The Newlywed Chefs – Page 22 – keeping a fresh outlook on life, love, and food

Drinks

Banana Shake

Posted on 08.24.2014

No, we didn’t go anywhere. It’s been kind of crazy in the lives of the Ostercamps lately. We went to Florida on vacation. School and work started again. We had family in town. And oh hey, we bought our first house!! All that to say, thanks for sticking with us as our posts have been few and far between over the past month. We are super excited about our first place. Remember those previous posts that made me tear up as I wrote about how much we love our village? We are fortunate enough to have bought a little corner of that village. Right now, it’s a mess over there as my brother-in-law, uncle, and husband are completely renovating the bathroom. I mean, sledgehammering, ripping out dry wall, putting in new flooring and more.

In the mean time, the school year has started and everyone around town is getting back in the swing of things. Each new school year, I find the opportunity to get ultra organized. Not just with file folders and color coded post-it tabs (which are essential), but also at home. It’s a good time to donate summer clothes that weren’t even touched this year, organize bookshelves, recycle old magazines, and buy new school supplies. Or in our case this year, buy a new house! Second to New Year’s, I also find it fitting to make a few resolutions for the school year, such as healthy eating.

While my sister was in town, she introduced me to these delicious banana shakes. Simple ingredients, simple prep, and I kid you not, it tastes like a gosh darn banana milkshake. A lot of bloggers have featured these on their sites, and there are various mix ins, but I like this recipe as foundation for anything fancy you care to add. For the best taste and consistency, make sure your bananas are ripe (no green, lots of brown spots), and frozen overnight.

They’re a healthy snack that your kids will look forward to after school…or, that I’ll look forward to after work. Happy new school year everyone! Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 0 minutes

Banana Shake
Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 0 minutes
Makes: One small shake

Ingredients:

1 large banana, sliced and frozen
1 large spoonful almond butter
3 tablespoons almond milk (add more for a thinner shake)
Drizzle of honey (optional)

Preparation:

Blend all ingredients together using a blender and serve cold. That’s it. Really! How easy is that?!

2 comments

Mango Salsa

Posted on 07.09.2014

Hold the phone. The Newlywed Chefs are posting a Paleo recipe? As you can see from our recipe index, we’re not a Paleo couple. BUT I am trying it for a while. Wait, don’t go! Don’t go anywhere. Just because I’m doing Paleo doesn’t mean you have to. Or my husband for that matter; he certainly is not. My sister successfully did Whole30 and as per usual, has inspired me! I’d guess about half of our blog readers have or know someone who has a food allergy. So far, I’ve completed a week of Paleo eating (no grain, no legumes, no dairy, no sugar) and feel great.

I have also cut out coffee. (WHAT?!) I’ve replaced it with green tea, which still has some caffeine, just not as much as coffee. I feel more energized, not as sluggish, refreshed, and healthy after only a few days. I will keep up Paleo at least through July and then reevaluate.

Here is a great summer recipe, whether you are Paleo or PaleNO! It’s a fresh and flavorful summer side. It’s great piled atop light flaky white fish, or served with plantain chips as an afternoon snack.

Cutting mangos can be tricky. The middles are hard and you don’t want to eat that part, so I usually cut vertically on each side around the middle, then score the mango, and slice off the cubes.

The preparation for this dish couldn’t be easier! Just mix everything well in a bowl and serve at your next summer get-together.

Have you tried doing anything like the Paleo diet? What were your experiences?

Mango Salsa (Paleo)

Prep Time: 15 min. Cook Time: 0 min.

Ingredients:

2 mangos, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1 jalapeño, seeds removed and diced

1 avocado, diced

1/2 cucumber, diced

1/2 red onion, diced

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1 lime, juiced

1 pinch salt

1 pinch pepper

Preparation:

Place all ingredients in a large bowl, stir, and enjoy!

7 comments

Main Dishes

Spicy Black Bean and Radish Tacos

Posted on 06.18.2014

My husband is a really good cook. This might blow your mind, but he doesn’t write this blog. However, a majority of these recipes come from his genius mind. One of the things I love about Neil is his vision and ability to execute specific tasks in a unique and beautiful way. For example: tacos. I think, “Great, taco night. Let’s set up a bar of our favorite ingredients and go to town.” Neil, on the other hand, makes THESE. Even if you just make the sauce, it will launch your everyday tacos into orbit. It’s super spicy, so if you can’t handle the heat, just look at the pictures and skip this recipe. If you’re ready for a kick, keep reading.

