Last Sunday Pam stopped by to visit me in CT. As I stood unprepared in the kitchen, I realized I needed to make some dinner… AND FAST!

This was the perfect time to call upon my new Jacque Pepin’ book “Fast food my way.” This time, I made the lavash bread pizza.

It was beyond simple, and the end result was an elegant delicious pizza. Throw down some Lavash bread (find it by the deli at your local S&S) and add some olive oil to each side. Cut up some tomatos and toss ‘em on. Add some mozerella, some sauce if it suits you… and you’re good to go. 4-8 minutes in a 475 degree oven and you have delicious crispy crust pizza. It was nearly gormet!

In Jacque’s version, you add some fresh basil and parmesian on top after it comes out of the oven. I forgot to pick up basil so we skipped that step. It was still delicious though, and extremely fast.

I give it four stars.

So this past weekend I finally got my hands on Fast Food My Way, a book by Jacque Pepin on how to cook delicious foods quickly.

I started right in on sunday and made Crab cakes, a salad, and a pasta dish. The pasta dish won the prize for delicious. The picture is below:

The hardest part of the recipe was cutting up the ham and shredding the cheese. Other ingredients included: peas, corn, zucchini, and cooked pasta. The sauce was a Bechemele (sp?) white sauce which was super fun to make. Here’s how:

Take about 2 T of butter and throw it in a sauce pan. Melt it.
Add 2 T of flour and whisk quickly. It will immediately thicken.
Then add 2 C of milk. Whisk and bring it to a boil. The sauce will thicken nicely.
After the sauce is boiling, remove it from the heat and immediately add 1/2 C of heavy cream.

I poured the sauce over the other ingredients and then sprinkled some parmesean cheese on top and broiled it for a few minutes.

And that’s that! easy and delicious!!

I made some amazing food tonight. I decided to mix up a crazy dinner.

Here’s the recipe… for mike d’s very own Delicious Chicken Mega Onslaught of Taste.

Ingredients:

some seasame oil
1/2 zuchinni
handfull almonds
1 carrot
1 stick celery
1 large chicken breast
hefty dose of soy sauce
knife tip full pre-crushed garlic
dollop worcestershire sauce
dollop oyster sauce
2 tablespoons or so honey
lil’ bit of corn starch
lemon juice
collared greens 4 large leaves?
quarter onion
scallions
little bit of Greyer (sp) swiss cheese
a peach.

Heat up some oil in a wok. Throw in garlic. Add chicken and scallions. cook a little bit as you cut the onion into little bits. Add onion. stir. Cut the carrot and the celery. Add. Cut the greens into biteable pieces. Add greens and almonds.
Add the soy, oyster, worcestershire, and lemon juice. Cook for a little bit. Add honey. Thicken the liquid with a rue (usage?) of cornstarch and water. Add the cheese. Let it cook for a little more time. Cut up a peach. Add the peach. Cook until the peaches are warm. Serve in a bowl. Enjoy!

Jes Abad, who’s name is just two letters away from “Jes(sica) Alba”, sent me this link about healthy eating. Check it out.

I’ve decided to start including a small spinach salad in my daily lunch. I’m very proud of the lunch I pack. Here’s an image of today’s menu:

That’s pulled chicken and a salad on the left, oatmeal (a sometimes item), hardboiled eggs, peanuts&raisins, a variety of fruit (apple, pear, orange, & banana), a yogurt, and some skim milk. I usually also bring a carrot, celery stalk, and a quarter cup of cottage cheese but forgot to include it in the photo. They say that diet is 80% of fitness and I am a firm believer in that. I still crave greasy pizza, soda, and such… but I’m perfectly satisfied with some fruit and veggies.

This week I decided to take spatula in hand and play chef mike d at the House of Rock. There were a couple reasons for this. One, I got a handful of new recipes and have been wanting to try them out. And two, our weekly menus had been downgraded from Thrilling to Dull. In fact, last work week we had some sort of pasta related dish every single night.

I am ashamed.

So here’s a sampling of this week’s menu. Sunday night I made stuffed red bell peppers. They came out pretty well. The tomato and beef based stuffing was flavored with cumin, pepper flakes, onion, garlic, and thyme. And the red peppers softened up very nicely in the oven. Overall it was, a simple, quick, and delicious dish.

Last night was Chicken Paella. I got this recipe from a co-worker and it came out very nice. The chicken dish had fun flavorings of sausage, parsley, paprika, lemon juice, tomatoes, peppers, onion, s&p, and oregano. It also called for Orzo instead of rice. It was enjoyable.

Tonight we’ll be having lemon Asian chicken. Tomorrow pulled slow-cooked chicken. And Thursday something less exciting because I don’t think I’ll be around to cook.

I’m especially eager for Wednesday’s crock pot meal because I will be trying out liquid smoke for the first time.

Ahh foodery. How I love thee.

I have realized the glory of two particular types of candy.

The first is Werther’s original COFFEE flavored hard candy. It tastes just like Dunkin Donut’s Dunkachino.
The second is Nips. Nips, it turns out, are exceptionally delicious.

So last night Jon Abad and I tackled White Challa Bread Pudding.

Just to give you an understanding of how good this is, I’m going to give you some short information about the ingredients to this masterpiece.

3 Cups Heavy Cream -> 400% of your daily sat fat.
8 egg yolks. EIGHT. EGG. YOLKS.

unbelievable.

you can imagine that this is perhaps the most delicious dessert item ever.

I’m gonna jump right to the ratings on this one.

mike d’s rockclimbing food ratings:
DELICIOUSNESS: 5.12c

DIFFICULTY: 5.7-

this was definitely worth it. If you’d like the recipe, fire me an e-mail.