T.W.O.

Asian Kale Salad

Published on February 4, 2014February 2, 2014 by T.W.O.Leave a comment

Are you a fan of Chinese Chicken Salad? Well, you are reading the right recipe! If you aren’t, that’s okay. Try it out anyways; you might be pleasantly surprised. Thanks to a co-worker, T.W.O. was introduced to Lacinato kale. It is also known as Tuscan kale, Tuscan cabbage, or Italian kale. It is lightly a little sweeter and more delicate than your traditional curly kale. The smooth leaves combined with the rice noodles, crunchy almonds and the mandarin oranges makes this salad a perfect meal!

Ingredients

– 1 bunch Lacinato Kale
– 1 cup mandarin oranges
– 2 cups thin rice noodles
– 1 cup carrots, shredded
– ½ cup roasted almonds, chopped
– Lemon Vinaigrette dressing (Recipe HERE)
– ¼ cup Rice Vinegar

Bring pot of water to a bowl. Once it reaches to a boil, remove from heat and add your rice noodles. Cover and let it sit for 10 minutes. Once the noodles are done, drain and add rice vinegar. Set aside.

Chop the kale and put in a big bowl. Add your rice noodles, mandarin oranges, carrots and almonds. Toss in the lemon vinaigrette dressing. Plate and serve! Feel free to add chicken or any other protein to make it a meal!

Cheers to another healthy meal!

Del Mar Weekend

Published on February 3, 2014February 2, 2014 by twinswithoriginality1 Comment

T.W.O. loves spending their weekends in Del Mar. This past weekend, we enjoyed morning runs, fresh baked goods, farmers market and home cooked gourmet dinners. Thank you Del Mar for a wonderful weekend!

T.W.O. started Saturday morning off with a long run along the coastline of Del Mar. Our halfway point led us to this beautiful scenery. You would never guess it was winter based on the amount of surfers out in the ocean or the people in light jackets!

Next stop was to a local, family owed bakery called Village Mill Bread Company. The bakery is filled with a variety of organic breads, pastries, donuts, jams, nut butters, desserts and coffees! So whether you need bread for sandwiches, an appetizer, a meal or your sweet tooth- Village Mill has it! Their cinnamon rolls and challah are outstanding- T.W.O. would highly recommend these two! And their coffee is from Bird Rock Coffee Company, which is out of this world. Don’t miss out and stop by Village Mill Bread Company if you are visiting or live in the Del Mar area!

T.W.O. absolutely loves farmers markets. Whether they are oversees or in the United States, we will never pass up visiting a farmers market. This past Saturday, we decided to go to the Del Mar Farmers Market, which happens every Saturday from 12-4pm. It’s on the smaller side compared to other San Diego famers markets, but definitely does not lack on quality! From produce, fresh seafood, flowers, nuts, authentic cuisines- Del Mar Farmers Market has it! Just make sure to bring cash!

To complete a great weekend, T.W.O. decided to take in the beautiful views Del Mar has to offer. Looking north, you see the coastline leading up to Orange County; looking south, you see the shores of La Jolla. It’s so picturesque- we have not complaints!

Del Mar- you are just a great city! Thank you!

Broccolini White Pizza

Published on January 31, 2014January 29, 2014 by T.W.O.Leave a comment

TGIF! It’s time for Friday Night Pizza Night!!! Today we are using a new ingredient on our pizza….broccolini. This vegetable looks like mini-broccoli and is often misidentified as young broccoli, but it is a hybrid of broccoli and kai-lan,

Ingredients:

– Pizza dough
– Cornmeal
– 2 Table spoons olive oil
– 2 Tablespoons dried basil
– 2 garlic cloves, chopped
– 4 stems broccolini
– ½ cup olives, diced
– 1 – 1 ½ cup marinated artichoke hearts, sliced
– 3 cups mozzarella

Preheat oven to 425ᴼF. Roll out the pizza dough on a floured/ cornmeal surface. Once the dough is evenly rolled out, transfer the dough to a greased cookie sheet.

Next take the olive oil and spread it on the dough, making sure you reach all the edges. Sprinkle the diced garlic and basil evenly on top of the olive oil.

Add your mozzarella cheese, followed by the broccolini, artichokes and olives. Spread the toppings evenly.

Let the pizza rise for about 15 minutes. Note – you don’t want to put the pizza in a cold oven, so make sure your oven reaches 425ᴼF. Once the oven is ready, place the pizza in the oven and watch closely. The pizza will take 15-20 minutes.

Once done the pizza is done, take it out of the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes.

Cut and serve. Once again, another successful Friday Night Pizza Night!!!

