Chicken Curry

This recipe is a slight alteration to the chicken fricassee with a curry addition.  It is not too fast, but it only takes about an hour and the curry sauce is deliciously flavorful.  I made my own chicken stock for this recipe, following the usual method, but added about five whole cloves to my herb mixture, which gave the stock a very aromatic, spicey quality that was perfect for the chicken curry and accompanying rice.

Ingredients:

- Parts of 1 whole large chicken (or you could use 4 chicken breasts), cut into 1-inch-cubes

- 4T butter 

- Medium yellow onion

- Large carrot

- Large stalk of celery

- Salt & Pepper

- 3T flour

- 1T curry powder

- 3c chicken stock

- 1c white wine

- 1/4c cream

- 2T butter

Melt 4T butter in a french oven.  When hot, saute onions, carrot, and celery.  When tender, add the chicken pieces and allow to cook for about five minutes, turning every minute until tender but not browned. 

 

Lower heat to very low, cover and cook chicken for another 10 minutes.  It will plump a little as it cooks, but don't let it brown.

After 10 minutes, sprinkle with flour and curry powder.  Stir to make sure the flour covers all sides of the chicken, and allow to cook for about 4 more minutes, covered.   

Pour in chicken stock and wine.  It is best if the chicken stock is hot when you add it, but if not, bring the liquid up to a very soft boil.  Cover and maintain at a slow simmer for 20 minutes.  

When chicken is cooked, remove chicken and vegetables.  I used a slotted skimmer to do this, which was perfect for the job. 

Bring to a medium boil to reduce to a sauce consistency.  Add cream and bring back to a simmer.  If necessary, season with cayenne pepper and salt. 

 

Serve rice, chicken and vegetable mixture, and then sauce over top.  

Bon Appetite!

Irish Garden - Quilt Sandwich!

The Irish Garden quilt is moving right along!  I have now officially made my quilt sandwich!  Cillian helped me put in all the basting pins and select the pattern for quilting in each of the squares.  Hopefully I'm on track to get this done in the next four weeks!

The Best Rice I Have Ever Made

I used to be really good at making rice.  It seemed so easy - just bring rice and water to a boil and then simmer.  It always turned out fluffy and tender.  Then I lost my touch.  I don't know how it happened, but every pot of rice I tried to make either burned, or turned out sticky or dry.  I finally caved and bought a rice cooker.  The rice cooker works okay, but not great.  At least it produces consistent results. 

But then, last night, I made rice according to Julia Child's rissoto recipe.  It was perfect.  Now I know you're thinking "Rissoto?!  No way am I standing over a pot and doling out ladle-fulls of boiling stock for twenty minutes while constantly stirring."  This rissoto recipe does not require such active care.  You start it on the stove-top and then move it to the oven.  It does not take on the sticky, almost creamy texture of typical rissoto.  It is more like the most perfect rice you've ever had.

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2c long-grained white rice
- 3c stock, hot
- 1c wine
- 1/2c finely chopped yellow onion
- 4T butter
- Salt and pepper

Melt butter in an enameled cast iron "french oven" over medium heat.  Add chopped onion.  (Julia Child's recipe calls for only 1/4c onion, but I think a little more is nice, depending on what you're going to use it for.  I made mine for chicken curry, so a little more onion was appropriate.  I also added 1/2t tumeric.)  Let this cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, but do not let it brown. 

When the onion is soft and translucent, add the rice and stir to incorporate.  Allow the rice to cook for about 2 minutes, but, again, do not let it brown.  The rice should take on a milky sort of color when it has absorbed some of the butter and onion flavor.  At this point, you can add spices or seasonings if you want, depending on what you are serving your rice with.

Add the chicken stock and wine.  Your chicken stock should be hot, so that the rice comes to a boil very quickly.  Cover and move to an oven pre-heated at 375 degrees.  Peak at the rice after about 3-4 minutes.  It should be simmering.  Reduce your oven temperature to 350 degrees and let cook for a total of 18 minutes in the oven.  Check on your rice once to make sure that it is on track to cook in about 18 minutes.  After 18 minutes, tilt the pot up on its corner and move the rice along the edge of the pot away so that you can see down to the bottom - make sure all of the liquid is absorbed. 

Carefully fluff the rice with a large buffet fork without breaking the grains.  Now you can return your pot of rice to the turned-off oven to keep warm until you are ready to serve.  Your rice should be tender, fluffy, and soft with a little bit of "bite" in the center, and have lovely buttery flavor. 

Bon appetite!

