Uncharted Territory

In keeping with my challenge to try new cooking techniques and foods I came upon an old classic that I have often wanted to try but never got the chance: Sloppy Joe's. As far as my memory can stretch I can't remember ever eating a sloppy Joe, let alone making some. It was quite an experience. As you can see from the photo I did not use a big enough pan. Luckily it held the contents and was an easy cleanup: one pan to wash. I started off browning the extra lean beef and added vegetables including eggplant, onions, garlic, zucchini and more. Then the sloppy part comes. You add tomato sauce, a can of beans, honey, spices and simmer. Once the mixture was the right temperature and consistency I was ready to plate. I poured the sloppy Joe on top of a whole wheat bun and took my first bite. Delicious! It was certainly messy but honestly a fun and tasty meal. It reminded me of chili, which I love. So get your inner child out and remake your favorites. You'd be surprised how easy, scrumptious and flexible some of the basics can be. Bon appetit!

The Undercover Veggies

I actually went back to the gym today! I had been maybe once every two weeks since I've been sick so it was difficult and I was lame. My lungs couldn't understand what was happening, my legs, especially my knee, were sore and I was out of breath in an instant. Not to mention the sweat fest...gross. I was happy to be back working out though and hope to continue on. My new quest is to lose the target weight by my last 20-something birthday in April. 10 pounds, 9 weeks. I'm hopeful. Plus, I watched "Heavy" and got fully re-inspired to want to have courage and motivation.

Last night I continued my quest to incorporate more veggies in my diet by starting off sauteing onions, eggplant, baby bella mushrooms and tomatoes. From there I decided it would be a delicious ragu so I boiled some water for my whole wheat pasta shells. I added tomato sauce to my veggies and browned some extra lean turkey sausage.  Then I added a little treat of olive oil/cilantro/garlic spread on french bread and made some delicious crunchy accompaniments. Cristian hardly noticed the extra veggies. The best part was I brought some for lunch today and it was even more extraordinary. Healthy, here I come. And I'm taking my pasta with me!

Irony

If you read my last blog I had some majorly depressing news yesterday. Of course a very happy thing happened at the same time that I tried to be upbeat and supportive for but ultimately had the underlying sad tone that prevented me from being 100% genuine. My husband was promoted at work yesterday after only 7 months with the company. That caused quite a stir. I will preface that he was ranked #4 in the entire sales force for the month of December. That's out of 6,000+ sales staff. The issue is he jumped up 3 levels instead of one and suddenly became his boss' boss. It's great for us but there's been some drama at work. I'm so proud of him though. It's a great thing for both of us. He even inspired a colleague to go back to school now that they're seeing the aftermath of having a degree.

So a silent congrats to my wonderful husband who works so hard and truly deserves this. Cheers!

Another Sad and Scary Update

My grandma is not doing well. Normally I don't like sharing this information but writing seems to help. She has stopped her medication and has met with a hospice nurse. It seems she's planning for the inevitable. I looked up life expectancy of stage 4 lung cancer without treatment and it says the average is 8 months after diagnosis. It's been six. Scared. They're bringing in a hospital bed and morphine/meds to make her feel more comfortable and be able to stay at home and not go to the hospital. I feel like I'm the only one who understands the gravity of this. Fortunately, I received a call today from my Aunt Nina and she feels the same. Apparently all of her step children and husband feel the seriousness of this. My grandma either isn't acknowledging or isn't grasping the real depth. My mom finally "got it" that the cancer is terminal. It's hard to be far from home too. I feel helpless and trapped. My husband is of course wonderful and amazingly so is his family. They really care about me and my family. Even my friends are filled with sadness that I didn't expect.

I had to tell my boss who has been through many of these situations unfortunately and she recommended I read this book: On Death and Dying . I have been through the grievance of losing a loved one but the last time it was sudden and unexpected. This I feel we can prevent.

Prayers are welcome.

A New Journey

I have so far kept to my new years resolution as far as cooking goes. I went to a new supermarket "Sprouts" where I bought eggplant, plantains and other fruits and vegetables. I have never cooked a plantain and it's been awhile for eggplant. Tonight I will be making chicken in a curry sauce paired with the lightly fried plantains. Sounds good, we'll see how it turns out. As for the eggplant I found a Bobby Flay recipe for chicken and eggplant quesadillas that sounded amazing. I'm going to see if Cristian will eat it since he normally doesn't like eggplant. . Also, I've been cooking more healthy. I made lettuce cups with extra lean beef and a bunch of vegetables drizzled with a honey-soy-OJ sauce I mixed together. It was actually delicious. Do you ever find though that without a lot of protein or carbs it's hard to feel full? That's my dilemma right now. But I'm thinking I just need to retrain my stomach.

