Ingredients

• 2/3 cup lime juice
• Juice of half an orange
• 1 tbs orange zest
• 2 tbs grated ginger
• 1 tbs white sugar
• 2 tbs diced green onion
• 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
• 12-16 oz white fish, diced into kernel sized small cubes (I use sea bass or corvina)
• 1/2 cup diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup diced mangoes
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• salt to taste

1. Combine lime juice, orange juice, orange zest, ginger, sugar, green onion, yellow onion, and white fish in a bowl.  Make sure juices just cover all the ingredients.  If more is needed, add additional lime or orange juice.
2. Cover and chill for 4 hours.  Stir twice during that period.
3. Remove from refrigerator and stir in tomatoes, mangoes, avocado, and cilantro.
4. Drain most of the juice.
5. Divide into small dishes and serve.

Yield: 7 servings in small dishes, 3-4 servings for a light dinner

For the pork:

• 1 pork tenderloin (1 lb or so)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon/sugar mix
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 3 tbs extra virgin olive oil

For the glaze:

• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbs honey mustard
• 4 green onions, diced
• 2-3 tbs ginger, grated
• 3 cloves garlic, diced or grated

For the onions:

• 1 vidalia onion, sliced into thin and thick strips
• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• salt/pepper

For the sandwiches:

• 8 slices good bread
• 1 tbs or so extra virgin olive oil
• provolone cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, combine all spice ingredients for the pork.  Pat dry the pork tenderloin with paper towels, and then roll the pork in the spices, covering all surfaces.  In a medium sized frying pan, heat olive oil until very hot, then pan fry the pork on each side until all sides are crispy-ish.

While pork is browning in the pan, combine all the ingredients for the glaze in a small bowl, stirring with a fork until glaze-like consistency is formed.  You can add more mustard to make the glaze thinner.

After the pork is done pan frying, place pork in the center of a baking sheet (that has been lined with aluminum foil and sprayed lightly with cooking spray).  Top pork with glaze.  Bake in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

While pork is baking, sauté the onions on medium high heat in the same pan that you cooked the pork in.  Drizzle the olive oil over the onions, and cook until they begin to caramelize.  Sprinkle with salt/pepper half way through.  Set aside.

Remove pork from oven and wrap the aluminum foil up around the pork, and let it sit for 5 minutes.  When ready, slice the pork into thin strips (reserving the glaze mixture in the foil).

Drizzle each slice of bread with olive oil and broil in oven until just brown.  Remove bread from oven, and reserve four slices.  Place the other four slices brown side down on a baking sheet, top each slice with sliced pork, then some reserved glaze, then the onions, and finally one slice provolone cheese.  Broil in oven until cheese is bubbly, then top eat sandwich with the other slices of bread.

Makes 4 Sandwiches.  Or you can make 2 sandwiches and reserve the rest of the pork/onions for another meal (which is what I did).  I also used the same baking sheet for all 3 instances.

I really thought about this for a while the other day.  Chicken is the least exciting meat that I eat.  I have made, still make, and plan to make tasty tasty chicken dishes.  Kitchen Chicken, which is stupid simple and so good (and cheep cheap like a chicken!) is a recipe to which I will always default, and Chicken Marsala is a definite crowd pleaser.  Who doesn’t love Chicken Parmesean?  I do!  I love it, although when you reread my answer it looks like I said “I do” to “who doesn’t” but I do.

Why are these chicken dishes so good?  It’s not the chicken.  It’s the ingredients used in conjunction with the chicken.  Chicken itself has no flavor.  Only people on diets say plain chicken breasts are tasty because they have to, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to continue with their diets.  And I get that.  I do.  But I don’t get chicken.  Why no flavor? Why?

Pork: amazing, my fav

Beef: great, good, perfect with bacon, which is pork, which I luv

It’s not as though I have a conclusive end to this post.  I’m just upset that chicken is letting me down.

Ok this recipe below will benefit you twice (in my case thrice).

First you make the salsa in this recipe for a dinner party or small gathering, reserving 2 cups to use to make the pineapple pan-seared pork in the next few days after the salsa is made.  When you serve the salsa at your social soiree, you get ridiculous (-ly positive) compliments because the salsa is delicious, then you get more of these over the top comments when you make the pork because it turns out PERFECT.  Wanna be popular?  I do!

I actually received a third batch of compliments because when I made the pork version of the recipe, I made it up as I went, so there were the “you’re just a natural!” compliments.  I win I win.

Pineapple Salsa (reserving 2 cups to use as marinade for pork…don’t eat it all!)