Cheers,

7-Bone Chuck Roast

Published on January 30, 2014January 28, 2014 by T.W.O.Leave a comment

T.W.O. has served this dish for many Super Bowl parties, birthday parties and family reunions. It’s an easy, one pot process with minimal ingredients that have a whole lot of flavor. The secret ingredient…dark beer! Let’s start cooking!

Ingredients:
4-6 pound 7-bone chuck roast
1 package Lipton Onion Soup mix
1 bottle dark beer*
1 large Maui sweet onion- cut into wedges
2 cups whole pepperoncini
Montreal Steak seasoning
Water
*Lagers work the best, but if you don’t have one lying around grab a Budweiser! It won’t disappoint!

Directions:

Season the roast with Montreal steak seasoning. Let roast sit at room temperature about 15-20 minutes.

In a large pot, sauté seasoned meat over medium heat. Brown each side about eight minutes. After browning meat, put cut onions onto bottom of pot under meat. Sauté onions until slightly golden. Sprinkle onion soup mix over the meat. Finally, add the pepperoncini to the pot.

Add enough water to the pot half way up the thickness of the roast. Evenly pour the beer over the meat.

Bring the liquid to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cover. Cook 2 ½ to 3 hours over low heat. The longer the meat cooks, the more tender it becomes. Not to exceed 6 hours…..unless you want beef jerky! The meat will fall off the bone! Of course, you must sample the meat prior to serving!!

Serving suggestions:

Make beef dip sandwiches on French rolls or your favorite roll. Cut meat into chunks. Add mustard, horseradish, or whatever your pallet’s crave. Serve with coleslaw or a side of home made potato salad. Plate the sandwich with a kosher pickle. Enjoy!

Or, serve meat accompanied with your favorite vegetables. Top with the pepperoncini.

First and ten, do it again!

The Ultimate Cheeseball

Published on January 29, 2014January 28, 2014 by T.W.O.Leave a comment

Everybody ready for some football? You will be after reading this…or not because you will be too consumed in the rich, creamy flavor of this fan-favorite appetizer that will clear the sidelines and take them straight to your kitchen. Here is the play-by-play game plan:

Ingredients:

2 – 8 ounce cream cheese
¼ cup sour cream
1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 – 2 ½ ounce packed smoked sliced beef, chopped*
2 Tablespoons green onions, chopped
1 teaspoon Horseradish
2-3 Tablespoon parsley, chopped
Italian breadcrumbs

*You can find this in the pre-packaged deli section.

Combine cream cheese and sour cream in a bowl. Mix well until combined. Stir in Parmesan cheese, beef, onion and horseradish. Once mixed, shape the cheese into balls. Depending on your crowd you can make one big one or 2 small ones. Roll in Italian breadcrumbs. Wrap the balls in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a couple hours. For best results, refrigerate overnight.

When you are ready to serve, remove and place on a platter filled with your favorite crackers. It doesn’t matter who wins at this point…you are sure to score a touchdown with your guests with this recipe!

Let’s go for the t.w.o. point conversion….

Photo Frame Collage Wall

Published on January 28, 2014January 27, 2014 by T.W.O.3 Comments

T.W.O. is working on designing their home office area and decided to fill the wall with a collage of frames. Below is our vision with some of our favorite moments captured.

A Closer Look…

Be Creative, Be Original,

Chicken Pozole Soup

Published on January 27, 2014January 26, 2014 by twinswithoriginality2 Comments

It’s soup time! And T.W.O. is featuring the sister soup of the well-known Chicken Tortilla…..Chicken Pozole! Not very many people have had or even know about pozole soup, so T.W.O. wants to share this delicious recipe with you! The staple ingredient of the soup is hominy, which are dried maize kernels. Hominy almost tastes like tiny corn tortilla balls- yum! There are different variations of the soup- pozole verde, pozole rojo, chicken, beef, vegetarian- the list goes on! But, the most important part is what you put on top-avocado, salsa, radishes, cabbage, sour cream, cheese, hot sauce, etc. The soup is definitely a crowd pleaser and makes for a great dish to serve for many people like…. Super Bowl! Touchdown!

Ingredients

-7 cups of chicken stock, low-sodium
-2 cups water
-4 chicken breasts
-1 lb Tomatillos, husked and halved
-1 Small onion, quartered
-2 Poblano chilies, cored, seeded and quartered
-2 Jalapenos, seeded and quartered
-4 Large garlic cloves, smashed
-1/2 cup chopped cilantro
-1 Tablespoon oregano leaves
-Salt and freshly ground black pepper
-1 Tablespoon olive oil
-3 15-oz cans of hominy, drained
– 1 lemon, juiced

Finely shredded lettuce or cabbage, sliced radishes, chopped onion, diced avocado, sour cream, hot sauce, cheese, tortilla chips, and lime wedges for serving. Set aside.

