured tasty seared tuna was going to be difficult. Guys, it’s not. Go to the store, buy an avocado and a steak of tuna. Be prepared to victory lap your kitchen. - Season the tuna to taste. I used cayenne pepper, salt, and a quick dash of garlic salt. I covered all sides of the steak liberally. - Start 1/2 tablespoon butter + 2 tablespoons butter melting in a skillet.- When the skillet is hot, drop a few peppercorn kernels into the melted oil/butter. Wait for them to pop. (Mine never popped. Turned out fine.)- Turn on the fan and open a window here, just in case. - Now, drop the steak into your hot skillet. You’re simply searing the fish, so 15-30 seconds a side should be sufficient, depending on your taste. I had my skillet a little too hot, so when I pulled my steak off the center was still cool. I like my meatpink, but it’s gotta be warm, so I may have slightly overcooked in pursuit of warm meat. Still tasted fantastic, just an observation regarding searing.- Remove your steak from the skillet, and cut in strips. Serve over slices of avocado and commence victory lap.  Ahi tuna is fantastic seared like this, just make sure it’s sushi grade meat. I think most is, so long as it’s not from an alley.

Never before have I literally cursed myself aloud in pride and joy.

Seared Ahi Tuna with Avocado is one of my favorite dishes. If I see it on the menu, I’m likely getting it. It was one of my California favorites (fresh seafood and avocados? Naturally.) and one of the things I was determined to attempt this year, even if I never mastered it. For the price, I figured tasty seared tuna was going to be difficult.

Guys, it’s not. Go to the store, buy an avocado and a steak of tuna. Be prepared to victory lap your kitchen.

- Season the tuna to taste. I used cayenne pepper, salt, and a quick dash of garlic salt. I covered all sides of the steak liberally. 
- Start 1/2 tablespoon butter + 2 tablespoons butter melting in a skillet.
- When the skillet is hot, drop a few peppercorn kernels into the melted oil/butter. Wait for them to pop. (Mine never popped. Turned out fine.)
- Turn on the fan and open a window here, just in case.
- Now, drop the steak into your hot skillet. You’re simply searing the fish, so 15-30 seconds a side should be sufficient, depending on your taste. I had my skillet a little too hot, so when I pulled my steak off the center was still cool. I like my meatpink, but it’s gotta be warm, so I may have slightly overcooked in pursuit of warm meat. Still tasted fantastic, just an observation regarding searing.
- Remove your steak from the skillet, and cut in strips. Serve over slices of avocado and commence victory lap.  Ahi tuna is fantastic seared like this, just make sure it’s sushi grade meat. I think most is, so long as it’s not from an alley.

August 31, 2011

The List, All.

A list of goals and plans for the next few months, and for this blog. These things will happen! I will learn them, perfect them, and document them. You may notice that quite a few of these involve seafood. This is mostly because I have little to no experience with seafood, and I really want to be able to cook it well. I love ahi tuna with a passion, therefore, I’m going to learn. I must. Anyway, I had plenty of adventures with beef and potatoes and chicken and onions last year.

  • Seared Ahi Tuna (probably with Avocado)
  • Grilled Seafood Kabobs. (Tuna and Shrimp?)
  • Various Salmon Glazes, with veggies (Probably Asparagus)
  • Tons more stir fry experiments
  • Scallops and Mussels, in pasta and maybe soup
  • Cheese + Herb biscuits
  • Blooming Onion / Awesome Blossom (Don’t Judge me)
  • Sausage Gravy on Biscuits
  • My mom’s enchiladas 
  • Sweet Potato Fries! (for real this time, not with yams…)
  • Put the final touches on my Hash Browns and share the recipe
  • Chicken Parmesan on Pasta (realistically, also probably with asparagus.) 
  • Chipotle Chicken and Avocado toasted sandwich
  • The perfect Beef and Black bean burger (also probably with Avocado…)
March 21, 2011
Frugality is the game in the kitchen these days, which resulted in these sparse but SO SO tasty cottage/shepherds pies. my boyfriend will remain the expert on all things shepherd’s pies, but if I do say so myself… These rocked. Ground beef with kidney beens and onions, chili powder, garlic, and some cumin. Really, just season to taste. On top, mashed potatoes and cheese!

Frugality is the game in the kitchen these days, which resulted in these sparse but SO SO tasty cottage/shepherds pies. my boyfriend will remain the expert on all things shepherd’s pies, but if I do say so myself… These rocked.

Ground beef with kidney beens and onions, chili powder, garlic, and some cumin. Really, just season to taste. On top, mashed potatoes and cheese!

October 20, 2010 • 1 note

Katie’s Spicy Eggs

Eggs prove to be one of those things that is incredibly difficult to photograph to my satisfaction. I promise to keep trying, but for now, you’ll just have to take my word on this one: looks tasty!

The older I get, the more I channel my father, and desire appropriately spicy food. I’m still not (and don’t imagine I’ll ever be) the kind of person who overflows with joy at the idea of food pretty much making me cry in spicy pain, but a bit of cayenne never hurt anyone too bad. Regardless, this is one of my go-to ‘I’m hungry and I just need good food now’ recipes. It works well for omelettes or scrambled eggs - mine usually end up somewhere in between.

- 2-3 eggs, beaten with small amount of Half + Half 

- Hot Italian Sausage, ideally with anise seed in it

- Chopped-up green pepper  

- Cheese of your choice, ( I like mixing pepper jack with either Medium cheddar or Colby jack)

- Salt, Pepper, and Cayenne red pepper

  1. Fry up your sausage first, making sure it’s crumbled and cooked the whole way through. Remove from pan.
  2. Lower heat and add eggs to your pan, cooking until almost firm.
  3. Add a dash of Cayenne, to your taste, then the pre-cooked sausage and green pepper. If you’re scrambling your eggs, mix it up a bit. 
  4. Add cheese, and fold eggs around to melt it, or to fold into an omelette. 
  5. Salt, Pepper and more Cayenne to taste.

