Hye Thyme Cafe

Cheesey Grits and Kale Chips

2012-02-23T18:06:00.000-05:00

I was thinking about Kale Chips one day (I know, kinda random-what can I say), and how the smaller leaves sometimes disintegrate before you can even get them in your mouth. I love Kale Chips, but they're so delicate, I was wondering if there was a way to sort of bulk them up and make them sturdier.

My first thought was to run the kale through the food processor, spread it thin, and bake it. I was afraid that would just create Kale Crumbs, so rather than running it with the chopper blade, I pulsed it through with the shredder attachment in place. Still concerned it wouldn't hold together, my mind wandered to Pamesan Fricos. That's when you sprinkle a little pile of grated parm on a tray and bake it so it turns into a lacey crisp. If you catch them when they're still warm, you can drape them over little bowls or muffin cups to make bowls out of them for salad, etc. They're really nice if you mix a little basil or some other herb with the cheese.

So okay, how would that turn out with the parmesan and kale?? For some reason, I decided I needed another element, and although I'm not particularly fond of grits, that's what came to mind, so I first tried this with a whole bunch of kale, 1/4 c dry quick-cooking grits, some grated parm and shredded cheddar. We really like the flavor of the chips, but it was obvious that I did not spread it out thin enough. The edges were nice and crispy, but the center was wayyy too spongy.

This was my second attempt, and it turned out much better. Because of the first semi-failed attempt, I only used a half bunch of kale this time. It still filled one of our huge trays, so you might want to divide it onto two trays.

INGREDIENTS :

1/2 bunch kale

1/2 c quick-cooking grits

1 c water

1 t jarred minced garlic with hot peppers

1 c grated Parmesan

Wash the kale and remove the long woody ends. I did leave the ribs intact, except for a few really thick ones.

Pulse the kale through the food processor with the shredder in place, adding the garlic with one of the batches.

Mix the grits into the water (less water than called for on the package) and microwave for 3" to cook.

Stir the Parmesan into the grits (mmmm, smells good!) until well incorporated and creamy.

Stir the grits mixture into the kale until well combined. It got a little stiff when the grits started to cool, so I switched from my spatula to a wooden spoon so I wouldn't snap the tip off my spatula.

Pour the mixture onto the center of a parchment lined tray (2 if you're splitting the batch), then cover with another sheet of parchment and roll out as thin as possible.

At this point, I used a pizza wheel to score the mixture into squares. I was assuming the cheese would fuse them back together but that it would make it easier to cut later if it turned out crispy like I wanted. I didn't want it to shatter and knew I could just go back over the same lines.

Bake at 350 for about 20" until lightly golden.

Again, the outside was nice and crispy, but the center pieces were still a little soft, so I removed the edge pieces, separate all of the chips and put the tray back in the oven to let the residual heat continue to dry them out.

The final verdict is that I either need to make sure these get eaten right away while they're crisp, keep tweaking, or make smaller batches. They are definitely very tasty though. It was almost like a spinach pie without the phyllo.

Chicken Étouffée

2012-02-18T20:54:00.000-05:00

With Mardi Gras in full swing, I've had New Orleans on the brain all week. There's not a whole lot I miss about living there (I don't deal well with heat, ginormous bugs, etc.), but Mardi Gras was always quite a sight! Actually, all of their parades are, so if you have been wanting to get a feel for Mardi Gras but are intimidated by the thought of the crowds and all the craziness that goes along with it, try to go sometime over St. Patrick's Day or another parade holiday. That will give you a taste for it on a smaller scale. Even in the St. Patrick's Day parade, they throw beads ... and potatoes ... and cabbage ... and carrots ...

I've been debating a King Cake all week, but I won't be back in the office until Friday, and I know we wouldn't eat a whole one at home, so I decided to make a New Orleans-inspired dinner instead. Most people make some sort of seafood version, but I don't eat seafood (I'll sneak a few shrimp or crawfish here and there, or maybe a bite of lobster, but that's it.), so chicken it is. Chicken Étouffée is basically "smothered" chicken. I guess you could also look at it as a Cajun/Creole Chow Mein.

When I started looking at recipes to see how to go about it, the only things they seemed to have in common were bell peppers, celery, onion, and rice. After that, it started to vary wildly. Some include beer, others insist on a roux while others are anti-roux, etc. This is my Frankenstein version ... with beer AND a roux. :)

Oh, I'm also not a beer drinker, so when I saw that the recipes that included beer called for a dark beer, I thought that meant a lager. I have since been informed that not all lagers are dark, so maybe I should have used something else, but I was in Walgreen's earlier and happened to notice a 6-pack of Sam Adams, so that's what I got. Not because I'm a Boston girl, but because that was the only lager and that would be one less thing to schlepp from the grocery store later.

This is another one of those recipes where I cheated and started with cooked rotisserie chicken from the market. I really need to stop doing that. They are really good, but they keep getting smaller, and the price keeps going up, so it's not really a bargain anymore - at least where I live in NY now.

INGREDIENTS :

4 T butter

1 T olive oil

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 lg onion, diced

3-4 stalks celery, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 c flour

1 T Worcestershire

1 bottle dark beer

2 c chicken broth

1 t Better than Bouillon stock base

1 t white pepper

1 T dried thyme

1 T Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning

2 T tomato paste

1/2 bunch fresh parsley, chopped

Cooked chicken, chopped or torn

Cooked white rice

See, there's another bonus to using the rotisserie chickens ... you can use the bubble tops as prep bowls to clear your cutting board for the next ingredient. :)

Saute the peppers, onion, and celery in the butter and olive oil until they start to soften, then whisk in the flour and let that cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly, to form a roux. If it's too dry, add another pat of butter or a splash of olive oil.

When the roux is as light or dark as you like it, whisk in the Worcestershire and deglaze the pan with a little of the beer. Once you've gotten all the little bits off the bottom of the pan, pour in the rest of the beer.

It should thicken up pretty quickly. Go ahead and add in the broth, stock base, pepper, thyme, creole seasoning, tomato paste, and most of your parsley. Keep the rest of the parsley handy for a garnish - or you could chop up some scallions or chives.

I let the sauce simmer for a good half hour or more to reduce and give the flavors a chance to meld. While that was going on, I cooked up some white rice. For me, being Armenian, that means cooking it in chicken broth and butter, but however you like it is fine. I usually only make "white rice" for Asian food. You can refer to my pilaf post for the rice/butter/broth ratio if you want to go that route.

Just before your rice is finished, go ahead and stir your chicken into the sauce to heat through.

To plate, I packed the rice into a little prep bowl and inverted it onto the plate, then poured the chicken around it and topped it with my reserved parsley.

I had intended to also add some cayenne or other hot pepper, but when I tasted it, I realized the amount of Tony Chachere's I used was plenty spicy. We've got a Goldilocks thing going on in our house when it comes to how much heat everyone can take, so if your crew likes it hot, feel free to kick it up a notch. Also, if you are using a different spice blend, you might need salt. If you're using Tony Chachere's, the salt is included.

YUM!

Marx Foods - East Meets Delicious Recipe Challenge

2012-02-16T16:03:00.000-05:00

The ~~crazy~~ nice folks over at Marx Foods had us at it again! This time around, the challenge was to come up with not just one dish, but two. Participating bloggers were sent six ingredients and were required to use at least four of those ingredients to come up with both an appetizer and a main dish. The ingredients we received were:

Adzuki Beans
Maitake Mushrooms
Mochi Rice
Dried Star Fruit
Organic Millet Seeds
Hijiki

Aside from enjoying the challenge of playing with their ingredients, what made me decide to sign on for this challenge initially was the Mochi Rice. I love Mochi (mostly the ice cream version), so the prospect of making it from scratch really appealed to me. If you're not familiar with Mochi, it's a kind of glutinous rice that is pounded into a paste and turned into a marshmallowy confection. I first had the ice cream version, but have also had a traditional bean paste filling, sesame fillings, peanut butter, all sorts of things.

When I received the ingredients, it occurred to me that not everyone participating would necessarily be familiar with Mochi, so when researching what to do with the rice, they might lean toward trying that, or maybe a Mochi Cake or Rice Balls, so I decided to switch gears, but to what???? While starting at the ingredients, it occurred to me that rice and dried fruit also appear in one of my traditional Armenian appetizers - Stuffed Grape Leaves. I could substitute the long-grain rice for the Mochi Rice, the currants for Dried Star Fruit, and the dill for Hijiki (a form of seaweed). That was a start, now what to do about the entree??

The remaining ingredients were the mushrooms, beans, and millet. My first instinct was to make some sort of stew, but I didn't see that pairing well with the grape leaves. In thinking about textures, I realized that I could transition the beans and millet in place of the lentils and bulgar in a Lentil Kufte ("Vospov Kufte").

As for those pesky mushrooms, as much as I detest them, my brother-in-law is the consumer of the most stuffed grape leaves in my foodie circle, so in deference to him, I added them into the rice mixture so that I could use all six of the ingredients. [Don't tell anyone I said this, but I actually liked the mix, despite the shrooms.]

MOCHI STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES

1 med onion, diced

1/4 c canola oil

2 T Hijiki, boiled and rinsed

2 T minced Maitaki Mushrooms

4 slices Dried Star Fruit

1/2 c Mochi Rice

1 T tamari (or soy sauce)

1/2 t black pepper

2 T rice vinegar

pinch of sugar

1 jar grape leaves

The reason for pre-boiling and rinsing the Hijiki is an apparent concern over arsenic content. It seems a little silly for this amount given that people have been eating it pretty much forever, but better to err on the side of caution. After trying it, I'm wondering if that's what you are served pickled at a lot of Japanese restaurants. Anyone know what I'm talking about?? I might have to try playing around with what I have left.

Saute the onion in the canola oil until it starts to sweat, then add the mushroom pieces and continue to cook until the onions are translucent.
[I didn't bother to re-hydrate the mushrooms since they were going into a liquid.]

Add the Hijiki and Tamari, followed by the Mochi Rice and 1 1/4 c water.

When the rice starts to absorb the water, go ahead and add the rice vinegar, pepper, Star Fruit, and pinch of sugar.

Continue cooking until the liquid is mostly incorporated and the rice is cooked. Remove from heat.

Pop open your jar of grape leaves and give them a quick rinse to remove some of the brine.

You can refer to my traditional Stuffed Grape Leaves post for a step-by-step on how to roll and cook them.

Although I actually liked the filling and, as suspected, my brother-in-law loved this, I wasn't necessarily crazy about it in the grape leaves. It was a texture thing for me, but I've been eating the traditional version for 40+ years, so I guess that should have been expected. I can definitely see making it again like a risotto type of side and skipping the leaves. Just cut back a little on the water, or maybe use a wine (or combo) instead.

LOPEE KUFTE (Bean Kufte)

1 c Adzuki Beans (soaked overnight and rinsed)

3/4 c Organic Millet Seeds

32 oz beef broth

1 can Great Northern Beans
1" piece of fresh ginger, grated

2 t jarred minced garlic with red peppers

1/2 c fresh chopped parsley

1/4 t Sriracha hot chili sauce

2 T fresh chopped cilantro

chopped fresh scallions

toasted sesame seeds

Start by soaking your beans overnight. When you are ready to start cooking, pour out the stale water and cover them with fresh. Cook the beans in beef broth (or water) until very soft. I started with water, but when I realized I needed to add more, I decided to use the broth - same for the millet.

In a separate dry pan, toast the millet seeds over medium heat until fragrant and lightly golden.

Cover with water or beef broth and cook until soft, adding more liquid as needed. (If you haven't worked with millet before, it ended up having kind of a Corn Chex taste to it.)

When I saw how much the millet was expanding compared to the beans, I realized I wouldn't have the right ratio. To make up the difference, I rinsed/drained a can of Great Northern Beans and tossed them in with the Adzuki during the last few minutes of cooking, then mashed them together - not completely, you want a little texture.

While everything else is browning and/or boiling away, you can go ahead and dice your onion, grate your ginger, and chop up your greens.

Saute the onion and garlic in a little olive oil, until the onions are translucent.

Add the ginger, parsley, and Sriracha to the onions and remove from heat.

When the millet is very soft, and the liquid has been absorbed, stir the onion mixture into it, then fold in the bean mixture once mashed, saving the cilantro until the end.

As soon as the mixture is cool enough to work with, shape into kuftes with your hands. To serve, sprinkle with the chopped scallions and toasted sesame seeds.

These can be eaten warm or cold and provide for a very healthy meal, served with a simple side salad.

I must say, I was surprised to see forks dipping into the pot before I could even shape the kuftes. This was a BIG hit!

