A new recipe

So, it's World Cup time again, and last night I created an amazing recipe inspired by Chicken Cordon Bleu and Scott's favorite dish at a local French restaurant called Chicken DeBergerac.  I couldn't find a recipe for that, so I just used what he could tell me and what I knew about make Cordon Bleu, and I morphed them.  The results were great.  I'm writing it here to record it before I forget!

Box of puff pastry (2 sheets cut in half)
4 Thin, small chicken breasts
2 slices swiss cheese
4 slices smoked ham
broccoli/mushroom pate (recipe below)

Thaw pastry and cut sheets in half to now how four pieces

Preheat oven to 375 and prep large cookie sheet with parchment paper

On each pastry: spread 1/2 c of pate in center, then add 1/2 slice of cheese, and 1 slice of ham, and then one breast (I cut my big ones in half, and then went back and added a little, so each was a bit more than a half of a flattened breast)

Fold up pastry, and pinch closed.  Brush tops with egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 T of water)

Bake about 40 min--until juices run clear

Serve with Mornay sauce (basically a cheesy Beschamel)
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/classic-mornay-sauce-recipe.html#!




Broccoli-Mushroom cream cheese pate  (make ahead and refrigerate)

1 can (lg) mushrooms or fresh, cooked
1 bag chopped broccoli--steamed
1 block cream cheese, softened
dijon (1 T or more)
olive oil (2 T)
sherry 1 T (could sub white wine)

blend all ingredients (and adjust as you need) together and add salt and pepper to taste


I served this with Ina Garten's\Warm green lentils

What's for dinner-meal plan and Potato soup recipe

This week was a bit funky after the Baptism, so it was sort of work with what was leftover

Mon: leftover pizza

Tues: homemade pork tacos (own taco seasoning)

Wed: Chicken pot pie soup

Thurs: Chicken, broccoli, and rice

Fri: ???

Sat: baked potato soup

Sun: dinner with our small group

Here's my potato soup recipe--you know me--terrible with amounts.  I just go by looks and taste.

4-5 red or Yukon golden potatoes;

1 lb bacon;

carrots, diced

celery, diced

onion, diced 

salt and pepper;

3-4 c chicken broth; 

butter; 

flour; 

heavy cream, half and half, or whole milk; 

sage (and any other herbs you desire);

salt and pepper to taste, cheddar cheese.  

Garnish: scallions, cheddar cheese, bacon

Drizzle 4-5 potatoes with olive oil and salt and pepper- wrap each in foil.  Bake in oven until just tender- about 1 hour.  Brown bacon.  Drain off fat, reserving 2-3 T of grease.  Meanwhile, chop carrots, celery, and onions.  Brown veggies in reserved grease until just tender and seasoned.  Add chicken broth (2-3 c depending on your desired consistency).  Add desired seasonings and potatoes.  Bring to a simmer, cooking potatoes and veggies until tender and broth is almost absorbed.  Can refrigerate at this step until ready to serve.  

Mash the potatoes and veggies roughly with a potato masher.  Create a well in the center of your potatoes or in a separate pan-melt 2 T butter.  Add 2 T cream and 2 T flour.  This will create a roux.  Add this to your potato mixture.  Add more chicken broth and cream until desired consistency.  Sprinkle a small amount of cheddar cheese in soup. Bring to a simmer and then serve immediately.  Garnish with crumbled bacon, scallions, and cheese.  

OOPS! Revised: Pineapple-Mandarin Orange Muffin Recipe

I realized I had some errors in my recipe as I was thinking about them this morning, so I needed to fix the quantity of the juice (b/c I'd forgotten that I had indeed measured it) and forgot to make an edit from the original recipe about the butter in the topping.  Sorry!

C has been asking me all week for muffins, so tonight I aquiesced.  I didn't have any fruit suitable for muffins really--except bananas, and we had just had banana bread, so I was looking for something different.  I had a can of pineapple and a can of mandarin oranges, so I thought I would experiment.  I found a recipe for pineapple muffins, so I adapted it to suit my wishes.  They turned out yummy and moist.  They would have been very easy if I'd had crushed pineapple, but since I didn't, I had to process half of the fruit so there wouldn't be huge chunks in the batter.