Aunt Wendy's Chocolate Pie

This chocolate pie recipe is everything you hope a chocolate pie will be and rarely is.  It is a sophisticated alternative to the usual cookies and candy that often end christmas meals.  As a plus, it is very easy to make and is best made one day ahead of time.

Ingredients:
- 1c butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 c sugar
- 3 squares unsweetened bakers chocolate, melted
- 1t vanilla (for pie filling) + 1/2t vanilla (for whipped cream topping)
- 4 eggs (pasteurized)
- Pie crust
- Heavy whipping cream
- 2T powdered sugar
- Chocolate to shave for garnish

Cream the sugar and butter until fluffy looking.  Add the chocolate and 1t vanilla and mix well to incorporate.  Then add the eggs one at a time with the mixer running at medium-high speed, allowing to run for five minutes in between adding each egg.

Meanwhile, lay your pie crust in your pie pan, trim to fit leaving about 1-inch extra, flute, prick all over with a fork and bake until golden.  This would be a good pie crust to bake blind so you don't get any air bubbles under the crust.

When the crust is cool, pour in your chocolate mixture and chill in the refrigerator.

Clean your mixer bowl and then cream the whipping cream on high speed until fluffy.  Add in 1/2t vanilla and powdered sugar and mix to incorporate.  Set aside your whipped cream topping and add to the pie before serving.  Shave chocolate over the top.

Mediterranian Calzones

These calzones are tasty and so easy.  The hardest part is making your pizza dough, but you could make some on Sunday for pizza and then use the left-over for calzones the next day.  You could mix and match the ingredients in the calzones depending on what you have handy in your kitchen.  This is also a great way to add fresh flavors to your winter dinner rotation.

Ingredients:

- Pizza dough

- Olive oil

- 1T dried oregano

- 4c fresh baby spinach

- 1 can small artichoke hearts (reserve liquid)

- 1/2c diced roasted red pepper (or about 2 peppers)

- 2T capers

- 2T tomato paste

- 1 small onion, halved and sliced

- 4c shredded mozzarella

- 1c grated parmesan 

(This recipe makes 4 large calzones, even though only two are pictured below.)

Heat your pizza stone in a 450-degree oven. 

 

In a skillet, heat about 1T olive oil over medium heat.  Add onion and saute until wilted and translucent.  Add tomato paste and stir to coat onions.  Continue to cook for another minute or so until the tomato paste smells sweet and is thickly coating onions.

 

Add artichoke hearts, roasted red pepper, and capers.  If the tomato paste is very thick, you might want to add a little bit of the liquid from the canned artichokes, just to loosen things up a bit and create more of a thick sauce consistency.  Then add the spinach and let it cook down.  You might have to add it in two batches, depending on how big your pan is.

Turn off the heat and allow mixture to cool slightly while you prepare the crusts. 

Divide your dough into balls about half of the size of your fist.  Stretch out into rectangles.  Place about one heaping cup of your vegetable mixture on the middle of one side of the dough.  Top with about 1c shredded mozzarella.  Make sure to leave about a half-inch dry dough around the edge so that when you fold the dough over it will stick together.  Fold the dough over to create a square and press the dough together around the edges. Sprinkle generously with grated parmesan. 

Move onto the pizza stone and cook for about 15 minutes, or until nice and toasty brown. 

Let cool for about 10 minutes and serve!

Hot Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

These cocoa shortbread cookies taste just like hot chocolate in a cookie form.  They are fabulously rich yet light.

Ingredients:

- 1/2c cold butter

- 1/2c powdered sugar

- 1/4c cocoa powder

- 1/4t coarse salt

- 1/2t vanilla

- 1c flour

- 1/4c heavy cream

- 2oz white chocolate

In the bowl of a food processor combine the sugar, cocoa, and salt and process to combine.  Cut the cold butter into small pieces by cutting it in half length-wise and then each half of the stick in half length-wise again so you have 4 small sticks.  Then cut the sticks into about ten pieces so you have small pats of butter.  

With the blade running, add the butter a few pieces at a time until the butter is fully mixed and the dough is crumbly.  Add the vanilla.  

Pack the dough together into a ball.  If the dough is too dry to hold together you may have to add about one tablespoon of water.  I also found that it helped to let the dough sit in the blender for a few minutes and then process it again after the butter has softened slightly.   

Roll out on a surface lightly dusted with powdered sugar.  Cut out cookies and place on a cookie sheet.

Bake at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes.  Cool.

Heat the cream in a saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a very soft simmer, the add the white chocolate and stir until melted and smooth.  When smooth, turn off the heat and let cool for about 5 minutes.  Then dip a spoon in the chocolate and let drizzle over the cookies.

