Honey Glazed Salmon

My boyfriend and I absolutely love this dish! It has so much flavor, the salmon is moist and well seasoned, and if cooked correctly (which I admit, I've screwed up a few times) the fish pairs nicely with some steamed veggies and a glass of white wine.

What you'll need:
(2) fresh salmon fillets
1/4 cup orange juice
olive oil
honey
balsamic vinaigrette
honey mustard
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup chicken broth
Vietnamese chili garlic sauce
soy sauce
salt/pepper/chili powder/onion powder/paprika
veggies of any kind


Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350
In a bowl, combine some olive oil, the orange juice, 3-4 big squeezes of honey, soy sauce, 2 tbs balsamic vinaigrette, the lemon juice, a couple scoops of the chili garlic sauce, onion powder. chili powder, paprika and the chicken broth.  Whisk together.

In a separate bowl, season the fish with your course salt/pepper on both sides.  Lay skin side down in a regular baking dish.  Poke a few holes in the fish to allow the sauce to soak in the fish and let sit for about 5-10 minutes.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.

As your fish is baking, in a pot, steam some veggies until cooked, but still crunchy.

Natasha's Suggestions: I normally steam up some asparagus as my veggies.  I might also do a side salad since my boyfriend and I really love veggies and salads.  I will also cook up some ride on the side, throw in a little bit of soy sauce and top it off with some green onions.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

You are forewarned, this a crowd pleaser.  I recently brought this dip to a friend's bbq party, he asked me to double the usual recipe and wow, people literally stood by my dip all night and ate and ate.  They even put it on their hamburgers, hot dogs, and what ever was available on the table that night,  it is that good.

What you'll need:
2-3 chicken breast
1 bottle Frank's Red Hot
1 bottle Ranch (and don't get the light stuff either!)
16 oz soften cream cheese
pepper
celery
french bread

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a big pot of water, clean each piece and boil the chicken until super tender.
As the chicken cooks, in a large mixing bowl or kitchen aid mixer, combine the cream cheese, about a cup of the hot sauce, and a cup of the ranch.  Mix together until creamy, it won't be smooth.
When you think the chicken is tender enough, let it cool in some cold water.
Taking a knife, or using your hands, shred the chicken into tiny bits.  Season the chicken with some pepper, a little ranch and hot sauce, mix together.  Let it sit for a while to absorb some of the flavor.
Fold the chicken into the cream cheese mixture.
In a baking pan, spray some Pam and then pour your chicken mixture in.  Let it bake for about 20-25 minutes until hot.
While your dip is baking, cut up some celery and french bread.
Serve on the side with hot dip.

Natasha's suggestions: I usually pour almost the entire bottle of hot sauce into my mixture because I really like my dip to be extra spicy.  BUT, you have to balance out the spicy flavor with the ranch, so I use about a cup and a half of ranch, more or less depending on who I am serving this dip too.  Be careful of how much hot sauce you use, this dip can be very spicy and then your guest won't enjoy it.

Welcome!

I finally did it, I created my own blog!  I've actually had my own blog account for over a year and I couldn't decided on a name.  After narrowing down what I would like to discuss on my blog, I figured a play on words between sharing my favorite recipes and politics was best...which gave me...Taste of Affairs!!

I grew up in Florida where I dreamed of moving to DC as an adult.  After graduating from the University of South Florida (Go Bulls!), I pursued my dream and was hired in Senator Mel Martinez's office.  Senator Martinez later resigned and I was then hired to work for Senator George LeMieux.  Two and a half years later, I left the hill to join a government consulting firm where I am a Public Affairs Advisor (in other words, a lobbyist).

While growing up, I never learned to appreciate a home cooked meal the way I do now.  In fact, I used to wonder why my parents never went out to eat at restaurants, like a lot of my other friends did.  As a grown up, working long hours, I appreciate now the meals my mother provided for her family.  She would work 10 hour days, six days a week, and still came home and made a hot meal for her husband and children.  We ate at the dinner table every single day, she never missed a night.  I got my love of cooking, my appreciation for food, from my mother.  I also got her sweet tooth too!  I grew up watching her make yummy, and healthy Vietnamese cuisines.  She hardly ever used a measuring cup and she always tasted her food prior to serving.  And, that is how I cook my meals.  I like to think I'm creative in the kitchen.  I pull out the ingredients I have available and I pour a little bit of this, a little bit of that until something good comes out of it.  Sometimes it works, sometimes, well, the trash needs to be taken out that night and the pizza guy is called.  But, I like to think I have more successful meals under my belt than bad ones.

So, I know cooking and politics are two separate ideas.  I was actually told by many people to create two separate blogs to accommodate my thoughts and ideas.  I say, why can't I share a chicken cordon bleu recipe while telling you what I think of Sarah Palin and Nancy Pelosi?

Disclaimer: I always enjoy a well educated discussion.  However, if you disagree with my thoughts, then please don't follow me. As I said in my "about me" section, I am a conservative, and proud of it!