I can easily see increasing the cilantro and Sriracha and serving this hot (and a tiny bit looser) as a side with Mexican food instead of re-fried beans. You could stick to just water to make it a vegan dish. The one catch is the time factor. Both the beans and the millet took a lot longer to cook than what I was reading in various places, so I'll probably toast the millet and throw everything but the cilantro in a crock pot on low for the day, then give it a mash and stir in the cilantro at the end.

A big thanks to the folks at Marx Foods for allowing me to participate in another one of their challenges and for providing me with the samples. I had fun as always!

Betty Crocker Coupons - Fun da-middles & Molasses Cookies

2012-02-13T14:52:00.000-05:00

The folks over at Betty Crocker, through MyBlogSpark, passed along a few coupons they wanted to share ...

o You can visit http://www.myblogspark.com/uc/main/4d61/ to download a printable *coupon for 85 cents off when you buy ONE BOX of Fun da-middles Cupcake Mix.

o Also, you can visit http://bit.ly/cookiescoupon to download a printable coupon for 75 cents off when you buy ONE POUCH of Betty Crocker Molasses Cookie Mix.

Hmmm, I wonder if there's gonna be a surge in home-baked fun da-middles since Hotess recently filed for Chapter 11 protection??

Pear Salad with Candied Pecans and Pear Vinaigrette

2012-02-09T19:42:00.000-05:00

I originally made this a few years ago when someone brought me a bottle of Pear Vinegar from a trip to a winery in California. I kept the ingredients to a minimum so the pear could shine. I don't have any more Pear Vinegar, so I had to make my own this time.

SALAD:

Romaine Lettuce

Pears (I had never seen them before, so I tried red pears)

Celery

DRESSING:

1/2 c white wine vinegar

1 pear

pinch of sugar

1/2 c olive oil

1/8 t salt

1/4 t pepper

1/2 t honey

1/2 t mayonnaise

PECANS:

Pecan Pieces

Butter

Brown Sugar

Cinnamon

I did not include quantities for the salad or pecans, because it will vary depending on how many people you're serving.

Cut one pear into pieces (I threw it in skin, seeds, and all) and add it to a small pot with the white wine vinegar. Add a pinch of sugar and bring it up to a boil, then lower to a simmer and let cook until the pear breaks down, 20-30". Pour through a strainer and set aside to cool.

I thought it was interesting that after cooking for so long - accounting for evaporation of the vinegar and juice being released from the pear, I ended up with basically the same 1/2 c of liquid in the end.

Add your nuts to a pan with a little butter. When the butter melts and the nuts are nicely coated, stir in a little brown sugar. You'll know you have a good ratio when a little bit of syrupy goo starts to form. You don't want too much, or it will be candy when you're done. Remove from heat and sprinkle with a little cinnamon, stirring to coat.

Now that the vinegar mixture is cool, go ahead and whisk or process it with the remaining ingredients. I know that such a small amount of mayo seems silly. That just acts as an emulsifier to bind everything together. If you know you'll be using the dressing right away, you can omit it if you want. You could also replace it with a mustard, but again, I wanted the pear to shine through.

Slice a few stalks of celery on the diagonal. I usually de-string the stalks first by bending back the thick end until it snaps and then pulling that piece along the stalk so the strings pull away with it.

For the pears, I like to slice a few into thin slices and use cookie cutters to form different shapes. As an aside, I noticed this time that I was using two plastic cutters (heart / star) and one metal cutter (diamond). The pear pieces cut with the plastic kept their bright color, while the diamond pieces started to brown a little. It was definitely a reacation to the metal, because I didn't cut all of the diamonds first. I did the cut-outs randomly, so I would have expected the first slices to discolor before any others.

Toss the celery with the lettuce and arrange on salad plates, then garnish the top with the pear slices and candied pecans and drizzle with dressing.

Tickled Pink

2012-02-03T19:21:00.000-05:00

Color me tickled pink. Can't think of a nicer way to end a lousy week than to have received a message from Kristina, an editor at Be@Home, part of Become.com, bestowing upon me an Editor's Choice award:

Best Food Blog - Creative Chef Award

Be sure to check out their site for comparison shopping, reviews, etc. You can click the links above, or the button on the right side of my page. Happy shopping ... ;)

Thanks Kristina!

Beef Negimaki

2012-02-01T16:00:00.000-05:00

I stand corrected. It turns out this isn't really a Negimaki. I always thought the name had to do with the preparation, but it turns out the "Negi" in Negimaki stands for scallions. That's how I have mostly had it prepared...once in a while with asparagus, so when I came across a fabulous deal on haricot vert at BJ's the other day, I decided to go with that.

Also, according to Wikipedia at least, it's a broiled dish, but not one of the recipes I looked at before starting had broiled theirs. Maybe I'll try that next time. I actually attempted to tie the bundles with scallions, but that didn't work out at all! I'm not sure if I was trying to get them tighter than they needed to be and was pulling too tight or what, but no matter what I tried (raw, blanched, etc.), I just kept breaking them. Good thing I had some kitchen twine in the drawer, because my silicon roasting ties would have been way too big, and I hate trying to work around toothpicks when searing.

Does anyone have any herb tying tips to share?????

We go out for Japanese fairly regularly. Sometimes we'll order an appetizer version of this, sometimes one of us will get it for dinner, etc. This was just a plain ol' weeknight dinner, so I didn't get fancy with it, but it's usually served sliced on a diagonal and standing upright. We skipped the chopsticks this time around and served them whole with fork and knife.

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 lb beef round sandwich steak

(or other beef sliced thin)

scallions (asparagus OR haricot vert)

3/4 c light soy sauce

1/2 c sake

1/2 c mirin

1/3 c sugar

Sesame oil

2 t cornstarch

chopped scallions and toasted sesame seeds (optional)

If your meat is on the thick side, spray a sheet of plastic wrap lightly with cooking spray, fold it over a slice of beef and pound out thinner with a meat mallet. For thicker cuts, you don't need the spray, but with meats that are on the thin side, it helps assure that it won't stick to the plastic and tear as it spreads.

Lay your veggies cross-wise at one end (obviously use more if making with scallions, less with thicker asparagus - I used 6 haricot vert in each bundle) and roll. If you're using asparagus, you might also want to blanch them first.

Tie off the bundles with scallions, or kitchen twine... or secure with toothpicks.

Stir together the soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar. You might want to heat it a little if the sugar doesn't want to dissolve. Marinate the bundles in the soy mixture for at least 30". Just make sure if you heated it that it's cooled before you dunk your beef - you don't want to start it cooking yet.

Reserving the marinade, remove the bundles and pat dry. In batches so they're not over-crowded, sear each in sesame oil and set aside.

Return all of the bundles to the pan, along with the reserved marinade and any drippings. Allow to simmer until tender and cooked through (will depend on how thin you pounded the beef, how long it marinated, etc.)

Pull the bundles back out of the pan, tenting with foil to keep warm.

Stir the cornstarch into a little water to create a slurry, then add it to the sauce and cook until thickened.

To serve, spoon a little sauce over each bundle, and top with chopped scallions and toasted sesame seeds.

Broccoli Slaw

2012-01-30T22:08:00.001-05:00

This is my last post to go along with the Root Beer Pulled Pork and Refrigerator Pickles I made the other night. I'm very picky when it comes to Cole Slaw, but I used to love a version that one of my cousins would make now and again. It was just a cabbage slaw mix with some sort of poppy seed dressing. It has been so long now, I can't remember the dressing. I'm thinking it was a vidalia onion poppy seed dressing. I would recognize the bottle if I saw it, but of course it has been so long now, they have probably changed their packaging.

I decided to make something along those lines as a side dish, but I didn't want to buy a whole cabbage with no other use in mind for the rest of it. I checked the bagged slaw mix, but it all looked pretty sad, so I grabbed a bag of broccoli slaw instead and doctored that up.

INGREDIENTS :

1 bag broccoli slaw

2 carrots, shredded or matchstick cut

1 Granny Smith apple, matchstick cut

1/3 c dried cranberries

DRESSING :

6 oz container of plain Greek yogurt (I used Chobani)

1 T mayonnaise (*See note below)

1/2 t celery seed

pinch each of salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning

2 t cider vinegar

The slaw mix came with some shredded carrots, but not that much, so I wanted to pump up the volume on that count. As for the mayo, I had wanted to use yogurt for a healthier version, but decided to add the mayo to give it more richness and to cut the tartness of the yogurt. I didn't want it to be obvious that it was yogurt.

Toss together the slaw ingredients, then whisk or process your dressing ingredients, pour over the slaw and toss to combine. Chill until ready to serve.

*NOTE: We dunked some extra carrot sticks into the dressing to taste test it and really liked the way it turned out, but when we went to eat the slaw with dinner, we realized when everything was combined, it was a little on the tart side, and the dressing didn't quite stretch far enough. I thought it would be plenty based on the Amaretto Grapes I made last week with 6 oz of yogurt. Soooo, the next day, we added a squirt of Agave Nectar for the sweet and a blob more mayo for better coverage. That did the trick!

Refrigerator Pickles

2012-01-29T19:49:00.000-05:00

I was making a Root Beer Pulled Pork the other night and decided I wanted to make some pickles to go along with it. I had never made pickles before, unless you count the Armenian pickled veggies I made once (Tourshi - kinda like Giardinera). These turned out delicious, with just the right crunch to them. On the pickle scale, I would say they're cousin to the Bread & Butter Pickle, with a touch of heat.

INGREDIENTS :

6-7 small pickling cucumbers

3-4 cloves garlic

1 fresh jalapeno pepper

3-4 shallots

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c white vinegar

1/2 c rice vinegar

1/2 t celery seed

1 t dill weed

1/8 t salt

Slice the cucumbers into thick rings, and the shallots into thin rings, then toss them in a jar or bowl with 2 cloves of garlic and set aside.

Split the jalapeno in half and ponder your crew's tolerance for heat. I pulled out the center strip, but left some of the pith and seeds. If you are sensitive to heat, you will want to remove all of the pith and seeds. Put the jalapeno in a small pan along with the remaining garlic (I split them in half) and the rest of your ingredients.

Bring the whole thing up to a boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer for about 5" before turning off the heat.

Here's your next decision ... how soft or crisp do you like your pickles? I like mine more on the crisp side, so I let the vinegar mixture cool for a while. I wanted it to be warm enough for the flavors to infuse, but not so hot that it cooked my cukes.

After it had cooled for a little while, I tossed one of the jalapeno halves and poured the rest of the pot over the cucumbers. When the jar was cool to the touch, I refrigerated it. That's it!

I had little plastic cups like you get at restaurants with some side items, so I filled a little cup with pickles to go on each person's plate. These were a huge hit, and I was immediately asked for the recipe, so that's always a good sign. ;)

Root Beer Pulled Pork (For New Yorkers Only)

2012-01-28T18:25:00.000-05:00

Although I have been wanting to try a Root Beer Pulled Pork since I first ran across it, I wasn't really planning on posting it. It's one of those things like Cake Pops, Macarons, etc. that seem to be everywhere you turn, so why would anyone want to see it again? That's why this is for New Yorkers only - not to thumb my nose at the rest of you, but my recipe involves a sauce that I'm pretty sure is only available in New York right now - Dinosaur Bar-B-Que.

If you live in NY or are visiting and haven't been yet, definitely add Dinosaur to your To Do List! Be prepared for a wait, but it's well worth it! We frequent the one in Syracuse, but there are now three other locations as well: Rochester, Harlem, and Troy. My sister and her family have lived in this area for years, but it wasn't until my brother-in-law was on a job site on the other side of the country that he heard about Dinosaur. Not being a big BBQ fan, it wouldn't have been on his radar, but for the fact that people from all over the country were having a conversation about how fantastic it is and telling him that he HAD to check it out. He did, not expecting to enjoy it, but now it's one of his favorite restaurants. It seems funny that I was living down South at the time and they had better BBQ here in NY.

The other thing that is a little different about my recipe is that I made it with a tenderloin, rather than the usual Pork Butt or Shoulder. I looked at some roasts, but they were very fatty. Although that would add flavor, knowing I would be slow cooking it on low, I was thinking it might not melt away and really didn't want to be eating blobs of fat or having to be picking them out as we ate. The tenderloin is plenty flavorful and much more lean. I also decided to include some sweet onion, thinking they would impart their own flavor to the mix and really be sweet after soaking in all that root beer.

The sides are some Mac and Cheese my sister had made, a can of B&M Baked Beans I doctored up with just a little ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar, and some homemade pickles and broccoli slaw. I'll be posting the pickles and slaw over the next few days if you're interested. The pickles were a HUGE hit. The slaw needs a little work on the dressing.

INGREDIENTS :

1 pkg Pork Tenderloin

+/- 24 oz root beer

2 lg sweet onions, sliced into thick rings

1 bottle Dinosaur Bar-B-Que Sensuous Slathering Sauce

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que Wango Tango Habanero Hot BBQ Sauce to taste

Ooh, I just went to pull up links to the sauce and realized you can buy it online!

