Elina and Robyn Make...A BBQ Feast!

Sad news folk.

My cooking partner that lived in walking distance has moved!

No longer is it so easy to make something tasty on a whim together.

And then blog about it's tastiness for all of you to read.

We hope to keep the Elina and Robyn posts coming, but we will just have to see.

We had one last cooking hurrah together and decided to make it a BBQ feast!

So take a look below at all the delicious foods we made.

My contribution was...

Pulled Pork!

The Goods:

Pork Loin

Onions

Jalapenos

Sea Salt

Black Pepper

Paprika

Onion Powder

Slice the onion and jalapenos.

Cut the pork loin in half and season with spices on both sides.

Place onions on the bottom of the slow cooker,

then the pork on top and finally the jalapeno slices.

Set it to low and cook at least 7 hours.

In addition to the Pulled Pork, I made a Veggie Tray with Greek Yogurt Ranch Dip

and our friend Robin brought Cheese, Italian Meat, Crackers and Olives.

Elina made Bacon/Herb infused BBQ Sauce, Cole Slaw and we all helped make Sweet Potato Fries.

Slider Rolls and The Pulled Pork.

Yum!!!

A plate of deliciousness.

Elina and Robyn Make...Puffy Tacos!

A few months ago (yeah I know...posting this kinda late), Elina and Adam asked if I wanted to make Puffy Tacos with them.

I'd never heard of Puffy Tacos, but I was intrigued and wanted to give them a try!

I figured - I love regular tacos, so I'm sure I'll love these.

First, we portioned out the masa and rolled it into balls. 

Then, we flatted each ball using a tortilla press...

And one by one I fried them in Elina's deep fryer!

The tongs came in very handy when shaping the taco. 

Drain the tacos on a paper towel lined plate.

Then fill with whatever filling you desire!

Elina and Robyn Make...Ground Beef!!!

 I don't write about beef on this blog a lot.

And that's mostly because I tend to not really eat beef.

No hamburgers, no steaks, no pot roasts.

Not for the last 18 or so years a least.

Until the last year...

In 2013 I decided if I'd try some beef from time to time.

I'm a pretty big foodie and excluding beef, excludes A LOT.

So what I've learned is that I like beef if it's really tender and just melts in your mouth.

I feel in love with burnt ends at Jack Stack in Kansas City last summer.

And I couldn't get enough of of my friend's short ribs at my 30th birthday.

Recently I was invited over to Elina's for dinner 

and they were planning on making their own ground beef.

How could I not give that a try?

And why not help too??

We used chuck beef and a KitchenAid Meat Grinder.

It was SO easy.

Couldn't have been any easier.

And I will say that it was quite tasty!

Elina and Robyn Make...Gnocchi

It's been quite awhile since I posted about something delicious Elina and I made.
I'm sorry it's been so long, but I hope this amazing food makes up for it!

A few weeks ago, Elina and I were watching a show on the Food Network and they were making homemade Gnocchi. As soon as we saw this, we both looked at each other and had the same thought -
WE HAVE TO MAKE THIS SOON!

After doing a little research, we figured making gnocchi wouldn't be much more difficult than making homemade pasta and we've both done that numerous times before. The more difficult part was deciding what type of sauce to make with the gnocchi.

After each of us threw our a few ideas, we decided on ...

A Cheesy Garlic Cream Sauce!!!

Homemade Gnocchi with anything sounds great, but with a cheesy garlic cream sauce is sounds even better!
(Note: We didn't toss our broccoli with the gnocchi as this recipe indicates.)

The Goods - Part 1:

Flour

Eggs

Potatoes

Parmesan

Cream

Garlic

Salt

Pepper

Lemon

The Goods - Part 2 (AKA Things we forgot in Part 1...):

Milk

Chicken Broth

Butter

Fresh Parsley

Peel, cut up, cook, drain, cool off and finally rice your potatoes.

Arrange your potatoes in a dome and create a well in the middle.
Add your egg mixture and start combining with your hands.
Gradually mix in cheese and flour until dough is slightly sticky.

Divide dough in sixths, roll out into 1/2 inch thick, then slice in 1/2 inch pieces.

Create indentations on each piece using fork tines.

We put our gnocchi on cookies sheets, then stored them in the fridge while we made the delicious sauce!

Now time, to make the sauce!!!

Melt butter and cook the garlic.

Stir in Chicken Broth and combine.

Whisk in Cream and Milk until incorporated. 

Add the parmesan right before combining with the gnocchi.

Bring water to a slow boil, add gnocchi and cook until they rise to the surface.

Drain the gnocchi and combine with the sauce.

Finish off with Fresh Parsley.

Plate, add more fresh parm and serve with a crisp green salad!

The gnocchi and sauce were absolutely amazing!

After taking a few bites, we decided that the gnocchi were like little pillows of deliciousness.

And then we scarfed the rest down without saying another word to each other.

It was THAT good!

We were both very happy with the end result and knew we'd both be making this again.

In fact, we even had some uncooked gnocchi leftover that we were able to freeze for a later date.

Potato, Ham and Cheese Quiche

A few weeks ago, my friend Renee told me about a quiche she had made with ham. After hearing all about it, I KNEW I wanted to make myself a quiche with ham very soon! 

I couldn't wait very long - I made the quiche just a few days later and had it for dinner with Elina. My ham quiche was a little different than Renee's, but I'm sure both were quite tasty! 

The Goods:

Pie Crust

Eggs

Milk

Cream

Ham

Cheddar Cheese

Cubed Potatoes

Onion

Salt

Pepper

Mine had thick cut ham, shredded medium cheddar cheese, cubed potatoes and sauteed onions. 

Oh and eggs, of course eggs!

Once everything is prepped, putting the quiche together only takes a few minutes. But then you have to wait about 40 minutes to enjoy the deliciousness! 

It's worth the wait though, I promise!

Elina and I enjoyed the quiche with homemade salsa and a chopped salad.

Elina and Robyn Make...Chinese Food!

I love cooking with Elina and since this is the third post of the section, I thought it'd be fun to have Elina as a guest blogger! We had so much fun making this meal (as usual) and I would love to eat it all again. Keep reading and Elina will tell you all about this cooking adventure!

Every once in a while Robyn and I get a crazy idea, and that's exactly what happened recently! We decided to make something really special and outside of the box...at least for us! We decided to give Chinese food a try! 

There are about a gazillion delicious Chinese food options out there, but we decided on just three: Chinese BBQ Pork, a take on P.F. Chang's Chang's Spicy Chicken and Chicken Lettuce Wraps...also a take on the popular dish from P.F. Chang's. And of course some steamed white rice, because what is Chinese food without rice!? As usual, we used all the recipes above as a guide, but changed a few things along the way to our liking.

We don't have much experience in Chinese food, so I must admit we were a little nervous going in. We frequented our local Asian market and picked up some of the not so standard ingredients that we needed and got to work.

Chinese BBQ Pork Goods

Making the BBQ Pork

Chicken Lettuce Wrap Goods

The Lettuce Wrap Sauce

Cooking the Chicken Lettuce Wrap filling

Chang's Spicy Chicken Goods

 Making Chang's Spicy Chicken

 And FINALLY the yummy rice!

The finished product!!!

In the end, I am happy to report that everything came out delicious and even authentic!