2 cups all-purpose flour


1/2 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 t nutmeg
1 (20 oz ounce) can pineapple (in own juices)- half of it and 1/4 cup of the juices processed w/oranges
1 can of mandarin oranges (in light syrup) half of it and 1/4 c of the juices processed w/pineapple
1 egg, beaten

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup butter, melted


Topping:
1/4 cup butter

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

1.Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour muffin pans, or line with paper liners.

2.In a large bowl, stir together 2 cups flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt. Separate and process fruit as necessary. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the crushed fruit and juice combo, egg, milk, and 1/4 cup melted butter. Mix just until blended.

3.In a separate bowl, stir together the cinnamon, brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/4 cup butter to make the topping.

4.Spoon batter into muffin cups, then spoon pineapple and oranges over the batter and sprinkle with the cinnamon topping.

5.Bake for about 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the crown of the muffin comes out clean. Cool in pans and then remove.  Store in airtight container. 

We loved these.  I took all the extra fruit I had leftover (b/c I had the large cans) and all the extra cinnamon topping and put the topping first in the bottom of mini pans and then sprinkled with fruit. These were like mini strusels--they were good, too.  I  cooked them about 20 minutes along with the full size muffins.

Dumpling photos of me and my grandma

I'm finally getting around to these.  Slacker, I know.

Here I am watching grandma do her stuff

 My turn to work in the flour to the dough

So I made this black and white b/c Giada has a pic like this on her first cookbook and it kind of made me giggle.  Her apron was a bit more stylish than mine, but this kept me cleaner than a waist apron would.

Putting the chicken into the dumplings.

My grandparents, Troy and Hazel.  Aren't they cute holding hands? 

Menu planning and a recipe

I haven't done this in a while as we've been in a bit of a rut it seems.

Here's what's on the dock and what we've already had since it is Wednesday.  I shop for 2 weeks out--so it's for the next 2 weeks almost. When I do my fill in shop next week I will decide on the weekends meals for that week.

Sun: got in late so we picked up a $5 pizza from Little Caesar's

Mon: leftover chili from our freezer

Tues: tomato soup and sandwiches (grilled cheese for C and grilled roast beef w/horesradish coleslaw for me and Scott)

Wed: chicken with polenta (excited to try this recipe tonight)

Thurs: leftovers (we are seriously buckling down on this)

Fri: Pasta Carbonara

Sat: Pork Nachos (from leftover pork bbq in our freezer)

Sun: leftovers of the pasta

Mon: baked chicken thighs, broccoli crunch, and sweet potatoes

Tues: Pork tacos (still using up the bbq in all of the containers--I made a whole pork loin when I made it originally)

Wed: surprise (I always seem to plan for too many, so I'm including a wild card spot for extra leftover clean up)

Thurs: Ground turkey rigatoni with salad

Fri: Chicken Noodle soup (leftover from our freezer--can you see a theme?)

Remember that tomato soup on my menu for last night?  I made semi-homemade cream of tomato soup and it was delicioso.  Even C thought so. Here's what I did.  Sorry I don't have specific liquid or spice measurements--just go with your tastes.  Don't make it taste too much like chili or marinara sauce!

