The Bad Girl's Kitchen

Mexican Chicken Pot Pies

2012-01-06T18:33:00.001-07:00

I had the television on the other day, when Rachael Ray's show came on. The only reason I left it on was that she mentioned she had gone to Mexico, and we had just gone to Mexico this past Thanksgiving so I wanted to see where she went. Plus I was folding laundry, so I needed some diversion, however lame it turned out to be.

You may already know, I really don't like Rachael Ray's recipes. I just don't. Every recipe I've ever tried of hers, if followed to the letter, comes out poorly. But I just keep trying, because honestly some of them sound good. Unfortunately, some just don't work, others are just plain gross. I wish I were kidding, but I'm not. And y'all KNOW I am a good cook.

She made "Mexican Chicken Pot Pies" on her show, and On Screen they looked fabulous. She had some good ideas, including poaching the chicken first, (although that is actually a Cook's Illustrated: The Best Recipe technique that I've done before) and baking puff pastry separately for a flaky, non-gooey top. She also had some bad ideas, like poaching the chicken with lime slices and cooking the vegetables too hot, and whatever that weird egg wash mixture was about. (for the record, I did ignore her egg wash recipe and made my own this time)

Some day I will learn NOT to give Ms. Ray the benefit of the doubt. Some day I'll learn that one simply MUST NOT follow her recipes to the letter, rather one must use them as a starting point, an inspiration if you will, and one must create her own recipes INSPIRED by Rachael Ray.

Yesterday, I made the aforementioned Mexican Chicken Pot Pies with Rachael Ray's recipe. They were disgusting. Boiling the limes with the chicken was likely the main problem; it imparted a bitter flavor to the chicken, and indeed the whole dish. I'm telling you, the bite of diced chicken I took after it had been poached? Gross. My husband thought it may have been the oil from the lime peel.

Still, I pressed on, hoping for the best, perhaps some of the other ingredients would mask the bitterness, for Pete's sake she has her own television show! I made the entire recipe, tasted the pie filling to "adjust" the flavors, and I kid you not, I had to open a bottle of wine just to get that taste out of my mouth! (My facebook friends can attest this is the truth!)

We made the boys hamburgers for dinner.

I should have known better than to hope at all. The pies were so disgusting that my mother-in-law took only one half of a bite, then ate the top crust washed down with 2 glasses of that lovely white wine. Number One and I only ate ours because we were simply starving, with copious amounts of wine after each bite, of course. About three glasses each, I'm guessing, just to get through one serving of that damn pie.

So with that whole episode behind me, I was left really really wanting a Delicious Chicken Pot Pie. After all, that crust was a wonderful idea. And I knew I could most definitely improve on Rachael's "Mexican" attempt, because we cook a lot of Mexican-inspired food. So I did. I used a few of her techniques, and many of the same classic pot pie ingredients but have adjusted both the amounts and some other things, so she only gets the "inspiration" credit from me.

To make ahead: Poach chicken and dice vegetables for filling. When chicken is done, dice and store separately. Cover diced vegetables. Strain stock and refrigerate all components. I'm pretty sure you could also successfully freeze the finished pie filling, then just thaw, heat and top with pastry...I will try it and let you know how it works!

This recipe is so much better than hers!
The pot pies are savory and fragrant and tangy, with just a hint of spicy heat.
Or more heat if you prefer! Not bitter in the least. ENJOY.

Mexican Chicken Pot Pies
Inspired by and greatly adapted from Rachael Ray's fiasco
Serves 4

For Poached Chicken:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 medium onion, halved
1 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 rib celery, coarsely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, halved, seeds and stem removed
2 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Kosher salt

For Pie Filling:
4 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup corn kernels (thawed if frozen)
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup heavy cream
1 to 2 chipotles en adobo, minced, to taste (I use 1 if I'm feeding kids)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
juice of 1 lime

For Pie Tops:
1 sheet puff pastry
1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 tablespoon heavy cream

Place chicken in a pot with halved onion, carrot chunks, celery, jalapeno, bay leaves, crushed garlic and water to cover by 1/2-inch. Season with salt, bring to a boil then reduce heat to a low simmer and poach 40 minutes. Remove solids and reduce stock over high heat for 10 to 20 minutes. You'll need about 2 cups for the pie filling.

Preheat oven to 425ºF.

Dice chicken in bite-sized pieces.

Heat butter in medium skillet over medium heat, add chopped onions, carrots, garlic and corn, and cook to tender, stirring, for 10 minutes or so. Add flour and stir 1 minute, until the "flour" smell has dissipated and flour is no longer visible. Slowly whisk in about 2 cups of the reduced stock, then add cream and chipotle. Taste and adjust the chipotle, and add salt and pepper. Stir in chicken and reduce heat to low. Stir in lime juice, cover and keep warm (over low heat if needed) while you bake the pastry tops.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out puff pastry sheet on a floured surface. Cut out rounds the size of the bowls you wish to serve in and arrange them on the baking sheet. I also bake the pastry scraps right alongside the rounds. Brush pastry with egg yolk wash and bake until golden, about 10 to 12 minutes.

Serve chicken "filling" in bowls topped with pastry tops.

Moroccan Chicken Stew with Sweet Potatoes

2012-01-03T15:04:00.000-07:00

This is a delicious, quick dinner to pull together on a weeknight, or any night you'd like a savory, exotic and nutritious meal.

I had a huge chicken breast in the freezer, so I just diced that instead of using thighs and proceeded with the recipe. The rest of my notes are in italics, as usual. I served this with rice. The stew improves with time, so it's great if you have some leftover. Incidentally, I didn't remove the cinnamon stick or ginger, I just left it in the pot and in the container we stored the leftover stew in.

I will probably try freezing this meal and see how it does.

Moroccan Chicken Stew with Sweet Potatoes
Everyday Food, October 2007
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Serves 4

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil (I needed more oil before adding onions to pot)
1 medium onion, diced
1 piece fresh ginger (2 inches long), peeled
1 cinnamon stick
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth (I used 1 1/2 cans)
2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 pound total), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
Pinch of saffron, (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 cup couscous or rice
Cilantro sprigs, for garnish (optional)

Place flour in a wide, shallow bowl. Season chicken with salt and pepper; dredge in flour, shaking off excess. In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add chicken, and cook until browned, 4 to 6 minutes per side; transfer to a plate.

Heat 1 more tablespoon oil in the pot. Add onion, ginger, and cinnamon to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion starts to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Return chicken to pot. Add broth, sweet potatoes, and, if using, saffron. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer until chicken is cooked through and sweet potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Discard ginger and cinnamon. Stir in lemon juice, and season stew with salt and pepper.

While stew is simmering, prepare couscous according to package instructions. Serve chicken stew with couscous, garnished with cilantro, if desired.

EASY BEEF TENDERLOIN

2011-12-26T15:36:00.000-07:00

Christmas Eve dinner was just the two of us this year so I made a beef tenderloin with sauteed mushrooms and twice baked potatoes. Tonight that left over tenderloin will make some great hot beef sandwiches. YUMMY!

BEEF TENDERLOIN
1 (3 pound) beef tenderloin roast
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch green onions, sliced thin
4-5 mushrooms, sliced thin
1/2 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sprinkle garlic on bottom of shallow, glass baking dish and then layer green onions on top.
Place roast on top of onions.
Whisk together soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and butter.
Pour over the tenderloin.
Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, then turn the roast over, and continue cooking 35 to 40 minutes, basting occasionally until the internal temperature of the roast is at 140 degrees for medium.
Let meat rest for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing

CHICKEN ADOBO

2011-12-19T19:52:00.001-07:00

When you look up recipes for Chicken Adobo ou have to choose between either a Phillipino recipe or a Mexican recipe. I couldn't choose so I decided to combine my favorite ingredients from each of them and make my own recipe.

Chicken Adobo
1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, sliced VERY thin
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 tablespoon achiote seeds
1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cover achiote seeds with boiling water.
Cover and set aside overnight.
Drain seeds discarding water.
Place seeds, orange juice, soy sauce, vinegar, cayenne, paprika, cinnamon, honey, salt, pepper and garlic in a food processor. Grind until well blended.
In a large wok or skillet, heat butter over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken on one side until light golden brown, about 5 minutes. Flip the chicken over and sear the other side for another 5 minutes.
Add the onions over the chicken.
Pour the seed mixture over chicken and heat through.
Serve hot over rice and vegetable sides.

Taste & Create Partner List

2011-12-12T14:33:00.000-07:00

Here is the T&C partner list for our extended Holiday Event! I apologize for the delay. Please remember to submit your creations to Nicole's Taste & Create website by January 24th, 2012! Over the holidays, you'll have extra time to create something fabulous!

If you have any questions or problems, check out the How it Works page, or please feel free to email me at cowgirlmin07 [at] gmail [dot] com.

Have you heard of Taste & Create? It's a monthly food blog event in which participants are randomly paired off, and must choose and create a recipe from their partner's blog. It is great fun! A picture of everyone's creation and a brief "review" gets posted on the Taste & Create website, linking back to your own blog post.

If you'd would like to sign up for the NEXT event, please email me by the 8th of the month. (keep in mind the next month is actually February 2012, then every month again after that) You'll be randomly paired with another food blogger, and the fun will begin!

Can't wait to see what you all create!

Bizzy Bakes & Samayal Arai

Searching for Spice & Tasty Treats

For Such a Time as This & Seduce Your Tastebuds

Study Food & That's So Vegan

Avocado Pesto & The Bad Girl's Kitchen

Angry Asian Creations & Always Eat on the Good China

Sizzling Tastebuds & No Reason Needed

Veg Junction & Cook's Hideout

Roasted Salmon with Lentils

2011-12-09T08:28:00.004-07:00

We have one boy, H-Bomb, who LOVES salmon (and all seafood!) and one boy, Sawed Off, who doesn't like salmon at all. We keep serving it. Last night, when I served up this roasted salmon with lentils, Sawed Off immediately said he doesn't like salmon, he didn't want to eat salmon, etc. complain etc. I asked him if he wanted sauce. He said no. Then I poured sauce on his dad's salmon, and Sawed Off said, "That sauce smells good." So I asked him if he wanted the sauce on the side or on top, and he said on top!

Sawed Off ATE that salmon and loved it, and even asked for more sauce on top! Give this recipe a try, even if someone in your family has mixed feelings about salmon. You might be surprised. And if you like salmon, try this recipe, it's a good one!

Roasted Salmon with Lentils
Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Serves 4

3/4 cup lentils, picked over and rinsed
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 large celery stalk, chopped
(I also added 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
4 skinless salmon fillets (6 ounces each)
nonstick cooking spray

Combine the lentils and 2 1/2 cups water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. Add the onion, celery (and carrot); cover, and continue cooking until the lentils and vegetables are just tender, 15 to 25 minutes more. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid. Transfer the lentil mixture to a medium bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk 2 tablespoons of the reserved cooking liquid with the vinegar, oil, mustard, garlic and parsley; season with salt and pepper. *I prepped all these ingredients while the lentils were cooking, then added the cooking liquid at the end.* Toss half the dressing with the lentil mixture.

Heat the broiler. Season the salmon with salt and pepper. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Arrange the salmon on the sheet; broil until opaque throughout, 8 to 10 minutes. Spoon the lentils onto 4 plates; top with the salmon, flaking it into large pieces, if desired. Drizzle with the remaining dressing.

This recipe comes from a weeknight favorite of mine, Everday Food: Great Food Fast.

It's a great cookbook for fairly last-minute dinners, and I turn to it often.

Taste & Create: Buckeye Bars

2011-12-05T07:24:00.007-07:00

*Taste & Create is an amazing monthly food blog event, created by my friend Nicole of For the Love of Food. Participants are paired up randomly, and each create a recipe from their partner's blog! It is so fun! Please join us. The deadline to sign up is the 8th day of each month, email me at cowgirlmin07[at]gmail[dot]com if you're interested! For the months of December and January, the Taste & Create will be combined into a single event, with the signup deadline on December 8th and submissions due by January 24th, to give us all extra time to create something fabulous!

My partner this month was Stephanie of Fun Foods on a Budget. So many recipes to choose from, but for me time was of the essence! I just got back from a fabulous family vacation in sunny Mexico, so I needed something quick. I was all set to make Stephanie's recipe for Universal Muffins, originally from The Tightwad Gazette. But then. I decided to cruise through her Cookies & Bars category one more time, in the spirit of the holiday season or something. And that's when I ran across these babies.

Buckeye Bars. I love Buckeye Balls, so the idea of having the same great taste without making individual candies? Wonderful.

In the end I decided to use almond butter, because we are out of our regular natural peanut butter and I didn't want extra sugar. These went together so quickly and nicely in the food processor that I really don't think making the balls would be that much trouble, so I will probably do that again before Christmas.

Also, I must say that I had the same trouble with my chocolate that Stephanie did, but I did leave my bars in the refrigerator overnight before attempting to cut them, so who knows the appropriate timeframe in which to cut them.

And really, I am going to stick with the peanut butter from now on. The almond butter is too gooey, so the bars didn't set up very well. They are sort of a sticky (although yummy) treat that can only be served cold (and are still sticky then). So, my experimentation is a bust, but that won't stop me from eating these AND making them with peanut butter again this season!

Buckeye Bars
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup finely ground graham cracker crumbs
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup chocolate chips

Combine peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs, and confectioners' sugar in a bowl or a food processor until smooth.

Line an 8-inch square pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides.

Press peanut butter mixture into pan evenly. Microwave chocolate chips on high for 1 minute; stir. Microwave 15 to 30 seconds or until chocolate is melted; stir until smooth. Spread over peanut butter layer.

Refrigerate 2 hours. Use foil handles to lift bars from pan before cutting to serve.

Taste & Create: South African Crunchies

2011-11-11T11:11:00.003-07:00

*Taste & Create is an amazing monthly food blog event, created by my friend Nicole of For the Love of Food. Participants are paired up randomly, and each create a recipe from their partner's blog! It is so fun! Please join us. The deadline to sign up is the 8th day of each month, email me at cowgirlmin07[at]gmail[dot]com if you're interested!

This month, I was partnered with Nicole of Seven Ate Nine. I really wanted to make her Hot Crab Dip, but I don't have access to the right kind of crab unless I drive for four hours one way. I also considered making her Savory White Chicken Chili. That is, of course, until I noticed this recipe for South African Crunchies. Not only have I never heard of them, I've never, to my knowledge, made anything remotely South African. Although surprised by their lack of exotic ingredients, I decided I had to make them!

I followed Nicole's lead and made a half batch, using only 1 1/2 sticks of butter and an 8x8 pan. I didn't have any pumpkin seeds, so I used about 1/8 cup flax seeds and 1/8 cup slivered almonds.

Mine turned out somewhat crunchy, but more crumbly...maybe I didn't let them cool long enough? They are tasty though, so I just might make them again! I think I was expecting more of a crisp than a crunch, but honestly I had no idea what to expect, what do I know, so go ahead and make them when you're looking for a different sweet snack. Can't wait to have one in the morning with my coffee, as Nicole suggests!

South African Crunchies

1-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
1-1/2 cups coconut
3 cups oats
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
3 sticks butter
4 teaspoons corn syrup
1-1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Mix together all of the dry ingredients, except the baking soda. Boil the butter and syrup, add baking soda and stir. Mix everything together, press into a flat pan (I halved the recipe and used an 8x8 pan). Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cut immediately and let cool.

Taste & Create Partner List

2011-11-10T17:01:00.009-07:00

Here is the T&C partner list. Please remember to submit your creations to Nicole's Taste & Create website by December 1st, 2011!

If you have any questions or problems, check out the How it Works page, or please feel free to email me at cowgirlmin07 [at] gmail [dot] com.

Have you heard of Taste & Create? It's a monthly food blog event in which participants are randomly paired off, and must choose and create a recipe from their partner's blog. It is great fun! A picture of everyone's creation and a brief "review" gets posted on the Taste & Create website, linking back to your own blog post.

If you'd would like to sign up for NEXT month, please email me by the 8th of the month. You'll be randomly paired with another food blogger, and the fun will begin! Over the holidays, we'll have a special Taste & Create event, with an extended deadline! You'll receive the partner list as usual on December 11, but your entry won't be due until January 24th, 2012! Extra time to create something fabulous, please do join us!

Can't wait to see what you all create!

Always Eat on the Good China & For Such a Time as This

The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch & Tangerine's Kitchen

The Bad Girl's Kitchen & Fun Foods on a Budget

No Reason Needed & Shortcut to Mushrooms

Tomato Blues & Tasty Treats

Alisa Cooks & Study Food

Cook's Hideout & Searching for Spice

Avocado Pesto & Bizzy Bakes

Edible Entertainment & The Baking Bluefinger

Debbi Does Dinner Healthy & The Teenage Taste

Seduce Your Tastebuds & Veg Junction

Angry Asian Creations & Tasteful Diversions

Pinks Recipe Diary & Measured in Pinches

Potato Soup (Hot or Cold)

2011-11-03T12:41:00.002-06:00

This, I believe, qualifies as a five-ingredient recipe. It's fast, easy, and great for a cold day. Of course, the cold version (see note), which I haven't tried, should be great for a warm day. This would be terrific recipe to teach your own kids or other kids to make. Could be completed in a class period at school or church.

For a fund-raiser, make lots of this soup at a low cost, using stock base and water rather than canned stock. Have folks donate the garnishes, which folks can pile on as they wish. Charge adults $6 for all they can eat; charge kids $3. Families could opt to pay $20 for their brood. Having donated apple desserts would add a nice complement to the soup.

Wendy’s Quick Potato Soup

Serves 4

1 very large russet potato, about 1 pound

1 medium onion

3 cups chicken or vegetable stock

4 ounces shredded cheese at room temperature

1 cup milk, half-and-half, or cream at room temperature

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Minced parsley leaves, optional for garnish

Sliced chives, optional for garnish

Sliced green onions, optional for garnish

Crumbled bacon, optional for garnish

Finely shredded cheese, optional for garnish

Paprika, optional for garnish

1. Peel potato and cut into small chunks.

2. Peel onion and cut into small chunks; should be about 1 cup.

3. Bring stock to a boil

4. Add potato and onion to stock. Reduce stock to a simmer. Cover pot.

5. Simmer about 15 minutes or until potato and onion are tender.

6. Use an immersible blender to purée incomplete soup, or pour into a

blender, purée in batches, and then return to pan.

7. Add cheese and stir until it is melted.

8. Stir in milk, half-and-half, or cream and heat gently but do not boil.

9. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

10. Garnish as desired before serving.

NOTE: Recipe can be used to make chilled potato soup. In this case, don’t use cheese. After puréeing in Step 6, chill incomplete soup for up to two days or freeze for up to a month. Then, thaw if need be, and follow Step 8. Chill again. When ready to serve, follow Steps 9 and 10.

Mushroom Turnovers with Sour Cream

2011-10-25T16:40:00.000-06:00

As soon as I received my Dinner Tonight email, I said "Mushroom Turnovers with Sour Cream" out loud, and H-Bomb said, "Can you make those for dinner tonight??" We had everything except mushrooms and sour cream, and I was planning on going to the store anyway, so I said yes! I ended up with some white button mushrooms, cremini and a couple portabellos (H-Bomb's favorite mushroom). I weighed the mushrooms to equal about 20 ounces, because none of them were in the right size package, of course.

