FLAN, Bam, Thank You Ma'am!

So on December 29th, 2010, at about midnight. It began.

The task at hand was Coconut Flan. 

Flan (or said like Flahn) is a spanish custard dessert dish that Michael suggested because I had never tasted Flan, let alone, know what it is. So he came over and we checked out some Flan recipes online. We both enjoy coconut so we decided to try the Coconut Flan. We found the recipe on Foodnetwork.com, courtesy of
 Marcela Valladolid.
Click Here to check out the recipe we used! 

The adventure began at Loglis. Everything we needed was located in the baking aisle. I already had the 6 eggs, vanilla extract, salt, and vegetable cooking spray. But we needed to go to the store to pick up:

3 cans of Sweetened Condensed Milk,

1 can of Unsweetened Coconut Milk,

1 can of Evaporated Milk,

Shredded Coconut, 

Caramel Sauce,

and

A Bundt Pan. 

We had found everything at Loglis EXCEPT the coconut milk. All we could find was "Cream of Coconut" and we were leery about buying that because what the heck is Cream of Coconut?! So after thinking it over and over and over, we put everything back where we found it and headed out to Woodmans, which by the way, is one of the best grocery stores in Rockford. AND, they are employee owned, so I found that almost everything we bought at Woodmans was cheaper than at Loglis. We found the coconut milk first. They had like SIX different kinds of coconut milk! Loglis had one kind and the kind we needed was all out anyways and we weren't going to settle for Cream of Coconut. Then came the sweetened condensed milk and that was, if I remember right, a dollar or two cheaper per can. 

*Cha-Ching*

We also found the Bundt Pan. For those of you that don't know what a Bundt pan is (like me before we started); it's an angel food cake pan. A cake pan with a hole in the middle.

Easy.

BAM! 

After grabbing all of our ingredients and supplies, Michael showed me around because I had only been to Woodmans maybe twice; he goes there all the time so he knows his way around preeeeeeeetty well. When we arrived back at my house, we found a hoodlum on my front porch who was trying to sell us stuff. He greeted us by saying, "Whatdya buyin'?" Lo-and-behold, it was my bestest buddy, Andrew! He stuck around for a little while. Once we went in, we started getting everything ready. The recipe said to mix with an electric beater, the milks, salt, vanilla extract, and eggs all together. Then we greased our bundt pan and put the caramel in the bundt pan by twisting the pan until it had caramel sauce all over it. We felt like pro's. Then we poured the mixture into the bundt pan. Put the bundt pan inside of a deeper pan and filled the deeper pan with water. This is so the Flan would cook evenly throughout. Then we covered the  top of the bundt pan with foil. And it was ready to be shoved into the oven which was pre-heated to 350 degrees. (Andrew headed back home at this time.)

The pan in a pan.

Then we baked it for an hour and a half and checked it. We were looking for a slight jiggle just like when baking a cheesecake. So we put it in for another 15 minutes because it still seemed a little too liquidy. And that did the trick. 

Check out the slight bit of golden brown around the edge!

After eating chinese food, Edam cheese, meat, chocolate covered peanut butter balls, and having a glass of Milk (Michael) and Cranberry Juice (Myself), we snatched it up on out of the oven and and let it sit out for 30 minutes. Then we cleaned up and Michael headed out because at this time it was about 2:30 a.m. After the half an hour of sitting, I put it in the fridge for the rest of the night. I promised Michael that I wouldn't flip it with out him. So he came back over around 2:30 p.m. and we flipped it and it started oozing caramel! I had to act fast! I grabbed a cookie sheet and we put the plate with the Flan onto the cookie sheet.    

In the middle you can see the pool of caramel sauce. YUMMY!

Then Michael toasted the coconut.

I like a man at work! ;)

Once the coconut was toasted, we sprinkled it all around the  Flan.

Are you ready for this??!! 

BAM! 

It turned out beautifully, but did it taste beautiful?