Talk about an easy recipe! Just toss the pork in a crock pot, top with the onion slices and enough root beer just to cover, set it to low and walk away.

[ That's apparently only an expression ... pop it in the crock pot and walk away ... I made that mistake. I came back about an hour and a half later to see how things were going and figured out that I had managed to pop a circuit, so it wasn't on at all!! That would have screwed up our time-range for dinner on that particular evening, but my sister had made a Baked Macaroni and Cheese that I was going to portion out as a side, so we ended up eating that with a salad for dinner instead of the pork and coming back to this the next night. For those of you who haven't popped a circuit ... ]

After 5-6 hours, when the pork is fall-apart tender, pour out the root beer and use two forks to shred the meat. When nobody is looking, sneak a bite to see how it tastes with just the root beer. Pretty good already, right?? And those onions, mmmmm! Now stir in as much of the Sensuous Slathering Sauce as you like. As much as I love the sauce, I can't stand eating a drippy sandwich, so I tend to be conservative, leaving more sauce on the side for anyone who wants it.

Pile the pork onto your roll of choice (I used Bulkie Rolls), and top with the Wango Tango Sauce. That's what really makes the dish, that kick of sweet heat. OMG, I'm drooling as I write this, just thinking about it. I loved it as it was, but I may or may not add a drop or two of liquid smoke next time. That might really put it over the top. :)

Amaretto Grapes

2012-01-27T20:13:00.000-05:00

We're not typically a family of dessert eaters; those are usually served up when company is joining us, on holidays, sometimes when restaurant dining, etc., but not generally in the course of normal events. Dinner went together so quickly/easily the other night that I felt like I had forgotten to do something, so while that was in the oven, I decided to use the time to throw this light dessert together. This was inspired by a recipe I saw a few years ago that had something to do with grapes and amaretti cookies. You can't get much simpler than this, and it was very refreshing, with just enough sweet to satisfy everyone.

INGREDIENTS :

2 T cream cheese, softened

6 oz container Greek yogurt (I used Chobani)

1 T DiSaronno Amaretto

+/- 1/2 c almond slices

I went with the yogurt to keep this dessert on the healthy side. Because I knew adding the Amaretto would thin the yogurt, I decided to mix in the cream cheese for stability and to cut the tartness. If you want to use Greek yogurt but can't find it where you are, just strain your "regular" yogurt through a cheesecloth, paper towel, or coffee filter to remove some of the liquid. If you don't want to do that, you could always just add more cream cheese.

The almonds were for texture and visual appeal. To toast them, simply toss them in a dry nonstick pan and set them over medium heat, stirring frequently (to prevent burning) until golden. Pour them out of the hot pan so the residual heat doesn't scorch them before you're ready for them.

Stir together the yogurt, cream cheese, and amaretto until smooth, then stir in a large bunch of grapes and about half of your almonds, crushing them in your hand as you sprinkle them in. Allow to chill while you have dinner.

To serve, scoop into bowls and top with the remaining crushed almonds.

Strawberry-Mozzarella Salad with Strawberry Balsamic Dressing

2012-01-26T21:58:00.000-05:00

I made a Chicken Tetrazzini for dinner the other night, and because it's a casserole, there wasn't really a need for a veg or starch side, but I did want something, so I opted for a salad. I recently noticed a forgotten bottle of Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar hanging out in the back of the pantry, so I decided to put that to use.

INGREDIENTS :

1/3 c Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar

1/3 c Olive Oil

2 t honey

Greens (I used a head of Green Leaf Lettuce)

Strawberries

Mozzarella

Fresh Basil

Sliced Almonds

For the dressing, whisk together the oil, vinegar, and honey. You can add a pinch of salt and pepper if you like, but I just kept it simple, wanting the strawberry vinegar to be the "star" of the show.

Slice the berries, toss them in the dressing and set aside for a while to macerate. You want that nice fresh juice to seep out and incorporate into the dressing.

In the meantime, toss some almond slices into a dry pan over medium heat and let them get lightly toasted. Be sure to keep moving them around so they don't burn, and as soon as they're a color you like, dump them out into something else so the residual heat from the pan doesn't burn them.

Cut the mozzarella into bite-sized pieces, and bunch up some of the basil leaves and chiffonade them into ribbons.

I used a slotted spoon to scoop the berries out of the dressing and toss them with the lettuce, just letting the dressing that clung to the berries dress the salad. Then I tossed in the mozzarella and some of the almonds and used the rest of the almonds and the basil to crown each plate, serving the reserved dressing on the side.

Chicken Tetrazzini "ish"

2012-01-24T23:51:00.000-05:00

I was reading a magazine a few months back, and a Turkey Tetrazzini really caught my eye. I looked it up online, but it was in one of those magazines that don't post their recipes, so I was bummed since it was a random outdated magazine that I was reading out somewhere. I didn't have access to it to write the recipe down at that point. I have been thinking about it off and on, so I decided to try my own version, but with chicken.

I have never actually had a Tetrazzini before, so I turned to the Internet for info, starting with Wikipedia. Here's what they had to say ...

Tetrazzini is an American dish usually involving a non-red meat (often diced fowl or seafood), mushrooms, and almonds in a butter/cream and parmesan sauce flavored with wine or sherry and stock vegetables such as onions, celery, and carrots. It is often served hot over spaghetti or some similarly thin pasta, garnished with lemon or parsley, and topped with additional almonds and/or Parmesan cheese.

The dish is named after the Italian opera star, Luisa Tetrazzini.^[1] It is widely believed to have been invented ca. 1908–1910 by Ernest Arbogast, then chef at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, California, where Tetrazzini was a long-time resident. However, other sources attribute the origin to the Knickerbocker Hotel in New York City.^[2]^{[unreliable source?]}

There is no universal standard for the dish, so various parts are missing or substituted in various recipes. For example, another kind of nut, or different hard cheese. The name is often expanded to describe the specific meat used (e.g. Chicken Tetrazzini, or Tuna Tetrazzini).

That is exactly what I found when looking at various recipes ... there is no universal standard. The only things that seemed to be universal were the use of some form of milk or cream, a cheese, pasta, and a protein. After that, they all vary. Sooooo, whether you want to call this a Chicken Tetrazzini or just a Chicken/Pasta Casserole, here's my version ...

INGREDIENTS :

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2-3 celery stalks

2-3 carrot sticks

1/2 lg onion, cut into chunks

1-2 cloves garlic, split open

32 oz chicken broth

1 t Better than Bouillon stock base

2 t rubbed sage

Salt and Pepper

8-10 oz gemelli (pasta twists)

1/2 bunch asparagus, cut into 1" pieces

4 T butter

1/2 lg onion, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1/3 c flour

2 t Better than Bouillon stock base

1/3 c cooking Sherry or white wine

2 c broth (from the poached chicken)

1 c cream

2 t rubbed sage (I'll increase next time)

1/2 c toasted almond slices

1/3 c grated Parmesan

1/3 c Panko break crumbs

1/3 c sliced almonds

1 T butter

Start by poaching your chicken, so it's nice and juicy and tender. I looked in the veggie drawer and found some sad carrots in there, so I used the carrots, a few stalks of celery (with the leaves), half of a large onion, and two cloves of garlic (split in half), for seasoning. Toss the veggies in your pan, add the chicken, broth, sage, a pinch of salt and pepper, and the Better than Bouillon. I love that stuff! It adds richness to the broth without being overly salty like the cubes can be; and you have more control over how much you want to use. You might have to swish everything around some to get the chicken down into the broth.

As for the sage, I was thinking about going with oregano or sweet basil, but I didn't want to end up with chicken pot pie filling. That's also why I chose the asparagus, as opposed to the peas, carrots, etc. in many of the recipes I looked at. Oh, by the way, another common item in Tetrazzini appears to be mushrooms, but I'm not a mushroom kinda gal, so those didn't even make it into the running!

Let that slowly come up to a boil over medium heat, then reduce it to barely a simmer, pop a cover on it and let it cook for 15-20". Then just turn off the heat and set it aside to finish cooking in the residual heat.

Cook the pasta in boiling water until al dente, salting the water once it comes to a boil. Because the asparagus was so thin, I didn't want to cook it, so when the pasta was done, I threw in the asparagus, then drained them both together so the heat from the pasta would take the bite off the asparagus.

Set that aside for the moment and turn your attention back to the chicken. I like to tear it into bite sized pieces rather than cutting it. It just looks more rustic that way, but whatever works for you. I set the carrots aside for the dog, tossed the rest of the veggies, and strained the broth to use in the sauce.

Gather all of your sauce ingredients together and lightly toast your almonds by heating them in a dry pan over med-low heat. Make sure you keep tossing them around so they don't burn, and as soon as they get some nice color on them, pour them out onto a paper towel or paper plate so they're not sitting in the hot pan.

Saute the onions and peppers in the 4T of butter until the onions are translucent, then whisk in the flour and continue cooking for a minute or so to make a roux. I found it to be too dry, so I added just a splash of the Sherry at this point. Once that has cooked for about a minute and has a nice color on it, add the stock paste and your liquids, and let it come up to a boil.

I had a small carton of heavy cream in the fridge, so I had intended to use 1/2 c of the heavy cream and a 1/2 c of milk, but I had a premature senior moment and forgot about that, so I ended up using a whole cup of the heavy cream. That worked out fine, but if you're concerned with calories, you'll want to go with something lighter.

Once the sauce comes together and starts to thicken, go ahead and add the sage, and stir in the Parmesan and toasted almonds, followed by the pasta/asparagus mixture and the chicken. Yummmmm!

Because I was working with a non-stick oven-proof pan, I will be baking it right in the pan. If you need to transfer it to a casserole dish at this point, just be sure to butter or spray it first, to prevent sticking.

In a small bowl, stir together the additional Parmesan, Panko crumbs, and almond slices. There is no need to toast these almonds since they will toast naturally while baking. Sprinkle the topping mixture all over the top and dot with butter.

Bake at 350 for about 30" until golden and bubbly.

We all really enjoyed this dish. It's a great winter stick-to-your-ribs kinda meal. The only critique (and we all agreed) was that the flavor profile needs to be bumped up. Not changed, just upped, so I'll definitely be using more sage next time...and maybe more of the asparagus.

Dijon Crusted Roast Beef

2012-01-20T00:01:00.000-05:00

I've certainly made a few roasts in my day, but since trying this crusted version, I can't see going back to a non-crusted roast again. Crusting it is like wrapping it in a down jacket in winter, holding in all it's body heat and juicy goodness, keeping it all comfy cozy so it gives back to you in the form of a wonderfully tender and flavorful meal.

INGREDIENTS :

This was a 6 lb boneless top sirloin roast

2-3 T olive oil

Salt and Pepper

2 c fresh breadcrumbs

1 T jarred minced garlic w/red peppers

(or 3-4 cloves, minced)

3-4 shallots, minced

1 oz pkg fresh thyme (2-3 T)

2 T fresh rosemary, minced

2 T butter, melted

Grey Poupon Country Dijon Mustard

The first time I made this roast, the only bread I had on hand was some hotdog rolls. That worked out fine - they also make really good garlic bread in a pinch. This time around, I dipped into my bag-o-crumbs from the freezer. I think it's currently a random collection of scraps - country white, pumpernickel, dinner rolls. Whatever you have handy is fine.

You always want to start by letting your meat sit out for a while to come to room temp. If you start off with it cold, it will seize up and NOT be happy! This makes for a tough roast ... or steak ... or chicken, etc. Kinda like if you were to jump into freezing cold water or stick your hand over an open flame; you'll flinch in either case and immediately constrict.

I didn't use a rack. You certainly can if you want, but I usually don't bother. Sometimes I'll set a roast on top of carrots and celery stalks.

Pat the roast dry with paper towels, then generously rub it all over with salt (I use coarse kosher) and pepper. Over med-high heat, sear the roast on all sides (3-4" on each side and the ends), then transfer it to your roasting pan (unless you're already searing it in an oven-proof pan). If you're transferring it to a different pan, make sure any drippings go with it.

I didn't use the rack or carrots/celery, but I did quarter a few onions to roast along with it. I like roasted onions, and they add to the flavoring if you plan to use the drippings for gravy.

Preheat the oven to 425.

Mix together your bread crumbs, garlic, and herbs, then toss with the melted butter.

When the roast is cool enough for you to touch, slather the top and sides with the Dijon, then pat the crumb mixture onto the mustard.

Oops, I apparently forgot to take a "before" shot with it wearing it's down jacket, but you get the picture (no pun intended).