Easy to put together, the hardest part was rolling out the pastry dough evenly enough to make four turnovers of roughly equal size. I didn't trim the edges of the dough, honestly with my poor rolling I needed all the dough I could get!

These are quick, savory and delicious! Three out of four family members finished their dinner. We served them with edamame and green peas (each boy requested each vegetable) to green things up.

Mushroom Turnovers with Sour Cream

From Everyday Food, November 2008

Our flaky stuffed pastries are a vegetarian main that's easy and elegant. Store-bought puff pastry makes quick work of these savory turnovers that require only five ingredients.

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 packages (5 ounces each) mixed mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (from a 17.3-ounce box), thawed
1/2 cup sour cream, for serving

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Add mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; set aside.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough (still folded in thirds) to a 20-by-10-inch rectangle. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, trim edges straight; cut dough into four 10-by-5-inch rectangles. Dividing evenly, mound mushroom mixture on one half of each rectangle, leaving a 1/2-inch border on three sides. Lightly brush border with water; fold other half of pastry over filling, and press edges firmly to seal. With a floured fork, crimp edges.

Using a wide metal spatula, transfer turnovers to a large baking sheet. With a paring knife, cut 3 to 4 small slits in the top of each turnover. Bake until golden and puffed, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes; serve turnovers with sour cream.

Kafta - Lebanese Meatballs on a Stick

2011-10-24T16:49:00.000-06:00

Once a month, I post a recipe over at Our Krazy Kitchen. I used to post once a week, but life got in the way. Our Krazy Kitchen is a bunch of people who contribute recipes, kind of a nice recipe sharing community. Because there are so many people (I've honestly lost count), you never know what the recipes will be, so I check in just about every day to see what's cooking!

When Lyndsey of The Tiny Skillet posted this one for Kafta, I knew I wanted to make these meatballs right away. I couldn't find lamb, so I just used beef from one of our cattle. The only thing we would do differently is add salt. (we added it on top this time). We did try both ways of cooking the meatballs, and the grill worked easier for us than the grill pan + oven method. Do whatever floats your boat, but make these soon!

formed & ready to grill!

Kafta - Lebanese Meatballs on a Stick

1 1/2 pounds ground lamb (we used ground beef)
4 green onions chopped
1 bunch parsley chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
a handful of mint chopped
1 tablespoon Lebanese seven spice or sometimes called mixed spice
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Mix all ingredients together. Cover and rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes to get the flavors merging all together nicely and the meatball will form easily. If using wooden skewers soak them for the same 30 minutes so they won't burn on the grill. Lyndsey says, "I don't like to form the meatball too firm so it won't be too dense after cooking...just my preference." Also prepare the Cucumber Sauce during this time.

You can grill them or make them on a grill pan stove-top, Lyndsey suggested browning them on the grill pan first, then transferring the pan to the oven to finish them off. Grill them like you would burgers, just make sure the meat is cooked no longer pink, but try not to overcook them.

We tried both methods, and preferred the meatballs on the grill. We served them with pita bread and Lyndsey's Cucumber Sauce (below).

Cucumber Yogurt Sauce

1 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cucumber, chopped
1/2 tsp dill
a dash of garlic powder
a squeeze of lemon juice

Mix everything together and let sit in the fridge while preparing the meatballs.

Make Your Own Pizzas with Newman's Own!

2011-10-23T18:00:00.001-06:00

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemakers program, I received free jars of Newman's Own Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce AND a free Flip Video Camera with the Newman's Own logo! The mission: create an easy, fast, family-friendly recipe. What better dinner than a pizza night?!

You may have already seen a post like this, in which H-Bomb had a friend over and we made individual pizzas. That time, I used Artisan Bread Dough for the crust, and homemade Marinara Sauce, in addition to the toppings. The boys LOVED them. (follow the above link for those recipes) They had so much fun, and ate all of their dinner, so I decided to let them do it again!

I made a batch of Artisan Bread Dough for these crusts, but accidentally left it out on the counter for over 24 hours, and that, my friends, is too long! When did I discover this? When we were getting ready to prepare dinner, of course. I considered using tortillas as a last-minute crust, but decided to google first. I found a no-knead, no-rise crust recipe to try, on a food blog called Adventures of a Food Slut. (a perfect match for The Bad Girl's Kitchen, I say!)

Super Quick, No-Knead Pizza Dough

2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in water. Add remaining ingredients and stir vigorously 20 strokes. Let rest 5 minutes. With floured fingers, pat into pizza pan. (I sprinkled a little cornmeal on the pan first) For pizza, top as desired, and bake 15 to 20 minutes at 425 degrees F.

I formed the dough into three individual mini pizzas for the three boys. The toppings were Newman's Own Roasted Garlic Sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni and mushrooms.

The dough took about 10 minutes, including the 5 minute resting time.

The cute pizza prep video (which I am having the hardest time adding to this post!) is about 3 minutes real time, that's all it took for the boys to get their own pizzas loaded up.

Fifteen minutes in the oven, and they were done!

I think the boys can speak for themselves! There was not much pizza left at all!

Thank you Foodbuzz and Newman's Own!!

Pumpkin Parmesan Pasta Sauce

2011-10-18T16:32:00.001-06:00

This recipe is inspired by part of a gift we received from our good friends Alice and Doug as a housewarming gift two years ago: A jar of Williams-Sonoma Pumpkin Parmesan Pasta Sauce. The jar said, " A rich, creamy sauce featuring pumpkin and aged Parmesan cheese seasoned with caramelized onions, roasted garlic and sage." It was delicious. I wrote down the ingredients so I could try to make it from scratch, because there is no Williams-Sonoma anywhere near here.

I didn't end up using all the same ingredients, (namely water and butternut squash) and of course there aren't amounts on a jar of sauce from the store. So this is my own creation, inspired by Williams-Sonoma. I used leftover fresh pumpkin puree I had in the freezer from last year's Halloween!

Number One proclaimed, "This tastes like fall." H-Bomb, after initially saying he didn't want sauce, said he loved it. Sawed Off ate it, but wouldn't commit to liking it. I thought it was delicious, and I'm proud to say the sauce turned out on the very first try!

While it's not as orange or quite as smooth as the jarred sauce was, I can say that I know exactly what is in it, and we liked it!

Pumpkin Parmesan Pasta Sauce
Serves 6 to 8 (I'm sort of guessing because we had a lot of leftovers)

1 pound spaghetti or pasta of your choice

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
3 cups roasted pumpkin puree
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon sage leaves
1 cup half-and-half or heavy cream
1/3 to 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon lemon juice
grated Parmesan, to serve

Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta.

In a large pan, saute onions and garlic in olive oil over medium-low heat, until onions are translucent and just starting to brown. Stir in chicken broth and heat. Stir in pumpkin puree and spices, then simmer on low while preparing your pasta as directed. (I actually simmered my puree for about 20 minutes, because it had been frozen and needed to simmer out some of the water.)

Whisk half-and-half into the pumpkin mixture, and heat gently. Stir in Parmesan, adding more if desired. Minutes before serving, stir in lemon juice.

Drain pasta and place in large bowl, pour sauce on top of pasta. Serve with more freshly grated Parmesan on top, if desired.

Blonde Butterscotch Brownies

2011-10-17T21:04:00.005-06:00

These were a big hit with my co-ed Great Books group. —Wendy D.

BLONDE BUTTERSCOTCH BROWNIES

Serves 8

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup butter

1 ½ cup dark brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup butterscotch morsels

1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

2. Melt butter; remove from heat.

3. Stir in brown sugar.

4. Stir in eggs, one at a time, until well-blended.

5. Stir in vanilla extract.

6. Add dry ingredients and stir gently until mostly blended.

7. Stir in butterscotch morsels and walnuts until distributed evenly and none of the dry ingredients can be seen.

8. Spread mixture in a buttered 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

9. Bake in a 350°F oven for about 25 minutes. Do not overbake; brownies will become firmer when cool.

10. Cut while warm. Eat when cool.

OVEN BBQ PORK CHOPS

2011-10-16T19:23:00.002-06:00

OVEN BBQ PORK CHOPS
1 1/2 to 2 pounds pork rib chops, trimmed of fat  
1/4 teaspoon sea salt  
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 teaspoons safflower oil, divided
1 medium onion, sliced thin
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup orange juice  
3/4 cup barbecue sauce
2-3 cups prepared white rice

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Generously sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper.
Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large ovenproof skillet over high heat.
Add the pork chops and sear to brown, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.
Add the remaining 1 teaspoon oil to the pan.
Add onion and cook, stirring, until softened.
Stir in garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant.
Add orange juice and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.
Stir in barbecue sauce until well blended.
Return the pork chops to the pan, turning several times to coat with the sauce.
In a large baking dish layer the rice on the bottom, smoothing the top.
Add pork chops to top of rice.
Pour remaining sauce over the chops and rice.
Transfer the dish to the oven and bake until the pork chops are barely pink in the middle and an instant-read thermometer registers at least 145 degrees. 10-15 minutes.

Spicy Coconut Custard with Candied Coconut

2011-10-15T19:40:00.002-06:00

It's so fun entering these contests from Marx Foods! In the most recent Marx Foods recipe contest I entered, I came in third with my Chile-Spiced Chocolate Tarts with Crème Pâtissière and Red Wine and Chile-Infused Strawberry Sauce!! They were so delicious! And honestly, without Marx Foods providing the dried chile peppers, the inspiration to create those tarts may never have arrived!

So when you enter a Marx Foods contest, you may have an idea of what you're going to get, but it still somehow is a surprise. This particular contest was a complete surprise--RANDOM Recipes! I had no idea what would be in the box, and was pleasantly surprised to find:

Tomato Couscous
Puya Chiles
Chanterelle Mushrooms
De Arbol Chiles
Coconut Sugar

Hurray, and thank you!! Now, I love mushrooms, but the ideas just weren't flowing. So I turned to the Coconut Sugar. It's actually coconut sap sugar; I had no idea they even made that! (Did I ever tell you I love coconut?) Still being in love with the chiles from the last challenge, I chose to use those as well. And by now it's no surprise I made dessert!

The custard is smooth and creamy and cool, with a hint of heat on the back of your tongue. It picks up its yellow hue from both the pureed chiles and the fresh-laid-today chicken eggs! The chiles also provide some nice orangey flecks in the custard.

The candied coconut adds just the right sort of caramely-coconutty crunch, nice texture contrast, and has a unique flavor. The family loved it!

I did some experimenting until I got enough heat in the coconut milk (even throwing some extra Puya seeds out of the package into the pot!) I used the methods my husband and I developed with the tart filling to get all the delicious flavor of those Puyas. If you like more heat, you can use one or two more chiles. The possibilities are endless!

The coconut sugar reminds me of jaggery (an Indian sugar) in the way it behaves when heated...in other words, not normally! So the Candied Coconut is a little tricky, but it's tasty if you stick with it!

Spicy Coconut Custard with Candied Coconut
Serves 4

Custard:
1 can (approx. 14 ounces) coconut milk
2 whole dried Puya chile peppers
3 eggs, beaten gently
1/4 cup sugar

Heat coconut milk and Puya chiles in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Gently bring to boiling, stirring, then turn off heat. Let milk steep for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. I rested my wooden spoon right on top of the chile pepper to keep it submerged during the steeping. After 10 minutes, remove stems from chiles and place them in a small food processor (I used the bowl attachment with my Cuisinart stick blender), along with about 1/4 cup of the coconut milk. Process chiles and milk until chiles are relatively small, then return mixture to remaining coconut milk in the saucepan. Stir, and let entire mixture sit and steep until completely cool.

Place a glass bowl in a pan of ice water.

Add eggs and sugar to coconut milk mixture in the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, just until mixture coats a metal spoon. (much longer than that and your eggs will start to "scramble," take my word for it!) Immediately pour custard into prepared glass bowl, and stir constantly to cool, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour custard into 4 individual custard dishes (or pretty glasses). Cover custard surface with plastic wrap (to prevent a skin from forming), and chill dishes in refrigerator for at least one hour.

Just before serving, remove from refrigerator, remove plastic wrap (of course), sprinkle with candied coconut, and enjoy!

Candied Coconut:

1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/4 coconut sugar
1 cup raw dried coconut (not sweetened)

Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper on the counter.

Melt butter over medium heat and spread around pan; sprinkle coconut sugar on top. Let melt a minute or two before mixing. This will not look like you may expect it to, the sugar won't really melt or dissolve, it'll just look sort of greasy but will start to spread out a bit. Mix it in with the butter using a wooden spoon. When it is mixed together, turn heat to low and sprinkle in the coconut and quickly stir.

To mix the coconut with the sugar mixture, you'll have to sort of "chop" the coconut into the sugar with your wooden spoon to separate it and break up the clumps, otherwise you'll end up with big brown clumps of coconut sugar and the coconut itself won't have much coating. So, mix and "chop" over low until the coconut is turning golden (both from the sugar and from the hot pan), being careful not to burn it.

Turn coconut onto the prepared baking sheet, breaking up any large clumps with the wooden spoon, then let cool before using.

Taste & Create Partner List

2011-10-10T09:10:00.001-06:00

Here is the T&C partner list. Please remember to submit your creations to Nicole's Taste & Create website by October 24th, 2011!

If you have any questions or problems, check out the How it Works page, or please feel free to email me at cowgirlmin07 [at] gmail [dot] com.

Have you heard of Taste & Create? It's a monthly food blog event in which participants are randomly paired off, and must choose and create a recipe from their partner's blog. It is great fun! A picture of everyone's creation and a brief "review" gets posted on the Taste & Create website, linking back to your own blog post.

If you'd would like to sign up for NEXT month, please email me by the 8th of the month. You'll be randomly paired with another food blogger, and the fun will begin!

Can't wait to see what you all create!

7 Ate 9 & The Bad Girl's Kitchen

Always Eat on the Good China & Seduce Your Tastebuds

No Reason Needed & Pinks Recipe Diary

"Drunken Frenchman" Toast

2011-10-09T09:31:00.003-06:00

So this has taken a while, but I finally made it!

For Spring Break, we drove over to Colorado to visit my friend Nicole and her family, who were on vacation from Germany. We stayed at the Devil's Thumb Ranch, outside of Tabernash, Colorado. They have a gorgeous lodge with several restaurants. The restaurant we frequented every morning (and our first night) was called Heck's. It is a very impressive hexagon-shaped (hexagon = six, in case you've forgotten) room which surrounds a spectacular hexagon-shaped fireplace. Breathtaking.

Before we left, I had to try their "Drunken Frenchman" Toast. I asked for the recipe, but the waitress only recited a list of ingredients. So other than the ingredients, the proportions are all mine. For the record, the waitress said "bourbon." I don't have any bourbon, so I chose to use Jack Daniel's. You can use whatever you'd like.

I was hoping it would turn out similar to my breakfast at Heck's, and I have to say, woohoo! This is a delicious rendition of the Devil's Ranch breakfast! Make some at your ranch!

"Drunken Frenchman" Toast
Serves 4

8 slices Texas toast*

4 eggs
2/3 cup half and half
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon Jack Daniel's

powdered sugar
maple syrup

Preheat griddle to medium; preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Whisk eggs, half and half, spices, vanilla, sugar and bourbon together in a shallow dish. (a pie plate works perfectly for this). Soak each side of each piece of Texas toast in the egg mixture, (not too long!) then place on griddle. Cook for about 2 minutes each side, until golden brown. Place toast on an oven-safe platter and keep warm in the oven.

To serve, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with maple syrup.

*I actually got nine pieces of toast out of my egg mixture this morning.

Bauducco Panettone French Toast

2011-10-01T18:18:00.006-06:00

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemakers program, I received two free samples of Bauducco's Panettone! (If you're like me, you're saying, what does that even mean?)

Well, when I opened the box, I saw that a Panettone is a "specialty cake!" We got one with chocolate chips in it, and one with raisins in it. Each cake is about 26 ounces, pretty big! Foodbuzz also sent a couple recipes, for French toast and Bread Pudding. I couldn't resist the French toast...and of course chose to make it with the chocolate chip panettone!

But first a bit of history...right off the box.

"In 1952, in a small confectionery, the Bauducco family began making Panettones using its special recipe directly from Italy. With great dedication, work and a special talent for baking, the family saw its Panettone become increasingly recognized for its quality and unique taste. Carefully prepared with a traditional natural leavening process, each Bauducco Panettone takes more than 50 hours to bake."

We sampled a couple pieces before we made the French toast, and it is delicious! Just the right texture, with a hint of a citrus flavor, which is excellent with the chocolate! So far we've only had the chocolate chip cake, because we have two little boys who love chocolate. They are in love. "That cake is sooooo yummy," they both have said several times. "This is the Best French Toast Ever," they said. Things like that.

If you want to try some, here's one place to get it: Bauducco Panettone with Hershey Chocolate. You do have to carefully remove the baking paper from the cake, but it comes off pretty easily.

The French toast is, of course, simple to prepare. The recipe calls for sour cream, but I made a late-night chip dip last night and...we don't have any more sour cream...so I used plain yogurt. I doubled the recipe so we each got a piece, and there was enough egg mixture for 6 half-slices of toast. (the cake is pretty big, so I cut each slice in half for easier handling)

The French toast turned out moist and decadent, a welcome departure from regular French toast. We loved it! It was like a special treat on a regular Saturday. We went simple and served ours with maple syrup (and a little whipped cream for my husband and the boys!)

Panettone French Toast
Serves 2

2 3/4-inch-thick slices of Bauducco Panettone
2 eggs
1 heaping tablespoon sour cream (or plain yogurt)
2 tablespoons milk
Butter

Beat eggs, sour cream and milk in a shallow, flat-bottomed dish. (I always use a pie plate). Place panettone slice in the dish for a minute, then turn over to soak both sides completely.

Warm skillet or griddle over medium heat. Add butter to grease the skillet. Gently remove soaked panettone from dish and place onto heated skillet. Cook for about 1-1/2 to 2 minutes per side for soft center, 3 minutes per side for firm center. (I cooked mine for about 2 minutes per side, and they were perfect!)

Spread a little butter on each slice, then drizzle with maple syrup and/or powdered sugar.

Carrot Pie

2011-09-28T17:21:00.001-06:00

I told you I was going to make this pie! I found the recipe on Melynda's food blog, Mom's Sunday Cafe, during a recent Taste & Create event. I knew I had to try it, and now my parents are visiting, and the time is right!

This is a wonderful pie, spiced like pumpkin pie. Yum. We served ours with whipped cream. My 8-year-old boy said, "I love how smooth the pie is, just like whipped cream!" We all enjoyed it, and I will definitely be making this again!

Carrot Pie
from Mom's Sunday Cafe, originally a part of the Family Circle "best of the best" series makes 1 9" pie, serves 8-10

1 pound carrots, peeled, sliced and cooked - about 2 1/2 cups
1 3/4 c milk - Melynda prefers a large can of evaporated milk and fresh milk to equal the requested amount, and that's what I did too.
1/2 c sugar
1 egg
1 t salt
1/2 t each cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg

1 9 inch pie shell - recipe follows or use your own favorite, assemble the crust while carrots cook
Cook in plain water until tender, drain well. While carrots are cooking you can make the pie crust.

