Reinventing & A Walk Down Memory Lane

I have to say that Day Two of my re-blogging experience has been a great success! Last evening after my latest post I whipped up a delicious batch of Frozen Banana Yogurt with Peanut Butter and Chocolate-Hazelnut Swirl. Thank goodness for my sister and brother-in-law's amazing blender otherwise the recipe would have never been a success. Definitely doesn't taste quite like your traditional frozen yogurt, but still delicious and packed with protein! I improvised with some chocolate chips since unfortunately I was all out of Nutella (whomp whomp). The recipe can be found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/geoffrey-zakarian/frozen-banana-yogurt-with-peanut-butter-and-chocolate-hazelnut-swirl.html

Moving back to today's successes: this afternoon I reinvented last night's Korean Beef bowl into Korean tacos. I miscalculated a bit last night and made about twice the amount of beef for the amount of rice I made...I blame it on my distain for making rice. However, I heated up some of the leftover meat in the microwave and put the reimagining process into play. We have a huge stack of corn tortillas in the fridge right now so I took those babies out and warmed them up on the stove. Next, I did a quick chiffonade of lettuce, diced up a bit of the red onion we had in the fridge, and mixed together some sour cream and sriracha. Sooooo delicious! I love revamping recipes and consider it a personal challenge...I have to say that this time it was a success. 

As for dinner, I made one of my all time favorite recipes: Ina Garten's Parmesan Chicken. This is not your run-of-the-mill "chicken parm" my friends. Oh no, this is the parmesan chicken recipe that screams summer and suits my every childhood desire for chicken fingers while still trying to maintain some sort of dignity and class. Chicken breasts breaded in flour, egg, breadcrumbs and parmesan, and are pan-fried to perfection in a blend of olive oil and the food of the gods - butter. Yum! For the pièce de résistance it is served atop a bed of crisp cool lettuce with a refreshingly bright lemon vinaigrette. Can you tell I like the recipe? The best part is...it is going to make some amazing leftovers for lunch tomorrow. 

Well that's all for tonight! Until tomorrow my friends...

With a touch of love,

Jill

Hello World!

Hello everyone! Thank you for tuning in!

After a long (and I mean LONG) delay in posting any new material I have decided to make a fabulous return to the world of blogging. A quick update on my life before I get into the good stuff. I have recently graduated from Northwestern University with a Masters in Genetic Counseling and am also recently engaged to my amazing boyfriend (now fiancé -Jack) of over 5 1/2 years. I couldn't be more thrilled for our future together! On top of everything I have accepted a position at a local children's hospital in Chicago where I will be continuing my training in pediatric genetics and am extremely excited to start work there. So, you may be asking yourself, what is she doing with all of her free time prior to starting work? The answer to that would be a variety of things: spending time with friends and family, studying for my quickly approaching boards (they're in August...yikes!), traveling, and beginning to blog again!

I have to say that I enjoy cooking more than ever, and who better to share my creations with than my friends, family, and faithful followers. So, I am making a promise to myself - that amidst all of the craziness (and excitement) of wedding planning, studying for boards, and starting a new job I am going to spend time every day (or at least every couple of days) sharing with all of you what I have concocted that day.

Onto today's dish! I didn't have a chance to go out to the store today, so I whipped up a little pantry creation. Naturally, as most any girl of the 21st century would, I immediately consulted Pinterest for a recipe that could include items that I happened to have on hand...mainly frozen ground beef. Unexciting I know, but hey sometimes you just need to clean some things out of your freezer. I came across a recipe by a fellow blogger - Chungah at Damn Delicious for a Korean Beef Bowl.

First impression, the recipe was super easy with ingredients that can all be found in a standard cook's pantry/freezer - ground beef, ground ginger, red pepper flakes, soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, scallions, vegetable oil, and rice. I admit that I did cheat a bit on the rice and used the organic jasmine rice from the freezer aisle at Trader Joe's. I am obsessed with this stuff! I honestly recommend it to anyone who hates cooking rice (aka me).

I have to say that the recipe turned out well. I made a bit of an alterations and added some fish sauce and chopped peanuts at the end. I think next time I would add some vegetables (e.g., broccoli, snap peas) for a little bit more crunch. Feel free to try it for yourself and let me know what you think!

With a touch of love,
Jill

Longing for spring...

So, the last time I wrote I left you with the promise of details from my lovely surprise outing... well let's say that it was definitely an evening that I will never forget. Although the details will remain with all of us who attended I can tell you that it involved eating the most delicious horseshoe ever (yes, the kind of horseshoe that involves some kind of meat, bread, and fries layered together and smothered with cheese), then a surprise road trip to St. Louis, and a night's stay at the beautiful Marriott by Union Station. And all of this was in honor of one of my best friend's birthdays (love you Alex!!).