We found the dried chili peppers at Whole Foods hanging up in the produce section by other dried spices. You can use a variety of peppers, but this time we tried chipotle and ancho peppers and it was a good combo.

Instead of flour, try white corn tortillas.

Heat them in a small skillet then wrap them in foil to keep them warm at the table.

I love the radishes in this recipe. The crunch is irresistible, and the zingy flavor pairs well with the spicy sauce.

Even though the ingredient list for this one is lengthy, it won’t take you too long to make these. Trust me, it’s worth the extra ingredients to make these gluten free wonders. Once you’ve had these tacos, you won’t go back to the ordinary.

Spicy Black Bean and Radish Tacos

Prep Time: 20 min. Cook Time: 25 min.

Ingredients:

For the sauce:

1 dried ancho pepper

2 dried chipotle peppers

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon cilantro stems, chopped

1/2 orange, juiced

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flake

1 teaspoon olive oil

For the tacos:

5 radishes, thinly sliced

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 red pepper, sliced

1/2 white onion, sliced

1 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1 pinch red pepper flake

1 pinch chili powder

1 clove garlic, minced

8 small white corn tortillas

Preparation:

Heat four cups of water in a kettle. In a small bowl, pour water over the peppers to rehydrate. After 30 minutes, bring hydrated peppers to a cutting board, but reserve the water. On a cutting board, remove pepper stems, and scrape out seeds. Slice peppers and place in a small food processor.

Add 1/4 cup of the water with the white vinegar, oil, and orange juice and blend in food processor. Scrape sides and add garlic, cilantro stems, salt, pepper, chili powder, and red pepper flake. Continue to blend until smooth. Add more water until it reaches desired consistency. Set sauce aside.

In a skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sauté red peppers and onion slices for about a minute. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Turn heat to low and continue to cook for 10 minutes. Add the black beans to the pan, along with the red pepper flake and chili powder. Cook for another 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the garlic and 1/4 cup water from the peppers and continue to cook for another 10 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan.

Bring a separate small skillet to high heat. Add one white corn tortilla shell, and cook for 2 minutes per side until warm and spots are beginning to brown. Or, place on a cookie sheet under the broiler until lightly charred. Place shells in a foil pocket to keep warm at the table.

Serve tortilla shells with fresh cilantro, radishes, black bean mixture, and spicy sauce.

Makes 8 tacos

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Apps & Snacks

Baked Avocado Fries

Posted on 06.10.2014

Adults need after-school snacks, too. If I’ve had a busy afternoon, around 4:00pm I usually need something to munch on to carry me through dinner. Maybe that’s why happy hour was invented. Kids have after-school snacks… we have happy hour.

I am hooked on these avocado fries. I love the crunchy whole wheat breading paired with the creamy rich avocado.

These snacks won’t leave you feeling as guilty since they are baked with whole wheat ingredients. It’s easy peasy. First, make an assembly line and bread each avocado slice.

Bake avocados for a quick 20 minutes, finish with course salt and a fresh squeeze of lime and serve warm alongside your favorite beverage.

So whether your teen is grazing the pantry for an after-school snack or you and your girlfriends are declaring it happy hour on the back patio, these avocado fries are sure to please.

Baked Avocado Fries

Prep Time: 10 min. Cook Time: 20 min.

Ingredients:

1 large avocado, pitted and sliced thick (into about 8 pieces)

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

1 teaspoon black pepper, divided

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, divided

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs

1 lime

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 450°. In one bowl, combine whole wheat flour with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne. In another bowl, mix the whole wheat bread crumbs with the other 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper. In another bowl, lightly beat the egg. Set up an assembly line, first dredging each piece of avocado in the flour mixture, then the egg mixture, followed by a generous coating of bread crumbs.

Transfer avocados onto a wire rack and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. Once removed from the oven, finish with a sprinkle of course salt and fresh lime juice. Serve warm.