1 9" Pie crust

1 1/4 c flour

1/4 t salt

1 1/2 t sugar

6 T butter

2 ice cubes and 1/3 c water in a cup

Combine all crust ingredients except water, cutting in with a pastry blender (or 2 butter knives) until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Using a teaspoon, dribble ice water over the flour mixture and toss together with a fork. Continue dribbling water and tossing together until mixture begins clinging together, taking care not to use any more water than is necessary. Roll out, ease into your 9 inch pie pan and proceed with pie instructions.

To finish the pie, in blender cup, combine the cooked and drained carrots along with the milk, buzz to combine. This will completely cool the carrots, add the remaining ingredients and continue to process until smooth. Pour into pie shell.

Bake 450 degrees 15 minutes, reduce heat to 300 degrees, continue baking 45-50 minutes, or until done. Let cool, serve with whipped cream and a fresh dusting of nutmeg.

Taste & Create: Chinese Fried Rice

2011-09-28T09:04:00.001-06:00

Taste & Create is a monthly food blog event, created by my friend Nicole of For the Love of Food. Participants are randomly paired, and must choose and create a recipe from their partner's blog. It is FUN. If you'd like to sign up, check out How it Works or email me at cowgirlmin07[at]gmail[dot]com by the 8th of every month!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My other Taste & Create partner this month is PJ of Seduce Your Tastebuds. PJ and I have been partners before, but it's been a while. I always love being paired with her so I can try totally new things! I made her delicious Vegetable Kurma, and did some experimenting with her Meethi Paratha and Homemade Paneer recipes!

I'm so glad you're back, PJ!!

This time, it didn't take me long to decide to make PJ's Chinese Fried Rice. I happily discovered that we actually have all the ingredients, every single one! Well, except for the ginger garlic paste, but I've made that before.

The only problem, for me, is that many of the ingredients need prep. I don't mind chopping, but you have to cook the rice, boil and shell the edamame, I had to cook my sprouted lentils, make the ginger garlic paste...whew. I used the same pan/lid first for the rice, then the lentils, then the edamame (mine are frozen). But still, all that felt like it took forever.

Lucky I even had sprouted lentils in the pantry! I had found and picked up a bag of dry truRoots Organic Sprouted Bean Trio...including lentils, mung and adzuki beans. We've been cooking the beans and tossing them on salads, which I love, so I was excited to use them another way.

So after everything, this rice is worth it! It is healthy and delicious, I think my dad called it "excellent." Try this soon!!

Chinese Fried Rice

2 cups cooked rice
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
1 onion, finely chopped (I had huge onions, so I used about 4 thin slices)
1 firm tomato, finely chopped (I used 1/2 a big tomato)
1 small green pepper, finely chopped (I used 1/2 a big green pepper)
a handful sprouted lentils (I used sprouted lentils, mung and adzuki beans)
1/4 cup boiled edamame (my family loves edamame, so I used almost 1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon soy sauce (I used tamari)

Salt to taste
Spring onions, chopped to garnish

Prepare all ingredients.
Heat the oil in a wok on high heat add the ginger garlic paste.
Stir once and immediately add the onion and saute.
Add the tomato and pepper and stir for a couple of seconds,
Add the sprouts, edamame and the soy sauce.
Keep stirring continuously for a minute and add the cooked rice and lower the flame.
Check for salt and add a little. The soy sauce will have some salt so check before adding.
Stir and cook for a minute for the flavors to blend. Remove from flame and serve hot garnished with spring onions.

Ginger-Garlic Paste

2011-09-26T08:20:00.003-06:00

A quick post for Ginger-Garlic Paste, a fairly common ingredient in some Indian dishes. I've made it before, I need it again and I don't want to lose the recipe, so here it is. I will be making some again this week, so I'll post a picture.

The original recipe is attributed to Charishma Ramchandani on food.com.

Ginger-Garlic Paste

6 cloves garlic, peeled,washed and sliced
2 inches fresh ginger, peeled,washed and chopped into thin long slices
1/8 cup water

Put everything in a blender bowl, cover and process until smooth.

Use in recipes that call for ginger-garlic paste, like this delicious Mushroom-Peas-Corn Pulao.

Taste & Create: Irish Cheese Ball

2011-09-24T08:11:00.001-06:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One of my Taste & Create partners this month is Laura of Tasteful Diversions. I was happy to see all of Laura's recipes organized by category on one page! While several of her recipes look delicious, I was intrigued by the Cheese Ball with variations.

I chose the "Irish" variation, mostly because I couldn't imagine what a cheese ball with Bailey's Irish Cream in it would taste like, so I had to find out.

This is a delicious cheese ball! There is a slightly tangy flavor from the Bailey's, which adds interest without a heavy alcohol flavor. It's good! We all liked it. (Mine turned out a little flat because we couldn't wait the full three hours...)

Irish Cheese Ball

1 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
8 ounces cream cheese
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 1/2 tablespoons Bailey’s Irish Cream
1/2 – 1 tsp seasoned salt (to taste)

Blend all ingredients together in food processor until creamy. Empty contents of food processor onto large square of plastic wrap. Holding all for corners of plastic wrap, twist plastic closed. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm. When firm, remove from plastic wrap and shape into sphere. Roll ball in chopped pecans.

Serve with crackers.

Chile-Spiced Chocolate Tarts with Crème Pâtissière and Red Wine and Chile-Infused Strawberry Sauce

2011-09-16T19:34:00.001-06:00

*The polls are open for the Chile Challenge!
Please hurry and vote for The Bad Girl's Kitchen's fabulous chile chocolate tarts. Voting will close at noon PST on 9/16!*

I was thrilled when I received an email from Kate from Marx Foods, asking me if I'd like to join in their Blogger Chile Recipe Challenge! Of course I said yes, we love chiles! And she shipped me some free samples of six different dried chiles! We received Aji Amarillo Chiles, Cascabels, Habaneros, Japones Chiles, Mulato Chiles and Puya Chiles. What a great-smelling package!

My husband and I started thinking about all the things we could make for the challenge, and ultimately decided on a dessert, which may or may not surprise you. To us, there just aren't enough spicy desserts. It took us several days to figure out the components, but the flavor descriptions on the packages, as well as sniffing them each time we walked by, were very helpful in our decision-making.

The Aji Amarillo Chiles' flavor is described as "Fruity, poblano-esque." Obviously this pushed us toward strawberries. We also considered raspberries, but didn't want to overwhelm the flavor of the chiles.

The Mulato Chiles' flavor description is "Chocolate/Licorice," well you can guess where we used those!

After chocolate and strawberries, it didn't take long to come up with the other components of the dessert. In fact, I brainstormed while taking my 8-year-old to school one morning, and made him write down notes for me:

"Straw 8erry chiLe redUction VineGar? Sugartart crUStChocoLate chiLe vaniLLacream DoLLoP"

You can see we changed it up a bit, and modified the recipes to include the chiles and created techniques for maximum chile flavor extraction, to end up with:

Chile-Spiced Chocolate Tarts with Crème Pâtissière and Red Wine and Chile-Infused Strawberry Sauce

We used a classic French Sugar Tart Crust, intensified a Dark Chocolate Truffle filling, trusted Julia's good old Crème Pâtissière, and spiced up one of Martha's Strawberry Sauces.

We hope you enjoy this fabulous dessert! The strawberry sauce has a hint of je ne sais pas, which you and I know comes from the chiles. The chocolate puts just the right touch of heat on the back of your tongue. These little beauties are a dream! We absolutely love them.

We prepared the chocolate filling and the strawberry sauce first, then the crust. The next day, right before assembly, we prepared the crème pâtissière. To assemble, gently pipe a generous layer of room-temperature chocolate into each tart crust. Top with a lovely dollop of crème pâtissière, and drizzle with strawberry sauce and balance one strawberry sliver on top, just before serving. I decorated the serving plate with a swirl of crème anglaise. Quite honestly, you can make each separate component of this dessert, except the crust, a couple days in advance, and assemble when ready.

Chile-Spiced Dark Chocolate Filling

Adapted from a recipe in Fran Bigelow's Pure Chocolate

1 cup heavy cream
9 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 whole dried Mulato Chile

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, heat cream with whole chile until almost boiling. Remove from heat and steep for 7 minutes.

Reheat cream just to boiling, remove from heat, strain and pour all but approximately 1/4 cup cream over the chopped chocolate. Make sure you catch the big chile, you'll need that in the next step.

Remove the chile stem, and place the softened, warm chile in a small food processor or stick blender bowl with processor attachment, along with the 1/4 cup reserved cream. Puree until relatively smooth. Strain the cream and chile mixture into the chocolate and cream, pressing with a spatula to extract all the spicy goodness.

Mix the chocolate, cream and spiced cream mixture with a spatula until smooth and combined. Let sit at room temperature, uncovered, for 4 hours.

Red Wine and Chile-Infused Strawberry Sauce

Adapted from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook

2 pints strawberries, hulled
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup dry red wine
1 3-inch cinnamon stick
1 - 2 dried Aji Amarillo Chiles

If strawberries are small, cut in half; if large, cut in quarters. Combine sugar, red wine, cinnamon stick and chiles in a skillet; cook over medium-high heat until the sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and let steep for 10 minutes. Reheat mixture and add the strawberries, cook until berries soften slightly, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Discard cinnamon stick and peppers before serving (but if you're storing for a day or two, leave them in until serving!)

Let sit, leaving chile and cinnamon stick in the mixture until ready to serve.

Sugar Tart Crust

From Pure Chocolate, by Fran Bigelow

*Note: I made small tarts with this dough, with a mini muffin pan. I do not have small tart pans with removable bottoms. I do not recommend you attempt this without small tart pans with removable bottoms,perhaps pans like these, or maybe this pan...

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 cup cake flour
all-purpose flour for dusting

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the egg yolk. Continue mixing on medium-high speed for 1 to 2 minutes, until pale yellow in color and completely smooth. Scrape down sides of bowl.

Add the cake flour. Mix on low speed just until blended, being careful not to overmix. Transfer to a sheet of plastic wrap and gently pat into a ball. Wrap well and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Lightly butter twelve 3-inch round tart pans with removable bottoms. (I used a pan with no removable bottoms; not recommended). Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator. Let the dough warm on the counter for about 20 minutes, until pliable but still cool to the touch.

On a lightly floured board gently knead the dough a few times. Pat into a ball, then with the palms of your hands flatten into a 5-inch round disc. Roll the dough our into a rectangle, about 9 by 12 inches. With a 4-inch round cookie cutter cut out circles. Transfer the circles of dough to the buttered pans, pressing into the bottom and sides, keeping the sides even and thick. Trim excess dough along the edges. Pierce the bottom with the tines of a fork and place in the refrigerator. Chill for at least 30 minutes or until firm.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the chilled tart shell on a baking sheet. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Dough scraps may be gathered, returned to the refrigerator to chill, and rerolled.

Crème Pâtissière

From Mastering the Art of French Cooking

1 cup granulated sugar
5 egg yolks
2/3 cup sifted all-purpose flour
2 cups boiling milk
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

Gradually beat the sugar into the egg yolks with a whisk or electric beater and continue beating for 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture is pale yellow and forms the ribbon. Beat in the flour. While beating the yolk mixture, very gradually pour on the boiling milk in a thin stream of droplets so that the yolks are slowly warmed.

Pour the mixture into a clean, heavy-bottomed enameled or stainless steel saucepan and set over moderately high heat. Stir with wire whip, reaching all over bottom of pan. As sauce comes to the boil it will get lumpy, but will smooth out as you beat it. When boil is reached, beat over moderately low heat for 2 to 3 minutes to cook the flour. Be careful custard does not scorch in bottom of pan.

Remove from heat and beat in the butter, then the vanilla. If the custard is not used immediately, clean it off the sides of the pan, and dot top of custard with softened butter to prevent as skin from forming over the surface.

Taste & Create Partner List

2011-09-12T07:43:00.002-06:00

Here is the T&C partner list. Please remember to submit your creations to Nicole's Taste & Create website by September 24th, 2011!

If you have any questions or problems, check out the How it Works page, or please feel free to email me at cowgirlmin07 [at] gmail [dot] com.

Have you heard of Taste & Create? It's a monthly food blog event in which participants are randomly paired off, and must choose and create a recipe from their partner's blog. It is great fun! A picture of everyone's creation and a brief "review" gets posted on the Taste & Create website, linking back to your own blog post.

If you'd would like to sign up for NEXT month, please email me by the 8th of the month. You'll be randomly paired with another food blogger, and the fun will begin!

(this month we had an odd number, so I have two partners, that's not a typo!)

Enjoy!

Seduce Your Tastebuds & The Bad Girl's Kitchen

Study Food & Always Eat on the Good China

Tasteful Diversions & The Bad Girl's Kitchen

No Reason Needed & Lavendar and Lovage

Kara-Áge Tilapia and Homemade Ponzu Sauce

2011-09-10T17:37:00.007-06:00

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemakers program, I received a free box of Kikkoman Kara-Áge Soy-Ginger Seasoned Coating Mix. I have never heard of Kara-Áge [KAH-rah AH-geh] before, but reading the box and the letter from foodbuzz informed me that it is Japanese-style fried chicken, or fish. "One of the most popular cooking techniques in Japan...Kikkoman has made age-old traditions modern, by simplifying the recipe for today's family."

For the Kara-Áge, my husband thawed and cut up tilapia in 1-1/2" square pieces. The coating mix is very fragrant, right out of the box. It smells delicious. The method couldn't be easier: add mix to a bag, toss fish pieces, then fry in 1/4" oil for 2 to 4 minutes.

The box recommends serving the chicken or fish with Kikkoman Ponzu or Lime Ponzu. Of course I didn't have any Ponzu, and didn't have a clue what Ponzu is, or how to make it, but thank you very much google! I found a recipe in The New York Times. Then reading the Ponzu recipe, I didn't know what dried bonita flakes are...google told me they are dried fish, which of course I didn't have, so I added a splash of fish sauce. That may be completely wrong, but I don't know any better! I used the sake and sugar in place of the mirin, and tossed in a piece of toasted seaweed instead of kelp.

Kara-Áge Tilapia and Homemade Ponzu Sauce

I had such high hopes for this Kara-Áge fish...but the aromatic mix doesn't contribute much flavor to the final product. It tastes like fried fish, which is fine, because that is indeed what it is. It is better dipped in the Ponzu sauce, but overall just not something to get excited about. The Ponzu sauce is fairly tasty, and it will be interesting to see how it is with other dishes.

Personally, the fish made my lips and mouth go a bit numb, so there must be some ingredient to which I was having a reaction. At first I really thought it was the sake in the sauce, but after the numb sensation had worn off, I ate several pieces of fish with no sauce, and surprisingly my mouth went numb again, definitely from the fish itself. I have no idea what that's about, and it's unfortunate, I'm just glad it wore off quickly!

Ponzu Sauce

Source: The New York Times

Yield 2 1/2 cups

Time 15 minutes, plus 2 hours

Homemade ponzu will keep for several days with no loss in quality.

2/3 cup fresh lemon juice, more to taste
1/3 cup fresh lime juice, more to taste
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 cup good-quality soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin (or 1/4 cup sake and 1 tablespoon sugar)
1 3-inch piece kelp (konbu)
1/2 cup (about 1/4 ounce) dried bonito flakes
Pinch cayenne

In a bowl, combine all ingredients. Let sit for at least 2 hours or overnight. Strain. Just before using, you might add a small squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice. Covered and refrigerated, ponzu will keep for at least several days.

GREEN TABASCO CHICKEN

2011-09-10T10:13:00.000-06:00

GREEN TABASCO CHICKEN
2 pounds chicken tenders
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 orange halved
1 teaspoon Penzey's California crushed jalapenos
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup Green Jalapeño Tabasco Sauce
1 bunch green onions, sliced thin
1/4 cup melted butter
1-1/2 chicken broth

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Juice 1/2 of orange.
Section other half of orange.
In a small sauce pan whisk together the orange juice and green Tabasco sauce.
Add the butter, garlic and chicken broth.
Simmer 10-15 minutes until well blended and slightly reduced.
Spray a baking pan with pure.
Toss together the chicken and green onions. Arrange in baking dish. Add orange sections.
Pour sauce over top.
Bake 30 minutes. Serve with Parmesan Potatoes and tortillas.

Taste & Create: Carrot Hummus

2011-09-01T10:41:00.002-06:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My partner for this month was Melynda of Mom's Sunday Cafe. I really thought I knew what I was going to make. I had (still have) a bunch of plums in the drawer in my fridge, and I was going to make Melynda's plum jam with port wine. And I still will. But time has gotten so far away from me, I don't even know where to look for it. And then I kept going back to Mom's Sunday Cafe for one more look around...and after that, I couldn't decide!

Now here it is, past the deadline, but I just ran across a couple more intriguing recipes! Have you ever heard of Carrot Pie? I haven't, but I am totally going to make one. When my parents are in town in a couple weeks, because I think my dad will really like it. So that won't do for THIS month's Taste & Create. However, I also found this recipe: Carrot Hummus. I love hummus, my boys love carrots, it sounds perfect for us. Here we go.

I realized I didn't have tahini or toasted sesame oil, which Melynda uses. I substituted roasted walnut oil instead. I also bypassed the cumin seed garnish, not because I didn't like the sound of it, but because I caught a nasty head cold yesterday and today just didn't have the energy to get it done.

I used 1 large carrot and 2 small ones, I probably could have used a couple more if I had them. Who runs out of carrots, I ask you??

I like the bright orange color of this dip, and the flavor is good too. I had some toasted pita triangles that I made the other day. I'm sure it will taste even better when my taste buds are back to normal, when I will definitely be making this again!

Let me know what you think! And isn't my little carrot spreader the cutest thing you've ever seen?!

Carrot Hummus
Makes approximately 2 cups.

2 large or 3 small carrots, peeled sliced and cooked till tender, drained well.
1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, drained well
1 - 2 cloves garlic
1/4 t salt
2 T lemon juice
1 t toasted sesame oil (I used roasted walnut oil)
1/4 - 1/3 c olive oil

Combine all ingredients and process until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides of processor bowl as needed. Transfer to a serving/storing container. Garnish and enjoy.

Cumin seed & salt garnish: 1 - 2 t cumin seed and 1/4 t salt.

Pan toast until fragrant, crush lightly.

Drizzle a little more olive oil over the top, add the cumin seeds, store in the refrigerator.

Serve with assorted vegetable dippers and crackers.

Puree of Green Pea & Mint

2011-08-30T17:22:00.004-06:00

For two years in a row, our cousin Devin has made these delicious hors d'oeuvres for us at some point during his and Gina's visit. I love it when Gina & Devin & the girls come visit!

This year, I wasn't too drunk to pay attention while he listed the ingredients. He only told me the names of the ingredients, mind you, not the amounts. So this is my best guess. A pretty good guess if I do say so myself.

This batch turned out a bit mintier than Devin's, but one out of two boys like it so I'm calling it good. If you'd like less minty flavor, just use one sprig. Or maybe don't pluck fresh mint sprigs from your garden two seconds before you make this, which is what I did...