1-2 T olive oil
1 carrot, finely diced
1 celery, finely diced
1/2 onion, finely diced
2 large cans fire roasted tomatoes (you could buy diced tomatoes and roast yourself w/olive oil in the broiler though)
1 bay leaf
1 t italian seasoning--more if necessary
1 T hot sauce--more if necessary
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 t chipotle pepper (ground)
1/ 2 t chili powder
1 t garlic powder
1 t thyme
1/2 t crushed red pepper
salt and pepper
chicken broth (I would guess about 8-12 oz total
fat free half and half (I would guess 1/2-1 c) (use whatever milk or cream you like though)

Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven or soup pot.  Saute the carrot, celery, and onions with some salt and pepper in the oil until soft.  Add the tomatoes.  Let it come to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes--stirring frequently to keep from sticking to the bottom.  Add your bay leaf and some salt and pepper.  Add chicken broth as it thickens until you get a soupier texture--but not too much liquid.  Add all seasonings. Keep simmering as long as you like, but at least 20 minutes or so.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool for about 15 minutes or so. Here I used an immersion blender to puree my ingredients--you need to let it cool a bit though--I live on the wild side and only let it cool 5 minutes--I burned myself of course.  You can do all of this ahead if you need to and refrigerate at this point or keep going to get ready to serve.

Bring soup back to heat, add more the cream and more chicken broth is necessary and adjust your seasonings to taste.


I served with roast beef and havarti on Hawaiian sandwich rolls.  I heated the insides of the bread in my electric skillet w/ a little light butter.  Then I put the roast beef, havarti, and spicy mustard on.  I closed it all up and browned the outsides.  As soon as I pulled them off the heat I added the spicy horseradish coleslaw. 

For the coleslaw I just used horseradish, mayonaiise, spicy mustard, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to get a taste I liked. 

A Family Tradition

We finally celebrated our last Christmas get together last weekend.  It was a quick visit, but very special.  C got to see his cousins for a second time in 4 months (pretty much unheard of).  He got to see his great grandparents, too.  He already figured out how wonderful his great grandma Hazel is.  He just loved her.  He wanted to know where she was all the time--even though he didn't really talk to her.  Every once in a while he would walk up to her and hug her knees.  So sweet.  I absolutely adore my grandma and think she's an amazing person. 
She's over 80 years old and still orchestrates 3 meals a day for herself and my grandpa.  When family comes she just prepares more.  She cooked a big breakfast for 11 people Sat. morning.  She cooked chicken and dumplings for 19 people Saturday night.  My grandma is an expert dumpling maker.  I know there's a lot of variation in taste as far as dumplings go, but I'm of course partial to my grandma's.  Dumplings are the ultimate comfort food.  I can't remember a time as a child going to grandma's house when she didn't make dumplings while we were there.  This time I made it a point to see how she makes them.  I actually got to help roll them out and put them in the broth.  I won't share her trade secrets b/c it's just too special--besides I couldn't.  She doesn't measure anything--it's all by feel.  But she makes the most tender, thin dumplings you could imagine in a sinfully thick broth.  Not figure friendly, but so yummy!  I tried to document the process so I could remember how to emulate, but honestly it will be hard for anyone to copy.

The dough (forgot to take a pic prior to adding the flour to the egg/broth combo)

the oh so rich broth



the glob of sticky dough that will be worked into magic dumplings

working in a lot of flour

rolling them out--this is the hard part--it took me three times to get it where she didn't have to fix it.

her super thin dumplings

cutting the strips

pinching in pieces and putting them in the broth

the dumplings boiling away in their bath

My dad got some funny photos of me making trying to roll out the dumplings.  I'll have to get them from him.  I was exhausted after rolling out the 3 I did--grandma did 3 or 4 before that. 

In case you're wondering--the chicken is added back in at the end.  Nothing fancy like vegetables or boiled eggs in this version. 

Ravioli w/Butternut Squash Sauce

I had a butternut squash I'd bought as a backup if I couldn't find a melon for my turkey gobbler last week, so I had it lying around.  I've only tried to use butternut squash once w/zero success.  I made a soup recipe and we hated it.  We forced ourselves to eat a bowl and then threw it out.  I decided I wanted to work it into pasta, so I started looking at some recipes.  I ended up taking an Emeril recipe and a Martha Stewart recipe and combining them. 

Here's what I came up with.

