Happiness Is. . .

We had a lovely weekend here at M Cubed.  It was not really exciting or anything (our weekends rarely are--which I just love with my heart and soul.  It makes me so happy to answer the "What are you doing this weekend?" question with "Uhhh. . .nothing."), but it was peaceful, and full of food, and friends, and husbands, and dogs, and wine, and more food. 

Oh, and the green team won the Super Bowl, which was good because a few months ago I bought a baby a hat.  

And even though it was complete torture peeling myself from the comfort of my bed on this cold, rainy morning, well, I have to remember that I've got lots to be happy about lately.

Like Justin Bieber.  I think I love him.  Not in a creepy way or anything, but he cracks me up.  And I'd be a damned liar if I didn't admit that I kind of love his hair.  Did you catch this skit on SNL a few months back?



Oh, and don't read too much into that, what with me being an educator of high schoolers and all.  Nothing is more revolting to me than a teenage boy. (Riggins from Friday Night Lights doesn't count because he's not actually in high school.  Plus, I find Coach Taylor much more handsome.)  Just thought I'd mention it. 

I also love my new cordless mouse.  Why did I wait so long to get one of these things?

And I love having two whole days that I don't have to worry about grading essays. That vicious cycle begins again tomorrow.  Shoot.

And I love this season of Big Love.

Here's some more awesomepants awesomeness from the weekend.

Phony baloney strawberry milk.  I love everything about it.

Completely destroying the kitchen to make strawberry milk cake.

 

And then forgetting about the cake and overcooking it.  Mother F.  Oh well.  Now I'm not tempted to eat cake all week at least.

More Toasted Coconut Ice Cream.

Rosemary chicken salad.  (And having ingredients separated into bowls.  Why do I love it so?)

Lizard buddy who lives out in the shed and is determined to stow away with the laundry.  (I would love him a lot more if he didn't scare the bejeezus out of me every time I saw him.)

Wrapping myself up in my new faux fur blanket from Target. ($12!)

And receiving sweet dog kisses.

Futile attempts to convince the dog that his fur fur is not enough and that he must cover himself with faux fur.

Sweet inquisitive dog face.

Father-son fetch/tug-of-war game, which is so much more fun while sitting on a chair with wheels.



What's warming your heart lately?

Bacon Jam: An Epic Fail

Remember how I was all jazzed up about bacon jam the other day? And how it was all I could think about and all I wanted to eat from then until the end of time?

Well, after eating all of Matt's sandwich (he preferred the Back in the Day rosemary chicken salad), I decided that I absolutely had to make my own bacon jam. And just how convenient was it that the latest issue of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food had a recipe for bacon jam? I fantasized that I would make bacon jam, and then I would eat bacon jam, and then I would share bacon jam with everyone I love (and maybe even people I didn't love, you know, just to show off my culinary prowess and make them feel inferior), and then I would be the most popular and happiest girl who'd ever lived.

So this weekend, I set out to the store to buy the ingredients, and spent about $20 on stuff to make a double batch of my new favorite food (Which is, by the way, a lot of money to make something that turns out awful.  I could've had the mega pack of Pilot Precise V Rolling Ball pens for that amount of money.). Once I got home, I was absolutely giddy. I was listening to "Hey Ya!" and I was dancing about the kitchen, confident that I was about to make something that would forever change my life.

In all of my excitement, however, I fell into an old trap: neglecting to follow directions. I was doing pretty well at the start. I cooked up my bacon and chopped onion and garlic and carefully measured (Matt would be so proud) the rest of the ingredients.

One of the ingredients was brewed coffee, and so I made coffee at home for the first time in my life (I've made it millions of times in restaurants, but just never at home.) Looking back on it, I realize that I probably should have measured the amount of coffee grounds that I added, because the coffee might have been a bit strong (but I really don't know, because I'm not a coffee drinker and Matt was off watching the Buffalo Bills lose to the purple team).

The recipe also called for the bacon jam to cook in a slow cooker on high for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. But I hate using the slow cooker (impatience plus possession of a Le Creuset dutch oven), so I decided that low heat in the dutch oven was the same as high on the slow cooker.