I made an Artisan Bread baguette for this, but you could buy a baguette at the store, if your store sells baguettes. My store does not.

Easy, fast, delicious and even healthy! Make some today! Seriously, I can pack away a lot of these beauties...yum. I used frozen peas, but you can use fresh peas instead. Just blanch them a bit first so the texture will be soft and smooth.

Puree of Green Pea & Mint
Adapted from Devin's creation

Thinly sliced baguette (or crostini if you plan a bit ahead)

14 ounces peas (if frozen, cook according to package directions and let cool)
1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil
leaves from 1 to 2 sprigs fresh mint
kosher salt
pepper

Parmesan cheese

Add peas and mint leaves to food processor, along with about 1/4 cup olive oil. Puree until smooth, adding more olive oil as necessary to achieve a nice consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste, I just tossed some in.

Serve a generous dollop of pea puree on top of each baguette slice, topped with a thin slice of Parmesan.

Godiva Chocolate Coconut Truffle Iced Coffee

2011-08-20T11:56:00.004-06:00

As part of Foodbuzz Tastemaker program, I received two bags of Godiva coffee: Chocolate Truffle and French Vanilla flavors! I was asked to create a special iced coffee drink. Of course I started with the Chocolate Truffle Coffee...

If you'd like an iced coffee drink that doesn't get watered down, plan ahead and freeze coffee cubes in an ice cube tray. Otherwise you can use regular ice cubes. From there, you can use them whole or throw your ingredients in a blender for a yummy frozen coffee. Your choice.

Chocolate Truffle Coffee, dark chocolate sauce, and coconut syrup combine to make a luscious and refreshing Chocolate Coconut Truffle Iced Coffee!

Godiva Chocolate Coconut Truffle Iced Coffee
Serves 1

Godiva Chocolate Truffle Coffee, brewed and cooled
Ice Cubes or Frozen Coffee Cubes
about 1 tablespoon Monin Dark Chocolate Sauce
1 ounce Monin Coconut Syrup
Half & Half, to taste
Whipped cream, optional...or required...

Add Monin Dark Chocolate Sauce to a 16-ounce glass and fill glass with ice cube. Godiva Chocolate Truffle Coffee, filling up to about 1 inch from the rim. Add Monin Coconut Syrup, top off with half and half, and stir well until all chocolate is stirred in.

Enjoy.

Lobster Ravioli with Brown Butter Sauce

2011-08-17T09:23:00.000-06:00

We had another package of Lobster Ravioli to eat. (Sadly, I am not sharing a recipe for Lobster Ravioli). I have already posted this sauce recipe, when I made the brown butter sauce to go with some Wild Mushroom Agnolotti.

And while I do prefer Lobster Ravioli with this delicious Citrus Chardonnay Sauce, we were completely out of Chardonnay. I know, I couldn't believe it either! So we made Brown Butter Sauce again, with Italian parsley.

The photo turned out so good, I just had to share it. (NOW you know why you're here!)

Follow the links for the other recipes, and let me know what sauces you would pair with these fancy pastas! Or if you have a pasta to recommend, by all means let me know about it!

*Someday I will make my own pastas, but someday isn't here yet...*

Bad Girl Review: Voila! Garlic Chicken

2011-08-16T19:11:00.007-06:00

Want an honest product review? You'll always find them here.

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program, I received a free sample of Birds Eye Voila! which are "delicious skillet meals made in minutes." Thank you Foodbuzz and Birds Eye! Birds Eye's website says there are 17 varieties of Voila! available, including chicken, shrimp or beef meals. My teeny tiny grocery store currently carries two varieties: Garlic Chicken and Three Cheese Chicken. For tonight's dinner, we chose Garlic Chicken. There was 1 pound and 6 ounces in what I assume is the "regular size" package, just under 4 servings, according to the nutritional information.

The chicken and vegetables come out of the bag looking bright and fresh. It's easy to make, just add 1/4 cup of water to a pan along with the contents of the bag, and start heating! The instructions said to reduce heat to medium-high and cover. This turned out to be too high, after half of the 7-9 minutes, it started to stick a bit when I opened the cover to stir. I ended up reducing the heat to low to finish cooking, and despite frequent stirring, it still stuck just a bit. Not too bad though.

As you can see, the dinner looks appetizing and fresh, even after cooking. I asked my family to report their opinions.

I thought the chicken, pasta and vegetable combo was surprisingly fresh-tasting, and had a light sauce with good flavor. The chicken had a good texture, not chewy or rubbery, and even the pasta was good. It makes a decent, quick, last-minute weeknight option. I would rather throw it together from scratch, a fresh meal from fresh ingredients, but I sure couldn't do that in 10 minutes!

H-Bomb, age 8, possessing a truly sophisticated palate, said that the chicken had "a spicy aftertaste," and he didn't care for the pasta, but he finished his dinner. He said "I just liked the broccoli."

Sawed Off, age 5, tasted only one bite and said he didn't like it. Even the promise of dessert couldn't convince him to clean his plate. It's possible they would prefer the Three Cheese Chicken, but I don't know.

Number One, my husband, said it was "good, for a frozen dinner." He would eat it again.

I may use one of the coupons I have, just to stash a couple bags in the freezer for a desperate school night. Speaking of which,

I do have a BUNCH of
Buy-One-Get-One-Free COUPONS
from Foodbuzz and Birds Eye,
so if you're interested in trying Voila!,
"like" my page on facebook
& leave a wall post about Voila!
I'll give coupons to
the FIRST 15 people to do so,
and will contact you to find out
where to send your coupon!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now to the ingredients. I feel like I need to disclose this, even though I am submitting this post to the Birds Eye people and to Foodbuzz. Food companies have to know how consumers truly feel. Even though we did eat this ONE meal.

It doesn't help that we received this product after we'd recently taken a stand against ultra-processed, ubiquitous corn and soy products. Last year, we may not have given it a second thought. But it's been nagging at me to the point I just can't stand it anymore: I just don't understand WHY every single processed food product MUST include corn AND soy in MULTIPLE variations.

If you don't care about the abundance of corn and soy in every single food product in the USA, by all means, go buy this one, it tastes better than a lot of things.

I do care. So for your information, should you choose to read it, here's the breakdown of soy/corn from the ingredients list:

(*I haven't gotten so far as to analyze or discover the chemical or other names for soy or corn, so these are only the obviously listed "corn" and "soy" products. For all I know, there could be even more*)

Isolated soy protein
Corn flour
Corn starch
Defatted soy flour
MORE Corn starch
Partially hydrogenated soybean oil
MORE Partially hydrogenated soybean oil
Soy lecithin

Do you see what I mean? EIGHT various forms of corn and soy?? There aren't even that many REAL ingredients, at least there shouldn't be: Chicken. Pasta. Broccoli. Corn (kernels!). Carrots. Garlic Sauce.

Add all eight forms to all the other processed foods a person in America likely eats in a day, and it's staggering. I don't like it. I don't trust it. I don't see how it's necessary or why it's done, and it must stop. There is a reason so many of us are unhealthy. And I didn't even touch the sodium or sugar levels. I'll just say they're both more than in there, Read The Labels for yourself.

The end.

Bayou Eggplant and Shrimp Dressing

2011-08-16T09:42:00.001-06:00

A friend of a friend posted this recipe on facebook, and I had all the ingredients (except cornbread!) so I decided to try it. The recipe comes from food.com, follow the link below.

I chose a new cornbread recipe to try out for this dressing, a true Southern unsweetened corn bread. I baked the cornbread in the morning, crumbled it and let it dry most of the day (rather than overnight).

For some reason this took some time to put together, longer than I expected. Perhaps in part due to peeling the shrimp? Or maybe because I recently moved my computer out of the kitchen (what??) and refused to print out the recipe...Anyway, allow yourself some time for this. It is a colorful dish when it's going together, and smells great.

On first taste, I have to admit I wasn't impressed. It was okay, but I didn't know if I'd make it again. But this dressing grew on me, and by the end of the dinner I was in definite *like* with it...more and more. I can now say that I really like it. And I can't wait to taste it tomorrow, as a leftover.

Bayou Eggplant and Shrimp Dressing

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, with leaves, chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
2 -3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 lbs eggplants, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 lb medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, and coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon cajun seasoning
10 cups coarsely crumbled cornbread (dried overnight)
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 eggs, beaten
1 -1 1/2 cup chicken broth (or as needed) or 1 -1 1/2 cup turkey broth (or as needed)
3/4 teaspoon salt, to taste
1/4 teaspoon pepper, to taste

Heat the oil (medium heat) in a large non-stick skillet. Add the onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic. Saute/stir for 5 minutes or until the onion is soft. Add the eggplant, stir to combine. Cover and continue to cook for 8-10 minutes or until the eggplant is tender; stir frequently.

Add the shrimp and Cajun seasoning; cook/stir for 2-3 minutes or until the shrimp are pink. Put the shrimp mixture into a large mixing bowl; add in the crumbled cornbread and parsley.

Gradually stir in the eggs and approximately 1 cup broth, until the mixture is evenly moist but not soggy. Season to with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer mixture to a buttered casserole dish; drizzle with 1/2 cup broth.

Cover and bake in a 350° oven for about 30 minutes; uncover the last 15 minutes of cooking time if you want a crusty dressing.

Sylvia's Ozark Cornbread

2011-08-14T12:41:00.005-06:00

A couple years ago, I received The Cornbread Gospels cookbook by Crescent Dragonwagon in the mail, a gift from the author herself. Pretty cool, right? I haven't made much cornbread in those two years, admittedly neglecting this informative cookbook, but recently someone posted a link to a recipe for a cornbread-based dressing, featuring eggplant and shrimp. I was intrigued, and I will be making and posting that recipe shortly. In the meantime, I needed to make some cornbread on which to base the dressing!

Out of the hundreds of cornbread recipes in the "Gospels," I chose this one. For reasons I can't explain, other than it looked pretty simple and I had all the ingredients.

Upon mixing up the batter, the consistency had me a bit worried, it seemed very thin. I needn't have worried, the cornbread baked up perfectly. It's a delicious cornbread with a lovely crumb, however I'm going to show my decidedly Northern roots when I say that this "Southern" cornbread needs just a bit of sugar for my taste, if I were eating it plain. Luckily I'm mixing it into that other recipe, so the lack of sugar is just fine.

Make this if you're in the mood for a true Southern, healthy cornbread. I have to admit, the more cornbread I ate, the more I liked it...let me know what YOU think!

Sylvia's Ozark Cornbread
Makes 8 wedges

Vegetable oil cooking spray
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups stone-ground yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk, preferably measured into a 4-cup measure
2 eggs
1 tablespoon mild vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Spray a 10-inch cast-iron skillet with oil, add the butter, and put it into the oven to heat. Meanwhile, stir together the cornmeal, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

In a smaller bowl, or in the 4-cup measure, beat the buttermilk with the eggs and oil.

Combine the two mixtures. As always, be careful not to overbeat, stirring until wet and dry are just combined.

Scrape the batter into the hot skillet and bake the cornbread until it is golden brown and crusty at the edges, 23 to 27 minutes. Serve hot, in wedges.

TRIPLE DIGIT HEAT & A REFRESHING WATERMELON SALAD

2011-08-12T06:37:00.000-06:00

I don't know about you, but these triple digit heatwave numbers have me craving NOT TURNING ON THE OVEN OR STOVE!! That said, this watermelon salad with prosciutto chiffonades really hit the spot tonight.

chiffonade - Literally translated, this French phrase means "made of rags." Culinarily, it refers to thin strips or shreds. It usually pertains to leafy vegetables, but in this case we are cutting the prosciutto into very thin strips.

watermelon chunks
prosciutto chiffonades
green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup red wine or balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup extra light extra virigin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

In a small food processor whip together the vinegar, salt and pepper.
Gradually add the oil until well blended.
Pour over sald makings and toss gently.
Serve immediately and enjoy.

Taste & Create Partner List

2011-08-11T12:53:00.004-06:00

Here is the T&C partner list. Please remember to submit your creations to Nicole's Taste & Create website by August 24th, 2011!

If you have any questions or problems, check out the How it Works page, or please feel free to email me at cowgirlmin07 [at] gmail [dot] com.

Have you heard of Taste & Create? It's a monthly food blog event in which participants are randomly paired off, and must choose and create a recipe from their partner's blog. It is great fun! A picture of everyone's creation and a brief "review" gets posted on the Taste & Create website, linking back to your own blog post.

If you'd would like to sign up for NEXT month, please email me by the 8th of the month. You'll be randomly paired with another food blogger, and the fun will begin!

Enjoy!

Always Eat on the Good China & Tasteful Diversions

No Reason Needed & Searching for Spice

Debbi Does Dinner Healthy & Study Food

Mom's Sunday Café & The Bad Girl's Kitchen

Best. Salad. Ever.

2011-08-08T18:17:00.008-06:00

OK, so I'm not sure that this truly is the best salad ever created, but it is most definitely one of my favorites. I had forgotten about this old friend until about a month ago when I was responsible for bringing a salad to a party with friends.

The great thing about this salad is that it can be paired with a steak or fish, or can be a meal in and of itself. I tend to eat it as my meal, but you can do whatever works for you. It has enough protein and richness that it's satisfying, but it's also light enough so that you don't feel weighed down after eating it.

I got the recipe from my mom years ago, and since it didn't have an "official" name, I've named it "Yummy Spinach Salad". It's not as simple or quick as a plain ole' green salad, but don't let that stop you! The prep time and thinking ahead is totally worth the finished product... it is amazing!

Yummy Spinach Salad
Active prep. time: 20 min. Total prep. time: 20 min. plus min. 2 hrs resting time for dressing.
*** NOTE: Below is the recipe as it was given to me, but I do things a little differently. I'll list my tweaks at the end of the recipe.

DRESSING:
1 1/2 tablespoon poppy seeds
3/4 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 med. purple onion, thinly sliced, in dressing AFTER mixed. Let sit at least 2 hrs.
* You don't actually use all of the dressing on the salad below, but it's so good, you can save it for another day!

SALAD:
2 bunches/bags spinach (washed and dried)
1 head iceberg lettuce, broken in small pieces
3/4 lb. mushrooms, sliced
2 cups graded swiss cheese
1 1/2 cups cooked bacon, cut into small pieces
1 cup cottage cheese
3 hard boiled eggs, diced

Prepare the salad just before eating. Apply dressing just before eating.

My little changes:

I don't use the amount of sugar called for. I actually use Splenda because I try to stay away from sugar. But whether you use the real thing or a sugar substitute, I only use about 1/3 cup.

I find that Canola oil works best. I have NOT liked Olive Oil in this recipe. I also use a little less oil than called for AND I use a little more vinegar than called for.

With the onion, I take half and cut into slices as directed. I take the other half, cut into cubes, put into dressing after all of the other ingredients have been added, and then use a hand mixer/blender to chop and puree it. I think it gives the dressing a great taste AND makes the dressing a pretty pink/purple color. After using the hand blender thingie (yes, that is the technical name), I add the onion slices that I've set aside and let them sit in dressing overnight. Remove the onion slices from dressing with a fork before serving.

Bruce Paltrow's World-Famous Pancakes

2011-08-03T15:00:00.002-06:00

When I noticed that Gwyneth was coming out with a cookbook, I was intrigued. I have subscribed to her GOOP newsletter almost since the beginning, which has featured some great recipes in it, although honestly I don't think I've ever actually tried any of them...

I ordered the cookbook anyway. My Father's Daughter: Delicious, Easy Recipes Celebrating Family & Togetherness, by Gwyneth Paltrow, begins with an essay of sorts, essentially about Gwyneth's late father, their relationship to food and to each other, and it is very touching and heartwarming.

There are many recipes in this book that I WILL be making. For now, I tried the "world-famous" pancakes. Besides being a pancake fan myself, Gwyneth's description of them touched a chord with me:

"Now if there is one image of my father that is the most "him"--that is to say encapsulates all of his elements and delivers them in one picture--it would be him over his cast-iron griddles making his world-famous pancakes. These things have been legendary in our house for decades. He first got the recipe out of the Joy of Cooking and adapted it over the years to utter perfection. The recipe below is so truthful to his pancakes that it's almost hard for me to eat them, I keep expecting him to walk into the kitchen."

Just beautiful sentiment. Food is very powerful in evoking memories.
(This book may inspire me to resume work on my own family cookbook...whose entire layout was unfortunately irretrievable from my late laptop...)

One of the nice things about this recipe is the fact that you mix them up the night before. It does make a LOT of pancake batter, so I will report back as to how it performs after being refrigerated for a couple days. The recipe is easy to put together, don't forget you can make your own buttermilk by adding vinegar or lemon juice to milk! Just let the milk sit while you mix up the other ingredients.

The only issue is that the level of heat for the griddle is not listed...I used a medium-low temperature.

While these pancakes are not quite "legendary" yet in our house, they are darn good. I ended up adding about 1/2 cup milk this morning to the batter, and the consistency was just about perfect.

Our boys like their pancakes with whipped cream on top, in case you're wondering. Enjoy!

Bruce Paltrow's World-Famous Pancakes
Yield: 3 dozen 5-inch pancakes
Active preparation time: 20 minutes
Total preparation time: 20 minutes plus overnight resting

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons fine salt
3 cups buttermilk (OR 3 tablespoons white vinegar OR lemon juice, plus milk to make 3 cups)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more butter for cooking
6 organic large eggs
Up to 1 cup milk, as needed to thin batter
Real Vermont maple syrup, warmed, for serving

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Whisk the buttermilk, butter and eggs together in another bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, whisking just enough to combine (small lumps are okay). Let the batter sit, covered, overnight.

The next morning, heat up your griddle or favorite nonstick pan and slick it with a little butter. Add enough milk to the batter to thin it to the right consistency--the thicker the batter, the thicker and heavier your pancakes; the thinner the batter, the more delicate your pancakes--neither is wrong.

Cook the pancakes on the griddle, flipping them after bubbles appear on the surface of the uncooked side. Let cook 2-3 minutes more, then remove, and eat with lots of warm maple syrup.

Taste & Create: Chicken Breasts in Lemon and Sage Sauce

2011-07-31T17:53:00.005-06:00

My partner for this month's Taste & Create is Corina of Searching for Spice. She has some amazing recipes, but it didn't take me long to choose this one. It just took me a long time to get it made!

Taste & Create is a monthly food blog event, created by my friend Nicole of For the Love of Food. Participants are randomly paired, and must choose and create a recipe from their partner's blog. It is FUN. If you'd like to sign up, check out How it Works or email me at cowgirlmin07[at]gmail[dot]com by the 8th of every month!

Now back to the recipe. It sounds delicious, and it is! I doubled it to feed my family of 4, other than that I didn't change anything. Oh, except that I minced the garlic instead of crushing it. Corina says the fennel seeds are optional, but I disagree, put them in!

This dish is savory and tangy and wonderful. The egg yolks at the end are an interesting and colorful addition, and they really thicken up the sauce. There are some techniques in here that are different, but not too difficult. I loved this chicken! I would like to try it again with some fresh sage leaves.