Brown Sugar Shortbread with Cinnamon Sprinkle

These shortbread cookies are sweet, crumbly and almost melt in your mouth. 

 

Ingredients:

- 1c butter, rom temperature

- 1/2c sugar

- 1/2c packed light brown sugar

- 1t vanilla

- 1/8t salt

- 2c flour

- Sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar

Combine the butter, sugar, and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and cream until blended.  Add vanilla and salt and mix.  Then mix in the flour 1c at a time.  

Compact the dough into a ball - you may have to press it together to get it to all stick in one ball.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick.  Cut out and place on a cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with a mixture of equal parts cinnamon and sugar.

Bake at 325 degrees for about 7 minutes. 

Minty Meringue Kisses

These meringue kisses are sweet, minty, and melt in your mouth!  They are relatively easy to prepare, but require about four hours of oven time, so you can't be wanting to make anything else all afternoon!  

Ingredients:

- 2 egg whites, room temperature

- 1c powdered sugar

- 1/8t mint extract

- Crushed candy cane bits

In a stand mixer, whip your egg whites on medium high speed until soft peaks form.  This may take several minutes. 

Add 1/2c powdered sugar and beat on medium speed until stiff peaks form.  Mix in the mint extract.  Gently fold in the remaining 1/2c powdered sugar.

Put the meringue into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip.  If you don't have a pastry bag, you can put the meringue into a ziploc bag with one corner clipped off.  Squeeze out the meringue into kisses about 1 inch in diameter onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with crushed candy canes mixed with about equal amount of powdered sugar.

Cook at 175 degrees for 3 hours.  Then turn off your oven and leave the kisses in the oven for at least an additional hour.  (I left mine in overnight, which worked great.)

Peel off of the parchment paper and serve!

Thai Peanut Pizza

One of Cillian's favorite things is peanut sauce.  I think I could probably put peanut sauce on anything and he would love it.  In the past few months we've also been experimenting with all kinds of different pizzas, so I guess it was inevitable that we'd eventually make a peanut sauce pizza!  

First make your pizza dough.  I've used my friend Elle's recipe, which hopefully she will post on her blog soon.  (hint, hint)  After making your dough and forming your crusts, add peanut sauce, herbs, cheese, and vegetable toppings.

Peanut Sauce Ingredients:
- 1c peanut butter
- 1T soy sauce
- 1T rice wine vinegar
- 2T toasted sesame oil
- 1/4c vegetable oil
- 2T sambal badjak (spicy chili garlic paste)
- 1t chili oil
- 1t red pepper flakes

Combine all ingredients and stir until smooth.  Spread onto your pizza crust.

Pizza Toppings:
- Basil, Cilantro, Mint
- Red pepper
- Shredded carrots
- Sprouts
- Broccoli
- Shredded mozzarella

Chop a healthy handful of basil, cilantro, and mint together and spread on top of peanut sauce.  Add shredded cheese.  Top with thin sliced red pepper, well-chopped broccoli, shredded carrots, and peanuts.  Add cooked chopped chicken if you want to add meat on your pizza.

Cook on a pizza stone at 475 degrees for 15 minutes.

Candy Cane Wreaths

These candy cane wreaths are minty, buttery, and pretty.  You can make them in a candy-cane shape, or twist them into circles.  I prefer the circles because they fit better into a cookie tin or treat bag that includes other round cookies.

Ingredients:

- 1c butter, room temperature

- 1c powdered sugar

- 1 egg

- 2t vanilla

- 2 1/2c flour

- 1t salt

- Finely crushed candy canes

- Red food coloring

To make the dough, cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer using the cake paddle attachment.  When the butter and sugar is creamed - it will be lighter color and fluffy looking - add the egg and vanilla and mix.  Add the salt and the flour about 1/2c at a time.

Separate the dough into two lumps.  Dye half with the red food coloring.  Return to the refrigerator until you're ready to shape it and cook it.  

When you're ready to make you wreaths, pinch off a small piece of the white and red dough - about the size of your thumb.  Roll out the pieces into "snakes" about 5 inches long.  Place them side-by-side.

Twist the two snakes around each other.

Shape into a circle and press the seams together.

Place the cookies on a Silpat and sprinkle with the crushed candy cane bits.  

 

Cook in a 350-degree oven for about 12 minutes.

Christmas Baking

I have spent the better part of my time at home the past week baking Christmas cookies.  I spent pretty much all day Saturday and Sunday in the kitchen, and followed it up with some more baking after work on Monday and Tuesday!  Luckily, I've had my trusty companion with me the whole time!