4 comments

Main Dishes

Lettuce Wraps with Amazing Peanut Sauce

Posted on 05.04.2014

I feel as if we’ve awoken from a long, dark, cold, winter coma. With its beautiful warm weather, May has burst on the scene, and although it won’t be long before we start complaining about the humidity, the city has sprung back to life. Yesterday, Neil and I went on an hour long walk around the neighborhood just because it felt so good to be outside in the sunshine. Today, we enjoyed running errands with the sunroof back and sat out on the patio for happy hour. We’re savoring this beautiful time of year as best we can.

This is a fresh and healthy recipe to accompany the springtime weather. When it comes to these lettuce wraps, it’s all about the crunch and the sauce. I couldn’t think of a better name other than “amazing peanut sauce,” because that’s exactly what it is. I would dunk just about anything in this stuff. It’s amazing.

The best way to make this meal work is to set up a bar for your family on the counter or at the table with a variety of veggies, proteins, and sauces. Your family can personalize each wrap to their own tastes. On one platter, serve the baked chicken. On another, serve an assortment of vegetables cut allumette (which is fancy for thick matchstick). Be sure to place small bowls of the amazing peanut sauce, soy sauce, thai chili sauce, and any other dippers on the bar as well. Lay out individual romaine leaves with the white bottoms cut off. Once everything is in place, you can assemble the wraps.

Assemble, wrap, dunk, eat, repeat.

Lettuce Wraps with Amazing Peanut Sauce

Prep Time: 45 min. Cook Time: 0 min.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. chicken tenders

1 red pepper, allumette

1 cucumber, allumette

2 carrots, allumette

8 romaine leaves

Optional dunking sauces:

Soy sauce

Thai chili sauce

Amazing peanut sauce (recipe below)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a sheet pan with olive oil. Sprinkle chicken tenders with salt and pepper and place on sheet pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until cooked through. Cool and chop into 1″ pieces.

Allumette a variety of your favorite vegetables. Place chicken pieces and an assortment of veggies in each romaine leaf. Dunk in the amazing peanut sauce.

Amazing Peanut Sauce

Prep Time: 5 min. Cook Time: 0 min.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flake

1 lime, juiced

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

5 tablespoons hot water

Preparation:

In a small food processor, blend first five ingredients. Add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached (I like 5 tablespoons). For a thinner consistency, add more hot water 1 tablespoon at a time. Blend until smooth.

2 comments

Posts

Travel Post: Who dat? (New Orleans)

Posted on 03.30.2014

This was my spring break…

And this…

And this.

I have a really special, really rare group of girlfriends. I know that a lot of people lose touch with their high school friends after graduation, but God has put these lovely ladies in my life for a long time. This is a whole other blog topic, but I’ll surely revisit it in a future post. One of these lovely ladies is Lauren. We met in first grade. And she’s still one of my best friends. Lauren lives in NOLA, serving her city and community, and educating the movers and shakers of the future. This spring break, my appetite and I hopped in the car and away we went to visit Lauren (sadly, Neil couldn’t join this trip).

This post will feature the culinary hot spots I visited.

First up, Atchafalya (bless you). It’s pronounced (at-cha-fa-lie-yuh) and oh man, it’s good. The lighting here was super dim, so my pictures didn’t turn out well, and I don’t like to post bad pictures. It’s like going out into public without mascara. If I have to do it, I will, but I’ll feel awkward.

Naturally, we started off with the gumbo. Warm, savory, and with just the right amount of heat from the andouille sausage, this was a great dish to welcome me to the south. Their menu changes seasonally, but there are a few popular dishes that stay on it, such as the shrimp and grits. That’s what I ordered, and they were the BEST shrimp and grits I’ve ever had. Served heads-on, these shrimp were huge. The grits were creamy and fluffy. But the broth…oh, the broth. I can’t even begin to describe the savory deliciousness of the smoked tomato based broth. So good.

My friend ordered the roasted chicken that was accompanied by a fennel pancake and it was succulent and bursting with juicy flavor. The skin was crisp, and it was a hefty portion. I also tried my first Sazerac here, a New Orleans classic, which is rye whiskey, simple syrup, Peychaud’s bitters, herbsaint, and lemon peel.