Finally, pour a big glass of milk and enjoy!

October 18, 2010 • 3 notes
As I am sure will repeatedly be enforced here, I LOVE avocados. A mean Guacamole recipe will come from me soon in the future. But avocados aren’t only for chips! One of my favorite places to put avocados is on a burger, in this case with a bit of bacon. Here’s a bacon avocado burger a la Katie.  -Usually when I prepare burger patties, I like to knead and mix a chopped up onion into the ground beef. It gives the meat a lot of great flavor. Grill your burger to your personal preference -  I usually make mine Medium Well. -Fry up some bacon. (yum) -cut open an avocado and remove the pit. Slice half the avocado into thin strips, and with lettuce, your fried up bacon,  and your choice of cheese - assemble your burger in the order of your choice. - A strawberry is always pretty. 

As I am sure will repeatedly be enforced here, I LOVE avocados. A mean Guacamole recipe will come from me soon in the future.

But avocados aren’t only for chips! One of my favorite places to put avocados is on a burger, in this case with a bit of bacon. Here’s a bacon avocado burger a la Katie.

 -Usually when I prepare burger patties, I like to knead and mix a chopped up onion into the ground beef. It gives the meat a lot of great flavor. Grill your burger to your personal preference -  I usually make mine Medium Well.

-Fry up some bacon. (yum)

-cut open an avocado and remove the pit. Slice half the avocado into thin strips, and with lettuce, your fried up bacon,  and your choice of cheese - assemble your burger in the order of your choice.

- A strawberry is always pretty. 

October 17, 2010 • 1 note
Another discovery from the webs of the internet, these adorable little muffins are supposed to taste like the hybrid children of donuts and muffins. Which, of course, sounds like crack. (The good kind of crack.) And the recipe looked painfully simple to me, so I was sure I was going to encounter some hiccup in the game plan. Somehow, though, these just prove to be the tastiest little muffins you can whip up in a coma in approximately 15 minutes. Stellar!! 1/2 cup white sugar1/4 cup margarine, melted3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg1/2 cup milk1 teaspoon baking powder1 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 cup margarine, melted1/2 cup white sugar1 teaspoon ground cinnamon - Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 24 mini-muffin cups.- Mix 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup margarine, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Stir in the milk, then mix in the baking powder and flour until just combined. Fill the prepared mini muffin cups about half full.- Bake in the preheated oven until the tops are lightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes.- While muffins are baking, place 1/4 cup of melted margarine in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of sugar with the cinnamon. Remove muffins from their cups, dip each muffin in the melted margarine, and roll in the sugar-cinnamon mixture. Let cool and serve.  It’s awfully cool to have my mom ask ME for a recipe, as opposed to the other way around.

Another discovery from the webs of the internet, these adorable little muffins are supposed to taste like the hybrid children of donuts and muffins. Which, of course, sounds like crack. (The good kind of crack.) And the recipe looked painfully simple to me, so I was sure I was going to encounter some hiccup in the game plan. Somehow, though, these just prove to be the tastiest little muffins you can whip up in a coma in approximately 15 minutes. Stellar!!


1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup margarine, melted
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup all-purpose flour


1/4 cup margarine, melted
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon


- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 24 mini-muffin cups.
- Mix 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup margarine, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Stir in the milk, then mix in the baking powder and flour until just combined. Fill the prepared mini muffin cups about half full.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the tops are lightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes.
- While muffins are baking, place 1/4 cup of melted margarine in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of sugar with the cinnamon. Remove muffins from their cups, dip each muffin in the melted margarine, and roll in the sugar-cinnamon mixture. Let cool and serve. 

It’s awfully cool to have my mom ask ME for a recipe, as opposed to the other way around.

October 17, 2010
I’ve been slaving away in the kitchen, I PROMISE! However, the presence of a visitor and the constant progression of so many rebellious other things kept me from typing the stories of these valiant adventures in food. So, what have I been doing? Baking muffins, of course. Almond Poppyseed muffins- a personal favorite, and one I was terrified I was going to screw up. 3 eggs2 1/2 cups white sugar1 1/8 cups vegetable oil1 1/2 cups milk1 1/2 teaspoons salt1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract3 cups all-purpose flourSmall handful almonds: chopped - Beat together eggs, white sugar and vegetable oil. Add in milk, salt, baking powder, poppy seeds, vanilla, almond, flour and mix well. - Drop batter in muffin tins lined with paper muffin cups, filled about 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 15-20 minutes, until the tops are browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. - 5-10 minutes into the baking time, quickly open the oven and sprinkle your chopped almonds on top. The batter should still be just wet enough that they stick!

I’ve been slaving away in the kitchen, I PROMISE! However, the presence of a visitor and the constant progression of so many rebellious other things kept me from typing the stories of these valiant adventures in food. So, what have I been doing? Baking muffins, of course. Almond Poppyseed muffins- a personal favorite, and one I was terrified I was going to screw up.


3 eggs
2 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/8 cups vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
Small handful almonds: chopped


- Beat together eggs, white sugar and vegetable oil. Add in milk, salt, baking powder, poppy seeds, vanilla, almond, flour and mix well.

- Drop batter in muffin tins lined with paper muffin cups, filled about 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 15-20 minutes, until the tops are browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

- 5-10 minutes into the baking time, quickly open the oven and sprinkle your chopped almonds on top. The batter should still be just wet enough that they stick!