Ingredients:

• 1 pineapple, diced into corn kernel sizes (tedious, but worth it)
• 1/2 large red onion, diced fine
• 1 red pepper, diced fine
• 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped fine
• 1 jalepeno pepper, minced very fine
• juice of 2 limes
• salt/pepper

1. Toss together all ingredients, salt to taste.
2. Best if stored in refrigerator over night before serving.

Yield: 4-5 cups

Pineapple Pan-Seared Pork

Ingredients:

• 2 cups pineapple salsa (above), preferably 2 day old
• 1 lb pork loin
• 2-3 tbs olive oil (for frying)
• salt/pepper

1. Marinade pork in pineapple salsa for about 1 hour (not overnight!).
2. In a medium sized frying pan, heat olive oil on medium-high until almost smoking.
3. Remove pork loin from salsa marinade, place in oil.
4. Reserve salsa marinade.
5. Sprinkle salt/pepper on pork as you see fit.
6. Sear pork on medium-high, about 5 minutes per side or until crispy.
7. Place pork loin on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet.
8. Add salsa marinade to the used frying pan and sauté until liquid is reduced, about 3 minutes.
9. Top pork with cooked salsa marinade, and bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes or until pork is cooked to your liking.
10. Remove from oven, wrap foil up around the pork, and let rest 10 minutes.
11. Slice and serve with white rice!  I zest up the rice with lime juice, salt, and butter.

Then you wake up the next morning nauseous from the smell.  But you go to work anyway, and your clothes (which translates into you) smell like food all day, so you feel dirty like people think you’re the smelly kid (which, you kinda are).  Then you get home from work and are smacked in the face full force because you forgot what your house (and yourself all day) smelled like.  But you heat up the leftovers and eat it anyway.  And it’s worth it.

Ingredients

• Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper
• 2 carrots, grated
• 6 large Roma tomatoes, roughly diced into large chunks
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
• 1 16 oz jar favorite pasta sauce (I use Newman’s Own Marinara and Basil)

1. In a 13×9 Pyrex glass dish, grate 2 carrots.  Spread evenly.
2. Add Roma tomatoes, spread evenly.
3. Sprinkle diced onions evenly over tomatoes.
4. Sprinkle garlic, then parsley.
5. Drizzle entire layered mixture with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
6. Bake in a hot oven (450 degrees F), stirring every 10 minutes (about).
7. When you think it’s finished, remove from oven and stir in jar of sauce.

This recipe is perfect to make as the sauce for chicken parmesan.  As you are baking the sauce, pan fry your chicken parmesan and set aside, then when the sauce is finished, add the chicken to the Pyrex dish, cover with mozzarella cheese and bake until cheese is bubbly.

Ingredients

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs butter
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
• 2 tbs tomato paste
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinaigrette (or italian salad dressing)
• 2 chicken breasts or 5-6 chicken tenders (whatever you feel like eating)
• Salt/Pepper

1. In a large-ish skillet, heat oil and butter on medium-high heat.
2. Sautee garlic and onions, about 5 minutes.
3. Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and salad dressing.
4. Sautee for 5 more minutes, stirring continuously.
5. Add chicken, reduce heat to medium-low and cover, cooking until chicken is done, about 10-12 minutes.
6. Add salt/pepper.

I made this dish with a side of rice.  I think it’d be good if you put cheese on top, but it was delicious regardless.  I also froze the remaining tomato paste in a plastic bag for later use.

So that led me to recently discover FoodGawker.com, and it has completely changed the way I find and research recipes.

I’ve been using FoodGawker for the past two weeks, deciding it would be more appropriate to write a blog that contains actual feedback and personal opinions from what I have encountered myself.

1. The interface design of FoodGawker is highly effective.  As pictured below (under the second numbered bullet), you will notice how clean and simply laid out the menu bar is, and each recipe is accompanied by a high quality photo.  With the click of a photo, a new window will open which takes the user to the recipe page.

2. The “Favorites” tab allows a users to choose their favorite recipes by clicking the heart icon on the recipe box.  These chosen recipes will then be stored under the “Favorites” tab for convenient accessibility.  Pictured below is my current Favorites page.  I made the resolution smaller so the content can be more broadly viewed.

3. The most interesting/unique aspect of FoodGawker is that it’s a community for food bloggers to share their recipes from their blogs.  Taken from the FoodGawker website, “foodgawker is a gallery where food bloggers can showcase their food and photography skills. It’s a place for you to discover new sites, dishes, recipes and ingredients to inspire your own cooking. Anyone can submit pictures, if they follow our simple site rules…

1. Attribution is MANDATORY! Do not steal other site’s pictures!
2. Do not violate anyone’s copyrights! Any post with violations will be removed immediately. Let us know if your photo was mistakenly posted.
3. Registration is required to post pictures.
4. Post beautiful, well-balanced, food related photos.
5. Photos are cropped to 250 px by 250 px.
6. We reserve the right to remove posts at any time.
7. Submissions are moderated.”