There's something about sharing holiday treats with friends, collegues, and neighbors that I love.  It's a good excuse to drop by and see your friends or neighbors who you might not see during the winter hibernation months!  We had our first real snow here yesterday, so it's good to have an excuse to get out of our house, otherwise we might never see anyone!

I'll be posting the recipes and tips for making all of the cookies I've done so far this year, including Shortbread Cookies with Cinnamon, Cocoa Shortbread Cookies with White Chocoloate Drizzle, Mint-Chocoloate-Chocoloate Snowflakes, Minty Merengue Kisses, and Candy Cane Wreaths!  Depending how this weekend goes, there may also be a few more choices added to the mix. 

Chocolate Mint Snowflake Sandwiches

These cookies are putzy and have three distinct steps, with cooking and cooling times in between, but they are definitely crowd-pleasers!  If you have a weekend to do your christmas cookie baking, this could be a good option to add to the mix as you can complete the various steps in between baking the other cookies in your lineup.

I got the recipe from Martha Stewart's website.  She shows them in a circle shape (like an oreo), but I was tired of my circle cookie cutter by the time I got to these, so I made them snowflakes.  After painstakingly coating each "arm" of the snowflake with melted chocolate, I know why she made hers circles!  Feel free to use any shape you desire but remember: (1) you are going to have to coat all surfaces with melted chocolate, and (2) your cookies will change shape/size ever so slightly while they bake, so if you choose an intricate shape the two pieces of your sandwhich may not line up perfectly when you go to assemble them. 

Ingredients:
For the cookies:
- 1c cocoa powder
- 1/2c + 2T flour
- 1/2c (1 stick) butter, room temperature
- 1/2c granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- Confectioners' sugar (to lightly dust your work surface before rolling out the cookies)

For the Chocolate-Mint Ganache:
- 1/4c heavy cream
- 6oz semisweet chocolate chips (i.e. half of a normal sized bag)
- 1/2t mint extract (Martha calls for 3/4t - adjust to your mint preferences!)


For the Chocolate Glaze:
- 6oz semisweet chocolate chips (i.e the other half of the normal sized bag)


Directions

Combine butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in egg until well blended. Reduce speed to low. Add dry ingredients (mixed together ahead of time); mix until just combined.

Divide dough in half, and shape each half into a disk; wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour (or overnight).

When you're ready to make the cookies, remove the dough from the refridgerator and let it sit for about five minutes just to take some of the chill off.  You still want it to be cold, but not brick-hard.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Roll out the dough on a surface lightly dusted with confectioners' sugar.  I rolled mine out to about 1/4 inch, even though Martha says 1/8 inch.  I think a little substance to the cookie is good, but if go for the crispy, crackery cookie more, you might want to roll it out thinner.  Cut out your cookies and place on a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper.  Trust me, do not put them right on the cookie sheet; they will stick!

Bake until firm, about 12 minutes.  Let cool completely, then remove from the cookie sheet.

For the genache:  Bring cream to light boil in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Add chocolate and cook, stirring constatnly until smooth.  Stir in peppermint extract.  Let cool slightly to thicken so you can work with it (about 10 minutes).  Spread onto cookies and make sandwiches.

At this point you're going to want to really get these cookies cold before you try to cover them in chocolate.  I left mine in the fridge for an hour.  To make the glaze, just melt the rest of your chocolate in a metal bowl placed over a pan of simmering water.  Stir constantly - you don't want your chocolate to burn!  (Alternatively, if you have a microwave, you can certainly just melt your chocolate in there.  Just put it in for less than a minute at a time, and stir after each interval until totally melted and smooth.)

Dip one flat side of your cooled cookie into the melted chocolate, place dry side down on a cooling rack and use a knife to "frost" the sides of the cookie.  Refrigerate until set - at least an hour.

Mashed Potatoes with Creamed Spinach

When I was home from work last week nursing my wounds, I caught part of a Rachel Ray 30-Minute Meals episode and decided that I would try to make these mashed potatoes when my gums started to heal.  So I made them a few days ago.  They were wonderful!  The recipe below is about half of Rachel Ray's recipe (with a few tweaks)... I couldn't justify eating 3 pounds of potatoes alone!

Ingredients:
- 2lbs red potatoes, peeled and chopped into large chunks
- Canola oil
- 1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 3 strips of bacon, cut into small pieces
- 1c cream
- 1 box frozen spinach, defrosted and wrung of excess water
-  Salt & pepper as needed

Boil the potatoes until soft.  Meanwhile, add a little canola oil to a pot and cook bacon over medium heat until crispy.  Add the onions and allow to sweat until transclucent and sweet.  Add the spinach.