In a large pot, bring the chicken stock and water to a boil. Add the chicken breasts to the stock and season with salt, pepper, and hot sauce.

Cover and simmer over very low heat until the chicken is tender and cooked through- about 25 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and shred or dice the meat. Skim away any fat from the broth.

In a food processor, combine the tomatillos with the onion, poblanos, jalapenos, garlic, cilantro, lemon juice and oregano. Pulse until the mixture is all chopped, making sure to scrap down all the sides. Season the tomatillo puree with salt and pepper.

In a large deep skillet, heat up the olive oil. Add the tomatillo puree and cook over moderate heat, stirring often, until the sauce turns a deep green- about 10 minutes.

Pour the green sauce into the broth that is in the pot. Add the hominy and bring to a simmer over moderate heat.

Next add the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about another 20 minutes on low heat.

We also made our own tortilla strips. First cut the corn tortillas into long strips and place onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350°F for about 5-10 minutes or until brown.

Serve the pozole in deep bowls and top with anything your heart desires!

Enjoy!

T.W.O. Orange Drinks

Published on January 24, 2014January 23, 2014 by T.W.O.Leave a comment

I don’t know what’s in T.W.O.’s family’s soil, but our orange tree is producing a ton of oranges. Like our lemons, we have more harvest than usual this year and don’t want our oranges to go to waste- must be the warm weather! Let’s get creative. T.W.O. will feature two recipes that include oranges, both drink recipes.

Orange Smoothie

Ingredients

-4 orange ice cubes *
-1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
-1 banana, frozen
-4 strawberries, sliced
-1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
-3 blackberries

*Freshly squeeze orange juice using a juicer. Add liquid to an ice try and freeze to make the cubes.

In a blender, mix together the orange cubes, yogurt, banana, strawberries and orange juice. Make sure all the ingredients are blended well. You might have to stop the blender and mix the fruit to ensure that there are no chunks.

Pour the liquid into a cup and top with blackberries. There you have it- breakfast, snack or even a dessert! Sometimes T.W.O. adds some dark chocolate chips to satisfy their sweet tooth!!

Citrus Wine Spritzer

Ingredients

-4 lemon ice cubes*
-White wine**
-Pellegrino
-Orange Pin Wheel Slices
-Wine Glass

*Recipe HERE.

**We like to use a Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio for our wine spritzers

Begin by places 3 orange ice cubes into a wine glass. Next add your wine and Pellegrino. Ratios of wine to Pellegrino vary depending on the person pouring, but T.W.O. likes to use a ratio of 1:2, wine to sparkling water. Got to stay hydrated! Add 2-3 slices of orange and you have yourself a wine spritzer! It’s a perfect drink to enjoy on a warm day!

Twice Baked Potatoes

Published on January 23, 2014January 22, 2014 by T.W.O.2 Comments

It’s almost Super Bowl Sunday…do you have a menu ready? If not, don’t worry! Between now and February 2^nd, we will be featuring some delicious recipes that will be perfect options for your spread! Today–twice baked potatoes!

Ingredients
-6 large Russell Potatoes, washed
-1/2 cup 2% milk
-1/2 cup sour cream
-2 garlic cloves, diced
-1/2 cup butter, softened
-2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
-4 Tablespoons dried basil leaves
-Green Onions
–Krazy Salt
-Pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Using a knife, poke holes in the potatoes prior to putting in the oven. This allows the potatoes to breath and the heat to spread evenly inside. And so they don’t burst!

Bake the potato for about 30-40 minutes. You will know when the potatoes are done when you can easily put a butter knife through each of them.

Remove the potatoes from the oven and let them sit for 5 minutes. Using a sharp knife. Slice the potatoes in half, long ways.

Using a spoon, scoop the inside of the potatoes out and place into a big mixing bowl. Scrap as much out as possible without breaking the skin. Once complete, add the butter to this warm mixture to melt. While melting, add sour cream, garlic, milk, 1 1/2 cup cheese, basil leaves, salt and pepper. Mix with a hand mixer or a wooden spoon. Once all the ingredients are combined, add the potato mixture to the potato skins.

Top the stuff onions with the remaining shredded cheese. Place in the heated oven for 10-15 minutes. Then turn the oven to broil and let the potatoes broil for 1-2 minutes. The cheese should melt and the tops should get a little brown. Remove the potatoes from the oven. Top with green onions/ chives and serve!

Your football crowd will be pleased!