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Red Thai Curry Corn Chowder

Red Thai Curry Corn Chowder

Tonight, I created a Thai-Inspired Corn Chowder with corn, white onions, lime juice, red and yellow bell pepper, salt, pepper, garlic, powdered ginger, red Thai curry, chicken broth, and coconut milk. Between sips of soup, Anthony said, “you’ve got to post this soup.” We loved it. It was spicy and slightly savory with a touch of lime juice to cut some of the heat from the red Thai curry.

Step by…

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Lahaina Grill's Annabehl Sinclair-Delaney

Lahaina Grill’s Annabehl Sinclair-Delaney

There are very few people I have known in my life that I will call “extraordinary.” In fact, the count is perhaps at a handful and a half (at most) which after 46 years of life, wouldn’t you say that’s “extraordinary?”

What is extraordinary? Dictionary.com describes extraordinary as exceptionalincharacter,amount,extent,degree,etc.;noteworthy; remarkable

Annabehl Sinclair-Delaney is one of the…

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#happyholidays #merrychristmas #happynewyear #melekalikimaka #fromourfamilytoyours #holidays #holidaycard #holiday #christmas #2017 #love #indesign Sharing a post from my Peas for Two @peasfortwo Instagram feed!

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Cutting out the wheat, polenta-crusted pork chop with shishito peppers and asparagus. #pork #food #homecook #shishitopeppers Sharing a post from my Peas for Two @peasfortwo Instagram feed!

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Cooked recently for a family dinner, pan-seared salmon in a lemongrass broth with findant potatoes cooked in olive oil instead of butter. The olive oil paired nicely with the lemongrass broth as opposed to a stronger and richer butter. #food #salmon #lemongrass #homecook. @arthompson3529 (also me) and @diningonmaui (also also me) #food #foodporn Sharing a post from my Peas for Two @peasfortwo Instagram feed!

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Easy Roasted Parsley-Crusted Pork Loin and Potatoes

Set oven at 350 and bake for 45-50 minutes until the pork’s internal temperature reads at least 145 degrees.

Roasted Parsley-Crusted Pork Loin and Potatoes Easy Roasted Parsley-Crusted Pork Loin and Potatoes Set oven at 350 and bake for 45-50 minutes until the pork's internal temperature reads at least 145 degrees.

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Check out my Facebook page for Peas for Two – Celebrating Cooking for two. Search @peasfortwo on Facebook and Instagram. Sharing a post from my Peas for Two @peasfortwo Instagram feed!

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Are you one of us who becomes energized by the aroma of sizzling bacon? The pop. The sizzle. The aroma. It’s no wonder that bacon — with all its wonderful sensory qualities – has found its way from the breakfast table and the BLT into a number of new and exciting dishes over the years.

It’s no surprise that Bacon butter, Peanut Butter and Bacon Sandwiches, Bacon Guacamole, Warm Bacon Vinaigrette, and Bacon Banana Bread — to name a few — are featured in a Food Network story entitled 50 Things to Make with Bacon. Bacon in all its iterations is at once flavorful, rich, fattening, and ofttimes controversial.

There is no debate that bacon adds intense flavor to and balances out a dish; however, the debate lingers solely in the preparation of bacon.

Grill? Fry? Deep Fry? Oven?

David Lynch says, “” Most of us are introduced to bacon in Mom or Grandma’s kitchen with a pop and a sizzle and an aroma that tantalizes and awakens our minds and senses.  Tom Waits says “If you record the sound of bacon in a frying pan, it sounds like the pops and cracks of an old 33 1/3 recording. Almost exactly like that. You could substitute it for its sound.” That sound. That wonderful nostalgic sound, but what if our tried and true familiar method in all it’s auditory wonder is not the best way to cook it? Not to knock mom or Grandma. I’d give an arm and a leg to be awakened by my Grandmother’s enticing fried bacon again, but I’ll still prepare it differently now that I have discovered the joys of oven-baked bacon.

I set the oven at 400, per the instructions on the package, and rather than placing the bacon on a sheet pan, I placed four lovely slices (since I am only cooking for two) in a pyrex. I figured it was a risk as the instructions were very specific; however, the results were fantastic, and I was able to focus my time on the eggs and potatoes while the bacon baked. Even without the iconic pop and sizzle of the fry pan, the bacon was crisp, flat (I curled it afterward), flavorful, and beautiful — without the greasy and splattery mess that typically follows breakfast preparation and much easier to layer on a sandwich if the mood fits.

This method may not work for everyone, but it worked for me. My sweetie spent less time scrubbing the stove, and he spent more time relaxing with me after breakfast than he ordinarily would. For me, that’s the best way to spend a Sunday morning.

Oven-Baked Bacon Are you one of us who becomes energized by the aroma of sizzling bacon? The pop. The sizzle.

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Aroma and Sentimentality - Some of the Sweetest Memories are Made in the Kitchen

Aroma and Sentimentality - Some of the Best Memories are Made in the Kitchen

Memories, imagination, old sentiments, and associations are more readily reached through the sense of smell than through any other channel – Oliver Wendell Holmes Me, I’ll never forget the aroma of rosemary and garlic that hung in the air in Nonni’s ranch house kitchen. The scrubbed wooden table, the food-covered counter, the smell, the taste, the love in that room will stick with me for life.…

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On Friday, my boyfriend came home with a bag of goodies gifted by a friend of ours who has an epic garden in Upcountry Maui. Inside the bag, I gleefully spied bundles of fresh home-grown rosemary, basil, and the biggest stalks of green onions — at least two feet long — I have ever seen.  After packaging up and refrigerating enough for the next week of meals, I realized I still had 2/3 of these aromatic herbs left, and I decided to try my hand at propagating my own plantable herbs from the cuttings. After some research, I am starting my experiment, and we’ll see how it goes.