1 butternut squash (mine was about 1lb)-peeled and chopped in 1" cubes
1 apple (used gala)--peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic-skinned but whole
1 shallot-chopped
olive oil
4T heavy whipping cream or 1/2 and 1/2
chicken stock (about 1-2 c)
nutmeg
salt and pepper
sage (I used dry, but fresh would be great)
4-8 T unsalted butter

1 package frozen cheese ravioli

I roasted my squash, garlic, apple, and shallot in olive oil and s&p at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

I put all the veggies/fruit in my large food processor and began blitzing.  I added stock and cream.  Then I added sage and nutmeg until I got a "saucy" consistency w/a taste I liked and set aside.

I began my ravioli.

I put my "puree" in a saucepan and started to heat it to dry it a bit.  I added my butter (which you could really cut out if you were looking to cut calories, but it makes it so rich and creamy)

I added in a small handful of good parmesan cheese to my sauce. 

Then I drained my ravioli and combined. 

I served it w/extra cheese and a refrigerated can of french bread (which was so good). 
Very nice fall meal.  C approved as well.

What's For Dinner this week

We didn't do a very good job sticking to our menu last week.  Scott was gone Tues and Wed, so we ate leftovers, and we ended up cancelling our dinner Mon night.  We found a place we liked that does Italian food and subs (like Psghetti's/Pomodoro's for you south St. Louis folks).  We ate this for 3 nights.  We got the family meal: a cold sandwich, 1/2 gallon spaghetti, garlic bread, and an extra loaf of their sweet bread (which we made sandwiches w/one night).  Needless to say, I didn't cook much. 

We're here for the next week and then the holiday travels begin off and on for all three of us

Sun: Turkey chili

Mon: Ravioli w/Roasted Squash puree sauce (delicious--recipe to follow)

Tues: leftovers (Scott gone for dinner)

Wed: leftovers (Scott gone for dinner)

Thurs: pizza (I'm having girls over to make jewelry)

Fri: baked potato soup

Sat: (going out for Mexica maybe) or chicken of some sort

Sun: Italian sausage sandwiches and green beans

Mon: chili for Bunco (considering white chicken chili)

What's For Dinner this week

We did well sticking to our menu last week.  C and Scott and I have all been a bit under the weather, so we didn't eat as many leftovers as I'd hoped and caved and got Chinese food Friday night (along w/have of Normal, IL--the place was so crowded for takeout).

Mon: baked rigatoni at pastor's house.  I made a vanilla tart w/spiced apples to take.

Tues: leftover soup

Wed: Spinach and red pepper frittata

Thurs: Chicken Pasta (maybe buffalo w/peppers--not sure yet)

Fri: Quiche

Sat: Black bean and pinto Bean burgers with some vegetable--not sure yet

Sun: leftovers or potato soup

What's for dinner

I'm always curious about what other people are eating, and looking for new ideas, so link up if you want, and tell me what's for dinner this week.  I'll try to do this on Sundays in the future since that makes more sense.

Sun: smoked sausage and cabbage (quickie for Halloween)--but I wish I'd made white chicken chili (but didn't think about it until last minute and didn't have the ingredients) 

Mon: Pecan crusted, baked chicken tenderloins w/BBQ sauce Bourbon (didn't do the BBQ sauce but it sounded good since you marinated the chicken in bourbon and hot sauce at first); cooked carrots w/pumpkin pie spice and brown sugar; angel hair noodles w/seasoned salt, butter, and parmesan.

Tues: Spicy Chili-Cheese, Hashbrown Cheesy Bake

Wed: Split Pea soup garnished w/bacon, fresh lime, and tomatoes

Thurs: leftovers

Fri: probably leftovers again (you should see the size of this Chili cheese stuff). maybe I'll make baked apples to liven things up since it's leftovers again.  Any bake left after this will be headed to the freezer

Sat: Italian sausage, steak, kidney bean, potato and pepper stew/casserole (this is an oldie but goodie my mom made growing up and I love it--it's like a gravy constistency instead of stewish), homemade beer bread w/jalapenos, and pumpkin spice bread

Sun: Mahi Mahi Burgers, cajun sweet potato fries

I have next weeks planned, but I'll keep you in some suspense.

