Day Cooking

I like cooking. For a while there it was getting pretty tedious, as anything does when you do it so often. But as the bf likes to cook (and not so much clean), we have divvied up the chores to be that he cooks and I clean.

Seems pretty fair, but that means I haven't really cooked beyond heating up some veggies for a while. So it was really nice when I had the house (mostly) to myself to just go and cook up a mess of food. 

It started with the soufflés , something I used to make quite a lot when I lived at home, but had gotten out of the habit. I mean, who needs to eat soufflés all the time, want to yes, but don't need to.

However this was a request from my sister, so I got a-meltin, a-mixin, and a-whippin. I used the ever-wonderful Trader Joes Pound+ dark chocolate bar, which just makes me happy looking at it. And I always add a bit more chocolate that the recipe calls for.

(yes, i am in my pajamas)

They went into their individual ramekins, the better to control myself from eating it all in one fell swoop, and were off to the oven. They came out all puffy and glorious, 

and were topped off with bourbon vanilla ice cream, 

before being hastily devoured by myself and my sis.

The next to be done was chicken. Lemon Honey-mustard Chicken with Rosemary. Thankfully this I did think about in advance, as what had happened last time, it didn't sit in the marinade long enough. I couldn't wait that long.

This time it sat in the marinade (olive oil, mustard, sliced lemons, lemon juice, honey, rosemary sprigs, and lots of salt and pepper) overnight, and the chicken boobies were roasted in my oven at 400 degrees for an hour.

They came out all saucy and juicy, and the perfect temp, not too hot, and not dried out. (I re-heat my lunches at work, and dried out chicken is not one of the best textures.) Then it got sliced up and put into lunch containers.

Finally came the potatoes. I love potatoes, they are just good any way I can think of them. These are especially nice as they also involve cheese, and cream. Potatoes au Gratin, where the potatoes are sliced very thin, layered with onions (also sliced very thin), and each layer is generously topped with cheese (in this case Parmesan, that I had grated with rosemary in the food processor). There were two layers that fit in the baking dish, and once they were all settled in, I poured in a little cream and chicken broth, and sprinkled a little more cheese over it too :).

These were then baked for 30 minutes (covered) in a 350 degree oven,

 and then another 20 minutes (uncovered).

Being a bit happy with myself, I kept saying that I didn't need any veggies, I had protein and all. I didn't work, I had to steam some broccoli to make myself not feel so decadent.

(I felt bad for being in my pajamas for you all, so i changed out. shirt is old, Lucky Brand, that I got on Hautelook for 40% off)

If you have any favorite recipes, I'd love to hear them! Now that most of the renovation work on the house is finished, I might actually have time to try them out :). Thank you for reading my first "official" blog post, and I would love any tips/tricks that are offered.