Trying to cut into it was a task and it was even harder trying to get the piece onto the plate. But we did it and we didn't make a mess. I was scared to take a bite but I did it. The first bite tasted a little awkward in my mouth because the texture is something to get used to. The second bite was better. Michael liked it and I thought it was okay. But my mom didn't like it. It was SUPER sweet and tasted like a stiffer vanilla pudding. After 5 bites I had to put it down because it was just so rich and sweet. I couldn't finish my piece. But I did like it. It's one of those things where a little bit goes a long way, so a smaller piece would've been good with me. I am not sure if i'll make it again but it was fun to make and I was surprised that it turned out as beautifully as it did. 

This was definitely a brand new experience for me and I'm glad that Michael was there to help. 

My new motto to live by after this is:

Chew. Digest. Be :).

Day 2: Sweet Aaaaaand Salty?! In one place!?

     So earlier today I decided that I was NOT going to eat at work since I only had a four hour shift. But of course, I was hungry. I am ALWAYS hungry. Ask anyone I know and they'll even say (probably) something like, "Oh yeah, Jennifer is ALWAYYYYYS hungry! It's kinda crazy." Then throw a weird look your way and then it's all downhill from there.

Anywayyyyyyys.

So I grabbed some Joe (Joe = Coffee for the N00BS out there) at the local Coleman residence (my best friend Andrew's house) and then proceeded to the local grocery store, aka, Loglis. I was going to make a sandwich that wasn't too heavy (since I would be sleeping afterwards) or expensive to make.

    So since I knew I wanted to make a sandwich, the first food that made my mouth water was pineapple. I grabbed some pineapple and I had a Pauly D. moment so I said, "OH YEAH PINEAPPLE YEAH!" and went on with my business. I grabbed some fresh mushrooms and baby spinach from the produce area. I then went to the cheeses. (By the way, I LOVE CHEESE.) I wanted some Gouda but I couldn't find it, so after pacing back and forth in front of the cheeses, I came across Edam cheese from Holland (which I had never heard of >>*New Food*). The package said, "great for sandwiches," and I said, "We will do great things." Then came the bread choice. I was thinking maybe a dark rye but that just wasn't appealing to my eyes. I grabbed some San Francisco Sourdough Bread and proceeded on my way. From the bread I decided I wanted a little bit of meat for the sandwich, but nothing that takes too long to cook. So I grabbed a thick slice of pre-cooked ham that was cooked and packaged.

     From there I proceeded to check out. I had a budget of $20 dollars and just made it. I usually over-spend, so that was definitely something to be proud of. I went on my merry little way and headed on home.

Now for the fun stuff!

*Raises Eyebrows*

     I started cooking right away by sauteeing my mushrooms in butter the way they should be. I added a little salt and pepper, even though they didn't need it. While those started to cook I started slicing up a little bit of onion and a few cloves of garlic. I put a little bit of olive oil in the pan and then went in the garlic and then the onions. I started cooking the onions until they became slightly translucent. From there, I added the mushrooms and their buttery goodness to the onions and garlic. I chopped up some of the pineapple into little bite-size pieces and added those to the mixture. I had a few limes in the fridge already so I added half of a lime. I then chopped up some of the pre-cooked ham and added that to the mixture until it got warm and cozy with its bunk-mates.

The end result (in the frying pan) looked like this...

(: Look at the color! :)

But I wanted to make a sandwich. REMEMBEERRRR????

I toasted 2 pieces of the sourdough bread in the toaster and meanwhile had a hell of a time slicing the cheese. Once I was done with those tasks I got down my lovely Pocahontas plate from the cupboard and placed the 2 pieces of toasted bread on the plate. Then, I added a layer of the baby spinach and a thin slice of the Edam cheese. I spooned out a little bit of my Sweet and Salty mix on to the bed of spinach along with a little bit of the juice from the mixture. I added one more thin slice of cheese and the other piece of toasted bread.

Thus, the end result.

*DRUM ROLL PLEASE!*

BAM!!!

It might look good, but does it taste good?

     The answer is... Yes, I took a bite and it had the perfect crunch along with the perfect amounts of my sweet and salty mixture. They complimented each other quite well and with every bite I could taste the salty cheese and the sweet pineapple, along with the mushrooms, caramelized onions, and all of the other tasty goods.