Link up if you like and tell me what's for dinner in your home.

Early turkey time

Tonight I tried some new Rachel Ray recipes.  Three thumbs up from each taster. 

We had the turkey mini-meat loaves w/bacon and onion and bbq gravy and suiza style mac n cheese (fancy name for tex mex I guess).  I cooked good old broccoli to go with it.  The mac and cheese was a bit spicy, but no one minded (C ate 2 helpings).  Our child won't touch instant mac n cheese, but he loves all kinds homemade.  Let me also preface that Scott and I don't love traditional meatloaf.  I like a turkey veggie meatloaf I make and this one.  I will eat regular meatloaf, but I don't crave the normal stuff like I do the veggie one and now we can add this one to our list.  I liked making the mini-loaves b/c they cooked in about 25 minutes.  They were easy to form and you just put them on a cookie sheet.  It is definitely a drier type meatloaf.   

We had some crafty/art time after dinner.  C and I made a Halloween pic w/stickers and a marker--very cute with lots of giggling while he pretended he was going to mark over his stickers.  He's very silly.  Then we made a paper chain w/about 12 links b/c that's all our attention span allows--he mostly liked using the tape (for all of 4 rings).  We also tried cutting w/zero success.  He wants to hold the scissors horizontally w/2 hands.  I don't even begin to know how to teach this little boy who doesn't listen when things don't meet his expectations. 

Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes w/ optional Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes 18-24 cupcakes (recipe adapted from Life's Ambrosia)




You will need:



--1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

--1/4 cup cocoa powder (dark chocolate would be good if you can find it)

--1 teaspoon baking soda

--1/4 teaspoon salt

--2 teaspoons baking powder

--1/2 tsp. cinnamon

--3 large eggs

--1 teaspoon vanilla extract

--1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

--1 cup vegetable or canola oil (might experiment w/applesauce or partial substitution w/applesauce)

--1 * can pureed pumpkin *(minus 5 TBS reserved for frosting)

--mini chocolate chips and holiday sprinkles for decorating

--pumpkin cream cheese frosting or any frosting of your choice (optional--these are good w/o frosting)

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners and set aside.

2.Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt,baking powder and cinnamon.

3.In another bowl whisk together eggs, vanilla, sugar and oil.

4.Slowly whisk dry ingredients into into sugar mixture. Fold in pureed pumpkin.

5.Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full with batter. Sprinkle w/mini chocolate chips if desired.

6. Bake for 10-16 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool in cupcake tin for 5 minutes.  Remove from cupcake tin and place on cooling rack to cool completely.

7.  Frost and/or sprinkle with sugar crystals.


Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting (adapted from Joelen's Culinary Adventure's)

1/4 cup unsalted butter


4 oz. cream cheese, softened

5 T pureed pumpkin

1/2 t pumpkin pie spice

3-5 cups confectioners or powdered sugar

1-2 tablespoons half & half (if necessary to thin)





In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter and cream cheese together until fluffy; add the pumpkin pie filling and beat until fully incorporated.

Slowly add confectioners or powdered sugar into the bowl, 1/2 cup at a time and beating after each addition. Continue adding the sugar until you have a thick frosting of your preferred consistency. If the frosting becomes too thick, add a tablespoon or more of half & half to thin out.  I only added 2.5-3 c of sugar and I liked the consistency--I didn't need any liquid to thin, but if you like really thick frosting you'll need to add more sugar.

Fall, are you here to stay?