But apparently that's not how it works. When the bacon jam had been cooking for 2 1/2 hours (on low heat in the dutch oven), and the house smelled like heaven itself, I realized that I hadn't yet been to Target that day, so I ventured out for a quick trip. When I returned 30 minutes later, the whole house smelled like burnt coffee bacon disgustingness. I tried to salvage what I could of the bacon jam that wasn't a charred glob on the bottom of the pot, and jarred it.

Bacon fat--not as pretty as it tastes

I ate one sandwich, and I don't even know if it was actually good or if I was just determined to think that it was good. The next day I went to heat up some more (which had congealed in that gross bacon fat way in the jars--definitely not going to be a gift to give to people) to give it another try, but then I forgot about that in the microwave and burned it again. So my kitchen smelled like doubly-burnt bacon jam, and I wanted to puke for the rest of the night.

The verdict?

Eat bacon jam at Back in the Day Bakery where it's the most delicious thing of all time. Do not eat bacon jam that comes from Mandy's kitchen. If you want to make your own bacon jam (that could very well be delicious), then be sure to follow the directions, because they're there for a reason.

P Cubed

Pasta with Prosciutto and Peas--or P Cubed as we've taken to calling it--has made its way onto every meal list we've made in the last few months. (Seriously--we've eaten it almost once a week.)  The original recipe is from Martha Stewart's Great Food Fast (an awesome cookbook I'd highly recommend), and it took us over a year to finally try it out, mostly because Matt doesn't like peas.  But guess what?  He loves them in this. 

And why wouldn't he?  They're mixed with fancy bacon, and cheese, and cream, and shallots, and lemon zest and juice, and pasta.  What's not to love?

This dish is just perfect--absolutely perfect.  We've made a few slight changes--including baking the prosciutto beforehand and adding crushed red pepper for a little heat.  Oh, and don't skip the lemon zest or juice; they really tie the room together.

And I'm pretty sure that when garlic and onion have a baby, it's called a shallot.  Why are they so good?

Matt loves following directions.

Mitch loves begging for treats.  He is not as obsessive about following directions.

Here's the recipe.

Pasta with Prosciutto and Peas (Adapted from Martha's recipe)

Ingredients

Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pound angel hair (or whatever pasta you prefer)
1 tablespoon butter
1 shallot, finely chopped (1/4 cup)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 package (10 ounces) frozen peas, thawed
8 slices prosciutto (about 4 ounces total), halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise, about 1 cup
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving (optional)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

1.In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente, according to package instructions. Reserve 1 cup pasta water; drain pasta and return to pot.

2.  Spread prosciutto evenly on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes at 350, until edges are slightly crispy.

3.Meanwhile, make sauce: In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat; add shallot and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add cream, peas, and prosciutto; bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Simmer until peas are heated through, 3 to 4 minutes.

4.Stir in lemon zest and juice. Pour sauce over pasta; add Parmesan, and season generously with salt and pepper. Add enough reserved pasta water to thin sauce as desired. Serve immediately; top with additional Parmesan, if desired.

I Like Big Butts and I Cannot Lie.

Sorry.  Couldn't resist.

Here's why yesterday was awesome.