Outcome of the plantains to be continued...

The Nest

The Nest has a recipe for a fantastic looking truffled Mac n Cheese. YUMM!

Happy 2011!

Hello my fellow foodies! Happy New Year! This is the start of the first full year of being married and I couldn't be more excited. So much to look forward to! I've tried to come up with some good resolutions and goals for the year.

To start here are my cooking goals/resolutions:
1) Use more vegetables, more creatively, more often
2) Try new ingredients
3) Look for inspiration where I can get it
4) Take at least one technique class

I'm ready to get a great start to a healthy and delicious new year.

What are your resolutions?

Williams-Sonoma Meets Rachel Ray?

Well not exactly. But WS has put up a website of one month of 30 minute meals! Click here to check it out. Some great ideas and a good variety. It's gourmet meets my time crunch in the evening.
I'll be trying some this week and give you an update.

Quaint Christmas

This was a very unique year for holidays. Yes it was Cristian and my first married Christmas but we also have been working beyond maximum speed, especially him. I have spent a lot of time on my own these days, lots of nights at home cooking for one. Last Saturday my brother, Aronn, agreed to come visit us for the holiday since Cristian wanted to spend our first married Christmas together and he didn't have enough time off to travel. I haven't cooked much for my brother so when he arrived I made stuffed chicken rolls with jalapeno and cheese with a breadcrumb crust and cheesy rice. Our Christmas Eve we took my brother in law, Alex, bowling for the first time in his life. I never thought a 15 year old could lack so many experiences but we were happy to take him. We finished off with PinkBerry (Alex's favorite). Upon coming home we finished decorating the in-laws' Christmas tree. That night we had Christmas at the in-laws. Typical fare was served, four types of meats, mashed potatoes and salad. I had made brownies, which Aronn and I had for breakfast, that was also our dessert. :) We had a few presents and spent some quality time.

Christmas Day was the really interesting twist. Cristian's parents decided to go to Big Bear even though we couldn't join them. We decided we'd have a small celebration of three and decided to invite Nina, our neighbor, over as well. I made the appetizers including guacamole and my own recipe for tex-mex wontons. They were a hit. Cristian grilled flank steak and ingredients for salsa. He blended together the vegetables for a roasted salsa. To accompany the steak he also made chipotle sour cream from scratch. It was delicious. To finish it off we had Caribbean rum punch, an ode to our honeymoon. We played card games and Wii bowling the rest of the night.

As New Years approaches it looks like it'll just be the two of us cooking in the kitchen. A great way to end one amazing year and start a new one!

Happy Holidays!

Best wishes from the Darabans!

In Bright Colors New Year's

Create custom new year's invitations with Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Back on the Bandwagon

As we all know this time of year is hectic, seasons change (meaning wardrobes as well) and people eat more than any other time of year. Right now I've been fascinated with one ingredient: pumpkin. My new, very young, brother in law requested a pumpkin cheesecake for his birthday. My cousin gave me a recipe for my birthday two years ago and I've learn to perfect it with my own personal tweaks. Since I already purchased the pumpkin I decided to use the squash in a number of recipes. First I made pumpkin soup, a Weight Watcher recipe. It was think and hearty but almost sweet like tomato soup. It was my first time using my immersion blender too, which was amazing. I didn't have to transfer hot liquids into a blender then place it back into a pan to heat up.




Next I made pumpkin pecan cake. I'm no baker but this turned out moist from the pumpkin layer and crunchy from the pecans. Thanksgiving here I come!

Wedding Video Highlights

Enjoy this highlight reel of our wedding day, August 21, 2010. Shot and edited by Arune Kital. Music by Wavorly, Summer's Song.

Downhill health

It seems as though I've been sick for a week now and have finally made it to the final stages of recovery. When you're sick the lack of energy is incredibly sad. I have had no desire to much in the last few days but it has given me time to finish the wedding thank you cards (yes they're finally in the mail) and set some post wedding goals for myself. The first is to begin a new, slightly less than before rigorous gym routine and renew my healthy eating efforts. Of all things I heard a quote in Glee that really hit me. Quinn talks about how she has changed her eating habits for her unborn baby and it made her think of why she wouldn't do it for herself. I figures it's time to get back on the healthy bandwagon. My brother inspired me too recently informing me he is interested in possibly becoming a vegan. Next goal is to give back more. Since the wedding I have started tutoring, become a USC student mentor and begun pro bono projects for friends/family with businesses. It's been rejuvenating. Finally, reinstate my interest in hobbies and extra-curricular activities like golf, scrapbooking, snowboarding and searching for a church choir to sing in. All in all not having had energy made me miss my everyday little routines and fun extras. Amazing the amount of time that was spent planning one day, now I get to think about the rest of my life.