Cook the roast for 15-20" at 425, until the crust gets some nice color on it, then tent it loosely with foil so you don't end up with burnt toast, lower the temp to 325, and continue to desired doneness; for us, that about about an hour and a half. We've got a few well-done folks in the family. That works out fine with steaks because we can always leave theirs in longer, but it's harder to please everyone with a roast. That's another reason I love this recipe. Even with it cooked longer, it's still juicy and tender enough for those of us who prefer our steaks more on the pink side.

Be sure to let the roast rest for about 20" before carving, to hold in all those juices. While you're waiting, you can move it onto a serving platter, then use all the drippings in the pan to create a nice gravy.

Don't worry about some of the crust falling off as you slice - just make sure everyone gets some.

Progresso - Souper You Contest

2012-01-13T13:36:00.000-05:00

Are you a fan of Progresso Soups? Maybe you're looking to shed a few pounds after indulging over the holidays? How does getting a makeover and shopping spree on your way to the finale of The Biggest Loser in Los Angeles sound? Check out what Progresso is up to for your chance to win ...

(With 40 soups to choose from ... and a coupon link below ... even if you don't win the trip, that's still a win in my book. I never noticed their Reduced Sodium Tomato Parmesan before. I'll have to keep an eye out for that one.)

Are you ready for a new look this New Year? Progresso^® is excited to announce the return of their Souper You^® Contest giving you the chance to win an incredible makeover! By telling Progresso why you deserve a makeover and what you love about their soup, you could have the chance to win an ultimate makeover experience in Hollywood this Spring!

Now that the ball has dropped and the confetti has settled, it´s time to consider how you will stick to your resolution for the New Year and maintain your weight management plan, without sacrificing on variety or the taste of foods you love. Thanks to Progresso^®, you can have your soup and eat it too!

With 40 delicious soups with 100 calories or less per serving, Progresso Soup has a variety of offerings that help you beat diet boredom and satisfy your taste cravings, while helping you stick to your weight management calorie goals. Progresso soups are packed with hearty ingredients like pasta, beans, rice, meat and vegetables that suit your taste buds and make you feel good about including it in your meal choices.

o This year, the Souper You^® Contest will provide three lucky winners with an ultimate makeover experience in Hollywood; this includes a trip for 2 to Los Angeles, California where the winner will receive a head-to-toe makeover including hair and makeup, guided shopping spree with a $1,000 fashion retailer gift card, $1,000 spending money and 2 tickets to this season´s live finale of NBC´s The Biggest Loser

o Progresso is asking fans to visit www.SouperYou.com and submit their photo with a brief essay about why they love Progresso soups and why they deserve a makeover, by no later than February 22nd

o Fans can check back on March 12th for the announcement of the top ten finalists, and to vote for their favorite finalist until March 25th

o In addition, visit http://bit.ly/ProgressoCoup to download a printable coupon for $1.25 off the purchase of four (4) cans of Progresso Soup today

o Also, tune into The Biggest Loser on NBC Tuesdays at 8/7c

Click here to watch this amazing video of the 2011 winner experience.

www.SouperYou.com Also, find Progresso on: Facebook

^©2012 Reveille, LLC and NBC Studios, LLC. The Biggest Loser is a registered trademark of Reveille, LLC and NBC Studios, LLC and used under license. All rights reserved. Progresso^® is a sponsor of The Biggest Loser.

General Mills Sales is the sole sponsor of the Progresso^® Souper You^® Contest. NBCUniversal Media, LLC is not a sponsor of the Contest and is not associated with the administration of the Contest in any way.

[The above info was provided to me by Progresso through MyBlogSpark.]

Bite-Sized Kale-Artichoke Stuffed Vol au Vent

2012-01-09T18:33:00.000-05:00

As tasty as these little bites were, I have to confess that I will probably never make them again ... at least not this small. For the amount of time it took me to cut out all of the rounds, chill the dough, bake them, make the filling, stuff them, etc., I could have made three other things instead. I've used puff pastry in larger shapes for things like Asparagus Shortcakes, Strawberry Shortcakes, and Chicken Pot Pie, but never this small. For future bites, I'll stick to baking them into small shells. I had wanted to try something new to go along with our Christmas Eve appetizer tradition. My intention was to make my own puff pastry, but with everything else going on, I took the shortcut and bought the dough.

Vol-au-vents are layers of puff pastry stacked and baked together to form a sort of tube. You can also press puff pastry into little tartlet shells, but those are more shallow, so it really depends on what you plan to fill them with. I did two layers so they would be just a bite, but you could stack another layer to make them even deeper.

INGREDIENTS :

2 sheets puff pastry

1 egg, lightly beaten

4 oz diced pancetta

1 T white wine vinegar

3 shallots, diced

4c torn kale

1 can artichoke quarters, diced

1/4 c ricotta cheese
1 T cream cheese

I think the biggest problem leading to my frustration was really that I need a set of Linzer cookie cutters. To cut the rounds, I used a small fluted biscuit cutter for the outer ring and a random kitchen tool cover to cut the inner rounds. I tried the bottom of a piping tip, but that was too small.

Let your dough thaw per the package instructions, then roll out on a lightly floured work surface to seal the seams.

You will be cutting the dough by creating three different shapes - the bottom layer, the rounds that will rise to form the sides, and the center pieces that can be stacked together and re-rolled, or baked along with the others and used as tops or as a garnish for another item. The ones I made with the piping tip ended up serving as croutons to accompany a Mushroom Stew that night.

Most instructions will tell you to cut out a bunch of the large circles, then go back and cut the centers out of half of those to create the sides and tops, but I had a problem with that. Maybe we were cooking/baking so much at the time it was just too hot in the kitchen, but when I made my first pass of cuts and went back to separate them and move them onto the tray, I found that many had managed to seal back together already. That was what I found so frustrating - having to go back and re-cut, which can affect your rise. You really need a clean cut. Unlike with some doughs where you might wiggle the cutter around to loosen it, doing that with puff pastry will seal the layers together and prevent a nice rise.

For me, it worked best to cut a few of the base circles and remove them to the tray before continuing with their counterparts. You could also just remove the scraps from between them as you go along.

Regardless of how you manage to get the shapes onto the tray, you will want to prick the dough with the tines of a fork to "dock" it. This allows more of the moisture to escape, leaving you with nice a crisp bite.

Beat the egg in a small cup or bowl, and lightly brush just the tops of your shapes, then gently press the "empty" rings over the base pieces, lightly pressing to adhere.

Refrigerate the tray to give the dough a chance to firm up again while you preheat the oven to 400. Luckily for me, it was very cold outside that day, so I was able to set the tray out on the back deck without having to sacrifice fridge space.

OK, here's a confession that makes me laugh now but played a part in my frustration at the time. Almost every recipe I looked at for working with puff pastry said to bake it with a sheet of parchment or a silpat over the top so that they rise evenly. I was thinking who the heck cares if they're the same height?!? And how are they supposed to rise with something as heavy as a silpat over them?!?! I expressed that out loud and was met with agreement. It wasn't until I baked my first tray - without any kind of cover - that I realized what was meant by that instruction and we had a good chuckle. In the event you interpreted that the same way we did, it really meant the cover will help each puff rise straight, rather than crooked like mine. You will see that some of mine are tilted. I still can't imagine using a silpat, but I might use parchment next time.

Bake them at 400 for about 15" or so until they rise and start to lightly brown. Then you can remove the cover if you're using one, poke down any centers that may have risen too high (I used the handle of a wooden spoon so I wouldn't burn myself), then put them back in at 350 until nicely browned - another 15-20".

See? Crooked. Oops!

For the filling, cook the pancetta until crispy, then remove it from the pan and set aside. There shouldn't be a whole lot, but pour off or soak up with a paper towel most of the grease, and add the white wine vinegar to deglaze any crispy bits from the bottom of the pan.

Saute the shallots until they start to soften, then add in the kale and really stir it around to coat with the wine and pancetta flavor.

When the kale starts to wilt down a little, add in the diced artichokes and season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat and cover the pan to give the kale a chance to really wilt down, stirring occasionally.

When the kale is tender, stir in the ricotta and cream cheese, then remove from the heat.

When your puffs come out of the oven, fill them with the artichoke mixture and sprinkle the pancetta on top. As I mentioned recently when making Garlic and Herb Stuffed Peppadews, I like to use iced tea spoons for this sort of thing. They are small enough to fit into tight spaces and shallow enough for me to get in there to push the filling off.

In the past, when I have used puff pastry, I just cut out whatever shape I wanted, baked a single layer, then carved out the top when it finished baking. Doing this definitely gave me the confidence to make FULL-SIZED vol-au-vents in the future for my asparagus shortcakes and other fillings. Even if I get the right cutters, I don't think I'll be making the minis again. They're cute, and tasty, but (for me at least) not worth the time spent.

Cocoa Panna Cotta

2012-01-08T19:58:00.001-05:00

I'm a sucker for cute, so when I saw the mini marshmallows at the local Amish market, I couldn't resist. When I say mini, I don't mean like you get in the bags at the grocery store. I mean mini like you would get in a packet of hot chocolate, only not dehydrated. I already had those on hand, so when I went to Boston to visit a friend a while back and came across a great deal on the mini dessert glasses at Ocean State Job Lot, I couldn't pass them up. I thought the two would work perfectly together to come up with this Cocoa Panna Cotta.

I actually served these as a dessert on Christmas Eve this year. I thought that I had already posted them, but I must just be remembering the pics I uploaded to Facebook of what we ate. The candy canes may be dated at this point, but it's definitely still cocoa weather ~ although of course, these won't warm you up on a cold night.

INGREDIENTS :

1 packet unflavored gelatin

3 T cold water

1 pint heavy cream

1/3 c sugar

3 T Ghirardelli Unsweetened Cocoa

1/4 c milk

1 t vanilla

mini marshmallows for garnish

mini candy canes for garnish

Stir the gelatin into the cold water and set aside to bloom.

Over medium-high heat, whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, and cream. Let that come to a boil, then simmer until slightly thickened. I was surprised by how long it took the cocoa to combine into the cream. If you have any little lumps that don't want to cooperate, you can press them against the side of the pot with the back of a spoon so that they break up and spread into the liquid.

Remove from heat and whisk in the gelatin, then add the additional milk and vanilla.

If you are going to be serving it in a container, there is no need for it, but if you will be inverting the panna cotta out of some sort of mold(s), you will want to lightly mist the mold(s) with cooking spray first.

I found a Tupperware container in the cabinet that was the perfect size to hold all eight of my little glasses, so I tucked them into that to make it easier to transfer into the fridge. To avoid any splashing, I decided to pour the mixture into a little funnel over each cup.

Refrigerate until set, then garnish as desired. I had a package of candy canes that I hadn't done anything with yet, so I decided to include those as well.

I wanted to keep it plain so I would have a true sense of how it worked out with the cocoa, but now that I've used it, I'll feel free to play next time and replace the milk component with some Kahlua or maybe White Chocolate Godiva Liqueur. Mmmmmmm!

Beef Stew

2012-01-06T14:29:00.000-05:00

I was expecting a crowd just around dinner time the othernight, so I thought about roasting a fewchickens but decided I didn’t want to take a chance on timing and having them dryout before everyone got here, so I opted to make a big pot of Beef Stew. This is definitely the weather for it –although I’m extremely happy about how lucky we have been weather-wise so farthis winter. I love to look at the snow but dread driving in it.

I wasn’t thrilled with the look of the so-called “stew meat” at themarket, so in checking out my other beef options, I decided to go with two TopRound London Broils.

INGREDIENTS :

2 Top Round London Broils (+/- 3lb total)

½ c flour

1 t salt

1 t pepper

2 T dried oregano, divided

½ t crushed red pepper flakes

½ t garlic powder

3 T olive oil (may need more)

1 T butter

2 cans beef broth

1 c red wine (optional)

2 onions, diced

4-5 potatoes, cubed (I used russets)

Small bag of baby carrots

2 crowns broccoli

1 T tomato paste

You should probably start by chopping your veggies so they’re readywhen you want them. You can certainlyuse full-sized carrots rather than the minis; just cut them into coins. We usually put peas in our Beef Stew, but Idecided to go with broccoli that day. Icut the florets where they naturally separate, but there were a few big guysthat required being split in half.

Now that your veggies are prepped, go ahead and trim off the fat and cube the meat intokinda large bite-sized pieces. You want to account for some shrinkage while cooking.

Toss the flour, salt, pepper, 1T of the oregano, pepper flakes, and garlic powderin a plastic bag, then add the meat and (this part should go without saying – seal or hold the bag closed) shake tocoat.

In a large pot over medium-high heat (shaking off any excess flour as you remove themeat from the bag), give each piece a quick sear in the olive oil. You will want to do this in batches to avoidover-crowding the pan, and may need to add more oil between batches. Just transfer the seared pieces to a bowl asyou go along. I like to use tongs for this sort of thing, or even chopsticks on occasion, so I'm not poking a fork into the meat and letting the juices run out.