Today is supposed to be much cooler, which I'm glad about b/c I'm sick of 85 and humid.  Last night it felt a little bit cooler (like 72), so I decided to make some soup.  We are trying to be a bit better about budgeting, so I'm trying to only go the the store every 2 weeks except for perishables like milk and eggs we go through quickly.  Space is an issue at our house so I can't keep too much extra on hand.  We are to the end of our 2 week grocery time, so it's slim pickings in the house.  Last night I decided to take all the leftover veggies in our crisper and chop em up to start a soup (which I made up as I went along based on what I had).  I had some onion, 1 zucchini, 1/2 an orange pepper, carrots, and garlic (of course).  I started the diced onion in a little o.o.  I let is sweat and then added the rest of the veggies.  I also through in 6 slices of low sodium bacon, chopped b/c I was trying not to add any more oil, but increase the flavor.  Then I added in the garlic.  After it was all cooked a bit, I added a shot of sherry and cajun creole seasoning (no salt in this). Once it cooked out I added some tomato sauce (I had a big can--and eventually I added it all, but not at first).  Then I turned it off b/c I had to thaw out my It. sausage (I hadn't planned on soup, but I felt like it midafternoon so I didn't have it prethawed).  Then I took it out of the casings and browned it.  Once browned I added it to my soup base.  From this point I turned it on a low simmer and added some chicken broth and the rest of the tomato and some water to make it the consistency I wanted.  I let it cook for a while and then added a can of rinsed white kidney beans and red kidney beans. 

Then I made homemade cheese beer bread.  It is so easy. It's just flour, a little sugar, baking soday, baking powder, salt, oregano, basil, beer, and cheese.  It goes great with hearty soups. We all ended up loving the soup, which was good b/c I had no idea how it was going to turn out.

A quick recipe

I haven't posted much about this stuff lately--seems we are in a rut. 

I threw together a chicken casserole last week that's worthy of a post--it turned out to be yummy comfort food.

I poached my chicken (fancy way of saying I simmered it in water--not boiling)
I cut up all the veggies in my fridge: onions, yellow peppers, and yellow squash.    I cooked in a pan w/a little olive oil, salt, pepper, sweet paprika, garlic (small amount), and tarragon. After it was all fairly soft I threw in some frozen corn.
I made a roux w/ a little butter and flour (very small amount 1.5 tb each).  I added chicken broth, sour cream, and cream cheese to add a bit of flavor.  I seasoned w/s & p and nutmeg and tarragon.  I just kept adding stuff until I had enough and a good consistency.
I had leftover french bread that was hard as a rock (I soaked it in the water I cooked the chicken in).  Then I crumbled it into big pieces. 
I mixed everything together and put in a 9 x 13.  I crumbled some potato chips over the top (not a lot--just a few for crunch).  Then I cut up 1 Tbs of butter in tiny pieces and spread it over the top.  Baked for 25 min.

It was really yummy. Colin even ate it 2 different times.

Busy working

I'm like a chicken with my head cut off.  We left at 9pm last Thursday night to head to STL.  I came straight from my book club, and Scott had everything loaded up, and we took off.  Thursday was crazy.  We had a mom's picnic in the morning and then I had the book club that evening.  I made a Mexican chocolate cake (which turned out great).  I was too busy to even dream of taking a photo of it.  But rest assured it was enjoyed by all.  I think all 7 of the women at Book Club were in a chocolate coma after a few minutes.  We all brought chocolate food in honor of our book Like Water for Chocolate (which turns out not to be that much about chocolate--but we didn't know that when we set the date and food theme).  It takes place in Mexico, so I was inspired to make a Mexican flavored cake.  I took my trusty chocolate cake recipe, courtesy of Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa, and substituted cocoa for 1/2 Mexican cocoa and 1/2 Mayan cocoa (which gives you in addition to cocoa a chili pepper, vanilla, and cinnamon flavor).  I added extra cinnamon and a hint of cardammom.  I made a filling type frosting to put between my layers (a mixture of semi-sweet morsels, a little light corn syrup, and butter).  It poured over but didn't run off the sides.  Then I sprinkled that w/a mix of my cocoas and extra cinnamon.  Then for the top and sides I made a frosting w/8 oz semi-sweet Baker's chocolate and 2 oz bittersweet Baker's chocolate.  I melted this w/2 TBS butter.  In a bowl I took 6 TBs of softened butter and whipped it til creamy w/some of my special cocoa/cinnamon mix (just a little) and then added the chocolate.  I then added some whipping cream and powdered sugar--no idea how much-not very much--just until I creamed it to a consistency I liked for spreading and not too sweet.  Maybe 1/2 c of each then add as necessary.  The frosting set up a bit--really perfect.  I decorated w/sliced strawberries and bananas to cut the chocolate (the frosting tasted a lot like fondue--so the fruit went well with it).