Oh and by the way, today was the final step in changing my name... DMV. It went surprisingly smooth and quickly. Now I'm officially and completely a Daraban!

A Quickie

I have been feeling under the weather lately, and so has Cristian, so last week I made Cornish hens in the crock  pot. It was so easy. Take out the hens, add carrots, garlic, onions and chicken stock, simmer for hours. The meat literally fell off the bone and was so flavorful from soaking in the stock. To pair with it I made Cristian's favorite mac n cheese (see ingredients below) and some cranberry sauce. Dessert was a berry martini with a bit of orange curacao. Some pics:

His and Hers

This week I made my ultimate burger, a turkey burger patty, whole wheat bun, 2% cheddar, lettuce, tomato, pickles (lots), onion and avocado. I even made my own sauce, yes it's becoming a theme these days. To the food processor,Cuisinart DLC-2009CHB Prep 9 9-Cup Food Processor, Brushed Stainless, I added my fake mayo, ketchup, onion, garlic, cilantro and a number of seasonings. To top it off I made a cocktail from a new found enjoyment, Hypnotic. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it. This recipe is called rock candy and includes Hypnotic, vodka and pineapple juice. To make it fun I even blended real pineapple into it. Quite summery and refreshing.

Funnily enough Cristian decided to make burgers a few days later. His were simpler, bun, patty, onion and sauce. His sauce of course was his famous chipotle aoli. I have to say in this case his and hers were both perfect and scrumptious.

The Missing Ingredient

On Sunday Cristian and I decided to take out some lamb chops that we hadn't made due to recurring invitations to the in-laws. Last night, yet again, our plan was derailed but in this case to my benefit. I had marinated the lamb chops in Syrah, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, crushed red pepper and parsley. After sitting in the bath a few days the flavor was highly intensified. I took out my cast iron grill pan and heated it up with a light layer of olive oil. In the meantime I looked up sauces to go with this delectable protein. I found Giada's very plain, very easy recipe and was very excited to use my new food processor for only the second time.

Measuring out the ingredients I pour them into the bowl - balsamic vinegar, garlic clove, salt and pepper...honey. Oh no. I completely forgot we had run out of honey. What to do? Searching the fridge I decide to be bold and try a substitute, raspberry jam. It's sweet, somewhat tart and should go well with balsamic, but garlic??? I measure it out and decide to go for it. Once the food processor is engaged I slowly and carefully pour in the vegetable oil until the mixture thickens. After only 2.5 minutes the chops have been flipped and the second batch is on the heat.

For a side dish I decide to go with spring mix, diced heirloom tomatoes and mozzarella pearls. Clean and simple. Delish. On my new everyday china I arrange my dinner for one and pour myself a glass of a red Rhone wine. I pause to take a picture of the meal I made for me then sit down. The rain is coming down lightly and the house is quiet. I may have been missing honey but I'm also missing my Honey.

lamb chops cooking in the grill pan

raspberry balsamic sauce

finished chops

finished fall feast

my humble plate

mmmmm

 

Eternal Errands

Isn't it sad when the weekend goes by and all you accomplished was errands? We were so tired Friday night we picked up Daphne's for dinner and watched a movie at home, which I of course fell asleep watching. Saturday we had to get up early to get my car smog checked before I hit the deadline, update our bank accounts with my new name (the saga continues), get Cristian a haircut, pick up his brother from water polo, go grocery shopping, get Cristian's wedding band inspected and cleaned, run to the mall for some returns, made a late lunch and after all that I had to put on a happy face for dinner with the in-laws and their guests. That's just Saturday! Marathon cleaning Sunday, laundry, two trips to Home Depot (once for ant killer the next for a new smoke detector), made cookies, gardened, organized, put away the last of the wedding gifts, and again, dinner at the in-laws. Alas, by this point the weekend was done. I feel exhausted now and not refreshed at all but am really looking forward to this weekend, when all of the cleaning has already been done. Tonight we have lamb chops that I marinated yesterday (thinking we were eating at our own house) in red wine, olive oil, a million herbs and spices. Looking forward to the yummy smell on the grill. Sigh

A Rose by Any Other Name...