Chicken Breasts in Lemon and Sage Sauce
Serves 4

4 chicken breasts
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons flour
2 cloves garlic, crushed (I minced)
Olive oil
1 teaspoon fennel (anise) seeds
3/4 cup chicken stock
2 teaspoons sage leaves
Salt
Black pepper
2 egg yolks
1 - 2 teaspoons lemon juice

1. Make a paste with the flour, garlic and lemon juice. Coat the chicken with the paste and leave for half an hour.

2. Put a little olive oil in a sauce pan. Scrape the paste off the chicken and keep for the next step. Add the chicken and the fennel seeds to the pan and fry the chicken on each side.

3. If the paste is quite thick, thin it with a little water or stock then add it to the pan and stir with a wooden spoon. Then add the rest of the stock, sage, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil then lower to a very gentle simmer for about 20 minutes. Or, put in the oven at about 180C for half an hour.

4. Mix the egg yolk with a little lemon juice. Remove the chicken from the pan. Stir in the lemon juice. Keep stirring as it thickens but don’t let it boil.

5. Serve the sauce poured over the chicken with rice or potatoes and vegetables.

Taste & Create Partner List

2011-07-10T08:03:00.002-06:00

It's that time again! Here is the T&C partner list. Please remember to submit your creations to Nicole's Taste & Create website by July 24th, 2011!

If you have any questions or problems, check out the How it Works page, or please feel free to email me at cowgirlmin07 [at] gmail [dot] com.

Don't know what Taste & Create is? It's a monthly food blog event in which participants are randomly paired off, and must choose and create a recipe from their partner's blog. It is great fun! A picture of everyone's creation and a brief "review" gets posted on the Taste & Create website, linking back to your own blog post. If you'd would like to sign up for NEXT month, please email me by the 8th of the month. You'll be randomly paired with another food blogger, and the fun will begin!

Happy Tasting & Creating!

Searching for Spice & The Bad Girl's Kitchen

Always Eat on the Good China & Study Food

Bizzy B. Bakes & Mom's Sunday Café

No Reason Needed & Foodness Gracious

Taste & Create: Stuffed French Toast

2011-07-03T10:03:00.003-06:00

My partner for this month's Taste & Create was Chaya. Chaya has a few different blogs, including Comfy Cook's Kosher Kitchen, and has even contributed some recipes here at The Bad Girl's Kitchen! I spent some time searching her archive of recipes, mainly for something for which I had all the ingredients, because I realized the deadline was fast approaching and I wasn't going to make it to the store beforehand.

*Taste & Create is an amazing monthly food blog event, created by my friend Nicole of For the Love of Food. Participants are paired up randomly, and each create a recipe from their partner's blog! It is so fun! Please join us.

I love love love the Pain Perdue (stuffed French toast with cream cheese and orange marmalade) at Mimi's Cafe. Although it's completely different from Mimi's, when I discovered Chaya's Stuffed French Toast recipe, I had to make it. It sounds delightfully simple, filled with cinnamon cream cheese. And delicious too!

*since I started planning to make this, Chaya has consolidated her blogs, so the original recipe can be found on Bizzy B. Bakes, link below!*

I didn't have whipped cream cheese, so I brought about 4 ounces of regular cream cheese to room temperature and whipped it myself. I wanted to make this breakfast for my family of 4, but the original recipe calls for a whole cup of cream cheese to serve just 2 people! Although I love cream cheese, the thought of eating 1/2 cup of it didn't sit well with me, so I didn't double the cream cheese mixture. I just divided it between 4 sets bread and doubled the amount of eggs. I also halved the amount of brown sugar, and didn't increase the cinnamon or vanilla in the egg mixture.

It's important to whisk the egg mixture in between soaking the toast so the cinnamon doesn't separate too much.

I think the amount of cinnamon I used in the recipe is about right, I certainly wouldn't increase it. The amount of filling I used was just right for us too. Number One and H-Bomb and I liked the French toast; Sawed Off didn't want any.

This is a sweet treat for breakfast, and I look forward to experimenting with more variations!

My measurements, to serve 4, are below. Follow the link for Chaya's original recipe to serve 2, if you want more filling and more cinnamon.

Stuffed French Toast
Serves 4

8 pieces of bread

Egg mixture:
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
4 eggs, beaten well

Filling:
4 ounces cream cheese
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon butter

Put butter in large skillet or griddle. Heat slowly.

Combine cinnamon, vanilla, milk and eggs in a shallow bowl. Mix well and set aside egg mixture.

Combine the filling mixture, whipping until smooth.

Make sandwiches. Spread cream cheese mixture on one slice of bread, top with another slice of bread. Soak both sides of the "sandwich" in egg mixture.

Heat griddle to medium and put sandwiches on griddle. Cook for two minutes on each side, being careful not to burn. They should be golden brown.

Remove from heat and enjoy.

Nicole's Super Fast Pizza Sauce

2011-06-22T13:47:00.004-06:00

When my family went over to Colorado to visit Nicole's family, she whipped up some pizzas for dinner. She made this sauce, it was so delicious and so unbelievably simple! Nicole is my friend who lives in Germany and writes the blog For the Love of Food.

When my brother and his family came to visit us last week, we made individual, make-your-own pizzas, and everyone loved them. I just didn't feel like I had time for a batch of my marinara sauce, (and believe it or not, I did not have any stashed in the freezer!) but I didn't want to buy sauce either, so it was Nicole's sauce to the rescue!

I shaped pizzas out of Artisan bread dough, my brother put together the pizza sauce, and everyone prepared their own pizza using a variety of toppings including pepperoni, mushrooms, mozzerella, goat cheese, roasted chicken, roasted red peppers. (I wish we had had fresh basil for the roasted chicken and goat cheese pizzas, but no such luck).

Yum. Go here for the artisan pizza dough technique, and here is Nicole's sauce recipe.

Pizza Sauce

¼ Cup of Tomato Paste
2 Tablespoons of Water
dash of Salt, Pepper, Garlic powder, and Onion Powder

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix until combined. Add more tomato paste for a thicker consistency, or more water for a thinner consistency.

Taste & Create Partner List

2011-06-11T01:00:00.002-06:00

It's that time again! Here is the T&C partner list. Please remember to submit your creations to Nicole's Taste & Create website by June 24th, 2011!

If you have any questions or problems, check out the How it Works page, or please feel free to email me at cowgirlmin07 [at] gmail [dot] com.

If anyone would like to sign up for NEXT month, please email me by the 8th of the month. You'll be randomly paired with another food blogger, and the fun will begin!

Can't wait to see what you create!

Comfy Cook's Kosher Kitchen & The Bad Girl's Kitchen

Bizzy B. Bakes & The Tiny Skillet

No Reason Needed & Always Eat on the Good China

The Life and Love of Grumpy's Honeybunch & Study Food

Mom's Sunday Café & I Will Not Eat Oysters

Aunt Diane's Fresh Shrimp Dip

2011-06-01T15:08:00.003-06:00

You might guess that I got this recipe from Aunt Diane. It's true. We went to her house over the weekend for a family get-together with a couple of our Australian friends, and she had this dip out for us when we arrived. I immediately asked for the recipe. Of course Diane said fresh shrimp are better, but in true ranch wife fashion, you make do with what you have. In her case, and in mine today, we used canned shrimp.

I didn't have all the measurements, so I winged it with the ingredients. But I think it turned out pretty darn good. I'm taking it to our girl's retreat this weekend, we'll just see what Aunt Diane says about how I did!

*I will try to remember to take a picture...if not this time, then next time for sure!

Aunt Diane's Fresh Shrimp Dip

1 8-ounce block cream cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2-4 green onions, minced
1/2 of a large green pepper, seeded and chopped fine
2 stalks celery, chopped fine
shrimp (this time I used 1 6-ounce can of "tiny shrimp," drained

Mix ingredients and refrigerate for at least two hours. Stir before serving.

Serve with Wheat Thins and assorted vegetables.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

2011-05-24T17:26:00.002-06:00

I have a number of good pancake recipes, and this is not my favorite of them. However, these pancakes are healthy, and the recipe is so easy that kids can make them with minimal mess.

WHOLE WHEAT PANCAKES

(adapted from A Pinch of Salt Lake)

Makes 3 servings.

1 cup wheat kernels

1 1/2 cups milk or buttermilk, divided

1 large egg

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Blend wheat and 1 cup milk or buttermilk in blender on high speed for 4 minutes.

2. Add remaining 1/2 cup milk or buttermilk and the rest of the ingredients.

3. Blend, stopping blender once to scrape sides.

4. Cook on lightly greased preheated griddle.

SOUR CREAM DUTCH APPLE PIE

2011-05-22T22:07:00.001-06:00

I love apples - all apples. There I said it. Who can resist a slice of hot apple pie? Hubby want dutch apple, FIL wanted a turnover and I just wanted apples. So I dug into my files and found 3 recipes from grams, a vintage magazine and an old friend. I had never made any of these. Mainly because alone they weren't all that interesting. They needed some UMPF! so I combined the parts I liked best from all three and came up with my version of Sour Cream Dutch Apple Pie. Together they were awesome.

SOUR CREAM DUTCH APPLE PIE
PIE
3+ cups apples, cored, peeled and chopped
lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon maple extract
1 small egg, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream (not light)
9 inch pastry shell, pre-baked and cooled
TOPPING
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter, sliced extremely thin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Chop the apples and combine with just enough lemon juice to coat and prevent browning in large bowl.
In a small bowl sift together the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt.
Fold in the sour cream, egg, vanilla and maple extract until well blended.
Fold the sour cream mixture into the apples until well coated.
Carefully pour into the pie shell, mounding towards the center.
Toss together the topping ingredients until well blended.
Sprinkle topping evenly over the apple mound.
Lay the pieces of butter all over the top.
Bake 30 minutes or until apples are tender.
Best served with ice cream or fresh whipped cream. If you want to be really decadent try it with Caramel Sauce.

Taste & Create: No Knead Bread

2011-05-22T13:42:00.001-06:00

Taste & Create is a fabulously fun food blog event created by my friend Nicole, of For the Love of Food. Participants are randomly paired off, and you have to make something from your partner's blog. Easy and super fun! Sign up and tell all your friends!

Go here to find out how to sign up, by the 8th of each month.

My partner this month is Gerry of Foodness Gracious. I have to say I love that blog name!! After perusing his blog again and again, I was really tempted by his Buffalo Chicken Wraps. I WILL make them. But for now, being a huge fan of Artisan Bread 5-minutes-a-day method, I decided to try his No-Knead Bread as a comparison.

I will say that the Artisan Bread is much easier, and has the advantage of making a big batch of dough all at once and storing it in the refrigerator. The No-Knead Bread has a lot more rising time (12-18 hours and then 15 minutes and then 2 hours) compared to the Artisan Bread's time (3 to 5 hours, then 40 minutes each loaf). I also typically get a lot more rise out of the Artisan Bread. I don't think the No-Knead dough even doubled. Mine certainly didn't press against the plastic wrap like Gerry's did.

There are also less steps to the Artisan Bread, just measure & mix, let rise, quickly form and rise, then bake. With this No-Knead Bread, you measure & mix, let rise (for more than double the amount of time), then flour and rise, then cornmeal and rise, prep the baking dish, and finally bake. I am hoping to get a decent loaf that is worth the extra effort! (including laundry)

I have a similar-to-Le-Creuset enameled cast iron pot, and although I was worried it might be too big, that is what I decided to use. *Glad I did, because I went to the original post and found the required pot size to be 6-8 quart.*

So. I baked the bread. It looked promising. I wish I had listened to my instincts and used Kosher salt, instead of plain sea salt. Or maybe more salt. The bread looks good, but it ends up being covered in cornmeal. I don't mind cornmeal on the bottom that mostly gets tapped off, but cornmeal almost everywhere is a bit gritty for my taste.

The problem for me is that I'm comparing this loaf to my consistently fabulous Artisan bread loaves. The flavor of this bread just doesn't compare. And then there's the texture of the cornmeal overall, it's just too much. This bread has promise, and it's a decent, crusty loaf with a great consistency and crumb, but it's just not very flavorful. Factor in the huge amount of time (inactive time, but time all the same) and I'm just not convinced it's worth it for me, especially when it gives me two more towels that need to be washed.

*This is not to say that you won't see me eating this entire loaf of bread, on my own if I have to. I said it was decent and crusty, I didn't say it was bad...

A bread that creates its own laundry needs to be spectacular...and I'm sad to say this loaf wasn't.

So please, you try it if you'd like to. Use Kosher salt, or more salt, less cornmeal, figure it out. Lots of people love this bread, and I have nothing against them. I simply prefer mine. And you should try my favorite recipe too. Let me know what you think!

And Gerry, I'll definitely be back for those Buffalo Chicken Wraps!!

No-Knead Bread
(you can see Gerry's recipe here, attributed to The Amateur Gourmet)

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups of warm water (I used a bit more, TAG suggests 1 5/8 cups)

Mix all the dry stuff into a large size bowl (with room to rise) and then add the water and mix roughly with your hands. (I used my dough whisk). Cover with plastic wrap and leave for at least 12 hours or more if you can. (mine did not rise as much as I expected)

After that, turn out the dough onto a well-floured work surface and roughly turn into itself to form a ball, cover (I used same plastic wrap) and let rest for 15 minutes.

Spread a clean towel with cornmeal and sit the dough on top. More cornmeal for the top of the dough and another towel to cover. Leave for another two hours.

Meanwhile 30 minutes before the two hour mark, turn on the oven to 450 degrees F and put in your 6-8 quart Dutch oven/Pyrex/ceramic dish and lid and let it get hot in the last 30 minutes. (Gerry used the ceramic inside part of a crock pot; I used my enameled cast iron Dutch oven, similar to Le Creuset). At 2 hours pull out the dish and plop the dough in, lid goes back on and in the oven for 30 minutes. Take of the lid and bake for another 20 - 30 minutes until nice and golden.

Remove to a rack and let it rest for at least 30 minutes, then enjoy.

Spicy Chicken with Peppers & Basil

2011-05-17T09:00:00.001-06:00

Happy May! Can you believe we're already to the half-way point of May?! Before you know it, it'll be 4th of July. Where does the time go?!

Back in February, I made a recipe that called for fresh basil. And, of course, all I could find was a gigantor package of fresh basil at the store, so the hunt for recipes that included basil was on! I told the hubs it was his responsibility to find a recipe and low and behold, we actually came up with the same one (but don't tell him I looked for a recipe, too, because he'll say I didn't have faith in him). Thanks to Food Network, I get to share this great recipe with all of you!

Spicy Chicken with Peppers and Basil
2 cups Jasmine rice, prepared to directions on the package
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 Tbsp wok or light colored oil
1 Tbsp hot chile oil
1/2 to 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 small to medium onion, thinly sliced
2 red bell peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp fish sauce
20 leaves fresh sweet basil, torn

Place rice on the stove top to cook.

Cut chicken on an angle across the breast into thin strips. Cut strips across into bite size pieces. Set chicken aside. Wash hands and cutting board.

When the rice is 6 or 7 minutes away from being done, begin your stir fry.

Heat a wok, wok-shaped skillet, or large nonstick skillet over high heat. When the pan smokes, add wok or light cooking oil, and hot chile oil. Sprinkle in crushed red pepper flakes. Add chicken and stir fry 2 minutes. Add onions, red bell peppers, and garlic and stir fry for 1 or 2 more minutes. Add fish sauce. Remove the pan from heat and add basil. Toss chicken dish until basil wilts.

Serve chicken and peppers with prepared rice.

Very colorful and easy to make! I can guarantee that it was easy to make because as a rule, the hubs does not make things that require a recipe. And I don't remember actually making this, so it's a good chance he made it. It was not too spicy, but my kids probably would've thought it was too spicy for them. The nice thing about this recipe is that you can make it as spicy or as bland as you want.

Happy eating!

Apple Nut Muffins

2011-05-14T09:47:00.003-06:00

Arrived home recently with about an hour to prepare treats for a meeting. With no time to run to the store, I thought perhaps I could make muffins with the banana ripening on top of the microwave. However, one banana wasn't enough for the recipes in my periphery.

Fortunately, my eye noticed a recipe for apple muffins next to Joy of Cooking's recipe for banana nut muffins, and my brain remembered the somewhat shriveled apples that had escaped last week's fridge clean-out. Perfect!

The muffins are flavored less by the apples than by the cinnamon. However, the apples provide fiber and allow less fat to be used in the recipe than is found in many muffins.

APPLE NUT MUFFINS

(Modified from Joy of Cooking)

2 large eggs

¾ cup sugar

1 ½ cups packed coarsely grated peeled apples (about 2 medium), with any juice

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup whole-wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

Scant ½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans

6 tablespoons melted unsalted butter or vegetable oil

1. Whisk eggs and sugar together in a large bowl.

2. Stir in grated apples and let stand for 10 minutes.

3. In medium bowl, whisk together all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

4. Stir nuts into dry ingredients.

5. Once the apples have stood for 10 minutes, stir in the melted butter.

6. Add the flour mixture and fold just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

7. Grease or line either a pan for 12 regular-size muffins or 3 pans that each make 12 tiny muffins.

8. Bake in 400°F oven for 14 to 16 minutes for the larger muffins or 7 to 8 minutes for the tiny muffins.

9. Let cool for 2 to 3 minutes before removing from the pan. If not serving hot, let cool on a rack. Serve as soon as possible, preferably the day they are baked.

NOTE: Apples with shriveled skins work just fine in this recipe.

Taste & Create Partner List

2011-05-13T14:30:00.002-06:00

Here is the May Taste & Create partner list! Sorry for the delay. Welcome to all the participants, it's nice to see some new as well as familiar faces! I am helping Nicole again this month, she has some big projects on her plate!

Please remember to submit your creations to Nicole's Taste & Create website by May 24th, 2011!

If you have any questions or problems, check out the How it Works page, or please feel free to email me at cowgirlmin07 [at] gmail [dot] com.

Can't wait to see what you create!

The Teenage Taste & Comfy Cook's Kosher Kitchen

No Reason Needed & Eat Laugh Love

The Bad Girl's Kitchen & Foodness Gracious

The Life and Love of Grumpy's Honeybunch & Bizzy B. Bakes

Goat Cheese, Strawberry & Spinach Salad

2011-05-06T18:25:00.006-06:00

I found this recipe in a roundabout way. Dave, of My Year on the Grill, posted a comment on Facebook about Joanne, of Eats Well With Others, and her fabulous salad. Dave and Joanne and I have all been contributors over at Our Krazy Kitchen, which is how I got to know them. So anyway. Dave commented on Joanne's new post on a new blog called Marcus Samuelsson, which was about this fabulous salad and the rest is history.

I served this salad as an accompaniment to Grilled Balsamic-Marinated Flank Steak for Number One's birthday dinner. It was excellent. I do have to say that this recipe's "serves 4" is way more than I could eat, even if salad was all we had for dinner. Just so you know. Actually, we have so much leftover that we are going to eat it for dinner again tomorrow, with strips of flank steak (also leftover) on top. Perfect. I love it when dinner is already made.

*They don't sell fresh basil at our teeny tiny grocery store, so I sprinkled some dried basil on top along with the sea salt. Yum.