When the potatoes are done, add to the onion/spinach/bacon mixture and mash.  Add cream until you reach the desired consistency.  I made mine pretty smooth because I wasn't up for any chunky foods yet.  You could leave yours chunkier or even leave some of the skins on the potatoes. 

Season to taste and serve hot.

 

The Prettiest Sight to See, Is the Holly that Will Be on Your Own Front Door

There are so many pretty wreaths in our neighborhood now... here's a collection of just a few!

Linguine with Roasted Red Pepper Parmesan Cream Sauce

Over the weekend we had brunch with our lovely friends Elle and Bryan at Dino - a great spot a few blocks from our house.  Elle mentioned she had made a roasted red pepper cream sauce recently, which inspired this recipe.  It is definitely worth splurging on the calories every once in a while for a good cream sauce!  Unfortunately we were so excited about eating it that I forgot to take any pictures. 

Ingredients:
- 2 roasted red peppers (I used jarred, but you could make them fresh), finely diced
- 1/4c white wine
- 1/2c cream
- 1/2c good quality parmesan
- 1 sprig of tarragon, finely chopped
- Cyanne pepper to taste

In a skillet combine the red pepper and white wine and cook over medium heat until almost dry.  You don't want to burn the red peppers, but you want to really concentrate the wine flavor into the peppers.  You'll know when it's done when there is just a little bit of liquid around the bits of red pepper.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the cream, stirring.  You're going to bring this up to a very light boil and reduce just until it is a thin sauce consistency.  Basically, once it coats the back of a spoon, you're ready to add the parmesan, as the cheese will thicken it.  

Add the parmesan, tarragon, and pepper to taste.  Keep hot until you're ready to toss with your pasta.

Serve hot!

Irish Garden Quilt Squares

Here is what I have been up to this weekend!  I finished all of the squares for the Irish Garden quilt and have laid them out on my "idea board" (aka the guest room bed). 

I have decided that I am going to "quilt as you go" for this quilt.  The first section is going to be the entire middle section of the quilt - what is shown in the photo above.  Then I am going to attach the borders, which will hang down the sides of the bed and quilt that.  I have never done a quilt like this, but I think it will be worth it for easier quilting.  Does anyone have good tips and tricks for how to do this kind of quilting as you go?

Hopefully I'll have more to share soon, but I need to take a short break to work on my Christmas stocking stuffers!

Winter Vegetable Pureed Soup

First of all, I appologize for falling off the radar this week.  But I promise I have a good excuse - I had two teeth extracted on Wednesday and so have been relegated to eating only very soft or liquid foods for the past three days.  I did, however, make a very comforting smooth soup on Wednesday that might be just the thing to cure those wintertime cooking blues.  It would also be great if you are feeling under the weather.  It is so simple but has a great flavor.

Ingredients:
- 1T butter
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1 large sweet potato (or yam)
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
- 1 medium parsnip, peeled and chopped
- 1 quart chicken stock

Melt the butter in a soup pot and when melted, add the chopped onion.  Allow to cook slowly over medium low heat for a few minutes, until sweet and fragrant. 

I cooked my sweet potato in the oven at 400 degrees (skin on) until soft.  I think this makes for a slightly smoother/creamier consistency than just cooking the sweet potato in the broth.  After the sweet potato is cooked, just slit the skin lenthwise and peel - it should basically just fall right off. 

Add the sweet potato to the onion mixture and mash up.  Add the broth, carrot and parsnip and cook until everything is soft.  Puree either with an immersion blender or in a conventional blender.  Reheat and serve.

I typically like to make my soups very thick and chunky, but this one was an exception.  You can adjust the amount of chicken stock if you want it thicker.  As outlined here, it is thin enough to drink through a straw!

Martha Stewart's Devils Food Cupcakes

I made Martha Stewart's devils food cupcakes for a baby shower at work on Friday.  The shower recipient is a chocolate lover, so I knew I had to find a rich chocolate option.  My original choice was lava cakes, but abandoned them because of the uncertainty of making them in the morning and then transporting them to the office and having to let them sit until lunchtime.  The devils food cake cupcakes did not disappoint!

Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup hot water
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
- 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
- 2 1/4 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream, room temperature

Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat, and pour into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat until mixture is cooled, 4 to 5 minutes. 

Meanwhile, whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth. In another bowl, combine baking soda, baking powder, and salt. 

Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture, and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add half of the flour mixture, then the sour cream, and then the other half of the flour mixture.