As you can notice, FoodGawker can deny any submissions, ensuring the quality and aesthetic appeal of their interface (and reputation as well).  The recipes reside on the blogs of serious food bloggers, which additionally holds promise that the recipes are authentic, trustworthy, and simply delicious!

There is nothing worse than showing up to a restaurant and only having a few minutes to scan the menu and decide what you want before the waiter asks for your order.  How often have you found yourself saying “You go first!” to the person/people you came with, not wanting to make the others in your party wait for you.  I just hate feeling like everyone is annoyed that I take so long to decide.

For this reason, I always prefer to do my research.  Before dinner, I look up the restaurant on the Internet and study the menu, deciding (for the most part) on what meal I will order.  Not only does this ensure that I order what I really want (and that I don’t order something because I freak out and pick the first thing I look at), but it makes me more relaxed and able to enjoy myself when I first sit down.  I don’t freak out, I don’t make hasty decisions, and I’m an overall nicer person because of it.

Here To Serve Restaurants, or h2sr.com, is one of my favorite restaurant websites.  Its design, usability, and overall organized access to information about nine of the best Atlanta restaurants makes this site a top contender and model for how restaurant websites should be constructed.  The following information outlines the main reasons that this site is successful:

The Design Interface: This website has undergone some minor changes over the past month, with its most recent design being extremely effective.  I have included a screen grab for a visual, but you should visit the site for better understanding.  Notice the professional and inviting photograph, the stylized list of restaurants right below that, and the more detailed yet summarized list of specials and highlights with further clicking options located on the yellow body content.

Consistency:  No matter which restaurant tab you click on, the main page interface stays consistent, bringing up information, news, and menus of each restaurant in the same design as all the others.  Some basic differences such as color scheme and photos better define each restaurant’s page, and the linked content on the left hand side (reservations, menu, gallery, contact) are also altered.  The consistency of this site is a big plus for me.  Try it out yourself…IT WORKS.  The organized and consistent information ensures that the viewer does not waste time figuring out the site structure, and with nine restaurants to view, this aspect is effective.

Any suggestions/examples of restaurant sites that work for you?  Let me know!

The International Chili Society holds over 300 chili cook-off’s each year, so far raising over $75 million dollars for charities and nonprofit organizations (way to go!).  View their virtual map for cook-off’s near you!

Check out this video of “chili-heads” from the Deltona Chili Cook-Off and Music Fest…are YOU a chili head too?  Can you name every style of chili mentioned in this video?  Give it a try!

The following recipe is a world-class-top-secreat recipe that I have provided just for you!  Any additions/suggestions/changes to my recipe?  Leave me a comment!

My Chili Recipe (as promised)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb steak strips (the kind they sell for fajitas), diced into 1/2 inch lengths/cubes
• 1 tbs. olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 small can diced green chilis
• 1 can beef broth
• 2 tbs cumin, 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 15 oz. can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes (chili flavored)
• 1 15 oz. can crushed tomatoes (get another can in case you end up needing a thinner chili)
• Salt/Pepper/Hot Sauce, as desired

1. Brown the steak bits in olive oil until medium.
2. Add the diced yellow onion and green pepper, and cook on medium-high heat for 2 minutes, stirring regularly.
3. Add the diced green chilis, and cook a few more minutes.
4. When everything starts to semi-stick to the pan, or when you think it’s time, add about one fourth of the can of beef broth.
5. Add cumin and chili powder, and cook for about another 30 seconds to 1 minute.
6. Add the kidney beans and black beans and stir.
7. Add the diced tomatoes, stir, then cook for about 2 minutes.
8. Add the remaining beef broth and crushed tomatoes, stir, and cover, reduce heat, simmering until you feel like it’s done.
9. Season with salt/pepper as needed, as well as hot sauce.

When you develop a blog, you have to have a voice.  I learned this from being an Interactive Media graduate student.

Stories and blogs embody different styles of writing, but they must both contain voices (if they are to be well received).  You can’t develop a voice in one day by a stroke of good luck.  Instead, you learn from others, whether from the writing styles of great authors or great bloggers for influence on what works, or from horrible authors and horrible bloggers for influence on what does not work.  No matter which type of writing you do, you are influenced by the works of others.

So as I develop a personal website, along with sections of websites for other people, I find myself realizing that a voice exists in visual design as well as in written design.  Instead of reading about what works and what does not work for design, I believe you have to see what works and what does not work firsthand to form your own opinions.

Here is a list of sites which have given me great inspiration:

• http://www.simplyinteractive.net/
• http://www.planetizen.com/websites/2009
• http://bestflashwebsites.blogspot.com/
• http://www.webdesigndev.com/category/flash
• http://www.webdesigndev.com/inspiration/26-light-website-designs-that-work-well
• http://www.webdesigndev.com/inspiration/26-dark-website-designs-that-work-well
• http://www.webdesigndev.com/category/inspiration