Because it was a birthday dinner, we also had a luscious 2-layer chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream frosting for dessert. Topped off with one of our precious bottles of wine self-imported from France, and it was quite a meal!

Goat Cheese, Strawberry, and Spinach Salad

Serves 4-6, adapted from Bon Appetit April 2011

1 cup dried white beans, soaked overnight or 1 (14 oz) can white beans
1 cup good quality balsamic vinegar
1 bunch asparagus, ends cut off and chopped into two-inch pieces
8 oz soft goat cheese or chevre
1 lb fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced thinly
8 cups spinach, either chopped regular spinach or baby spinach
1/2 cup small fresh basil leaves
Fine sea salt

1. If using dried white beans, drain them from the water you’ve soaked them in overnight. Put them in a pot. Cover them with water with about a 2-inch overhang. Salt the water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and simmer until tender, 30-60 minutes depending on the beans. If using canned beans, then drain the beans and rinse them.

2. While the beans are cooking, put 1 cup balsamic vinegar (I used aged balsamic vinegar of Modena) in a small non-reactive pan. Bring to a simmer and reduce until syrupy, about 5-8 minutes. Set aside.

3. When the white beans are pretty much done cooking, drop your asparagus into the white bean water and cook for 1-2 minutes. Alternatively, you can bring a second pot of water to a boil and cook them for 1-2 minutes. Drain both the white beans and the asparagus.

4. In a large bowl, toss the strawberries, spinach, basil, asparagus, and white beans. Separate into four dishes and top each dish with about 2 oz goat cheese, broken into chunks, a drizzle of balsamic syrup and a sprinkle of sea salt.

Serve as lunch or as a light dinner.

Hot Dogs with "Michigan Sauce"

2011-05-04T19:04:00.000-06:00

The television was on for some reason the other day, and Rachael Ray started talking about "Michigan Sauce." What??? She claimed it was a hot dog topping...I'm a Michigan native, and I've never heard of it. Huh. Then she proceeded to make a "mac & cheese" and mix it with the "Michigan meat sauce," where she lost me. Ick. Then she put it all on top of a hot dog. Blech.

Honestly, I was intrigued by the first HALF of the recipe, the so-called "Michigan Sauce." It took some searching to find the right recipe on her website, but here it is. I have taken the liberty to omit everything to do with that mac & cheese debacle. We will top our hot dogs with this meat sauce and see what happens. Everyone loves a good chili dog.

I did a little more research on this mystery "Michigan sauce," and was surprised to find some information...it's not from Michigan at all! It's from New York or possibly somewhere else, but definitely not Michigan. In fact, wikipediastates "Oddly enough, "Michigan hot dogs" are never referred to by that name in Michigan itself, nor anywhere else in the Midwest." That explains everything!

Rachael also put the raw meat in with all the other ingredients...I wasn't sure about this. Follow the link if you'd like to see the whole original recipe...

Rachael tops her sauce with a bit of raw chopped onion...now that sounds like a good idea to me. And maybe just a bit of mustard...

okay. So to be honest and blunt, I'm NOT a fan of Rachael Ray's recipes. But I feel like, hey, she's got her own show, she's got her own burgeoning foodie products empire, there's got to be SOMETHING redeemable about one of her recipes. Someday. Right? So I try another one occasionally.

Given that I've never had/heard of Michigan sauce, I was still surprised about the consistency of the "sauce." It was much thicker than I expected, not "saucy" at all. I think that's a mistake, especially when you look at what's pictured here. I'd like it to be more saucy. I'll have to work on that. I'm wondering if Rachael made it less saucy because she ultimately mixed it with the mac and cheese...we shall never know, unless she comes to the blog and tells us. So, we shall never know. I do have another recipe for Michigan sauce that I may try...let's hope it's saucier.

I do like the spiciness of Rachael's Michigan sauce...and it was delicious topped with mustard and raw onion. Number One also had grated Cheddar on top of his, mostly because he likes cheese. I look forward to making this again, but with more liquid somehow.

"Michigan Sauce"

1/2 pound ground beef
1 cup tomato sauce
3-4 teaspoons grated onion
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons Ancho chile powder
1 teaspoon Tabasco or other hot sauce (I used Cholula)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper

Place all ingredients in a pot over low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, and simmer for 45 minutes, until very thick.

A Special Tip for not-so-homemade Desserts...

2011-05-03T08:25:00.005-06:00

My birthday was approaching. We found out one night in advance that we'd be having a couple house guests, and had plans for the actual day of my birthday, so we decided to have a special dinner with our house guests the night before my birthday.

Number One usually makes a dessert for me--of my choosing, from scratch. That's right, Whatever My Heart Desires! He will make it. He's the best. But with this last-minute change, he didn't have time. (to his credit, he did come home with a cake mix and frosting, but I had beat him to the punch.

After I dropped H-Bomb off at school that morning, I picked out a frozen cake. I decided it needed a little something extra, so I also picked up a can of country cherry pie filling. The "country" is very important here, because it means the cherries are a bit tart.

To serve, I carefully poured the cherry pie filling on a nice plate, then balanced the frozen cake on top of it at an artful angle. I stored it in the refrigerator until it was time for dessert. It was as simple as that, looked more appealing, and was very delicious.

The cherries pushed that little chocolate cake right over the top! Yum. My boys sang Happy Birthday to me, and we all enjoyed a black forest-esque cake.

I'm also envisioning a Coconut Cake atop a puddle of pineapple topping...the possibilities are endless!

*Chocolate Fudge Three-Layer Cake by Pepperidge Farm.

Potatoes with Personality

2011-05-01T19:27:00.001-06:00

Potatoes with Personality
1 onion, chopped
2 teaspoon margarine
2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 carrots, sliced
1/4 cup whipped topping (believe it or not - it replace sour cream, which I did not have)
salt to taste
chives, chopped ( a handful)

Method:

In a small skillet, saute onion in margarine until golden brown. (8 minutes)
In a medium saucepan, place carrots and potatoes and cover with water.
Bring to boiling point. Lower heat and cover saucepan.
Cook for 15 minutes until tender.
Drain in colander.
Put carrots and potatoes in a baking dish. Add cooked onions.
Add the whipped topping, chives and salt and mix well.
Put in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes and serve.

This was a popular dish. I have no idea how the sour cream would have worked but this was a sweeter dish, as a result of using the cream.

If you would like to learn about the personality of potatoes, stop by Bizzy B. Bakes

Gingered Watercress

2011-05-01T08:44:00.001-06:00

I happened across a television show on the Cooking Channel called French Food at Home, where this dish was being prepared. I'd never seen the show before, never heard of the "cooking channel" before and I've never had watercress before. It looked so easy I was intrigued and decided to try it. Of course calling it French didn't hurt either!

This is an interesting side dish, and good for something a little different. The watercress stems are sort of crunchy and take on the flavor of the other ingredients (which is good, because I wasn't impressed with the raw watercress flavor). Our boys said they didn't like it, but did take a few bites each. My husband and I didn't love it, but it was pretty good.

I didn't have a fresh tomato, so I used canned diced tomatoes. If you are going to do this substitution, only use half a can. Next time I will also chop the diced tomatoes finer. I would also use a bit more ginger. On French Food at Home, she said to use about 1 inch of ginger. Measure generously.

I still don't understand why our teeny tiny grocery store carries watercress and not kale...but regardless you should try this dish for a change.

Gingered Watercress

Recipe courtesy Laura Calder

Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 15 min

6 servings

2 bunches fresh watercress, trimmed (about 1 1/2 pounds)
3 tablespoons oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 knob (1-inch) fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Wash the cress and spin it dry. Heat the oil in a wok or skillet. Add the garlic and ginger and cook 1 minute. Add the tomato and cook to paste. Add the cress, and cook down, turning occasionally with tongs, until tender, about 10 minutes. Season and serve.

Taste & Create: Homemade Paneer

2011-04-30T13:33:00.003-06:00

Have you participated in Taste & Create yet?? You totally should. It's a food blog event created by my friend Nicole. People are randomly paired off, and you have to make something from your partner's blog. Easy and super fun! What are you waiting for?

Go here to find out how to sign up, by the 8th of each month.

This month, my partner was Padmajha, aka "PJ" of Seduce Your Tastebuds. We've been partners before, you may remember when I made her Vegetable Kurma and Meethi Paratha last year. I always get so excited when I'm partnered with someone whose recipes are so different, a world apart from my own!

I've never had or made paneer before, but given my recent success with Greek Yogurt, I thought I'd give it a whirl. I might be using some of our paneer to make these Vegetable Paneer Parathas, if we don't eat it all first!

This is very simple to make, and has sort of a cream cheese texture. Yum!

Here is what you'll need, aside from milk and lemons. A pan or pot (I used my Le Creuset pan), a small sieve, cheesecloth, a large bowl (to catch the whey), a large sieve. That's about it.

PJ has a nice set of step-by-step pictures on her post, follow the link below to her original recipe.

Homemade Paneer

1 liter milk (I used organic cow's milk)
juice from 1/2 to 1 lemon

1. Heat the milk in a pot. Bring it to boil and turn off the flame.

2. Squeeze out the juice of lemon into a small sieve over the milk. [I used a whole lemon]. Vinegar can also be used. If it does not curdle immediately or fully, add some more lemon juice/vinegar.

3. The milk will curdle immediately. Let it stand for around 10-15 minutes.

4. Strain the contents of the pan.

5. Remove the paneer into another pan and rinse with water a couple of times to remove sourness.

6. Drain and transfer the paneer onto a muslin cloth/cheese cloth.

7. Squeeze out the water and hang the cloth over a bowl until the whey completely drains out, about an hour. (I couldn't squeeze very hard without curds squishing out of the cheesecloth, so I let mine drain for about two hours)

Paneer is now ready to be used in a dish of your choice. You can save the whey water, which is very nutritious. Here are some of PJ's ideas for using it:

Store whey in the fridge and the next time you prepare chapathi/Roti use this water to make the dough.
It can also be used instead of lemon juice[as a starter] the next time you make paneer.
Use it as a soup base
Add a pinch of salt and drink it up
Use it while preparing baked goodies.
Use it in milkshakes instead/with milk.

Salt 'n' Vinegar Roasted Potatoes

2011-04-16T14:38:00.000-06:00

Another recipe from Everyday Food magazine. If you haven't checked this magazine out yet, by all means do it soon! Every single month there are multiple recipes that I want to try, and the majority of them are great.

H-Bomb had a friend over after school yesterday, and he wanted hot dogs for dinner. I made these to go with them. None of the boys ate any (didn't even try them), but Number One and I like them a lot. Serve them with extra malt vinegar for sprinkling on top.

I also like that you can make these ahead of time. But you already knew that.

Salt 'n' Vinegar Roasted Potatoes
Serves 4 Active time: 10 minutes Total time: 1 hour You can make these potatoes ahead of time. Boil and smash them, cover and refrigerate overnight, then finish them in the oven the next day.

1 1/2 pounds small round or fingerling potatoes
coarse salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup malt vinegar*

In a medium pot, bring potatoes to a boil over high heat in salted water. Reduce heat and cook at a rapid simmer until potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife, about 20 minutes; drain. Place a folded dish towel on a work surface and place a hot potato inside. Gently smash potato so that it is flattened but still in one piece (edges will split). Repeat with remaining potatoes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Brush a rimmed baking sheet with 1 tablespoon oil. Place potatoes on sheet (I used a spatula to transfer each smashed potato to the pan) and brush tops with olive oil. Bake until crisp and golden, 35 minutes, flipping them halfway through. Remove from oven, toss with vinegar, and season with salt.

*You could also dress the potatoes with cider vinegar and flaky sea salt instead of malt vinegar.

Perfect Pulled Pork & Scalloped Potatoes

2011-04-14T16:24:00.001-06:00

Hi, everybody! My name is Megan, and I'm owner/writer of Kitschy Suburbia, a blog about family, food and nail polish. Weird combo, I know, but it works! I found The Bad Girl's Kitchen while searching for a new recipe to try. Not only did I find some great recipes, I found a community of great cooks that I wanted to be a part of.

I "found" this recipe when a fellow blogger gave me the head's up. It's from Kevin & Amanda - they have a *bunch* of great recipes. This is the first I've tried and I promise I'll be trying more (and sharing them with you, of course). Don't be intimidated by the amount of ingredients or the number of steps - they are ALL worth it.

Perfect Pulled Pork

1 whole bone-in Boston butt

Dry Rub
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp ground pepper
1 Tbsp paprika
1/2 cup brown sugar

Mix well and store in an air-tight container.

Brine Solution
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 quarts cold water
2 bay leaves
3 Tbsp dry rub mix

Add salt to cold water and stir until all the salt is completely dissolved. Then add the brown sugar, dry rub and bay leaves. Stir well to combine.

Pork shoulder prep:
Rinse the pork shoulder and place in a large container. Pour in the brine solution until the shoulder is completely covered. Cover the container and place in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. Remove pork shoulder from brine solution; pat dry with paper towels. Place pork shoulder in baking pan that is bigger than the shoulder by at least an inch in length and width and at least 3-inches deep. Sprinkle dry rub on to the surface of the shoulder and massage in so that it adheres to the surface. Coat all sides and be sure to get in to all the nooks and crannies. Make sure the fat layer on the hsoulder is facing up before cooking! Place baking pan, uncovered, in a 225* oven on the middle rack. Insert a probe thermometer into the center or the thickest part of the shoulder, but not touching the bone. Monitor the temperature throughout cooking (a digital thermometer with an alarm function is the easiest way to do this). Do not remove from the oven until the center of the shoulder reaches 200*; shut off the oven and let the roast cool for a couple of hours before removing from the oven. If the bottom of the pan is dry (or crusted with dried spices), cover the pan with foil to retain internal moisture of the meat during the cooling period. When the temperature drops to 170*, remove from the oven. Place on a large clean work surface, such as a cutting board, and remove the large sheet of crusted fat off the top. Pull apart with two forks; it will pull apart very easily.

NOTES: This is a VERY looooong process. I cheated and didn't let the pork get all the way up to 200 and then cool back down because we ended up being short on time. I put the pork in the oven at 11 and it wasn't finished even at 7. I had no idea it would take THAT long! It didn't shred quite as easily than if we had waited the entire time, but it was still delish!

BONUS RECIPE!

I got this wonderful recipe from my bestie. She's my partner in crime - whether as a fellow mom, a kitchen goddess, or beauty queen, this lady is always there for me!

Scalloped Potatoes
6-8 large baking potatoes
shredded Cheddar cheese - 1 small bag
Heavy Cream- 1 1/2 to 2 cups
Seasoned salt - as desired
Salt- as desired
Dried thyme- as desired

Preheat oven to 400*
Use 9x10 baking dish - grease lightly

Slice all potatoes thinly, add a layer in baking pan
Add a layer of cheese and spices
2 layers of Potatoes
Layer of cheese and spiced
Do this until all the cheese and potatoes have been used. Make sure you have enough cheese for the top of the potatoes.
Once you have layers complete, pour heavy cream over entire thing and sprinkle left over cheese on the top.

Bake for 60 minutes.

NOTES: This is my bestie's recipe and it's from memory, so it's not the most precise, but you get the picture.

Be sure to have some disposable gloves for this one - it gets messy!

The hardest part of making this recipe was smelling the pork in the oven ALL day. It smelled soooo good - it was very hard to wait.

The end result. We served the pork with fresh deli rolls and a couple BBQ sauces. The pork was not dry by any means, we just had some really good sauces to share that we picked up from the Fiery Foods Show back in March.

So...it was nice to meet you! Here's to many new bloggy buddies and many great new recipes to be had.

Taste & Create Partner List

2011-04-13T12:38:00.004-06:00

Here is the April Taste & Create partner list! Sorry for the delay, but trust me, it's worth the wait. Welcome to all the participants, it's nice to see some new as well as familiar faces!

Please remember to submit your creations to Nicole's Taste & Create website by April 24th, 2011!

If you have any questions or problems, check out the How it Works page, or please feel free to email Nicole (at tasteandcreate [at] rezimo [dot] com) or me (at cowgirlmin07 [at] gmail [dot] com).

Can't wait to see what you create!

The Life and Love of Grumpy's Honeybunch & Passion + Love + Patience = Good Food

Avocado Pesto & No Reason Needed

Seduce Your Tastebuds & The Bad Girl's Kitchen

Samayal Arai & For the Love of Food

Measured in Pinches & Searching for Spice

Creamy Coleslaw

2011-04-11T17:38:00.003-06:00

Because sometimes companies change the recipe you expect to find on the back of the package...

This is for regular creamy coleslaw, the kind you love on top of BBQ sandwiches and to eat as a side dish. It USED to be on the back of the DOLE^® Classic Cole Slaw package. Now I suppose you can always find it here.

Creamy Coleslaw
1/2 cup fat free or reduced fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 package (16 oz.) DOLE^® Classic Cole Slaw

Combine mayonnaise, milk, vinegar and sugar in small bowl.
Add cole slaw blend to large bowl. Pour dressing over cole slaw blend. Toss to coat evenly. Cover.
Refrigerate at least 1 hour to blend flavors. Stir before serving.

Roasted Chicken with Cauliflower and Chickpeas

2011-04-11T10:33:00.000-06:00

This recipe comes from the latest issue of Everyday Food magazine. It sounded great, and easy, so when I found out my father-in-law and his friend were coming to stay with us for the night, I decided to make this for dinner.

I doubled the recipe, using two whole chickens. I was able to fit it all on the sheet pans I have, except for one chicken wing I ended up throwing out. Transferring the chicken to another pan and tossing the vegetables on the first one may sound (and feel) awkward at first, but trust me, it is worth it and not much trouble! And actually it was quite a simple recipe.

I put part of the vegetables with the chicken for serving, and the rest on their own platter. Everyone loved the chicken, and the roasted vegetables were a savory, delicious touch. I had prepared a salad, but I didn't eat any because I was so wrapped up in the chicken and roasted vegetables. The cauliflower was tender-crisp and nutty, the onions were just sweetened and soft, the garbanzo beans were a nice contrast, and the tomatoes were colorful little bursts of flavor! The meal received many compliments, even into the next day!

We ate the leftovers last night. Although the cauliflower was amazing cold, I warmed it all up on a sheet pan for dinner. Delicious yet again, and the chicken was even crispier. I am definitely making this fabulous meal when my parents come to visit!

Incidentally, if you ever see a bottle of this wine, buy it. It is excellent, and we honestly have no idea how it ended up in our wine fridge. Now I'm on a quest to find more!

Roasted Chicken with Cauliflower and Chickpeas
Serves 4
Active time: 10 minutes
Total time: 1 hour

Roasting the chicken on a preheated pan saves time and helps the meat brown. You don't need to add oil to the vegetables; they cook in drippings from the chicken.

1 whole chicken (3 1/2 to 4 pounds), rinsed, patted dry and cut into 9 pieces (I bought a pre-cut chicken and rinsed and dried it)
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes
1 small head cauliflower, cored and cut into 2-inch florets
1 large red onion, cut into wedges
1 can (15.5 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Place a rimmed baking sheet in oven and preheat to 450 degrees F, with racks in upper and middle thirds. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Carefully remove sheet from oven and arrange chicken, skin side up, in a single layer. Roast on upper rack, 20 minutes.

