TomGee.us

Start with two 6-7″ Russet (Idaho) potatoes.

Wash potatoes with cold water

Place 2 potatoes on a paper towel on a plate.

Using a fork, stab the top of the potatoes deep enough to simply pierce the skin and allow moisture/steam to escape.

To speed up the cooking process, place plate of potatoes into microwave.

Cook in microwave on High for 15 minutes, flipping the taters over every 5 mins.

After they have been in the micro for 15 mins, remove from microwave and allow to cool 5-10 mins or until they are cool enough to touch.  This is a good time to begin pre-heating your grill.  Heat to medium (400 degrees give or take)

Next, cut the potato length-wise, removing the top 1/3 of the tater.

Now, grab a spoon and gently begin scooping the “meat” out of the potato and place it into a medium size bowl, thus turning the potato into a tater boat.  Try to leave about 1/4″ of the potato against the skin for strength.

Tater boat

In the bowl that you scooped the innards into, add 1/2 cup sour cream, 2/3 cup cheddar cheese, 1 tbsp minced parsley (parsley flakes will work too), a little salt and pepper, and mix around.  Don’t over-mix the filling, leave it chunky.

Scoop the mixture back into the tater boats.  There should be a little too much mixture left over after filling the boats.  Om nom nom…

I like to add bacon pieces on top of my potatoes.  Any salad bacon toppers work fine for this.

Place the potatoes directly on the grill and cook for approximately 10-15 mins.  Try to keep the lid down so that the heat permeates all sides of the taters.

Tater 1

Tater 2 - with bacon pieces

Remove the potatoes once they start to become golden and you can see the cheese mixture starting to bubble out.

Twice baked potatoes, fresh off the grill!

Twice baked potato with thin-cut NY Strip steak (Montreal steak seasoning), both grilled.

Om nom nom!

Today was my first attempt at making homemade home fries.  They were very easy to make and very tasty!

1. Cube 3-4 medium size potatoes
2. Add to saucepan with 3 tablespoons of butter or margarine.
3. Bring to medium heat, make sure all of the potato cubes have been coated with the butter, and cover for 10 minutes
4. Remove cover, add seasoned salt & pepper, and continue cooking on medium for another 5-10 minutes or until golden (stir frequently)

That’s it!  I’ll have to make them again in the near future and snap a pic to add to this post.  Om nom nom!

Though I have lived in Upstate NY most of my life, today was the first time I have ever eaten at Bento Ya Masako.  It would be easy to miss this little gem because the only identification that there is a restaurant is a small folding sign on the sidewalk.  Behind the sign is a green door that leads you to the second floor where the “restaurant” is located.  This, in itself, is unique because all other Corning restaurants are on the street-level.

The restaurant had approximately 6-10 tables and behind the counter was the small one-stove kitchen where every dish was made individually by the owners.

Not knowing what to order, I decided to try the Yakiniku Bento which was comprised of spicy beef stir-fried with cooked cabbage, carrot with hijiki, cucumber salad, and rice.

The price was $8 which included free, help yourself, tea.  The serving size was very generous.

Overall, I was very pleased with my lunch at Bento and will definitely be eating there again!  Om nom nom!

Yakiniku Bento

This is, by far, the easiest Alfredo sauce I have ever made and it was very tasty!  I cooked up some linguine as the pasta base and the entree was delicious!

Sauce Ingredients:

• 1/3-1/2 cup butter (I use Country Crock instead of butter)
• 1 8oz package of light cream cheese
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/3 cup Parmesan sprinkle-cheese

Chicken Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning (contains the following)
  • Thyme
  • Basil
  • Oregano
  • Marjoram
  • Rosemary
  • Savory
  • Parsley
  • Red pepper
  • Garlic

Sauce:

1. Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat.
2. Once melted, add the package of light cream cheese.
   1. Cutting the cream cheese into smaller chunks will help it mix faster.
3. Once the butter and cream cheese have been blended together (will look thick and creamy), add 2/3 cup milk to the mixture.
4. Add 1/3 cup Parmesan (sprinkle) cheese.
5. Add 1 tsp minced garlic
6. Stir with whisk until everything is blended and smooth
   1. I also added a dash of Parsley to the sauce to give it a bit  color
7. Remove from heat to thicken, stir occasionally

Chicken:

1. Cut the chicken breast into thin (approximately 1/4″) slices.
2. Add 1 tsp (per chicken breast) extra virgin olive oil to pan and warm the oil to medium heat.
3. Place slices of chicken breast into the heated/oiled pan and sprinkle 1 tsp (per chicken breast) Italian seasoning mixture over the slices.
4. Cook both sides of each chicken breast slice for approximately 2 minutes (or until fully cooked).

Place a serving size of linguine (or other pasta) on a plate and spin/twist the pasta to form a nest.  Add chicken on top of the nest of pasta and lightly cover with sauce.

Enjoy!  Om nom nom!

Chicken Alfredo

Zombie Nuts

Source: http://www.geekologie.com/2009/12/very_cute_zombies_are_nuts_abo.php

I don’t know why I find this as funny as I do, but maybe you will too.

Ok, so it’s apparently a lot harder to make a gingerbread house from scratch than I thought.  Probably didn’t help that the icing I was trying to used was too thick and I didn’t measure any of my house pieces.

As a result, the house got torn down by ginger-beavers and converted into a dam.

Gingerbread Dam

• Turkey Breast / No Gravy – A light Chardonnay
  • with Stuffing and Gravy – A bigger Chardonnay

• Breast / Dark Meat / Mushroom Stuffing / Gravy / Cranberries – Pinot Noir

• Breast / Dark Meat / Hot Italian Sausage Stuffing / Gravy and the works – Red Zinfandel or Australian Shiraz or for a great contrast Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Rose or Beaujolais

• “Traditional Italian” (Turkey / Lasagna / Stuffed Pasta, something Parmesan) – Red Zinfandel, Primivito, or Chianti

In case you didn’t already know, there is a proper (and clean) way to eat a chicken wing.

Enjoy!

This is my all time favorite thing to make for the Thanksgiving holiday!  It’s super easy and always a hit!

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp. milk
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tub. (8 oz.) Cool Whip
1 pre-made graham cracker crumb crust (6 oz.)
1 cup cold milk
1 can (16 oz.) pumpkin
2 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O vanilla flavor instant pudding & pie filling
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. ground cloves

MIX cream cheese, 1 tablespoon milk and sugar in large bowl with wire whisk until smooth. Gently stir in 1 ½ cups of the whipped topping. Spread onto bottom of crust.

POUR 1 cup milk into large bowl. Add pumpkin, pudding mixes, and spices. Beat with wire whisk until well mixed (mixture will be thick). Spread over cream cheese layer.

REFRIGERATE 4 hours or until set. Garnish with remaining whipped topping. Store leftover pie in refrigerator.

Helpful hint: Soften cream cheese in microwave on HIGH 15 to 20 seconds.

Happy Holidays and nom nom!