1. I got to read "The Invalid's Story" with the ninth graders and The Crucible with the eleventh graders.  I really like both of those works, and they're just racy enough to keep the kids interested (dead body smell and dirty Puritan affairs always keep me engaged, too). 
2. I was crazy productive at school, so I get to go into the weekend with nary a care.  (Except for the pile of laundry that's taunting me and the tumbleweeds of Mitch fur that are surrounding me and the nagging knowledge that I've fallen really behind on watching The Real Housewives of D.C.)
3. Our landlord told me to deduct the cost of the kitchen makeover materials from the rent (that was actually a few days back, but I'd forgotten to share it here), so that beautiful and happy kitchen was free!  Horray!
4. I ate a doughnut.  (And not some crappy doughnut, either.  It was from Baker's Pride.  Yeah, Baker's Pride is no Back in the Day Bakery, but they make a hell of a doughnut.)
5. My pants felt a little loose.  (That could be because I haven't washed them, or it could be because I've lost weight.  Who knows.  Eating the doughnut, then, was probably not the best course of action.)
6. I was running errands around school during my planning period (remember, super productive), and my last errand was to pick up a case of paper and carry it back to my classroom.  Now, normally such a task would be a piece of cake for me (I'm freakishly strong), but today it was painful.  It was painful because I injured my pinky toe (big gross blood blister that may or may not have exploded) on a cart at Kroger over the weekend, and today I made a poor footwear choice.  Each little step was excruciating, and here I was walking across our super spread out campus with a 50 lb. box of paper on my shoulder.  After I'd gone only a short distance and managed to get to the front of the school, I saw a Staples delivery guy leaving the school.  Now, I had way too much pride to ask for help, and I had way too much pride yesterday morning to even act like I needed help (you know, by struggling in that girlish way girls do when they want someone to help them or to talk to them).  But the Staples guy, as soon as he realized that it was a full box of paper and not an empty box, insisted on carrying it for me.  I don't really believe in angels, but if angels are real, this guy is one.  I and my toes both thanked him. (Did that just sound like I only have two toes?)  Really, we did.  I wrote to Staples as soon as I recovered from the walk to gush about how kind he was.
7. I haven't been to Target in almost a week.  What's awesome about this is that I've been exercising self-control.  But I think I'll go today.  Self-control is overrated.
8. I had to go downtown after school to get this stupid bar card thing so that I can serve alcohol in the City of Savannah (decidedly NOT awesome), but I did get a parking spot directly in front of the building.  And I didn't even have to parallel park!  (Which I am, by the way, pretty good at doing.  I'm in the 80th percentile of parallel parkers.  It's because I'm good at shapes.)
9. And, finally.  Yesterday was awesome because we ate Boston Butt for dinner.  Mmmmmm.  I adapted the recipe from Cook's Illustrated.  I say "adapted" because I am, apparently, completely incapable of following directions.  Like, when Matt read that it said "be careful not to cut into the meat," he looked over at me only to see me stabbing the whole shoulder with a long knife.  And when it said "cook at 325" I somehow decided that the recipe meant to cook at 300.  So, anyway, this is an "adapted" recipe, not because I'm better or more innovative, but because I don't know how to read.

First, make yourself a rub.  This one was 1/3 cup of kosher salt, 1/3 cup of light brown sugar, some freshly ground pepper, some cumin, oregano, and crushed red pepper.

Next, put your butt on your fanciest plate (I believe that these were 4/$1 at Target a few years back) and rub the rub all over it.

Wrap your butt in saran wrap and put in the refrigerator overnight.

Here's what it'll look like the next day.  Bake on a makeshift baking rack (or a roasting pan if you have one. I don't for some reason, so I improvised with a baking rack in a Pyrex dish.) at 300 for seven hours. In the meantime, take a long nap.

Try to resist picking the delicious meat off before taking the "after" picture.  Clearly, we failed at this step.

Give the big bone to the cutest dog on the planet.**

Talk to him and assuage his fears that neighborhood dogs or other creatures are after his bone.

And then. . .enjoy your tasty sandwich.  We ate ours with some BBQ sauce, but it'd be really good without the sauce, too.

Ingredients

1 big ol' bone-in Boston Butt (a.k.a. pork shoulder)

1/3 cup kosher salt

1/3 cup of light brown sugar

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon oregano

1 tablespoon crushed red pepper

Directions

Stab the shit out of the meat with a long knife and make little x's with it.  It's fun.

Rub your rub all over the meat.  Wrap it in saran wrap and put it in the refrigerator overnight.

Place the butt in a roasting pan (or Pyrex baking dish with a baking rack inside of it if you're classy) on the bottom rack in the oven and cook at 300 degrees for 6-7 hours--until the meat falls off of the bone when you jab at it with a fork. 