It was easy.
It was affordable.
It was colorful.
It was energy efficient. *wink*
And best of all...
It was TASTY.

  

Day 1: Noodles and Company.

Day 1 = OH YES! 

     So my lovely boyfriend (Michael) asked to take me out to lunch today and suggested somewhere new that we have never tried before. Of course, I said yes! When he picked me up he asked if I wanted to go to Noodles and Company. I said, "Oh my God! I had a feeling that we'd go to that place!" So he gave me that million dollar smile of his and we were one our way. 

When we got there, we walked in we checked out the menu and they gave us three choices:

 Asian. Mediterranean. American. 

Neither of us wanted American because well... BORRIIIINNNNNGGG!!! So, being the pasta loving Italian gal that I am and the Italian-appreciating guy that Michael is, we went with Mediterranean. I was originally going to get the Penne Rosa but then I asked Michael what he was going to get. He said, "... the Pesto Cava?? tappi?? I don't know how to pronounce that, you're the Italian one!" and so we laughed and I decided to get that same thing; Pesto Cavatappi. 

We also had the option of getting chicken with our pasta: 

Parmesan crusted or grilled. 

We each chose the grilled chicken. 

     Well, I'm sure you want me to get to the good stuff and are asking yourself, "JUST TELL ME WHAT'S IN IT, WILL YA!?" Alright! I'll tell you!

     Noodles and Company describes this dish as the following: 

 - Pesto Cavatappi - 

Curly pasta sautéed with basil pesto, garlic, mushrooms, tomato and a splash of cream. Topped with parmesan and Italian parsley.

     I have had A LOT of pasta in my time (20 years mind you and in a big Italian family to boot). I have even been to Rome, Italy and had the freshest pasta. Let me tell you something, this pasta was perfectly cooked, the parsley on top tasted fresh and was the vibrant green it was meant to have, it wasn't too cheesy, and the pesto (crushed fresh basil, garlic, olive oil, parmesan cheese, and pine nuts), wasn't too basil-y, garlic-y, or oily. All of the tastes that were put together were in the right amounts and worked as a team to make a home run -- in my mouth. 

*wink*wink*

     Michael agreed and we ate every bite. Well, I didn't eat all of my chicken because to me it was a little much, but I did eat all of my amazing pasta. So I gave some of my chicken to Michael and he didn't mind at all because he enjoyed this dish as much as I did. 

So this was a great start to a tasty new adventure. The atmosphere was chill, the workers were friendly, the food was awesome, but best of all, I had the best company. If you ever get the chance, definitely give this place a "look-see". I'll even give you the website to check it out. 

Yay Noodles!

Cheers to Tasty Adventures! 

The Introduction.

Hey!!!!
My Name is Jennifer Tillou and I love food. Simple as that. I love it.

So here is the plan. School is almost over. I only have a few days left. Once it is over, I plan on trying a bunch of new foods. Foods that have never touched my tongue before! My goal is to try 1 new food a day. Hopefully this works out but I cannot promise a new food every day because I am simply not rich! If you haven't noticed, restaurants are expensive and prices at the grocery stores rise and fall every day. But I will try my hardest to try a new food every few days. Once a week I will set 1 day aside where I try 1 new ethnic food. I will try these things either by myself or with friends. I have a big range of ideas. Ethnic foods to healthy foods, to fast food (not much), new recipes (I will give the recipe I used and give credit wherever necessary), and just a new food to me in general. Plus, I will take a picture of everything I eat.

I will be starting this adventure on Monday. The 20th day in December of the year 2010!!!!
The end will be Sunday. The 16th day in January of the new year 2011!!!

A few examples of new foods to me are:
Sweet Potato Pie
Clams
Oysters
Duck
Veal
Cactus
Okra
... and a bunch of others. Mostly I will be going through the local grocery stores looking for things I have never tried before.

I am really excited to get this going! Don't be afraid to make suggestions or comments. I could use all the  help I could get.

Wish me luck,

Jen