I removed as much of the leaves from the bottom of the stems as possible and placed the basil and rosemary cuttings in two mason jars of water. I placed plastic bags over the tops to create a greenhouse effect, and the cuttings are now happily enjoying the daylight on our lanai. It will take awhile before they take root — if they take root — but once they do, I’ll replant these beauties. Cross your fingers that this works! I’ll keep y’all updated. (Please do not follow my instructions here. I am experimenting.)

  Trying to Grow Herbs from Cuttings On Friday, my boyfriend came home with a bag of goodies gifted by a friend of ours who has an epic garden in Upcountry Maui.

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It’s Sunday morning. I wake up and sleepily shuffle into the kitchen, mutter a groggy good morning to my sweetie, Anthony, and I start making my morning pot of fresh sleep-zapping coffee. I run the water first to dampen the sound of the coffee bag since our cats go berserk every time they hear me open the bag — it sounds way too much like their beloved kitty cookie treat bag. The water trick doesn’t work this morning because I spin around and see two sweet kitty faces staring up at me expectantly. No, not this early. I’m super-sleepy, fuzzy-wuzzies. I’ll make it up to them later. Once the coffee kicks in, I am eager to try a trick I learned recently on an episode of Master Chef during which Gordon Ramsay demonstrated the technique behind his epic scrambled eggs recipe.

Take a peek at his video here featured on a recent episode of Master Chef.

Crack your eggs into a cold pan. I used a saucepan and place on low or medium low heat. Stir the eggs with butter (I used non-dairy “butter” for my boyfriend) constantly as they cook. Once the eggs begin to set, remove them from the heat briefly, but keep stirring. The eggs take a few minutes to scramble. (Use your judgement to gauge the progress.) You know what you are looking for. Don’t let them overheat, and keep moving the pan off and back on the heat.  Gordon adds creme fraiche to his mixture, but because my boyfriend cannot eat dairy, I just used the non-dairy “butter” in mine along with salt and pepper. I worried that leaving out the creme fraiche  would  diminish the taste of these epic eggs, but I was wrong! Even without the creme fraiche, these were the best scrambled eggs I have ever tasted, and Anthony loved them as well. I didn’t need the dairy, but I needed his technique.  Gordon’s technique produces tasty, creamy – yet fluffy – perfectly cooked scrambled eggs. While I was not able to follow them religiously, I still produced a fantastic plate of eggs simply using his technique of heat, remove from heat, heat, remove from heat (heat, stir, repeat) and stir constantly. Adding the “butter” as an ingredient as opposed to simply using it to coat the pan, made a huge difference.

Give ’em a try, and if you can digest dairy, I recommend following every step of his directions. These eggs will CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

*Gordon Ramsay picture – By Gordon Ramsay Restaurants Group – Gordon Ramsay Restaurants Group, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57326564

Gordon Ramsay’s Scrambled Eggs — EPIC It's Sunday morning. I wake up and sleepily shuffle into the kitchen, mutter a groggy good morning to my sweetie, Anthony, and I start making my morning pot of fresh sleep-zapping coffee.

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Catching Up

Time for some catch up, I think. This little blog has been on hiatus for quite awhile, and the time has come to catch up on a few things! Soon, very soon, I’ll leap back into posting my recipes, but for now, how about a glimpse at some my most recent dishes:

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It's a rainy weekend and the perfect time for comfort food: My distant relative Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon #juliachild #boeufbourguignon #beef #frenchcooking #recipe #homecook #food #nofilter #cooking Sharing a post from my Peas for Two @peasfortwo Instagram feed!

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Inspired# by Food and Wine article today. Mushroom and Baby Spinach over Polenta and topped with Gremolata. #sundaydinner #dinner #homecook #homemade #cooking #recipe @foodandwine #autumn @arthompson3529 (Me!!) Sharing a post from my Peas for Two @peasfortwo Instagram feed!

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Dinner tonight – pan-seared coriander/salt/pepper crusted pork chops atop kim chee puree, sautéed autumn-herbed carrots (topped with bacon crisps), smashed potatoes, and a side of kim chee with pea tendrils. The pork chop looks overcooked, but it wasn't. It just had a nice and crusty sear and was pan-fried in olive oil and turkey bacon "fat." #dinner #homecook #cooking #recipe #pork #bacon #sunday #sundaydinner #kimchee #puree #maui Also on my @arthompson3529 Sharing a post from my Peas for Two @peasfortwo Instagram feed!

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So glad to cook tonight – Balsamic/honey chicken breast with basmati rice and balsamic-glazed sautéed brussels sprouts and apples. Also sharing on my @arthompson3529 #food #dinner #homecook #cook #maui Sharing a post from my Peas for Two @peasfortwo Instagram feed!

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I love cooking with leftovers. Sauteed the polenta with onion and garlic and added tomato sauce and asparagus. I used four asparagus spears in this dish, and I think there are about 8 asparagus spears left in the fridge. What to do, what to do! #food #italianfood #lunch #homecook #polenta #eat @arthompson3529 #maui Sharing a post from my Peas for Two @peasfortwo Instagram feed!