Fill your cupcake tins about 80% full. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Frost with chocolate frosting.

Pretty Pink and Purple Pinwheels

These fabrics will probably look familiar... they are scraps from the Irish Garden quilt that I am making for our niece. The back is a pink flannel, so it will be snuggly for the little one when she arrives. 

A finished quilt nicely folded is very pretty and really doesn't need lots of additional wrapping.  I think it's nice to just use the left-over binding strips to tie around it and then use a fabric marker to write the "card." 

The quilt is for a co-worker's daughter who is scheduled to arrive in January.  We threw a surprise baby shower on Friday, which was a lot of fun.  Check out the diaper cake on the left - very impressive!

Chicken and Broccoli Gratin (or a use for leftover turkey!)

This recipe is adapted from one found in the Avoca Cafe Cookbook.  You could alter it slightly (see discussion at end), to use up any left-overs still hanging around from Thanksgiving.

Ingredients:
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 onion (red, white, or yellow)
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- Handful of parsley sprigs
- 2 bay leaves
- 5 peppercorns
- Large head of broccoli, cut into florets
- 3/4c cream
- 1c shredded strong cheese
- 2T butter
- 2T flour
- Cyanne pepper and salt (as needed)
- 2c bread cubes, or 1 box of stuffing mix

Combine the uncooked chicken breasts, onion, celery, carrots, parsley, bay leaves, and peppercorns in a soup pot.  Add just enough cold water to cover the ingredients.  Bring to a boil and simmer until chicken is cooked, about 20 minutes.  You are basically going to cook your chicken and make a quick chicken broth here.

Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside.  Remove the vegetables and herbs and reduce until you have about 1 pint of broth. 

Meanwhile, cut up your broccoli and cooked chicken into bit-sized chunks and toss together in an oven-safe dish (no lid required).

Now, in a separate sauce pan, make a roux:  Add the butter and heat until melted, then add the flour and stir together until you get a very thick paste consistency.  Let it cook together very briefly (about 30 seconds).  Add the cream and whisk until smooth.  Bring to a very light simmer and let it reduce for about 2 minutes.  Add the cheese and whisk to smooth.  Pour the cream mixture into the pot with the broth and wisk together.  You may need to simmer this to reduce and thicken the consistency of the sauce.  Add a pinch of cyanne pepper and salt if needed. 


Pour over the chicken and broccoli.  

Cover with stuffing mix, pressing it down lightly into the liquid so that it will absorb while it cooks.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, until bubbly.  Serve hot.

To alter this recipe to use up your Thanksgiving left-overs, replace the chicken with cooked turkey.  Replace the vegetables, herb, and water process with pre-made stock.  You will likely need to reduce it somewhat, but it should definitely be hot before you whisk in your cream mixture.  You could even add some left-over gravy to the sauce and reduce the amount of cheese.  Replace the box of stuffing mix with the real thing.  Now you have a great Turkey left-over meal!

Wreath

This wreath took about 10 minutes to make.  I bought a balsam wreath from a co-worker's daughter who was selling them to raise money for the crew team.  Then I clipped bits of holly from the bush in our front yard and wove them into the wreath so they weren't just sitting on top.  Then I secured them with regular garden twine, letting the tails of the twine hang long.  Then I tied to our door-knocker with twine. 

If you don't have a holly bush nearby, you can substitute in all kinds of different foliage, including any flowers that may have dried on the stalk like lavender.

Squash Lasagne

Lasagne is a wonder food.  You can sneak all kinds of health things into it and it only gets better!  Also, by replacing the ricotta cheese with low-fat cottage cheese and substituting in skim motzarella, you can make it truly healthy.  Here is a late-fall version that includes my favorite seasonal vegetable - squash!

Ingredients

- 1 package lasagne noodles

- Large tub of low-fat cottage cheese

- 4c shredded part-skim motzarella cheese

- 2 jars pasta sauce

- 1 medium sized acorn squash. sliced in thin slices and peeled.

- 1/4c shredded parmesan

Start by spreading a thin layer of pasta sauce in the bottom of your pan.  Then layer the uncooked noodles, cottage cheese, motzarella and squash. There is no need to buy fancy tomato sauce for lasagne.  Particularly when you're adding squash or other vegetables, you don't need the extra flavor in the sauce.  I buy whatever is on sale and then store it until I'm making lasagne.  We buy the nicer stuff when it is plain spaghetti or something where the sauce really features.

Add two more layers of sauce, pasta, cheese, and squash (or however many fit in your pan).  I like the very top to be sauce, cheese, and then the 1/4c parmesan cheese. 