Do you know how many accounts and logins and cards have your name on it? I'm sure starting to realize. So far the hardest thing about getting married has been the process of changing my name. After going to the courthouse to get the license and paying for that, we had the minister and witnesses sign, mailed it in etc. I at least expected them to mail us back the certificate. But no after doing some research you actually have to go back to the courthouse to pick it up. Of course their only open during business hours M-F. Great. So after Cristian picks up a copy I gather all my forms and documents and go to social security. I wait an hour to be called and in 30 seconds they tell me I need the original document not a copy. Waste of time. Now I have to return tomorrow, wait again and then hopefully receive my new card in 7-10 days. We'll see. And this is just the beginning.

I've changed my email at work but they won't change my name without a new license. The DMV insists you go in person for a name change too, shocker. Then I have to go to the bank, tell all the utilities, credit card companies, insurance, rewards programs, stores even friends and Facebook and voicemails. What a pain. But I will say all in all at least when it's done I'll be an official Daraban.

Inspiration

I love when you go to a great restaurant and get so enthusiastic about the food you want to try new recipes and use your hidden gadgets that have specific tasks like zesting a lemon. Even better is when you are invited to a friend's house and with no expectation are taken off guard by a culinary delight. Tonight was one of those nights.

My hard working coworker and I were recently talking about his daughter's new math class and how she seemed to need a little help. I happened to mention I used to be an Algebra tutor and the next day I was asked to help. This little girl happened to be my adorable flower girl, also known as the star of the wedding. I was in.

As I get out of my car my student is running toward me with glee. We embrace and she shows me some new things around the house; her Halloween costume, a computer game and the loft she plans to build in the backyard. All the while my coworker and his wife are preparing something with a magical savory aroma. I welcomed to the kitchen with a glass of wine while they finish the last minute preparations. I notice my colleague ventures outdoors briefly. I look through the sliding glass doors and see he's picking fresh herbs from their garden. My mouth is watering.

We adjourn to the living room to dine (the dining chairs were getting a makeover) and they turn on Project Runway, a personal favorite. A delightful little plate of perfect portions is placed in front of me. There is a medium cooked marinated tri tip steak (yum) and a tomato and mozzarella salad drizzled with balsamic. Fantastic. Filling but light, scrumptious but not competing.

The night goes on and my pupil and I begin the math. Sometimes I'm amazed how quickly they move in school compared to my seemingly ages before time in elementary school. I start to recall the techniques and confusing instructions. We go over her work and I help her teach herself the correct methods. We probably only figures out about three revelations but it was enough for me. The first time she said my way was much easier I was honored. I love helping others and hope to help mold her future. Can't wait for next week's dinner too!

I arrive home coughing and staring at lighting in 95 degree heat. I truly want to lay in bed and fall asleep but my wifely duty of making food for my husband when he comes home started nagging at me. I look in our barren fridge and cupboards (there's been lots of OT between us) and decide to make quesadillas. It seems rather boring so I find some corn in the freezer and throw that in the pan. Then I see home grown tomatoes from the neighbors and chop those up with garlic. Finally I see the pièce de résistance, shrimp. I quickly clean them and add them to my makeshift corn salsa and pile the mixture onto the melted jack and cheddar cheese.

But I don't stop there, I decide it needs a sauce since we don't have any sour cream which we both love. A little mayo, cocktail sauce, hot sauce, lemon, chives, salt and pepper and I have it. It's a spicy aoli perfect for the Mexican style dish. Let's just hope he likes it. :)

Sad News

When you think every little problem leading up to a wedding has occurred think again. I had people invite themselves (and/or their children), in-laws alter the list after action was already taken, money run out, minister not confirmed until 6 days before and much more. At my wits end 12 days before the wedding I received a phone call that changed everything. My brother called me to inform me he had taken my maternal grandma (only grandparent actively in my life) to the doctors. After reviewing some x-rays taken when she was diagnosed with pneumonia they found her lungs were overwhelmed with cancer. In fact it was already stage 4 and chemo wasn't even an option.

My heart sank, my throat tightened and I cried. After letting out my emotion with my brother I called my Mama, the name we'd fondly given her as children. She was hysterical claiming she wouldn't be coming to my wedding and that she was suing the doctor etc. I tried to be calm as I am always the rock of the family. This time was hard. After a few days and more doctors visits Mama finally confirmed she would make the quick 45 minute flight to join me in LA for my big day.

I was relieved and ecstatic, the wedding would be complete. I have so few family members so I knew I'd need her that day. As she helped us arrange flowers, six of us in the hotel room, she mentioned to me that this was one of her best days in her life. Again I teared up but this time for a good reason. I know she'll fight but it's hard to be far away. Mama, en szeretlek.