Remove chicken from oven and, with tongs, transfer to another rimmed baking sheet along with tomatoes. Add cauliflower, onion and chickpeas to drippings on first sheet and toss to combine; season with salt and pepper. Roast chicken on upper rack and vegetables on middle rack until chicken is golden and cooked through and cauliflower is tender when pierced with a knife, about 30 minutes. Transfer chicken and vegetables to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Pozole Verde

2011-04-03T16:52:00.002-06:00

A couple weeks ago, a group of us from work went on a humanitarian trip to Cuanacaxtitlan (Cuana for short) and San Luis Acatlan in Guerrero, Mexico. We stayed in Cuana which is a tiny village about 4 hours east of Acapulco in the middle of the mountains. It was a great trip, I worked my butt off and the people there were amazing. We lived at the church in Cuana which probably had the best facilities in town but still no hot water. HOWEVER... the 2 ladies that came in to cook for us everyday more than made up for the lack of hot showers (sorta). The food they made was simple, filling, 10 times better than any Mexican restaurant I've been to and out of this world fantastic! One of the dishes they made was a traditional Pozole Verde. It was a special dish they made for the priest's birthday. They told me that Pozole is a traditional dish that dates back to Aztec times. There are different variations all over Mexico and the Pozole Verde they made is most common to the state of Guerrero where we were. They also said that it's the type of dish that everyone and their grandmother has their own variation too! The pozole they made was green (obviously) with chicken and pozole corn (hominy to you and me). I also saw pumpkin seeds and poblano peppers in the kitchen at some point during the day.

When I got home, I decided that I was going to try and make this ambitious dish. I knew it took a long time to make and was pretty labor intensive. Be ready... this takes about 4 hours. I found a couple recipes online... one that Mindy was kind enough to translate for me complete with "head of a hog". I opted for Emeril's recipe on Foodnetwork.com for a couple reasons. 1) It was in English. 2) I didn't have to convert the metric system. 3) It had the pumpkin seeds, which none of the other recipes had, and similar garnishes to what we were served.

Here's what you'll need...

1-lb lean pork shoulder roast

1/2 chicken, cut in pieces

1 onion, quartered

2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

5 stems cilantro

4 ounces hulled, untoasted, pumpkin seeds

1/2-lb fresh tomatillos

2 1/2 tsp salt

1 fresh hot chili (Serrano or jalapeno) stem removed and coarsely chopped.

1 small onion, chopped

2 Tbs lard or vegetable oil

2 (29-oz) cans of hominy, drained

For Garnish:

Sour cream

Diced red onion

Dried oregano or finely chopped cilantro leaves

Avocado, cubed

Fried pork rinds, crumbled

Fried tortilla strips

Lime wedges

*** Most people know that I can't leave a recipe alone and I almost always change it. Here's what I did to this one...

Pork loin roast instead of pork shoulder roast (more lean... I hate fat)

Fresh oregano instead of cilantro (I hate cilantro)

I used a jalapeno but I remember the cooks using poblanos... although they were making it for WAY more people than I was!

There's a "can vs dried hominy" debate online. I suppose the dried would probably taste better but I've never cooked with either and well... if canned is good enough for Emeril, then it's good enough for me.

Fried pork rinds are gross.

1) In a large soup pot put 3 quarts of water, the pork shoulder, chicken, quartered onion, smashed garlic and cilantro stems and bring to a boil. Skim any foam that rises to the surface, partially cover the pot, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 2 1/2-3 hours, or until pork is very tender and the stock is flavorful.

2) While the meat is cooking, heat a small skillet over medium low heat. Add the pumpkin seeds and cook, stirring constantly, until all of the seeds have popped and turned golden (3-4 min). Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool.

3) Place tomatillos in a small saucepan and add enough water to cover by 1-inch. Add 1 tsp of the salt and cook over medium heat until the tomatillos are tender, about 10-min. Strain tomatillos and discard the cooking liquid. Place the tomatillos in the jar of a blender or food processor along with the pumpkin seeds, green chili and chopped onion. Add 1/3 cup of the pork cooking liquid and blend until VERY smooth. Strain through a medium-mesh sieve and discard the solids.

4) In a skillet over medium high heat, add the oil or lard. When hot, add the puree and cook, stirring constantly for about 7 minutes or until the color has darkened and the mixture has thickened considerably. Remove from the heat.

5) When the pork is very tender, strain the stock. Set the meat and chicken aside. Discard other solids. Return the stock to the soup pot, add the tomatillo-pumpkin seed mixture and the hominy and return to a gentle simmer. cook for about 1 hour, stirring frequently until slightly thickened and flavorful. When the meat and chicken are cool enough to handle, discard any bones and shred into bite size pieces. Add meat to the soup pot and season with the remaining 1 1/2 tsp of salt. (I also added some black pepper and dried oregano.)

6) Serve the pozole in shallow bowls and allow guest to garnish their soup with condiments of their own choosing.

*** It's not exactly like what I had in Mexico but it comes real close! Enjoy!!!

Banana Split Pie

2011-04-01T11:24:00.000-06:00

Louanne, from Louanne's Kitchen, recently posted this recipe for her Save Room for Dessert series at Our Krazy Kitchen. Still with me??

I believe I responded with something along the lines of "OMG, I need a piece of this." Well, as it turns out, a piece of this has Not Yet shown up at my house. I mean, it's been Three Whole Days. How long is a girl supposed to wait?? I was forced to take matters into my own hands.

The only thing I did differently was to leave out the powdered sugar from the whipped cream. Oh yeah, and I only used 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, it's all I had! I just didn't think it was necessary to add more sugar to a pie this sweet. Plus, we like our whipped cream plain, with a little vanilla (or sometimes a splash of rum). I sprinkled the pie with a good 1/2 ounce of grated semi-sweet chocolate too, right on top!

I don't even care that most likely I will end up eating the majority of this pie all by myself. Sometimes these things happen. And I have a feeling it will be fantastic with a cup of coffee. Yes, in the morning. Of course, for breakfast. Why all the questions? Sheesh.

Delicious. I just ate two pieces...I'm going to go do some yoga now.

BANANA SPLIT PIE
Recipe adapted from Pecans from Soup to Nuts by Keith Courrege and Marcelle Bienvenu by Louanne

3 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 stick butter, melted
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
16 ounces sour cream
3 bananas, sliced
20 ounce can crushed pineapple
Maraschino cherries, with or without stems
1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped, for garnish
Whipped cream or cool whip
Grated chocolate, optional

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

In a 13x9 baking dish, melt butter in microwave, then add graham cracker crumbs and mix well, pressing the mixture onto the bottom; set aside.

Combine the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in another mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, until completely blended.
Spread this mixture evenly over the graham cracker crust and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven, spread the sour cream over the cream cheese mixture, and bake for 15 minutes longer. *(for me, there was no "spreading." The cream cheese was super soft, and spreading was out of the question. I dolloped sour cream over the hot cream cheese. I had no choice.)

Remove from the oven and cool completely.

While base is cooling, drain crushed pineapple and slice bananas into 1/4" slices; gently toss pineapple and bananas together.

When cool, layer the pineapple and banana mixture over the sour cream and then spread the whipped cream evenly over the top.

Dust with grated chocolate, if desired, then sprinkle with the chopped pecans and the cherries. (I put my grated chocolate on last)

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

WHIPPED CREAM
2 cups heavy whipping cream
~~1/4 cup powdered sugar~~
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Beat whipping cream and vanilla until soft peaks form - texture should be billowy.
~~Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla.~~
Use immediately.

BANANA JUICE the key to perfect BLACKBERRY BANANA BREAD

2011-04-01T07:58:00.001-06:00

Did you know that Banana's have juice? Don't worry, most people don't. But, they do and the juice is the best part of making a moist banana bread. The key to banana juice is using a banana that is "JUST RIGHT", one that is heavily speckled, in my opinion, one that is just short of rotting. I take it one step farther many times and when they are "JUST RIGHT" remove them from their skins and freeze them in recipe ready proportions. Freezing them yields the liquid readily without the steps I'm about to tell you about. I didn't even know I'd been doing "JUST RIGHT" for years with the freezing process and then I read an article about how to juice a banana.

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
5 large very ripe bananas
1 cup blackberries
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 medium not so ripe banana, thinly sliced
1/2 cup butter, melted & cooled
2 JUMBO eggs
3/4+ cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon PURE vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons crsytalline sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease your loaf pan with the butter wrapper or spray with non-stick cooking spray. Dust with flour.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Place 5 bananas in a microwave safe bowl and cover with a food cover lid with the vents open.
Microwave on high for 5 minutes - until the bananas are soft and have released their juice.
Transfer bananas to a sieve and allow them to drain over a small saucepan for about 10-15 minutes.
Place bananas, raisins and blackberries in a medium mixing bowl.

Cook juice over a medium high heat for about 5 minutes until juice is reduced to 1/4 cup.
Stir reduced liquid into the banana/blackberry mixture and mash together until well blended.
Add butter, eggs, vanilla and brown sugar and mix to a smooth consistency.
Pour banana mixture into flour mixture and with a wooden spoon fold together until just combined.
Fold in walnuts gently.
Pour into prepared loaf pan.
Layer banana slices around the edges.
Sprinkle with crystalline sugar.
Bake 50-60 minutes based on loaf pan size.

Homemade Greek Yogurt

2011-03-31T09:16:00.001-06:00

This recipe comes from my new Food & Wine Annual Cookbook, 2011. It's attributed to Michael Psilakis, who wrote a cookbook I've been coveting for a while now: How to Roast a Lamb: New Greek Classic Cooking. (And what do you know, my birthday month is coming right up!)

I was excited to try this, and I finally remembered to buy both whole milk (I got organic cow milk) AND good live yogurt at the same time.

The method is surprisingly easy. I mean, it really takes less than 15 minutes total of active, working time. Way less actually. It's mostly waiting time.

I used my Le Creuset pot, mainly because it doesn't have a non-stick finish the way my saucepans do. I don't know if it was a legitimate concern, but it was mine. Boiled the milk, let it cool a bit, followed the steps, then stuck it in our oven. The hard part for me was figuring out when I needed to start the yogurt so I would have power for the oven light for the whole amount of time. (We run a generator for power and turn it off at night). So I had to start my yogurt around 6am. I ended up taking it out of the oven an hour or two ahead of time because I wanted to go to bed, but it still turned out great! I skimmed it (more like scraped the skin off) and ladled it into a strainer. I left the strainer over a bowl in the fridge overnight, instead of just for four hours, because it was my bedtime. I ended up with a nice thick, bowl of actual yogurt! Amazing.

I suppose it was actually on its way to becoming yogurt cheese with the extra straining time, but no matter, it turned out creamy and delicious! I was wondering what to do with all the whey that had drained out...but that will have to wait until next time, because while I was gone, my husband dumped it out! I will report back with all the uses for whey...

The only thing you need to know: this recipe doesn't make very much yogurt.

Another good thing to know: you can use 2 tablespoons from this batch of yogurt to make your next batch of yogurt! You'll never need to buy yogurt again!!

I can't wait to try this with goat or sheep milk, if I can ever find any!

*will add more pictures after the next batch!

Homemade Greek Yogurt

Homemade yogurt requires surprisingly little prep and keeps in the fridge for a month.

Start with 1 quart whole goat's, sheep's or cow's milk, transfer 2 tablespoons into a bowl and stir in 2 tablespoons plain whole-milk yogurt (with live active cultures).

In a saucepan, bring the remaining milk to a boil. Let stand off the heat, without stirring, until it registers 100 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 15 minutes; a skin will form on the surface.

Make a small opening in the skin with a table knife and carefully pour the yogurt mixture into the milk in the saucepan. Cover the pot with a kitchen towel; transfer to an oven. Turn the light on and close the oven door. Let stand for 16 hours.

Using a skimmer or slotted spoon, lift off the skin and discard it. Carefully ladle the yogurt into a sieve lined with a double layer of cheesecloth and refrigerate until much of the whey is drained and the yogurt is thick, at least 4 hours. Transfer the yogurt to a bowl and serve.

Taste & Create: Baked Potato Soup

2011-03-30T18:41:00.000-06:00

It's Taste & Create time again! And this time, I can happily tell you that I recently spent two whole days in person with my friend, Nicole, the creator of Taste & Create!! We met in a small town in Colorado, where she was vacationing with her family and inlaws, and my family and I, well, we just went over there to hang out with them! Nicole and I took turns cooking meals for everyone, made fabulous cookies, and just talked for hours while our kids played together. It was so much fun, and I can't wait to see her again.

Taste & Create is Nicole's fabulous food blog event, in which participants are randomly paired up. Each participant chooses a recipe from their partner's blog, makes it, and blogs about it. You never know who you're going to be partnered with, and participants are from all over the world, which makes things interesting! You should definitely participate in this event! Go here for How it Works and sign up!!

My partner this month was Carol of No Reason Needed. Carol is from Canada, and she has some great recipes. We've been paired together for Taste & Create before, but I always like to check all the new recipes she's posted since the last time!

I was seriously considering making the Strawberry Shortcake Cookies (even though she didn't like them), or many of her desserts, actually. I will totally make her Chocolate Waffles for my boys this weekend (topped with strawberries and whipped cream). But for now, I was intrigued by this recipe for Baked Potato Soup.

Like Carol, I have never been to a Tony Roma's...we may be the only two people who can claim this, but that's okay. This soup sounds good. I really had to remember to plan enough time ahead to bake the potatoes.

I would like to make this soup again, without cornstarch and probably without instant mashed potatoes. I just like my soup to have ingredients that aren't processed, and adding that much cornstarch kind of grossed me out (although I did it anyway to follow the recipe).

My husband and I liked the soup, H-Bomb did not like it, and Sawed Off refused to try it. It was easy to put together, even with the baking potatoes ahead of time and scooping out the insides. And it tastes great with the toppings! I'm just not convinced about the need for adding more starch to starchy potatoes, but that could be in my head.

So, how would you tweak this recipe?

Tony Roma's Baked Potato Soup
Serves 6 to 8

2 medium russet potatoes
3 Tbsp. butter
1 C diced white onion
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
4 C chicken broth
2 C water
¼ C cornstarch
1½ C instant mashed potatoes, dry
1 tsp. salt
¾ tsp. ground black pepper
½ tsp. dried basil
1/8 tsp. dried thyme
1 C half-and-half

GARNISH
½ C shredded Cheddar Cheese
¼ C crumbled cooked bacon
2 green onions, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake the potatoes for 1 hour or until done. When potatoes are done, remove them from the oven to cool.

2. As potatoes cool, prepare soup by melting butter in a large saucepan, and saute onion until light brown. Add the flour to the onion and stir to make a roux. Cook and stir for one minute.

3. Add broth, water, cornstarch, mashed potato flakes, and spices to the pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out contents with a large spoon. Discard skin. Chop baked potato with a large knife to make chunks that are about ½-inch in size.

5. Add chopped baked potato and half-and-half to the saucepan, bring soup back to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer the soup for another 15 minutes or until it is thick.

6. Spoon soup into bowls and top with shredded Cheddar cheese, bacon and green onion.

The Freshness of Eggs

2011-03-28T10:55:00.005-06:00

Fresh Eggs!

There have been some questions about the freshness of eggs, particularly on facebook, since we have laying hens who are quite productive. We have eggs of varying ages in the house, and I really try to keep them in order in the refrigerator. I only sell the freshest eggs, and use the older ones in my home (along with some fresh ones, but I try to use the older ones first).

There was some confusion the other day when a friend of ours stopped by to pick up her eggs, which I had packed for her in a cooler. The cooler didn't make it outside, and Number One, not knowing there were eggs in the cooler, gave her two dozen eggs from the fridge. Two dozen of the older eggs. Oops~

When I have older eggs or eggs that may be questionable, the first thing I do is put them in water. The ones that float are older, but may or not be bad. As eggs age, the air pocket inside them gets bigger, so the older an egg is, the higher it will float. You really can't tell if an egg is bad until you crack it, the yolk and/or white won't look right, or it will smell bad. In short, it will be quite obvious.

I don't wash the fresh eggs right away, because there is a coating on them from the hen that helps them keep longer. I found information about putting food-grade mineral oil on the eggs to "seal" them and help them last longer--up to six or eight months! While I don't plan to do this with the eggs we sell because they are only days old, I am doing it right away with the older eggs that we've accumulated and are going through here at the house. You really don't use very much oil at all.

Here is the information, from eggcartons.com:

"The surface of an egg shell is covered with thousands of microscopic holes which makes it quite porous. A natural coating referred to as the 'bloom' helps seal the holes, preventing bacteria from entering. As the egg ages, the bloom is worn away, which allows moisture to slowly escape and air to enter, forming the 'air cell'. Bacteria may also enter, and contamination may result.

"When eggs are washed to remove germs that may be on the surface the bloom is also removed, so a thin coating of oil is applied to take the place of the bloom. This works in the same way as the bloom, keeping the contents fresh for longer periods. The bloom also provides eggs with a natural luster or shine. Mineral oil not only protects your eggs as a sealant but it also restores the luster, the shine of the egg."

I also found this information on buying eggs commercially (from the grocery) in my The Best Make-Ahead Recipe cookbook, and I thought it was interesting, especially given the conversations we've been having. So here it is, word for word:

"Freshness: Egg cartons are marked with both a sell-by date and a pack date. The sell-by date is the legal limit for when the eggs may be sold and is within 30 days of the pack date. The pack date is the day the eggs were graded and packed, which is generally within a week of being laid but, legally, may be as much as 30 days. In short, a carton of eggs may be up to two months old by the end of the sell-by date. Even so, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, they are still fit for consumption for an additional three to five weeks past the sell-by date. Sell-by and pack dates are thus by no means an exact measure of an egg's fitness; they provide vague guidance at best.

"How old is too old? We tasted two- and three-month-old eggs that were perfectly palatable. At four months the white was very loose and the yolk "tasted faintly of the refrigerator," though it was still edible. Our advice? Use your discretion. If the egg smells odd or displays discoloration, pitch it. Older eggs also lack the structure-lending properties of fresh eggs, so beware when baking. Both the white and yolk become looser. We whipped four-month-old eggs and found that they deflated rapidly."

The Cook's Illustrated folks also said the Pack Date is the three-digit code stamped above or below the sell-by date. The number run consecutively, starting at 001 for January 1 and ending with 365 for December 31. So if eggs had a pack date of 078, they would have been packed on March 19. With a little math, you can figure out approximately how long your supermarket eggs have been sitting around (don't forget to add a week to 30 days for the time between being laid and packed!)

Rest assured, farm fresh eggs are nowhere near as old as supermarket eggs. And they taste much better too!

Let me know if you'd like to buy some, our chickens are laying like there's no tomorrow!

Pozole Verde Guerrerense

2011-03-28T09:57:00.006-06:00

Shell recently returned from a humanitarian trip to a tiny village in Mexico. I told her the food would be great! Here's a recipe she found that I've translated for her--I can't wait to see how it turns out, Shell! Follow the link below for the original recipe in Spanish.

