Modified Tomato Soup (a.k.a. "Nicole Dunn...I believe in you and your abilities")

Christmas is in two days. No point to go the market now because my family will just stuff me with holiday food until I puke it out on New Years's Eve so I improvise with what I have until my next market run: Tomato Soup, Sriracha, green onions and Gorgonzola-Bleu cheese. Like I've mentioned in the last blog, your appetite makes you creative. Modified Tomato Soup Ingredients: 1 quart of Trader Joes Tomato Soup-$1.99 5-6 slivers of Gorgonzola-Bleu Cheese-Varies (Mine was $2.57 for a wedge) 2-3 Green Onions-$1.99 2 teaspoons of Sriracha (You should already have it.) 1 teaspoon of olive oil (You should already have it.) Total: $7.00 or less.

Instructions: 1. Pour soup into a sauce pan and cook at low-medium heat for 10-15 minutes until it comes to a slow boil. Stir in a few shots of Sriracha. Blend in the heat. 2. Grab a cooking sheet pan and base with olive oil. Heat oven to 200 degrees. Once the oven is ready, make 5-6 tiny piles of cheese and place them separately on the cooking sheet. Pop in the oven once the heat is I like the idea of taking any kind of cheese wedge and toasting it for everything. Crisped cheese tastes way better but it gives any dish an amazing presentation and extra taste note that compliments the main meal-even regular tomato soup. 3. For the green onions, take a parring knife and slice upwards on the stem. Try to get pieces that curve in because...presentation is sexxxyyyy. 4. Remove cooking sheet from oven and allow cheese to cool down for 5-10 minutes. While 5-10 minutes pass, go do some good in this world and pour yourself a glass of wine. You deserve it. 5. So the soup is simmering, the sexy onions are cut and now its time to break the crisped cheese euphoria. Using a spatula, break all cheese crisps into small chunks. 6. Pour soup into bowl and place 3 strips of curved green onions on top. Then carefully grab two tiny stacks of crisped Gorgonzola and place on top of the green onions. Try to imagine Jack and Kate from Titanic hanging on the floating door in the icy Atlantic; one is kinda hanging on for dear life in the water and the other is hanging above the water. 7. Add a few garnish drops of Sriracha on top and you are ready to eat your sexy presentation. Have a great holiday and happy new year! I'll start posting up new recipes next year but in the mean time: take care of yourselves, drink (somewhat) in moderation, eat until "you start to hate yourself" (Erik Nielsen said that, not me), and always modernize and modify your appetite. Cheers!

Introduction and The Messy Messi

Over Stuffed, Under Budget December 17, 2014 Food is art and it’s limitless. I’m starting this blog for the sake of getting more people creative in the kitchen. I was never too crafty with a paintbrush or a microphone for a creative outlet, but all it took was a Panini maker I received one Christmas to change that around. I went from buying music magazines to Bon Appétit and Food and Wine and enhancing basic recipes with my own touch. Browsing through the pages of new culinary trends, I would attempt the recipes that seemed simple enough to tackle, and when I was done I would jot down little notes on what I should substitute or add more for the next time around. Besides showing my recipes, I will also give an ingredient cost breakdown from each dish and how you can budget between twenty to thirty bucks on each meal. Sexy looking food is great but it can break your ass financially sometimes! Cooking for me is therapeutic that I keep the habit of being busy in the kitchen all the time or looking for the next recipe to create. I want to create dishes that look great,taste equally amazing, and never break your bank. That’s my main goal for every recipe. I have some friends saying that they have a cooking "phobia" and dare not to touch a ladle or even their mom’s hand-me-down Betty Crocker cookbook from the mid 1990s. Pick it up, dust it off and find a recipe that can be modernized and modified. You'd be surprise how your appetite can enhance your creativity. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The first recipe I’m going to share with you is a sandwich I created during the 2014 World Cup called “the Messy Messi.” Do you know who Leo Messi is? He’s a famous Argentinean player who plays for FC Barcelona and is really good. He had no input or any idea about this sandwich. I just thought it was a good play on words (Copyright!) Amazing skills!