Allow meat to rest for one hour before pulling it.

Whoop, whoop!  It's the weekend, and it's beeeeee-you-teee-ful!  Enjoy it!

**Please don't go all bananas on me about giving the dog a bone (with a knick knack paddy whack?).  I know that Mitch is not going to choke on this bone because I know that he's hardly going to even chew on it.  Mitch is neurotic, and grew up during the Depression, apparently, and only has a bone for about 10 minutes before he buries it in the back yard (or in our bed if the back yard is unavailable).

Steak Marinated in Soy, Ginger and Lime with Red Onion Toasts

So, this is one of the recipes we tried for Operation: Cook New Stuff.  It's from Jonathan Waxman's cookbook, A Great American Cook: Recipes from the Home Kitchen of One of Our Most Influential American Chefs.  When we watched Top Chef Masters this summer, Waxman was always our favorite, and it seemed that his cooking style would suit us well.  He was the simple guy.

Simple compared to the other Top Chef Masters.  (Kind of like how Maci is the "smart one" on Teen Mom.)  In the cookbook, Waxman explains that this recipe--a recipe that is far more involved and sophisticated than anything we ever make--is his take on fast food.  Now, our take on fast food is something like a spicy chicken go-wrap from Wendy's.  Or if we want to get fancy with our take on fast food we'll go to Chick-Fil-A and get a deluxe spicy chicken sandwich.  This recipe: not fast food.  But it's delicious and really fun to make, so we can give ol' Waxman a pass on that one.

Another perk about this recipe is that it uses relatively simple and inexpensive ingredients.  For the entire meal, we probably spent $15 (for four servings).  Even more exciting was that we learned where the broiler is on our oven.  (Yeah, we've lived here for three years and always wondered why that drawer that most people use for pots and pans would get so hot.  Sometimes I can't believe that the State of Georgia lets me teach children.) 

We intentionally cooked this meal last night because last night was Top Chef night, so it allowed us to eat amazing food and feel fancy.  And fancy we felt!** If you have a chance, or if you're trying to impress somebody, make this steak.  (Also, my picture doesn't even come close to doing it justice.  Those purpley things are the shallots that had been simmering in red wine and butter--ugly but awesome.  And those little red onion toasts?  Well, I could eat about a million and a half of those.) 

Jonathan Waxman's Steak Marinated with Soy, Ginger and Lime with Red Onion Toasts

Ingredients


2 pounds skirt or hanger steak
1 2-inch piece fresh ginger
1 lime
1⁄4 cup soy sauce
3 garlic cloves
1 cup dry red wine
3 shallots
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 red onion
4 slices sourdough bread
 
Preparation


Pat the steak dry with paper towels and place it in a nonreactive baking pan.

Peel and grate the ginger. Juice the lime. In a small bowl, mix the ginger with the lime juice and soy sauce. Smash 2 of the garlic cloves and add them to the marinade. Pour the mixture over the steak, cover, and marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Remove the steak from the marinade and place on a platter. Discard the garlic and ginger and reserve the marinade.

Bring the red wine to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Chop the shallots and add them to the wine. Boil to reduce the wine to 1/4 cup. Stir in the butter and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the broiler. Slice the onion into 1/4-inch-thick rounds and place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with the reserved marinade and broil the onion until tender and dark brown, about 10 minutes; be careful not to burn it. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Leave the broiler on.

Place the steak on the broiler pan and broil, turning once, just until medium-rare, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board and cover loosely to keep warm.


Toast the bread on both sides under the broiler.

Meanwhile, reheat the sauce over low heat. Split the remaining garlic clove in half and rub the slices of toast with the garlic. Place a slice of toast on each plate. Divide the onion among the toasts. Slice the steak and place on the plates. Top the steak with the red wine sauce and serve.

4 servings

**I should note, too, that it was Matt who did most of the work cooking this meal, mostly because I am incapable of following directions and he is so anal about following directions that he measures the water and uses a timer when he makes ramen noodles.  I chopped, he cooked.