Cook at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until everything is hot and bubbly.  Cut and serve!

If you want to add more protein to this dish, you can brown ground turkey breast and then add the pasta sauce to the turkey meat.  Follow the rest of the same directions as shown here.  You can also add or substitute in additional vegetables.  Some of our favorites are spinach (add lots, it wilts down to almost nothing), tomatos, eggplant and red peppers.  This is a great way to get picky eaters to get a full serving of vegetables.



Mulled Wine and Stove-Top Popcorn

There's something about mulled wine and popcorn that just seem to add Christmas spirit to otherwise somewhat mundane activities.  This week we set up our Christmas tree and decorated it with the few ornaments we've accumulated over the past three years.  The mulled wine and popcorn were easy additions.

 

I purchased a tin of mulling spices a couple of years ago at Williams-Sonoma.  A little goes a long way, so this 6oz tin has lasted me several seasons.  If you don't want to purchase special mulling spices, you probably have all of the key ingredients in your kitchen:  cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and orange rind.  Put the spices either in a tea steeper or a bit of cheesecloth sachet tied with kitchen twine or string. 

Heat the wine over medium heat in a small saucepan and add the sachet of mulling spices (one sachet about the size of a single teabag is sufficient for half a bottle of wine).  Add about 1T sugar.  Heat and serve.

Meanwhile, heat butter in a soup pan with a lid.  Add the popcorn and swirl around in the butter to coat each kernel.  Heat to medium-high heat and cover.  When the corn starts popping, pick up the pot and shake it every 30 seconds or so to make sure the unpopped kernels are on the bottom and the popped corn is on top (so it doesn't burn).  When all of the corn is popped, sprinkle with salt.

Happy holidays!

Waffles with Peaches and Pecans

This breakfast combines sweetness with whole grains and healthy fats and proteins for a meal that will keep you going all morning without loading on the fat and calories.

Ingredients:

- 2 whole-wheat waffles

- 1c frozen peaches

- 1/4c pear nectar (or other juice or nectar)

- 1/2c pecans

- 1t sugar

Combine peaches and nectar in saucepan.  Heat until peaches are hot and nectar has reduced to a syrupy consistency.

Heat another pan over medium heat.  When hot, add pecans and let toast for about a minute.  Sprinkle with sugar and continue to cook until pecans are covered with caramelized sugar.  Remove from pan and roughly chop.

Meanwhile, toast waffles.  When toasted, top with peaches and nuts.

Slow-Cooked Short Ribs

Short ribs are great comfort food and very easy to make, so long as you have plenty of time to let them cook.  In researching information on short ribs I came across recipes that called for cooking the short ribs for up to 11 hours.  Joy of Cooking on the other hand recommends about 2 hours.  I cooked mine for about 2.5 hours and they were falling-off-the-bone tender.

Ingredients:
- 8 short ribs
- 1/4c tomato paste (half of a small 6oz can)
- 1 large yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 1T worcestershire
- 2 bottles stout beer
- 1T butter
- 1T vegetable oil
- Salt and Pepper
- 1/4c dried oregano, divided
- Smoky Paprika
- 8 dates, pitted and diced

Combine about 3T oregano, 2t smoky paprika, 2t salt and 2t pepper and rub all over ribs.

Heat butter and olive oil in a dutch oven.  When hot, add ribs and sear each side.  When each side of the ribs is brown, remove.  Add onions and saute in the fat from the ribs until brown and soft.

When the onions are cooked, add the tomato paste and remaining 1T oregano and stir to coat the onions.  Let cook for about two minutes.  Add worcestershire sauce, stir.  Then deglaze the pan with beer.

Return the ribs to the pan, reduce the heat to very low.  Place ribs meaty side down to make sure the meat stays submerged during the cooking.  Add the dates.  Now you can leave the ribs to cook for about two hours, or until they are the desired tenderness.  George and I took advantage of this opportunity and the clear weather to wakl up to the National Cathedral.

When ribs are tender, remove from the sauce.  Skim fat off top of sauce.  At this point you can reserve the ribs and reheat later.

 

Serve with sauce and a starch of your choice.  We served with pearled barley, which was sturdy enough to stand up to the ribs and also was nicely flavored by the rib sauce.  Potatoes or other whole grain would be good too.

Bon appetite! 