Bad fashion!

Before I begin though, I need to gather ingredients. Luckily where I live, there’s a farmer’s market five blocks away from me. Try a farmer’s market if you can for fresh produce but almost everything that I use can be found at your local grocery store.

Most produce that is sold here will not break your wallet. Cilantro bunch? $1. Italian Parsley? $1. Depending on how much you make, you will have plenty of produce left over to use in other dishes. Not bad for getting up a little bit earlier on Sunday morning.

The Messy Messi (Serves 4-5 people) Ingredients -4-5 Chicken Breasts -Fontina Cheese (Cut into 10-15 sliver pieces) -Soft, small sandwich rolls (Ciabbata or Brioche) - 3-4 ripe avocados -Sour cream -Chimichurri Sauce ½ cup finely chopped Italian parsley ¼ cup of finely chopped cilantro 1 chopped shallot 5 crushed garlic ¾ cup of red wine vinegar Garlic Chili Paste Olive oil Sea Salt Fresh ground pepper Sides French Fries Salad Beverages Bitburger Bier Directions: Prep Chimichurri Sauce: 1.) In a small sized bowl, combine the red wine vinegar with ½ tea spoon of ground pepper ,½ tea spoon salt, chopped shallot, garlic chili paste and crushed garlic. Stir and let sit alone for 10-15 minutes in the refrigerator. Once the base sauce has blended, combine the cilantro, parsley and olive oil into bowl. Stir until well blended. Some people like to use a food processor or by hand. Personally, I like a thicker sauce on the sandwich, so I use strict chopping by hand to get my thickness. **Fun tips** Instead of adding jalapenos like other chimichurri recipes, I add in garlic chili paste because it has a smoky burn which compliments well with the red wine vinegar. Other ingredients also call for oregano too but I keep it out. I just think oregano sucks. That’s my only rationale.

Sandwich 1.) Before cutting and marinating, rinse the chicken under water to get any excess fat off. Cut chicken breasts into 3” slivers (or leave into small chunks. It all depends on how you like sandwiches. Preferably, whole chicken breasts do the trick.) 2.) In a large prep bowl, combine the chicken and ¾ cup of olive oil, salt and pepper as a marinade. Cover with plastic and let sit in your refrigerator for 10-15 minutes.

3.) Heat grill up to 475 degrees and use olive oil to grease down before adding chicken. Add chicken and grill until meat is a golden-brown. 4.) Scoop out the avocados and mash into the bowl. Also, add sour cream in another bowl. Both of these are going to be spreads. 5.) Ding! Chickens done! Assembling time: a.) Grab a roll (or bun) and spread one side with avocados, and the other with sour cream. b.) Add chicken and cheese slices, but place in over at 200 degrees for enough to toast and melt for a few minutes. Once the time has passed, carefully remove sandwich and add chimichurri sauce on top of the chicken. c.) Place the other half on and you’re magic. Beer Review: Bitburger Bier Five bucks for a four-pack of decent German Lager? Can't go wrong. This has a pretty clean, slight hop taste with notes of citrus and wheat. Also a very crisp taste with faint hop notes-it smoothes out spicy notes of the sandwich. Ingredient Cost Breakdown: (Trader Joes and Farmer’s Market) Sour Cream-$1.99 Organic Parsley- $1.79 Domestic Fontina-$3.77 Chicken thighs-$7.49 Ciabatta rolls-$3.49 Cilantro-$1.00 Shallots-$1.99 Garlic$-1.99 + Red wine vinegar-$1.99 $25.50(plus taxes) Add Ons Bitburger Bier $4.99 French Fries: $1.99 So, give it a shot! Enhance it and make it to your liking. I will say though that it does taste way better while watching an EPL game. Next recipe in the works! Until then modify and modernize your appetite. Cheers!