On another note, the weather here in Champaign-Urbana has been absolutely gorgeous for the last few days. There is nothing to get you in the mood for spring than 62 degree weather and beautifully sunny skies. So, my inspiration for the day is SPRING (shorts, light entrees, refreshing beverages...you name it)!! And as I sit here listening to my new favorite 8tracks playlist, "Vacation Mix", visions of last year's spring break come flooding back to me: gorgeous sandy beaches, riding in the car with the windows down and blasting country music, and absolutely amazing company. I miss it all!

And what goes better with a cool glass of white wine after a relaxing day on the beach than a wonderful tart loaded with caramelized onions, goat cheese and tomato? This is one of my new recipes that I have  been dying to try and is once again from the recipe collection of my food idol, Ina Garten. The tart is made using frozen puff pastry, fresh tomatos sliced wonderfully thick, lots and lots of onions, fresh thyme, basil, parmesan cheese, and the real game changer: herbed goat cheese. By the way, who ever invented frozen puff pastry is an absolute GENIUS. It comes out perfectly every time and without all of the effort and frustration of having to make your own. Now as a warning this recipe is not for those who are not big fans of onions...but I will say that caramelization completely transforms them from their normal pungent nature to a beautifully sweet mixture that is at least worth giving a try. The onion mixture was so delicious in fact that I saved some of it as well as the goat cheese to fill crepes with later on...I can't wait for it!

I will say that having a tart to yourself as a light meal is a bit overwhelming, but it would make an absolutely divine appetizer. My one change to the recipe would be to seed the tomato before putting it on top of the tart because it did come out a bit runny, which made cutting the tart a little difficult. Other than that the recipe was everything I was imagining it to be! And I cannot stop raving about the texture of the puff pastry... plus it turned out pretty beautiful (if I do say so myself).

For all of those fortunate enough to have weather like we do down here, enjoy it while you can! Based on the forecast it's not going to last very long... so go for a walk, grill, and do whatever else you normally do during warm weather! Have fun!

With a touch of love,

Jill

Raspberries and surprises :)

Bonjour! So I'm currently sitting at a coffee shop while waiting for the surprise of the century (details to be revealed later) and drinking probably the most delicious cafe mocha I've had in a long while. Not to mention that it looks beautiful...who knew you could make a flour design out of milk?? After spending a few days at home with my parents and greatly expanding my recipe repertoire I am newly inspired when it comes to my adventures in cuisine. It never ceases to amaze me the different ways that one flavor can be transformed into a plethora of dishes. Take one of the main ingredients in a dessert I made Thursday night: marsala. It can be used in combination with chicken and mushrooms to make chicken marsala, or in the opposite direction combined with egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla to make an outstanding sabayon. Which  brings me to my dessert...Fresh Raspberry Gratins courtesy of one of my favorite chefs, Ina Garten.  The recipe consists of lining a gratin dish (I just used a small rameken because I didn't have any gratin dishes) with fresh raspberries, making a sabayon (a light, foamy custard-like dessert served hot or cold...I chose hot) and pouring said sabayon over the raspberries, and then to top it all off coating it with sugar and popping it in the oven to caramelize. The sabayon was surprisingly easy to make, but does require constant attention, and the marsala and the raspberries create a wonderfully sophisticated flavor. I will say though, the sabayon could have been a bit thicker and I had some trouble getting all of the sugar to caramelize, but overall I would say that the recipe was a great success! 

Well, I'm running out of time so my fashion portion will just have to wait I suppose. Stay tuned for details on the surprise and more lol.

With a touch of love,

Jill

Hello everyone!!

So I've been reading some of my favorite blogs for years now and they continually inspire me with their creative posts. I have yet to find one, however, that combines both my love for fashion and for cooking...so I decided why not make my own and this is the product. I'll be sharing some of my favorite recipes as well as some of my favorite fashion trends; all "with a touch of love." 

Without further ado, here's a delicious recipe I made two days ago...wait for it...Grilled Chicken Taco PIZZAS! And may I say that they are just as delicious as the recipe sounds. Granted I didn't have access to a grill so my lovely boyfriend and I came up with the idea to cook the chicken in a pan rather than on a grill and then grill the dough on his rather small George Foreman grill. The results, may I say, were just as delicious as if we had done it on a grill. It's amazing what a bit of creativity can do! 















And now onto my bit of fashion inspiration for the day...I've been obsessed with Paris for about a year now in both my cooking and my fashion. French cuisine is probably the most difficult cuisine I have tried to master yet, but I will promise you this: the effort is definitely worth the payoff! Anyways, Paris tends to find it's way into every portion of my life whether it be the music I fall asleep to or the clothes I wear (ask anyone if my black beret is one of my favorite accessories at the moment and they'll probably just roll their eyes and say "yeah". I may wear it a little too often lol). Well I'm going to call it a night, so good night everyone out there in cyberland! Until tomorrow!


With a touch of love,
Jill