Impromptu Dinner Party

On Monday afternoon my husband called me at work to say that we were having company for dinner!  His childhood friend and college roommate was in town and since Monday was the only night I was going to be home all week, it was settled that Monday would be the day for our dinner party.  An easy menu was definitely in order, with items that can be made quickly with minimal preparation time.  Here is what I came up with:

- Warm Spiced Olives with Orange
- New York Strip Steaks with Cranberry Madiera Pan Sauce
- Roasted Potatos
- Mashed Carrots with Turnips
- Apple Crisp with Vanilla Icecream

First, take your steaks out of the fridge and allow them to come to room temperature.  This will help ensure the steaks are perfectly cooked.

I got things going by cleaning and cutting new red potatos into quarters.  Toss these with a couple of pads of butter, some oil, and a healthy dose of salt and pepper in a pyrex pan and thrown in a 400-degree oven. 

Put your carrots and turnips (peeled and cut into 2" chunks) into cold water on the stove.  Heat to boiling and cook until carrots and turnips are soft.   (You can also use parsnips, which we prefer, but were unavailable at my local grocery store.)  When they are soft, mash with a potato masher or fork, melt in some butter, and season with salt and pepper.  You can keep them warm on the stove or in a ceramic serving dish.

Meanwhile, peel 8 granny smith apples and dice.  Toss in an oven-safe ceramic pan with about 1T sugar, 2t cinnamon, and 1T vanilla.  For the topping, mix together 1/2c brown sugar, 1/4c white sugar, 1/2c flour, and 1/4c oats.  Cut in 1 stick of butter until it forms a crumbly mixture.  Place on top of apples.

To prep the olives, just toss them with red pepper flakes, orange zest, and a little balsamic vinegar (mine were already oily, so no oil added).  I bought a mixture of olives from the olive bar at my local grocery store, so there were some stuffed with feta and other wonderful varieties.  Wrap the olive mixture in a foil packet and place on an oven sheet.  About 10 minutes before your guests arrive, throw it in the oven (which is probably going at 400 degrees for your potatos) for about 10 minutes.  Serve warm.

To make the steaks, heat oil in a large saute pan and seasoned the steaks well on both sides.  Sear the steaks over high heat for about 2-3 minute on each side, or until a good crust develops.  One trick to know whether you've acheived a proper sear on meat is to test whether it will easily lift away from the pan.  If the meat is sticking, it is not ready to be turned.  Once the seared "crust" develops, it will easily lift off the pan.  (Note that this is contingent on having enough oil in the pan.)

Once the steaks are seared, put them (still in your saute pan) in the oven (at 400 degrees) for about 10 minutes, or until cooked to your desired doneness.  When they are done, put on a platter and tent with foil to rest.  In the pan, make your sauce by deglazing with about 1/2c madiera wine.  Reduce.  Add about 1/2c beef stock.  Reduce.  Add cranberry sauce (I made my own, but I'm sure canned would be fine for this).  I spiced the sauce up with grated red chili pepper too. 

Serve the steaks and sauce, potatoes, and carrots with turnips.  Reduce the heat of your oven to 350 degrees and put in your apple crisp.  Cook for about 45 minutes, which should be perfect timing for dessert.  Serve with icecream.

(Optional homemade cranberry sauce:  Combine 1 pint raw cranberries with 1/2c water and 1/2c madiera wine, or other red wine).  Cook over medium heat at a simmer until cranberries pop and a sauce forms, about 20 minutes.  Add juice from 1 orange and about 1/2c sugar to taste.)

Irish Garden - Assembling the Blocks

The Irish Garden quilt is moving right along - the pink strips of triangles have been attached. 

Each block will end up being about 11 1/2" square.  There are 36 blocks, which will be arranged in a 6x6 square.  Since this is going on a Queen size bed, that will leave me with some room to play with the borders.  Any suggestions for interesting borders?

Irish Garden - 976 Triangles

I have decided to rename this quilt Irish Garden because I have altered the pattern and thought I could take some artistic license with the name.  Thanks to my friend Elle, much progress was made this weekend.  We finished making the strips of triangles that will frame each square.  The pinks are all batiks and the purples are all prints.  I think it makes for a striking effect, and hopefully will be great on the finished quilt.

 

I had to alter the instructions to get these triangle strips to fit the squares.  My triangles are quarter-square-triangles cut from 4 1/4 inch squares (made by cutting squares and then cutting across each diagonal to make four triangles).  Luckily, I tested out one of the strips before piecing all 144 together, and found that it was too long.  I adjusted by increasing the seam allowance to 3/8", which turned out perfectly sized strips. 

Henry in the Snow

Henry's adventures in Minnesota continue.  They got 8 inches of snow on Saturday, and so Henry had some wintertime fun! 

 

And of course the best part of playing out in the snow is coming into the warm kitchen and getting cozy!