Once all the meat has been seared, add the 1T butter to the pan, alongwith any of the flour mixture remaining in the bag. You can stir or whisk this into a roux tohelp with your gravy.

Add the meat back to the pan, along with any juices that may have runout, and cover with the beef broth. It’snot necessary to include the wine; you can use more broth if you like, but Ihappened to have had a bottle of Cabernet in the fridge, so I threw in a cup. Let that come just to a boil.

Because you can’t really overcook the onions, I add those now, so theyhave plenty of time to impart their flavor into the mix. Go ahead and stir those in, then pop a top on the pot, lower theheat to a gentle simmer, and let it go for between an hour to an hour and ahalf, until the meat is tender. Give ita stir every now and then, just to make sure nobody got stuck on the bottom.

Now that the meat is all happy, it’s time for the potatoes and carrotsto jump in the pool. That's when I addedthe tomato paste and the second tablespoon of oregano, too. Even thoughtomato paste comes in small cans, it’s one of those things I usually don’t needthe whole amount of, so I throw the excess in a little plastic bag and freezeit. That way, I can just carve off achunk when I need it.

When you can poke a potato cube and meet with just slight resistance,go ahead and add the broccoli. You don’t want to add that too soon and have it turn to mush. I would have preferred it to be a little lessdone than in my final pics, but I wanted to make sure dinner was ready when everyonecame in that night and was a little ahead of myself.

Don’t forget to have a nice fresh loaf of French or Italian bread atthe ready to soak up all that gravy! ;)

Raspberry Butter Cookies

2012-01-05T15:37:00.000-05:00

I have developed the terrible habit of picking up random ingredients with no intended use in mind. When Christmas was approaching, it occurred to me that I had to use at least a few of them. I have teeny tiny marshmallows, dried marshmallows like you find in cereal, lemon confectionery chips, freeze dried raspberries, jalapeno powder, and the list goes on. I used some of the mini marshmallows in a Coaoa Panna Cotta on Christmas Eve (which I apparently forgot to blog), that still left a lot to play with. I settled on using two of the ingredients to experiment with these lemon-iced raspberry cookies.

INGREDIENTS :

1 c butter

1 c sugar (not quite full)

2 T raspberry jam (I'll increase next time)

1 egg

2 1/2 c flour

1 t baking powder

3 T freeze dried raspberries

lemon confectionery chips

cream (or milk)

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then mix in the egg and jam.

I was afraid the jam might make the cookies spread too thin and burn, so I only omitted a small amount of sugar from the recipe and replaced it with 2T of jam. Now that I've made them, I will definitely feel safe in increasing the amount next time.

Whisk the baking powder into the flour (with a fork is fine), then add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, a little at a time until incorporated, finally stirring in the freeze dried raspberries.

Scoop the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap to form a "log," then twist the ends to seal and chill for at least an hour. I had so much going on that day, I left it in the fridge overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350, slice the dough into 1/4" rounds, and place on parchment-lined trays. (Don't mind the rings; we had just made a batch of Simit, so I was "recycling" the parchment.) Bake until just lightly golden, about 15".

Because I like the combination of raspberry and lemon, I wanted to use the lemon chips to ice the cookies. To do that, I poured some of the chips into a ramekin, added a few drops of cream, and slowly melted the chips in the microwave. Then I just poured a spoonful over the cookies and spread it with the back of the spoon.

Some I left like that, others I sprinkled more of the freeze-dried raspberries on. I then decided to try and ice some of the cookies with raspberry, by stirring some jam into a little confectioner's sugar - I was thinking back to icing cookies with confectioner's sugar mixed with milk and an extract, so I was hoping the jam would replace the milk in this instance, but it never really set. I would have had to add way too much of the sugar. I did leave some of the cookies "naked."

Because we were all so full and nobody really got around to desserts on Christmas Eve or Christmas night this year, I was pleasantly surprised to find out we got a phone call about these cookies as the result of a to-go plate. I always like to make at least one new item every year.

6 Minute Microwave Potato Chips

2012-01-04T13:08:00.000-05:00

I was making a big pot of Beef Stew last night and knew that I had more potato than I needed, so an idea popped into my head ... it's so easy to make beet chips in the microwave, what would happen if I tried potatoes?? Since I was just experimenting, I didn't bother whipping out the mandoline. I just sliced the potato as thin as I could with the knife I was using.

I placed the slices on a paper plate and gave them a light sprinkle of salt, then popped them in the microwave for 2 minutes, flipped them, salted the other side, popped them back in for another 2 minutes, then flipped them and popped them back in for another 2. That's it!

The only "problem" I had was that when I went to flip them the first time, a few of the edges had stuck to the plate. They have a shine to them like a rice cracker, but they taste like baked potato chips. The thinner slices came out very crispy, the thicker ones a little softer, but I didn't bother putting them back in. I'll definitely try this again using the mandoline next time for consistent slices. Maybe I'll experiment with flavors.

As for beets, you need to keep a very close eye on them once the moisture gets sucked out of them, because they will burn very quickly. I have made the beet chips a few times, but don't think I paid attention to the time - just watched and flipped until they were done.

A Look Back at 2011 - Favorites

2012-01-01T14:35:00.001-05:00

I hope that everyone had a fabulous New Years Eve. I was half expecting to see a bunch of people post their favorite hangover remedy today. ;)

I was an old fart last night and decided to stay in. I did "fun" stuff like re-organize my closet, sorting out clothes to be discarded, others to be stored for the season, and still others to be donated. Then I started working on a ginormous jigsaw puzzle I received as a Christmas present. I love doing puzzles, the more difficult the better. After that, I took some time to review my posts for 2011 and take note of what recipes my readers were most drawn to during the year. I was pleasantly surprised to see that 6 out of the top 10 were Armenian (or at least regional - not looking to do battle with any neighbors) recipes.

Pictured above is my Armenian grandmother. She was my original source of foodie inspiration. The first shot is of her with one of her brothers cubing lamb for Shish Kebab (I have still never made Shish Kebab myself - my Mom and my sister make it a lot ... and I have a slight grill phobia). The second shot is of her in the kitchen of the house I grew up in, no doubt working on a word-search puzzle. That was one of her favorite things to do. I miss you Grammy!!! I do have to clarify that although she would cube and marinate the lamb for Shish Kebab, my grandfather was the Grill Master General. Nobody knows how he did it, but he could feed a crowd of 6,000 off a little charcoal hibachi grill, and everything would somehow be served hot and all at the same time?!?!

I miss you too Grampy! This was him goofing around on an oriental rug buying trip. I think he was in Iran at the time. He used to be a buyer for Jordan Marsh Department Store.

Aside from maybe PJs in the morning, I don't think I ever saw him not wearing suit pants and a dress shirt. Even working in the garden! This man kept the most amazing gardens I have ever seen. He had fruit trees in the yard, a grape arbor, rose garden, flowers everywhere, a watermelon patch, strawberry patch, big vegetable garden, you name it! Me ... I couldn't grow a Chia Pet!! It seems appropriate that when he passed, he was found sitting under his cherry tree.

OK, enough about the family, now on to the food! I was shocked to see that by far, the most viewed recipe of the year was Harissa. I wish I had some insight into why that was. I'm curious to know if people were interested because they had never heard of it, or if it was that people from other cultures in that region took a peek because somehow, Harrisa, the National Dish of Armenia, was recently categorized as a Turkish dish??? I realize that the dish has been around a lot longer than I have and that many cultures have their own take on regional dishes, but that does strike me as odd. Anywhooo, here is your top 10 of 2011:

As for my own personal favorites of 2011, I'd have to go with ...

Almond, Chocolate, Toffee Paklava

Kale and Pancetta Stuffed Shells

Taco Meatloaf

Peanut Butter and Nutella Yeast Rolls

Lemon/Thyme Cake

Yuzu Glazed Snack Mix

Apricot/Prune/Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Lentil Kufte

Buffalo Chicken Croquettes

Honeydew Granita

So there you have it - your favorites for 2011, and mine. To be honest, a lot of my favorites are actually on your list, but since many are things that I grew up eating and/or making, I tried to look beyond those. My absolute favorite was definitely the chocolate paklava! I hesitated for y-e-a-r-s to mess with the original, much like recently changing up my Pilaf. Now I'm kicking myself on both counts. No matter how much you love something, don't be afraid to mix things up. Who knows, you might have a hit on your hands.

Best wishes for 2012, from my kitchen to yours.

EggNog Kadayif

2011-12-30T14:08:00.000-05:00

What I have pictured above and below is the plain cream-filled version of Kadayif, but every time the holidays roll around, I feel the need to try and incorporate EggNog into something. Last year, I made White Chocolate EggNog Cordial Cups and an EggNog Coffee Cake (that I apparently forgot to blog). Before that, I made a Nutmeg Cake with EggNog Sauce (translation - failed icing). Before that, it was EggNog Cookies. I don't know why it never occurred to me before to make EggNog Kadayif?!?

All I did was replace the heavy cream in the original version with EggNog, and added a tablespoon of brandy and teaspoon of EggNog flavoring in place of the vanilla. Because you use light cream and milk in addition to the heavy cream (in this case egg nog), I didn't want the flavor to be too watered down. That's why I included the flavoring. Add a sprinkle of nutmeg when serving, and you have a delicious holiday treat!

I didn't bother with new pictures since it would have looked the same anyhow.

Stuffed Peppadews

2011-12-27T09:47:00.000-05:00

It's like a disease with us - my sister and I keep vowing to cut back on the holiday menu, yet new things keep mysteriously appearing. We DID manage to drop an Onion Tart and a Souffle from the menu. When I was shopping for ingredients, I walked by the olive bar and couldn't help myself. I filled up a container of Peppadew Peppers, then headed directly to the cheese department to see what I could stuff them with. This is a super simple item when you need something quick. One of my nephews was the first to pop one, and when I asked how they were, he declared "Fantastic!" I don't know about that, but I'll definitely keep this in mind for future reference.

If you are not familiar with Peppadews, they are a hot pepper, but they are also very sweet. The heat comes at the front, so you won't be scrambling for water if they're too hot for you. The heat passes quickly. By the way, they say water doesn't help in those situations and that you should really reach for something acidic to neutralize the capsaicin. Try tomato juice, or a wedge of citrus instead.

INGREDIENTS :

Peppadew Peppers

Garlic/Herb Boursin (or other)

Cheese Spread

Fresh herbs for garnish

As a warning, we introduced our Mom to Peppadews when she came for a visit over the summer. She really liked them, so I looked online to see where she could get them when she went back to New Orleans. I found them in jars at Martin Wine Cellar, so she immediately stopped in for a supply. The next time I spoke with her, she told me the ones in the jar were so hot, they almost blew her head off, so make sure you taste test!

You could always stir or whip the cheese spread to soften it, then use a piping bag (or ziplock with a corner snipped) to pipe the spread into the peppers, but these have such a large opening, I didn't bother. I like to use iced tea spoons for things like this. They're just small and shallow enough to do the trick.

Once they're all stuffed, give them a sprinkle of your favorite fresh herb for garnish, and you're good to go! I had a bunch of parsley leftover from making Stuffed Grapeleaves the other night, so I used that this time.

Spicy Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Balls

2011-12-24T02:57:00.000-05:00

I absolutely love these Peanut Butter Balls, but for some reason, it hasn't occurred to me to make them for a few years. It was actually my sister who brought it up, and I'm sure glad she did. After having these, I could never make the usual rice krispies version - not that I'd turn my nose up at them if someone offered me some. Come on now, I don't care what form it's in - you can't go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter!! But seriously, there's lots of good stuff in this version, and even the few (crazy) people I know who detest coconut can't get enough of them.

INGREDIENTS :

1 1/2 sleeves graham crackers

(or 1 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs)

1 c shredded sweetened coconut

1/2 c pecans

2 sticks margarine

8 oz chunky peanut butter

2 t vanilla

1/2 t cayenne pepper

1 lb powdered sugar

16 oz chocolate (I like Dove milk chocolate for these)

parafin (optional)

If you're starting with whole graham crackers, run them through a food processor to turn them into crumbs, then toss in the pecans and coconut and pulse to chop. You might be able to get away with running the three together, but I'm always afraid the nuts will prevent the crackers from grinding properly and I'll end up with big chunks, then have to keep going and end up with paste because the pecans are over-processed. If you feel daring, give it a shot and let me know how it turns out.

Pour the crumb mixture into a large bowl and stir in the margarine, peanut butter, vanilla, and cayenne.

Stir in the powdered (or confectioner's) sugar, a little at a time until incorporated - feel free to get in there and use your hands. Depending on what type of texture you're looking for will determine whether you use all of the sugar. If you like a drier, more Reese's kind of texture, use the whole pound. If you would like them to be creamer, hold back a bit.