The next evening we got .50 oysters (yes, .50. Do you know how much a raw oyster costs in Missouri? 3.50. At least.) and homebrew from Lüke by John Besh.

Located in the Central Business District, they have the best happy hour around. It is the place to see and be seen after work. Even though happy hour starts at 3, you might want to make a reservation. We went at 5 and were lucky to be seated since another couple canceled. The fries here are light, crispy, and terribly addicting.

Then, went to Maurepas, a local favorite that features flavors of New Orleans and all locally sourced ingredients. The food is good and the prices are affordable. Their cocktails were innovative and delicious. Check out the lemon peel stars in my drink…

Stealing that idea! I tried the goat tacos with harissa. I really enjoyed the four hot sauces served with the tacos. We split the sauteed greens with oatmeal gnocchi, which was just okay. But then…

…the homemade mint ice cream with a fudge ribbon came to our table with homemade chocolate graham cracker-like crisps and mini chocolate chip cookies. This place is worth visiting if nothing else, JUST for this dessert.

Of course, no trip to New Orleans would be complete without a stop at Café du Monde.

Light, pillowy, hot fried dough piled HIGH with powdered sugar and a café au lait. It was a beautiful sunny day and I took my time eating these delightful wonders and soaking in the atmosphere as I listened to a jazz trio nearby.

Then, we went to Cochon by Chef Donald Link and Chef Stephen Stryjewski.

The earliest reservations on a Wednesday were for 9:30pm. I’ve heard such good things about this place- Bourdain went there on No Reservations AND The Layover. At 9:30, the place was PACKED and they were turning away people who did not have reservations. We got there well before 9:30, so decided to wander around a bit. Right behind Cochon is Butcher, owned by the same team.

A charcuterie lover’s dream, this meat market features various house cured meats, sausages, sandwiches, wines, beers, and more.

It was awesome. Neil would have loved it! Okay, finally, 9:30 rolls around and we’re seated right on time next door at Cochon. We started off with the fried alligator bites with chili garlic mayonnaise.

Oh man these were great. Alligator has a similar texture to chicken, but is a must in NOLA. I had the Louisiana cochon with turnips, cabbage and cracklins. It was out of this world delicious.

I could tell it had just been soaked and soaked in broth, and served in the same broth which was crazy flavorful. My friend had the smoked ribs with watermelon pickle, which were sweet, sticky, and falling off the bone.

She also had their mac and cheese casserole, served in a cast iron pan and full of sharp cheesy goodness.

We tried to get the farmers cheese and meyer lemon pie, but they were fresh out. So, we went for the chocolate peanut butter pie. The crust is to die for, and the pie was gone in about 30 seconds.

March is the start of crawfish season, and people in New Orleans go crazy for these little guys. Magazine street is the place to go if you’re looking for good food and funky shops. It’s also the place to go if you’re looking for crawfish. Check out Big Fisherman Seafood.

Don’t expect to sit at a table… because there are none. This is a straight up fish market, and they just happen to boil amazing crawfish, too. So, grab a pound or three, and eat them on the stoop outside the Walgreens across the street.

The spices in the boil were savory but with just the right amount of heat. What an unforgettable lunch!

Walking back to my car, I found Sucré, a darling sweet shop that also has gelato.

The red velvet gelato is to die for. It’s very cream cheesy and packed with flavor.

Whew. It was an awesome trip. I focused on food in this blog post (because hey, this is a food blog), but really if you haven’t had the chance to visit New Orleans, it is well worth your time. The food, the music, the people, and the culture were unlike any that I’ve experienced in other cities in America. New Orleans does it’s own thing, it has it’s own vibe, and I loved it. It’s a city adorned with detail-oriented architecture, hanging gardens, European-like narrow streets, excellent museums, gorgeous parks, a rich jazz history, and of course, unforgettable food. I’m already planning a return visit to indulge in this city again.

Have you been to NOLA? If you have, where is your favorite spot?

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Banana Shake

Mango Salsa

Spicy Black Bean and Radish Tacos

Baked Avocado Fries

Lettuce Wraps with Amazing Peanut Sauce

Travel Post: Who dat? (New Orleans)

Pumpkin Muffins

Blueberry Bread

The Capital Grille

Vero