Pozole Verde Guerrerense
(Green Pozole from Guerrero--this is the traditional recipe from the Mexican State of Guerrero, and is "officially" consumed on Thursdays.)

½ kilogram of Hog's Head
½ kilogram of pork backbone
500 Grams Green Tomato
1 kilogram of hominy
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
100 grams Pork meat (possibly ground)
1 bunch radishes
3 bay leaves
1 Lettuce
2 Poblano Chiles
Salt, oregano and lemon to taste

Pozole: A Mexican dish that dates back to prehispanic times. Pozole in Nahuatl means foam, by the appearance of Cracked grains in stock. Originally white and pork, but now is made with beef or chicken, among other ingredients.

1 Place the hominy (corn) in a pan with enough water, add bay leaf, garlic, onion and salt to taste after the first boil. *(does this mean you boil the hominy separately first? I don't know) Let cook for 3 to 4 hours.

2 Prepare a sauce with tomatoes and peppers and pour into the pot with the corn. It is important that it's hot.

3 In another pan, cook pork along with the ground, a bit of onion and garlic. Shred the pork and add it to the other cooking pot when the corn pops.

4 Allow to cook a little longer and serve your pozole accompanied by lettuce and finely chopped radishes. Add oregano, salt and lemon to taste.

Salmon with Thai Rice Salad

2011-03-27T12:56:00.001-06:00

We had this salmon with rice salad back in December, when the season wasn't right but it sounded good anyway. This is a fantastic spring/summer dish, with the cold and flavorful rice salad underneath a nice piece of salmon.

If you're not used to the flavor of fish sauce, the first bite of rice might taste a bit odd, but just keep eating it in between bites of salmon and you will fall in love...that's what happened to me. I can't wait to have this again when the weather warms up!

Salmon with Thai Rice Salad

Rich broiled salmon rests atop a lean vegetable-and-rice salad to make a beautifully balanced meal. The Asian dressing includes big impact flavors--fish sauce, lime juice and cayenne--but very little oil. Wine Recommendation: Rieslings are among the most versatile of white wines and one of the few that work well with salads. With this Thai-inspired dish, try a simple kabinett from Germany's Mosel region.

Serves 4

1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
3 tablespoons lime juice (from about 2 limes)
3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce (nam pla or nuoc mam)
2 tablespoons cooking oil
3 1/2 teaspoons sugar
Pinch cayenne
1 cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch dice
3 carrots, grated
4 scallions including green tops, chopped
6 tablespoons chopped cilantro or fresh parsley
2 pounds skinless center-cut salmon fillet, cut into 4 pieces
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Stir the rice into a medium pot of boiling salted water and cook until just done, about 10 minutes. Drain. Rinse with cold water and drain thoroughly.

In a large glass or stainless steel bowl, combine the lime juice, fish sauce, 1 tablespoon of the oil, the sugar and cayenne. Let sit for about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice, cucumber, carrots, scallions and cilantro.

Heat the broiler. Oil a broiler pan or baking sheet. Coat the salmon with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Put the salmon on the pan. Broil until just barely done (fish should still be translucent in the center), about 5 minutes for a 1-inch-thick fillet. Put the rice salad on plates and top with the salmon.

Chicken and Gruyère Turnovers

2011-03-13T18:09:00.000-06:00

Yet another recipe from my friends at Real Simple. Tonight I pulled one of my Herb-Roasted Chickens out of the freezer and cut up part of it for this recipe. The boys ate the legs and wings, we'll use the remainder somehow. I found a hunk of vacuum-sealed Gruyère while cleaning the fridge this afternoon, so part of that went into these turnovers. I also had a package of puff pastry in the freezer, needing to be used. I think these turnovers were fate.

The only change I made was to add a little cream (actually half-and-half) to the beaten egg for the tops of the pastries. It just seemed like a good idea to me.

The turnovers are super simple to put together, and quite honestly I usually have most of the ingredients around the house. I'm excited about the note (below) that you can make these ahead and freeze them for 3 months--I might just do that when it gets closer to my parents visiting or something like that.

I think I baked them about 5 extra minutes to get them nice and golden brown.

Chicken and Gruyère Turnovers
Adapted from Real Simple

Serves 4
Hands-on Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

1 1/2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
1 1/2 cups grated Gruyère
1 cup frozen peas
2 sheets (one 17.25-ounce package) frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 large egg, beaten with 1 to 2 tablespoons half-and-half or heavy cream
1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1. Heat oven to 400° F. In a medium bowl, combine the chicken, Gruyère, and peas.

2. Cut the 2 sheets of puff pastry in half to form 4 rectangles and place on a baking sheet. Dividing evenly, top half of each rectangle with the chicken mixture. Fold over and seal the turnovers; brush the tops with the egg. Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve with the mustard.

*To make ahead, prepare the turnovers (but don’t bake them). Tightly wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Let the turnovers thaw 20 minutes at room temperature before baking.

CHICKEN SALAD STUFFED AVOCADO with LEMON GARLIC VINAIGRETTE

2011-03-13T15:48:00.000-06:00

CHICKEN SALAD STUFFED AVOCADO with LEMON GARLIC VINAIGRETTE
2 cups chopped rotisserie chicken
4 green onions, sliced thin
1 stalk celery, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon blood orange vinegar*
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1 avocado or tomato per person

Combine chicken and celery in mixing bowl.
Salt and pepper generously.
In a small food processor blend garlic, green onions, lemon juice, vinegar, oil and sugar until well mixed.
Pour vinegar mix into mixing bowl and toss well.
If using tomatoes carve out centers with sharp knife. Slice insides onto plate. Salt and pepper generously.
If using avocados carefully scoop out of shell with a large spoon and arrange on plate with tomato slices. Salt and pepper generously.
Fill centers with chicken salad.
Serve with garlic toast points.

*or flavor of your choice

Winter Lentil Soup

2011-03-08T19:55:00.001-07:00

I realize the name of this soup says "Winter," and I am really anxious for Spring, and indeed have some little flowers sprouting outside, but this soup sounded so good I just couldn't pass it up. I don't think you'll be able to pass it up either, it has a powerhouse healthy ingredient list, including kale, sweet potatoes and leeks! YUM.

The recipe comes from Real Simple, I received it in their Daily Recipe email. I don't have to tell you how much I love Real Simple, do I?

The leeks I got were huge, so I only used two of them. If you'd like to know a good way to clean those dirty things, check out my About Leeks post.

Just a note, it took me longer than 20 minutes to put this together. I'm not sure why, but plan for some extra time. Also, next time I will double the lentils. It's more vegetable than lentil, not that there's anything wrong with that, but the name is a bit misleading. I forgot the parmesan at the end...

Delicious and satisfying, and healthy with all the dark green leafy and dark orange vegetables. We will eat this soup a lot.

Winter Lentil Soup

Serves 6

Hands-on Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 1hour

1 tablespoon olive oil
4 leeks (white and light green parts), cut into 1/4-inch-thick half-moons
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, drained
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 bunch kale, thick stems removed and leaves cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips
1/2 cup brown lentils
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
Kosher salt and black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1 ounce; optional)

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook, breaking them up with a spoon, for 5 minutes.

2. Add 6 cups water and bring to a boil. Stir in the sweet potatoes, kale, lentils, thyme, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Simmer until the lentils are tender, 25 to 30 minutes.

3. Spoon into bowls and top with the Parmesan, if using.

Tip: Basic brown lentils retain their shape better during cooking than pricier red and yellow lentils, so they're terrific for soups. Or you can substitute green lentils, which taste slightly peppery.

Herb-Roasted Chickens

2011-03-07T05:45:00.000-07:00

Since we can no longer buy roasted chickens at our teeny-tiny grocery store, I've started roasting extras of my own. (mine are better than the store's anyway, but it's just so convenient to buy a pre-cooked chicken) Usually when I know I'm going to roast a chicken, I roast two at the same time, so I'll have one for later. I've even frozen the extra chicken, which has really come in handy when I've been craving some Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas or Cashew Chicken Salad. I even used a chicken that I had roasted for those much-raved-about Chicken Wraps with Chipotle Mayo. It makes everything taste so much better. The possibilities are endless!

So, if you're going to roast a chicken anyway, why not roast two? I use different recipes for roasting the chickens, there are lots of different ways!

Here's a recipe I tried recently, from my trusty Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook. (I've listed a bunch in the link, because mine is the 11th edition, 1996-ish). I'm sure there's a similar recipe in most of the editions, but if not, that's what this site is for!

This chicken is flavorful, so if you're looking for a less savory chicken to add to a dish you're making, try a different recipe.

Herb-Roasted Chicken
Prep: 15 minutes
Roast: 1 hour
Serves 6

1 2-1/2 to 3-pound whole broiler-fryer chicken
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning or pepper

1. Rinse chicken; pat dry. *Here the recipe tells you to skewer and tie things together, but I don't do it.* Place chicken, breast side up, on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Brush with melted butter; rub garlic over bird.

2. In a small bowl stir together basil, salt, sage, thyme, and lemon-pepper seasoning; rub onto bird. Roast, uncovered, in a 375 degree F oven for 1 to 1 1/4 hours or until drumsticks move easily in their sockets, chicken is no longer pink, and meat thermometer registers 180 degrees. Remove chicken from oven, cover loosely, and let stand 10 minutes before carving.

Smoked Salmon Frittata

2011-03-06T06:54:00.000-07:00

When you have a lot of chickens, you have a lot of eggs. When you live in the middle of nowhere, with no neighbors to whom to sell/give/unload your eggs, you have A LOT of eggs. Therein lies my motivation. Besides calling for a dozen eggs (woohoo!), the recipe just sounds good and I happened to have every single ingredient~bonus!

This comes from Ina's Barefoot Contessa Family Style. I love Ina, and I love this cookbook.

I made this back in December, and it was delicious. We'll have it again very soon. Although we had it for dinner, the frittata would be excellent for brunch or any time of day!

Smoked Salmon Frittata
Serves 8

1 medium onion, diced
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
12 extra-large eggs (I threw in an extra egg for good measure)
1 cup heavy cream
4 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled
1/2 pound smoked salmon, chopped
3 scallions, chopped, white and green parts
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill (I used 3 teaspoons dried dill)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sauté the onion and butter in a 10-inch oven-proof omelet pan over medium-low heat until translucent, about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the heavy cream, goat cheese, smoked salmon, scallions, dill, salt, and pepper and combine. Pour the mixture over the onions and place the pan in the center of the oven. Bake the frittata for about 50 minutes, until it puffs and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Serve hot directly from the pan.

The Citrus Shock

2011-02-01T16:14:00.004-07:00

UPDATE: The polls are now OPEN! Go here to vote for your favorite of ten intriguing cocktails~hopefully you'll pick mine, The Citrus Shock! This contest was such a fun experiment. Good luck to all my fellow contestants! Enjoy! (polls close at midnight on Feb. 15th)

I was excited to receive an email from Matt of Marxfoods.com, asking if I'd like to participate in their Electric Mixology cocktail recipe contest. Of course! Marxfoods sent me a free sample of Szechuan Buttons to use in my cocktail recipe.

Szechuan Buttons are flowers from Africa and China which impart a tingling sensation on the tip of your tongue, and that is just at the beginning! Be ready for a numbing shock, perhaps some popping, then a citrus-like feeling with a hint of herby-citrusy flavor, then a salty sensation (not flavor, sensation!) These things are bizarre and fun!

We infused our tequila with buttons overnight, which imparts a mild, numbing, slightly tingly sensation to the entire drink. Amplify this sensation as you drink your Citrus Shock by nibbling on your very own Szechuan Button--you can eat the leaf too!

The Citrus Shock is delicious button-infused tequila flavored with citrus, with a boost of apple brandy and topped off with a gorgeous Szechuan Button and fruit slices. Cheers!

The Citrus Shock
Serves 1

1 ounce Szechuan Button-Infused Tequila (recipe below)
1/2 ounce Apple Brandy (such as Calvados; we used our friend's homemade Apple Brandy)
Juice from Orange Wedge (about 1/8 orange)
Juice from 1/4 Lime Wedge
Juice from Lemon Wedge (about 1/8 lemon)

Garnish: 1 slice clementine (or mini orange citrus fruit) + 1 slice lime + 1 Szechuan Button and 1 Szechuan Leaf

To prepare drink, add Szechuan Button Infused Tequila, Apple Brandy, and citrus juices to shaker with 1/2 cup ice. Shake to mix, strain into martini glass.

To prepare garnish, cut each fruit slice from center to edge on one side.

Fit clementine and lime slices together to form an "X."

Gently tuck Szechuan Button and leaf between slices in center so they stand up on top. Carefully balance entire fruit structure in middle of martini glass, and enjoy!

Szechuan Infused Tequila
Makes enough for 8 Citrus Shocks!

8 ounces tequila
2 Szechuan Buttons

Pour tequila in a glass jar. Crush buttons in a mortar and pestle or finely chop. Add crushed buttons to tequila, cover and let sit overnight or longer.

New Orleans-style Barbecue Shrimp

2011-01-30T21:40:00.002-07:00

I found this recipe over at Louanne's Kitchen and immediately knew I had to try it. I halved the recipe and it more than fed five of us. I used less cayenne than the recipe called for, and it turned out perfectly.

SCRUMPTIOUS!!!! This shrimp is soooooo good. Bread for mopping up the sauce is a must. Our shrimp had tails on, but no heads. Delicious, I couldn't stop eating them! Try these TODAY!!

New Orleans-style Barbecue Shrimp
Recipe adapted by Louanne, from the cookbook: Who's Your Mama, Are You Catholic, and Can You Make A Roux?

6 lbs large shrimp (heads on, don’t peel them)

2 sticks butter

¾ cup olive oil

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

6 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon minced garlic (recipe calls for 1 teaspoon garlic powder, but Louanne prefers fresh~for my half recipe, I used 1 clove garlic)

2 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons cayenne (I used less than 1/2 teaspoon for my half recipe)

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 ½ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon hot sauce

1 tablespoon dried rosemary

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Rinse and drain shrimp, then spread in a large baking pan while making sauce.

Melt butter over medium low heat, add remaining ingredients and remove from heat. Allow sauce to cool for 5-7 minutes, then pour over shrimp. Marinate shrimp for 1 hour.

While shrimp are marinating, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake shrimp from 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5-7 minutes. *I totally forgot to stir the shrimp at all, and they turned out fine.

Do not overcook.

Serve in bowls with plenty of the sauce and lots of French bread for sopping up the sauce.

French Onion Soup

2011-01-30T19:24:00.004-07:00

This is my version of a Tyler Florence recipe. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 large onions, sliced (I used a combination of red, white and sweet onions - 1 of each)
4 T butter
1 T EVOO
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1.5 cups red wine
1.5 quarts of beef stock
3 - 5 dashes worcestershire sauce
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme
6 slices of baguette, toasted
1.5 cups shredded gruyere or swiss cheese (I used Sargento's shredded swiss & gruyere cheese)

Directions:

1. Over medium to medium-high heat, saute onions in butter and extra virgin olive oil until lightly carmelized (this will take a good 30 - 40 minutes). Do not season until onions are translucent (about 10 minutes), once they are, season to taste with salt and black pepper. (A little trick to help the carmelization process -- add 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar once the liquid released from the onions is almost evaporated)
2. When onions are carmelized, add garlic and saute for 30 seconds, until fragrant, then add balsamic vinegar and deglaze bottom of pan.
3. Add red wine and simmer until reduced by at least 1/3 (about 15 minutes)
4. Add beef stock, worcestershire sauce, bay leaves and thyme and return to a boil, then continue simmering for 30 minutes on low heat.
5. Adjust seasoning as needed and ladle into 6 oven-proof bowls or crocks. (Remove bay leaves and thyme stems)
6. Place 1 toasted baguette slice in each bowl and heap 1/4 cup of shredded cheese on top
7. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly

Enjoy!

Taste & Create: Breakfast Muffins, AKA Bruffins

2011-01-25T22:22:00.001-07:00

My partner for December-January's Taste & Create was Kat of Study Food. For those of you who don't know, Taste & Create is a monthly blog event, created by my lovely friend Nicole of For the Love of Food. Each month, participants are randomly paired and tasked with creating a dish from their partner's blog.

Kat has only been blogging for a few months, but has a great start! I was tempted by Kat's Orange, Coconut, Evaporated Milk Cake, but really considered making her Cocoa Fudge Cake. I kept coming back to "Bruffin" recipe, breakfast muffins featuring bananas, blueberries and peaches. I finally left it up to my 7-year-old boy to decide between the muffins or the fudge cake, and he chose muffins, so that is what I made.

Of course when it came time to make the muffins, I didn't have everything I needed. I usually don't improvise much during Taste & Create, but I forged ahead, improvising away. I used Kat's recipe as well as the original recipe as a guide. If my muffins come out as edible as Kat's look, I will be surprised. I didn't have wheat bran, so I used a mix of whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour. Yes, I am well aware that all-purpose flour is absolutely nothing like wheat bran.

I didn't want the cinnamon and nutmeg to overwhelm the fruit, so I cut each down to 1 teaspoon. For fruit, I intended to use the canned peaches, but ran across frozen strawberries while hunting blueberries, and there you go. Bananas, blueberries, strawberries. I also added pecans to the batter, and topped them with raw sugar and slivered (and sliced) almonds. I like muffins to have crunchy AND sparkly tops.

And, discovering that we were running low on milk, I substituted plain yogurt and increased it to 3/4 cup. (Kat used 1/2 cup milk + 1/4 cup peach juice; the original recipe used 3/4 cup milk)

When I mixed the muffins in the morning, I completely forgot the melted butter. I had plenty of muffin batter leftover for a second pan, so I stirred in 1 tablespoon of butter after the first pan was in the oven. We'll see which one turns out better!

The first pan (no butter), turned out pretty good, although hard to get out of the paper muffin cups. They were tasty, but seemed to be missing something...je ne sais pas. (Butter?) My oldest boy liked them, and ate two muffins before school, so whatever it was, he must not have missed it.

The second pan (with butter), was also pretty good. I didn't really notice a difference between the ones with butter and the ones without, other than they both seemed to be missing something. I'm guessing they could have used just a bit more salt, maybe 1/2 teaspoon - 1 teaspoon total. I'll try that next time. Other than that, I don't know. And I'm not sure why they won't come out of the paper cups either...

All in all, they were good muffins, and fairly good for you with the whole wheat, yogurt and fruit. If you'd like to try them, you now have THREE different recipes from which to choose!

Oh, and be sure to tell me what YOU would do differently! =)

Bruffins: Breakfast Muffins
Adapted from Study Food

DRY:
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped pecans

FRUIT:
1 cup blueberries
2 bananas, mashed
1 cup strawberries, chopped

WET:
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted (I forgot this)
2 teaspoons vanilla

TOPPING:
sliced or slivered almonds
raw sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin, or use baking cups.

Stir dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mash bananas, then mix in other fruit. Add wet ingredients and mix well.

Gently fold wet ingredients into dry mixture, stirring just until combined. Careful not to over mix.

Drop muffin batter into muffin cups, about 3/4 full. Sprinkle each muffin with raw sugar and top with almonds.

Bake for about 20 minutes.