Roll the filling into balls and set aside.

Yummmm

Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate with a small amount of parafin. I like to use a microplane to shave the parafin rather than chopping it. It melts faster that way. The parafin is to help the chocolate set and give it a nice shine. If you use chocolate chips, you can go ahead and melt them in the microwave and skip the parafin. Chocolate chips are made to resist melting in baked goods, so adding parafin will just make it set too fast, or get gummy, and make it more difficult ... unless you don't mind constantly re-heating it to keep it thin.

This time around, I actually did half and half. I dipped half the batch in the milk chocolate, then melted a few bars of Lindt Excellence Dark Chili Chocolate. I'm partial to creamy milk chocolate, but most of my family prefers dark chocolate. For some reason, I only like dark chocolate by itself.

Anywhoooo ... dip each ball in the melted chocolate, allowing the excess to drip off. I used to always use a toothpick to dunk them, but I whipped out a fondue fork the other night, and that worked great! I have tried those sticks they make for dipping but have never liked them. Sometimes I use two iced tea spoons and and sort of pass them back and forth between the two to let the excess run off. Whatever works for you is great. Just don't do what I did the other night! I dip the balls, then drop them on waxed paper to set. Usually, I add a drop of chocolate to the hole where the toothpick was, but I was on a roll and just kept dipping. By the time I thought about filling the holes, I had used up all the milk chocolate and re-filled the bowl with the dark chocolate, so it wouldn't have matched. I ended up heating a spoon and running the back of it over the holes to melt the chocolate. I contemplated melting some white chocolate and doing a drizzle for contrast and to fill the holes, but it was late, and the spoon was faster. You could also grind some peanuts or keep more coconut and/or graham crumbs handy and sprinkle the balls before the chocolate sets.

I especially like to make a batch of these when I plan on giving out trays of cookies to friends and neighbors, etc. I like to dot them around the tray for contrast.

Enjoy, and have a wonderful Christmas! As much as I moan and groan when we get snow, it seems weird that tomorrow is Christmas Eve and we don't have any yet. Hopefully we'll at least get a little for Christmas morning.

Red Rice Crusted Quiche

2011-12-22T19:05:00.001-05:00

I have been wanting to try a rice crust for a while now, so one night last week when everyone but my sister and I were out of town, I decided to experiment on us for dinner. I originally intended to try it with black rice, but I happened to have some red rice from the local Amish market, so I used that instead. As much as we enjoyed it, I will probably wait until we have "leftover" rice to do it again, just because of the time factor. I usually think of a quiche as a quick dinner, but between cooking the rice, par baking the crust, and caramelizing onions for the filling, it took a lot longer than planned. It was delicious though, especially with the caramelized onions!

INGREDIENTS :

1c red rice

3 T butter

2 1/2 c chicken broth

**************************

1 egg

1/4-1/3 c shredded asiago cheese

*************************

4 eggs

1/3 c cream

1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced

1/2 bunch thin asparagus, diced

1/2 pint grape tomatoes, sliced

3-4 strips cooked bacon, crumbled

1 lg onion

handful shredded cheese (cheddar blend, etc.)

crushed red pepper flakes

salt / pepper

For the crust, cook the rice in the broth and butter until tender, then let it cool for a bit and stir in the 1 egg, along with the asiago. You first want to make sure the rice isn't hot enough to cook your egg. Bake at 375 in a buttered 10" pie plate for about 15" until set.

While that's baking, slice your onions and, over low heat, slowly caramelize them in a little butter and olive oil until nice and creamy and golden.

For the filling, beat the eggs with the cream, season with salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes, then stir in the veggies, bacon, and cheese. I almost always have some sort of a shredded cheddar blend in the fridge, whether a pizza blend, Mexican, etc.

Pour the egg/veggie mixture into the rice shell, garnishing the top with additional veggies if you like, and bake at 375 for 25-30" until cooked through and lightly browned on top.

The rice crust was a nice change from the traditional pastry dough. It was very tasty in its own right,with slightly nutty undertones, and it was just a little crispy around the edges. If you want a very crisp crust, just use less rice to make it thinner.

Now I'm really curious to try the black rice ...

Chocolate Bread Pudding with Puya Chile Raspberry Sauce

2011-12-18T21:55:00.001-05:00

OK guys ... the folks over at Marx Foods are at it again. Or should I say the folks over at Marx Foods have ME at it again? This time around, it was a chocolate challenge. They sent all of the participants a variety of items to use in conjunction with chocolate. At least one item needed to be included, and the recipe could be something sweet or savory. The ingredients we were sent to choose from were:

Fennel Pollen (one of my favorites)
Dried Chilies - adobo and puya
Coconut Sugar
Granulated Candy Cap Mushrooms
Vanilla Beans

I opted to use the Fennel Pollen, Puya Chilies, Coconut Sugar, and Vanilla Beans in my recipe. My first thought was to try a mole sauce since I have yet to do that, but I have so much going on this week, I was concerned about time. Then I thought about French Toast or Crepes, but finally settled on the Bread Pudding. I have never made a chocolate bread before, but I'll certainly be making it again! I was very surprised by the texture. It had that slight chewy pull of a bread, but a velvety mouth feel because of the chocolate.

This recipe may be as time consuming as a mole, but I haven't read up on that yet to know what is involved, and at least while my dough was rising, I could be doing other things ... like baking an Egg Nog Kadayif, making Tabouli, and tackling some of the clean-up from last night's big Sukiyaki birthday dinner. I'm not a Sushi kinda gal. I do love Tempura, but Sukiyaki is definitely my favorite! Lucky for me, everyone else loves it too! Even luckier that my nephew requested it for his birthday.

Wanting to use as many of the ingredients as I could, I was thinking about whipping the fennel pollen with some cream, but I decided the whipped cream might be too much with the sauce, so I instead infused the fennel pollen into a little powdered sugar and dusted the top. That stuff is like GOLD, so I cried a little when I did that - wanting to savor the fennel pollen for as long as possible. ;)

CHOCOLATE BREAD :
1 T yeast
1 T coconut sugar
3/4 c tepid milk
4 T butter4 oz bar Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate
2 1/4 c bread flour
2 t instant espresso powder
5 T coconut sugar
1/4 c Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa powder
1 egg
1 vanilla bean
1 t sea salt

In the bowl of your stand mixer, sprinkle the yeast. To the yeast, add the 1T of coconut sugar, along with the warm milk. Let that bloom for about 5", until it gets nice and bubbly.

In the meantime, break up the bar of chocolate and set that over a double boiler with the 4T of butter to melt. If you don't have a double boiler, just find a bowl that fits over a small pot and fill the pot with water, but not quite touching the bowl.

In a separate bowl, stir together the bread flour, espresso powder, remaining 5T coconut sugar, and cocoa powder. Make sure you're keeping an eye on your chocolate.

Split open the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. So you don't waste the rest of the pod, you can either add it to an existing bottle of vanilla for a little boost, or pour some sugar in a covered container, add the bean and give it a shake every now and again so you end up with a vanilla sugar.

Remove your melted chocolate from the heat and let that sit for a few minutes so you don't end up cooking your egg with it.

Lightly beat the egg, vanilla bean, and sea salt into the yeast mixture, then add half the flour mixture, followed by streaming in half the chocolate, and repeat. I used the dough hook, but I think the dough was loose enough that the regular whip attachment should work just fine. Let it run for about 5" until smooth and elastic.

Lightly spray a bowl with cooking spray, or brush with oil, scoop in the dough, turning to coat, then set in a warm place for 1.5' to raise.

Spray an 8" round cake pan with PAM Baking, then knead the dough a few times, lightly pat it into the pan, and let it raise again for 45" to 1'. FYI - I got a really nice rise the first time, but not as much the second time around.

Bake at 350 for 35-40".

I was thinking that when it baked, it would bubble up like a peasant loaf, but it stayed pretty flat. Look at that nice crumb. :) I baked the loaf yesterday and let it sit out to dry some so I could make the bread pudding with it today.

BREAD PUDDING :

I loaf chocolate bread - cubed

1/3 c coconut sugar

2 c milk

2 eggs

2 t vanilla

To put together the bread pudding, I followed my usual recipe in that I soaked the cubes in the milk, then added the remaining ingredients. Now having worked with the chocolate bread, the next time I make this, I'll definitely do it differently, because it kinda turned to mush! The bread was too delicate to be tossed with the egg mixture, soooo ...

Butter an 11 3/4" x 7 1/2" baking dish, and nestle in the cubed bread. Beat together the sugar, milk, eggs, and vanilla, and pour evenly over the bread. Let that sit for at least an hour to soak up the liquid.

Set that pan inside a larger pan, and fill the larger pan with hot water to create a water bath. Bake at 350 for 35-40" until set. If you aren't able to remove the smaller pan from the larger pan to get it out of the hot water, try holding the two pans over the sink and tilting to one corner to pour out the water first. If you're not comfortable doing it that way, here's a chance to bust out the turkey baster!

While you're waiting for the bread pudding to cool a little, go ahead and make your raspberry sauce.

RASPBERRY SAUCE :
12 oz bag frozen (unsweetened) raspberries - thawed
1/3 c sugar
2 t lemon juice
1 vanilla bean
2 puya chile peppers
1 T cornstarch
2 T water

Fill a bowl with very hot water and drop in the chile peppers, covering them if necessary to keep them from popping out. Let them steep until soft, then squeeze out the water, slice them open and scrape the flesh off the skin. Depending on how much heat you like will determine whether you leave the seeds with the flesh. I'll be serving this at an office pot luck tomorrow, and probably not everyone likes it hot, so I removed most of the seeds first.

Split open the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds, adding the pod to whatever you did with the first one - I hate to waste those!!

In a small pot, cook the raspberries with the sugar, the flesh from the chilies, and the vanilla bean until nicely broken down and soupy. If you don't have any vanilla beans and are planning to use extract, I would add it at the end rather than cooking it with the raspberries. I was originally planning on leaving the seeds, but when I saw just how many there were, I changed my mind! Pour the raspberry mixture over a strainer into a bowl or large measuring cup.

While the raspberry mixture is draining, stir together the cornstarch and water to form a slurry.

Pour the strained raspberry mixture back into the pot and return it to the heat. Stir in the lemon juice while it's coming back up to temp, then add the slurry and let it come to a boil for a minute or so to thicken - stirring constantly so it doesn't bubble over or scorch.

To serve, spoon a little of the raspberry sauce onto the plate to form a pool, place the bread pudding over the sauce, then lightly sprinkle the fennel pollen infused powdered sugar over the top.

As usual, a BIG thanks to everyone at Marx Foods for the samples!

The polls are open until Thursday (12/22/2011) - click here to vote for your favorite.

Backstage at the Betty Crocker Kitchens

2011-12-16T20:02:00.000-05:00

I have been so inundated with e-mail lately, that I just unearthed this clip today - even though I apparently received it three weeks ago! I'm glad I didn't delete it. It was actually pretty interesting. I had no idea that Betty Crocker was the first radio cooking show. Seems kinda funny that there were radio cooking shows. I'm a fanatic about not buying cookbooks with no pictures - imagine me trying to function from a radio recipe!

I also had no idea that the Big Red cookbook is one of the best selling books in the world. That's pretty impressive. Equally impressive is the fact that Betty Crocker was once dubbed one of the most famous women in America, second only to Eleanore Roosevelt. Why is that so impressive? Betty Crocker was never a real person. LOL

Check out this video for some interesting info, ways to connect with BC that you might not be aware of, etc. Looks like a fun place to work!

http://influencers.3uu.us/gto.php3?syid=2992&code=a5873e9e6e84bf1e

2011 Hot Holiday Trends

2011-12-12T15:09:00.000-05:00

The folks over at Betty Crocker have put together a collection of this season's Red Hot Holiday Trends. They cover everything from Skinny Cocktails to Dog Treats. Check out the links below to see what's hot this season.

	Trend: Double Desserts Taking two desserts and mixing and mashing them together is one of our favorite trends. Things like pie shakes, cookie stuffed cookies, and pie-filled cupcakes deliver a whole new kind of delicious. It´s a 1+1=3 kind of thing. Recipe: Pumpkin Pie Cookies Pie, meet cookie. Cookie, say hello to pie. When two all-time favorites come together, you get Pumpkin Pie Cookies, the star at your next holiday cookie exchange.

	Trend: Boozy Baking From booze cakes to cocktail pies, bakers everywhere are bringing the bar into the kitchen. A titch of tequila or a skosh of scotch whiskey adds a serious shot of fun and flavor for the over 21 crowd. We´re loving these boozy baked goods! Recipe: Boozy Bourbon Chocolate Cupcakes Taste for yourself what the buzz is all about! A bit of bourbon, a hit of coffee liqueur and some vanilla vodka-spiked frosting make these sophisticated chocolate cupcakes the ultimate "holiday helpers."

	Trend: Color. Flavor. Fun. Traditional baked goods are being transformed with bright colors and playful flavors. With a little creativity and imagination, no one can resist this happy, fun food! Recipe: Cake Batter Cookie Stackers Take sugar cookies to a whole new level of delicious! Kids and adults will love these cake batter flavored cookies with colorful frosting, and lots of sprinkles! Stack `em up and watch `em go.

	Trend: From Cave to Kitchen Forget the man cave. Today guys are in the kitchen making (or at least appreciating) really good food. Big food. Really good, big food that´s stacked and stuffed with the flavors they can´t resist. Recipe: Mantastic Fried Chicken `n´ Waffle Sandwich Here´s a new take on chicken `n´ waffles - made better with beer, bacon, and bourbon. It´s the ultimate manly man meal.

	Trend: Skinny Cocktails Here´s the skinny! Drinking high-calorie cocktails is so last year. The modern mixologist is shaking things up with light & flavorful cocktails. Recipe: Skinny Clementine Martini Add some clever sparkle to your next party. Enjoy these natural, light martinis made with fresh juice, high-quality liquor, and a splash of club soda. Lower calorie cocktails never tasted, or looked, so sweet. Cheers!

	Trend: Better Than Bought From canning to candy making, there´s a renewed interest in handcrafted foods. This season, homemade food gifts are just the right thing to show your care and creativity. Recipe: Cajeta Caramel Fudge Create the perfect combination of flavor and crunch with this homemade candy. Rich chocolate fudge layered with cajeta caramel, cashews and a sprinkle of sea salt-a recipe to impress.

	Trend: Veggie Love Once just tolerated, vegetables are now celebrated. Omnivores and herbivores alike have discovered that veggies offer variety and great taste, and are feeling the love. Recipe: Sweet Potato Hummus Hummus with fresh sweet potato packs even more plant power. Add a delicious blend of smoked paprika, coriander, and cumin to make this flavorful dip.

	Trend: Shareworthy & Allergen-Friendly Allergen-friendly foods may be free from things like nuts, dairy and eggs, but shouldn´t be free from flavor. Thankfully, we´re seeing new foods and recipes that can be enjoyed by everyone - whether you´re allergy-sensitive or not. Recipe: Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread Gather everyone around the table to enjoy this moist and delicious pumpkin bread. Made with no nuts, no dairy, no eggs, and no gluten - no kidding!

	Trend: D-I-Y for D-O-G Man´s best friend deserves man´s best effort. That´s why making your own dog food is one of the latest canine crazes! This year, homemade dog treats are at the top of fido´s list. Recipe: Dog Bark This treat will make your dog sit up and beg for more. Make the bark by melting carob chips and peanut butter then top with your dog´s favorite ingredients - bacon and cheese. Bow WOW!

	Trend: Food Craft The kitchen is the new craft room. With food as their medium, clever cooks are making amazing edible food crafts that are as good to look at as they are to eat. Recipe: Chocolate Coal Lumps Naughty or nice, everyone will love these easy cho-coal-late treats. Cocoa Puffs® cereal dipped in melted chocolate and marshmallows create these tasty stocking stuffers.

** As always, a big thanks to Betty Crocker (via My Blog Spark) for the great info and links..

Steak Kew

2011-12-05T22:55:00.001-05:00

For some reason, I've had Chinese food on the brain lately - mostly Orange Peel Chicken and Duck Sauce. No, not together, but I keep thinking about how I've never had Duck Sauce like what we used to get when I was growing up in MA. It had an almost applesauce consistency to it. Everywhere else I've had it is more syrupy, or what you would expect for a Sweet & Sour sauce. In any event, given that we've eaten so much poultry lately, I went in the other direction and made Steak Kew. That was always a favorite of ours, but we haven't had it in forever. And no, you don't serve Duck Sauce with Steak Kew either. It's just been on my mind. LOL

Never having made it at home, I looked at several recipes online for inspiration. They all seemed to call for ribeye steaks, but when I went to the market and saw how thin they all were, I opted to pick up three nice, thick strip steaks and was very pleased with the result! It stayed very juicy and tender, even when microwaving the leftovers the next day. That's a good steak!

INGREDIENTS :

3 thick-cut strip steaks

1/4 c canola oil

5 oz low sodium soy sauce

1 T minced garlic (I like the jarred with hot red peppers)

1 T freshly grated ginger

5 oz sherry

5-6 oz oyster sauce (if you can't find it, chinese stir-fry sauce)

1/2 t salt

1 t black pepper

1 t cornstarch **

2-3 lg carrots sliced into coins

1 lg white onion, cut into lg pieces

small head bok choy

1-2 cans sliced water chestnuts

small crown broccoli

1-2 c snow pea pods

Start by trimming the fat off your steaks and cutting them into 1/4" slices, then in half, so you have bite-sized squares. I like to let meat come to room temp before cooking it, especially in this case, where you'll be flash frying it. I did it in a pot, but if you've got a wok, that would be great.

I usually like to keep pea pods whole, but you can always cut them in half or into thirds on the bias if you like. For the bok choy, I sliced straight across the bottoms to cut strips, then tore the leaves in half and sliced them into ribbons.

Working in batches, sear the beef on both sides in the hot oil and set aside. Pour out the excess oil, and return the pan to the heat, adding half the soy sauce, half the minced garlic, and half the ginger.

Add the veggies to the pot (I gave the onion/carrot a brief head start), then pour in the sherry, stirring to coat, and allow the veggies to steam for about a minute.

Add the beef back to the pot, and while that's warming up, stir the cornstarch into your oyster sauce (or stir fry sauce) and the remaining soy sauce/ginger/garlic.

If, like me, you are using a pot and it's pretty full, you might want to scoop out some of your beef/veggies so you've got room to make your sauce. Pour the cornstarch mixture into the pan sauce and stir until it thickens.

Toss everything back together and serve over hot cooked white rice.

** I was dumfounded that there was no oyster sauce in the ginormous Asian aisle at the grocery store the day I went, and I was too lazy to make a separate trip to the Asian market just for that, so I read the labels on the various stir-fry sauces and found one that included oyster in the ingredients. The one thing I would change about this dish is that I would make the sauce thicker next time, by increasing the cornstarch. I did not want to note that in the ingredients, because I'm not sure it would be necessary if using oyster sauce. It may just have been that this particular stir fry sauce was thin, so use your best judgment.

I was planning on being silly and serving dinner then putting out a bowl of toothpick laced pineapple chunks over crushed ice, surrounded by fortune cookies like they used to always do at the restaurants, but they only had HUGE boxes of fortune cookes, so I just served some pineapple chunks on the side if you're wondering what that is on the right.

Raspberry Mousse Chocolate Cups

2011-12-04T13:00:00.001-05:00

I hope that everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. I can't believe how time is flying! Christmas is right around the corner and I still have tons of shopping to do!! I wasn't in charge of Thanksgiving, so I didn't do much by way of cooking/baking this year. We keep trying to scale back, but you know how that goes!

One of the few things I did make was with the guys in mind. They all seem to love raspberry and chocolate. It actually comes in handy when dealing with a group if there is a consensus on flavor combinations. As much as I like raspberry, if there was something involving lemon, coconut, or almond in the vicinity, I would almost always be pulled in that direction.

I have made chocolate cups before, by painting melted chocolate into silicon molds, letting them set and then popping them out. It wasn't until more recently that I saw the technique of blowing up small balloons and dipping them in chocolate. I decided to try that for a change. I had also never used candy melts before - only chocolate. I see them everywhere, so the curiosity finally got the better of me. I took a poll on Facebook, and almost everyone who responded prefers to make molds with chocolate, but a) I wanted to try the candy melts; and b) I was thinking the candy melts might be a thinner consistency and more forgiving when dipping balloons. Now that I'm thinking about it, I know I've seen different colors of candy melts, but I don't recall if they were different flavors. That might be fun to play around with - lemon chips with a different flavor filling, etc.

Sooooooo, I decided to make chocolate "bowls" and fill them with a raspberry mousse for the guys as one of our desserts. In setting up our list of who would be doing what and when in prep for the holiday (we had company the night before and did a big fondue night - FUN), like who needed the oven and at what temps for how long and that sort of thing, I decided I could make the bowls ahead of time and get them out of the kitchen/dining room area altogether. I made them a few days early, kept the balloons inflated, and set them out on the back deck in a cake carrier. That way, they stayed cool, kep their shape, were protected from critters, and out of the way. That worked out great.

INGREDIENTS :

1 bag chocolate candy melts

12 oz bag frozen raspberries, thawed

1/2 pint fresh raspberries

2 t unflavored gelatin (or raspberry)

1/4 c water

1/4 c sugar

2 c fresh whipped cream

mint leaves for garnish (optional)

In a blender or food processor, puree the frozen berries with most of the fresh berries - reserve enough of the fresh to garnish however many bowls you will be making. Because this is a mousse, rather than something you will be really chewing on, I did not find it necessary to remove the seeds, but if you are particularly sensetive to seeds, you might want to press the puree through a strainer.

Over medium heat, dissolve the gelatin in the water, then remove from heat and stir in the raspberry puree. Feel the bottom of the pan to make sure the puree cooled it down sufficiently, then fold in the whipped cream and chill for a few hours to set. You can make the mousse a day or two ahead of time as well, but I wouldn't advise doing it much further ahead than that, or the cream will start breaking down and getting watery.

For the bowls, I just melted the candy melts in a wide-mouth measuring cup, dipped the washed/inflated balloons and set them on waxed paper. When I was getting ready to assemble, I took the mousse out of the fridge to loosen up, deflated and removed the balloons, spooned in the mousse and topped them each with a few berries and a sprig of mint.

Pecan Crusted Chicken

2011-11-18T23:17:00.001-05:00

There was a really weird coincidence tied to my making this dish when I did. When I used to live in Metairie, Louisiana, just outside of New Orleans, there was one of those grocery/restaurant/take-out places (Foodies), where I first had stuffed artichokes and buttermilk pecan fried chicken. They also had the tallest baked macaroni and cheese I have ever seen, and some of the coolest breads ever! Anyhow, every once in a while, I would stop in on my way home from work and pick up a piece of chicken or something for dinner. Sadly, I went to pull in one day and was gobsmacked to see that they were gone. :(

The chicken ties into my favorite example of why I have to fall asleep with the TV on - preferably running a tape of something I've seen before. That gives my brain a chance to shut down during a commercial, knowing I won't be missing anything since I've already seen it. If I read, I can't put the book down and am up all night. If I listen to music, my radio/alarm won't wake me up in the morning - I'll just incorporate it into what I'm dreaming. If I watch something I haven't seen before, I'll be too interested in seeing the outcome to fall asleep. If all is quiet, my brain runs in crazy directions and won't shut down. Such as ...

One night back in 1999, I was thinking about having ordered chickenparmesan for lunch, which made me think of Foodies, and the buttermilk pecanfried chicken I had gotten there. Thatmade me think of trying to make it sometime, maybe with a combination of coconut and pecans, because another restaurant I loved back in MA made an awesome coconut chicken with a raspberry dipping sauce. Then I started thinking about food allergiesand how many people can't eat peanuts. Some people can die from peanuts like others from bee stings. That led to thinking about how sad it is that kids nowadays have to be super-cautious about lunches at school, etc. Then I started to wonder, since we don'tnecessarily share allergies with our parents, could some instances of pre-nataldeath be attributed to a pregnant woman eating foods containing peanuts? Would that be possible? Has a study ever been done? Has anyone else in the world even thoughtabout that before? I actually had to get up to look it up because it was that distracting! A study HAD been done, but apparently, they couldn't attributed any miscarriages to peanut consumption. See why I don't sleep? I have a very weird interior monologue running all the time.

So what was the weird coincidence? The morning after I made this dish, for the first time since that stream of consciousness attempt to fall asleep in 99, I was driving to work and heard on the radio the results of a new study showing that children are more likely to have potentially life-threatening allergies to peanuts if their mother consumes peanuts during pregnancy. How freakin' weird is that?!?!? You would think it would be the other way around - the Mom eating it would build up an immunity in the kid. Kinda scary.

It's been so long since I had that chicken that I can't remember it well enough to try and duplicate it. I decided to try for something in that realm, but not fried. I was actually quite pleased, but I think next time, I'll pound the cutlets thinner. I usually buy breasts and pound them myself, but I happened to see a good deal on cutlets that day, so I went with those, as is. They did turn out very juicy and tender.

INGREDIENTS :

2 lb chicken cutlets

1/2 c plain yogurt

1 T honey

1/4 t cayenne pepper

2/3 c Panko crumbs *

1 1/2 c ground pecans

1/2 c grated Parmesan

Rinse the chicken, pat dry with paper towels, and season with a little salt and pepper.
Stir together the yogurt, honey, and cayenne pepper.
In a separate bowl, stir together the Panko, nuts, and Parmesan.
Coat the chicken with the yogurt mixture, then roll in the crumbs and press to adhere.
Bake at 350 for about 40" until juices run clear.

* The Panko may look odd to some of you in the pic but totally normal to others. Up until recently, whenever I have purchased Panko crumbs, they have been almost like if you smashed a Butterfinger candy bar - kinda like little shards. This particular brand is shaped more like fish tank pebbles, with smooth rounded edges. If I end up with this kind again, I'll probably give it a quick pulse in the food processor. I like the crispiness of Panklo over regular bread crumbs, but I don't want them to be too big. I'll make the pecans smaller too. I was afraid of over processing them.

The combination of honey and the pecans gave this dish a slightly sweet maple taste. There was just enough cayenne to make itself known, without being overpowering.

Taco Meatloaf

2011-11-15T12:29:00.001-05:00

Does anyone else do this? When I get an idea for a recipe I'd like to try, or a new cooking technique or ingredient I want to play with, I actually add it to a list so I don't forget about it. I usually think of things when I'm either in the car on my way home from work, or in bed trying to fall asleep, so I have no idea how many I may have forgotten about before they even made it onto my list. Anyhow, one of those things was a Taco Meatloaf or Taco Burgers.

After going to Carrabba's the other day and swooning over their Sangria (no, not because it was too strong for me LOL), I was transported back to high school, when I went to Spain and first had Sangria. I wanted see if I could duplicate Carrabba's version (no such luck - yet), so I realized that would be a good time to try the Taco Meatloaf or Burgers. Given the time of year, I decided to go with the Meatloaf (besides, I'm kinda skeerd a the gas grill - lighting it anyhow).

Half way down Walton Mountain (That's wat I call the hill we live on. It's 3 miles from the bottom to our house - not a straight climb of course.), it occurred to me that it was Sunday, so the liquor stores wouldn't be open to get what I needed for Sangria. Imagine my surprise when I found out they are in fact open on Sunday. When did that happen??

Even stranger ... on my way back up Walton Mountain, I was listening to an interview on NPR. Does that make me old? I have my radio set to a talk station? Sniffle, sniffle. The interview was of a chef whose name escapes me. He has a new cookbook coming out, and rather than being set up by course or by ingredient, it's by cooking technique. They decided to discuss water, and he mentioned that he always cooks meatloaf using a water bath. Excuse me? I've never heard of anyone using a water bath for something like that - much less when it's formed into a loaf rather than pressed into a loaf pan. I'm used to using a water bath for custards and that sort of thing, so I assumed it involved the mixture actually touching the water to be affected by its heat. That's what I get for assuming!

The meatloaf turned out awesome, and perfectly tender. Never having used a water bath for meatloaf before, I can't say whether that or the ingredients, or a combination of the two, was responsible for the texture. I'll definitely be trying my "regular" meatloaf in a water bath next time so I can make a comparison.

I wanted to hit on everything we normally include with tacos, so I got ground beef, taco seasoning, black olives, onion, tomato, salsa (or taco sauce), cilantro, sour cream, shredded cheese, jalapenos (I used a pablano since we had a fresh one that needed to be used up), and corn muffins to replace breadcrumbs or stuffing and serve in place of the taco shells. You can save the lettuce for sandwiches with the leftovers. ;)

INGREDIENTS :

2.5 - 3 lb ground beef

1 onion, diced fine

1 tomato, diced

6 oz can black olives, diced

1 c shredded cheese (Mexican or Pizza blend + more for garnish)

1 egg

Two 1.25 oz packets taco seasoning

(I used one regular and one low sodium)

3 T fresh chopped cilantro (+ more for garnish)

2 corn muffins, crumbled

whatever hot peppers you like with tacos

(I used half a fresh poblano, but could have used more)

1/2 c salsa, divided

sour cream for garnish

Gently mix together everything but the sour cream and 1/4 c of the salsa, and form it into a loaf in a casserole dish or pan. Slather the top with that extra 1/4 c of salsa, then set that pan inside of a larger pan, and fill the larger pan about half way with very hot water. Bake at 375 for about an hour and a half.

That's another crazy thing - temperatures. My "regular" meatloaf cooks at 350 for an hour and a half. Never having used a water bath before, I looked online and found some that call for 400 degrees for an hour; 400 for an hour covered and 30" uncovered; 375 for 45-50"; 375 for 35-40", you name it. I was afraid of cracking a dish at 400, so I went with 375 for an hour and a half to be safe. It came out perfectly moist and tender, and the corn muffins turned out to be an interesting choice, since they added a note of sweetness to the mix.

I sprinkled a little more cheese on top to melt in while it was resting. I was actually shocked by how much liquid came out, so as soon as it was rested, I used two big spatulas to transfer it to a serving platter. With my luck, if I tried to pour off the liquid, I would have flipped the meatloaf right out of the pan. ;)

In keeping with the whole taco theme, I topped each slice with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of that resserved fresh chopped cilantro. For sides, I went with vegetarian refried beans topped with scallions, and steamed haricot vert (a/k/a skinny French string beans) with a pat of butter. In place of having chips and salsa with the "tacos," I made a light salad of thinly sliced tomatos and avocados dressed with fresh cracked pepper, a little sea salt and balsamic dressing.

Little Old Lady Recipes (Cookbook Review)

2011-11-13T08:56:00.000-05:00

Come for the recipes - stay for the laughs!

When I first heard from Quirk Books asking if I would be interested in receiving a review copy, I was immediately sold on the title. Come on, you know you're mind went right to your grandmother's kitchen and you got all nostalgic for a minute there. Then you noticed the fine print around the photo and couldn't help but smile. Well, turn the page and your smile will just get bigger.

It's a clever little book. The background on the cover looks like a needlepoint sampler you might find hanging in your Granny's kitchen, then you flip the page, and the cover's backing is a small floral print reminiscent of a vintage apron. You're all set to step back in time and read some old-fashioned stick-to-your-ribs no-nonsense recipes, of which there are plenty, but then you start to realize there's more going on here.

From the way the recipes are written, to the photographs of the "Little Old Ladies" in question, and the quoted pearls of "Kitchen Table Wisdom" scattered throughout, you are entertained at every turn. I do have to admit that when I first realized the author is neither a little old lady nor the creator of the recipes, and that the photos are of some of the ladies rather than of the recipes (I'm a stickler for being able to see what it is my recipe is supposed to turn out like), I was disappointed - for about a minute. Then I realized how much I enjoyed the book and immediatley got over myself.

I found this book to be timely, in both content and attitude. Times are tough, and many people are being forced to scale back and to stretch their budget, including their food budget. Many of these recipes were originally created with that in mind. Chicken and Dumplings for instance - you get the benefit of the chicken flavor throughout the dish via the sauce, while being able to stretch your budget and still fill all the bellies at the table by including the dumplings. That's the practical side. The other side is the cheeky attitude. Heck, Little Old Lady Recipes sums it up nicely. Take a good look at some of the pictures, and you'll wish you could spend an afternoon with these ladies. You can see a twinkle in the eye here, and hearty laugh there. Makes you wish you could have tagged along with the author and photographer to see what other wisdom the ladies had to pass on.

It should have come as no surprise when I got to the end and read that the author, Meg Favreau, is actually a comedian. That's in addition to being an obvious food enthusiast, as evidenced by her once having won an eating contest that involved octopus (I'm afraid to look into that one further). Meg is also the Senior Editor of Wise Bread / Living Large on a Small Budget. Photographer Michael Reali did a great job in capturing the personalities of all the ladies. I just wish they had opted to photograph each of the ladies with their respective dish.

This book is the perfect size to slip into someone's Christmas stocking. It would also be great as a hostess gift, or for an office gift exchange. Be sure to pick up a copy at:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Available as an ebook

E-Book ISBN: 1594745188

ISBN: 9781594745188

Page Count: 160

Release Date: November 1, 2011

** I was provided an advance copy of the book for review by Quirk Books, but I have not otherwise been compansated for this post, and all opionions are strictly my own. **

Mustard Greens

2011-11-08T19:35:00.000-05:00

My first encounter with mustard greens was over the summer, when I had them as the base of a tomato salad. Since then, I've had them in sauces, pesto, dressings, etc., but I had yet to actually eat them as a "green," like with spinach, kale, etc. So, when I picked some up the other day to use under a Butternut Squash Salad, I decided to cook up the rest as a side.

We all really liked it, but strangely, agreed that it somehow reminded us of Chinese food. I'll have to remember that the next time I have leftover pork tenderloin. That would be a great pairing.

INGREDIENTS :

1 bunch mustard greens

5-6 slices bacon

1 t jarred minced garlic with red pepper

1 red onion, sliced

2 pickled cherry peppers, seeded and diced

Wash and tear the mustard greens into pieces, removing any particularly thick stalks.

Cook the bacon until very crisp, then set aside for the moment.

Drain off most of the bacon grease, leaving just enough to saute the garlic and onion.

Once the onion is translucent, toss in the diced pepper, then start adding in the torn greens. If your pan isn't deep enough to accommodate it all, don't worry - like spinach, it will cook waaaaay down in just a minute.

Crumble and mix in the bacon at the very end.

Quinoa with Olives and Swiss Chard

2011-11-07T16:02:00.000-05:00

I was planning to make a chicken dish for dinner the other night, and since it had been a while since we had Quinoa, I decided to use that in a side dish. I had apples and fennel in mind when I hit the grocery store, but that changed to olives and Swiss chard somehow. I don't think I had ever tried Swiss chard before, but the placcard above it stated that the leaves taste mildly of spinach, while the stalks lean toward celery. Sounded good to me! Unfortunately, I couldn't find any Quinoa that day. I was counting on already having some in the pantry - we did, but not enough of the white to go around, so I had to use red. Don't get me wrong, I love the red - it just didn't provide the right color contrast againt the olives and Swiss chard.

The Swiss Chard I found that day was red. I think it would be really cool to make this with Rainbow Swiss Chard if I could find it. That's on my "unicorn" foods list, along with pear tomatoes (had them in Vegas but have never seen them elsewhere), golden beets, rainbow beets, purple carrots, etc.

INGREDIENTS :
1 c Quinoa
2 c chicken broth
+/- 2 c mixed olives, chopped
(I used a tub from the olive bar - Kalamatas, and Colossal Green
marinated in Garlic)
1/2 bunch Swiss Chard
olive oil
salt and pepper

zest of 1 lemon

Bring the broth to a boil, then stir in the Quinoa, reduce to a simmer, pop a top on it and forget about it for about 15".

Carefully wash and slice your Swiss Chard. I found it to be extremely muddy! I snipped off the very ends of the stalks, then chopped my way up them in about 1/2" segments and sliced the leaves into ribbons.

Saute the Swiss Chard with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper, until tender, then add in your olives.

When the Quinoa is done, fluff it with a fork and stir it into the pan, then finish it off with the lemon zest to brighten things up a bit.

See what I mean? It tasted great, but the colors get lost against the red quinoa. :(

Hye Thyme Cafe

Cheesey Grits and Kale Chips

Chicken Étouffée

Marx Foods - East Meets Delicious Recipe Challenge

Betty Crocker Coupons - Fun da-middles & Molasses Cookies

Pear Salad with Candied Pecans and Pear Vinaigrette

Tickled Pink

Beef Negimaki

Broccoli Slaw

Refrigerator Pickles

Root Beer Pulled Pork (For New Yorkers Only)

Amaretto Grapes

Strawberry-Mozzarella Salad with Strawberry Balsamic Dressing

Chicken Tetrazzini "ish"

Dijon Crusted Roast Beef

Progresso - Souper You Contest

Bite-Sized Kale-Artichoke Stuffed Vol au Vent

Cocoa Panna Cotta

Beef Stew

Raspberry Butter Cookies

6 Minute Microwave Potato Chips

A Look Back at 2011 - Favorites

EggNog Kadayif

Stuffed Peppadews

Spicy Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Balls

Red Rice Crusted Quiche

Chocolate Bread Pudding with Puya Chile Raspberry Sauce

Backstage at the Betty Crocker Kitchens

2011 Hot Holiday Trends

Trend: Double Desserts

Trend: Boozy Baking

Trend: Color. Flavor. Fun.

Trend: From Cave to Kitchen

Trend: Skinny Cocktails

Trend: Better Than Bought

Trend: Veggie Love

Trend: Shareworthy & Allergen-Friendly

Trend: D-I-Y for D-O-G

Trend: Food Craft

Steak Kew

Raspberry Mousse Chocolate Cups

Pecan Crusted Chicken

Taco Meatloaf

Little Old Lady Recipes (Cookbook Review)

Mustard Greens

Quinoa with Olives and Swiss Chard