Getting it there was fun.  I couldn't find my cake taker (maybe in the attic in some random box?) You don't get into our attic, so I put it up on a pedestal cake plate.  Stabbed it with 100 toothpick (hyperbole) and covered w/plastic wrap.  I had set the cake on a springform pan bottom so I could pick it up and move it from stand to tupperware later.  Good idea if you aren't transporting--bad idea for car travel.  I had to wedge the holder between my purse and boxes in the floor board and drive nice and slow into turns.  I did make it, but I was certain it would be destroyed before I made it.

I have been working like crazy on stuff for C's b-day.  I need to take some photos of stuff I'm making.  It's going to be fun--as long as it doesn't rain.  It will still be fun, but not as fun.

Brazilian Food was yum-o

This was a close second to the Paella night.  Pinto beans, rice, tomato salad, pork chops, and coconut drink were all a success and worked so well together. 

The beans were quick soaked then I added fried bacon, onion, and garlic and a bay leaf and s & p.  Then I brought beans back to a boil and simmered for 1.5 hours.  It was that simple.  I drained them w/my slotted spoon to serve.

The rice was super easy as well.  In the saucepan, fry a small amount of minced onion and garlic in olive oil for 2 min.  Add rice, cook for 3 min.  Add hot water, bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer.  I used Basmati rice cuz we like it and I don't have any other white rice.  It turned out great. 

Tomato salad was the Brazilian version of salsa or bruschetta.  Tomatoes, a little minced onion, parsley, green onions ( I omitted b/c mine went bad), oil, vinegar, s & p. 

You serve the tomatoes on top of the beans.  I liked that mixed w/the rice as well.

The pork chops were simple.  You put the pork chops in a bowl.  Over the pork chops you pour lemon juice ( I used 1.5 lemons), 2 garlic cloves, parsley, and s & p.  Marinate at least 1 hr.  Then you fry them in oil or I guess whatever you like.  I didn't have them covered in oil, so they didn't really turn out greasy--and not very garlicky.  Very subtle taste. 

I surprised Scott w/peanut butter cupcakes (a choco. cupcake w/a vanilla/peanut butter icing, dressed w/peanut butter cups).  They were huge.  The three of us ate 1.5 of the 2 cupcakes I bought from Fresh Market. 

I forgot to take pictures.  Sorry.  It really was good.  The drink is unsweetened coconut milk, sugar, and rum over ice.  We squeezed a lime, too cuz we likey the lime.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Tonight was a French theme.

We had French style green beans--fancy name in French for a very simple, tasty dish; cream cheese/sour cream garlic mashed potatoes, and chicken cordon bleu.

The Fresh Market did the hard work on the chicken--it came stuffed and breaded.  I pan fried it in butter (this is French night) for 5 min per side.  Pulled the chick out of its bath and put on a baking dish--into 350 degree oven for 20 min.  In the same pan I kept the butter going and added milk, sour cream (I subbed this w/the milk b/c I was out of heavy whipping cream), a little white wine, chicken broth, lemon juice (just a hint), and a tsp of dijon mustard and 1 T cornstarch.  Oh, forgot I added a piece of swiss cheese--couldn't resist.  When it thickened I poured 3/4 of it over the baking chicken and reserved the rest for plating. 

The green beans were just fresh beans, a little finely chopped onion (I couldn't find shallots this AM), and butter, of course.  No s & p until they are finished.  You just cover em and let em go.  I had to add a bit of chick broth to de glaze the pan half way in the 30 min b/c I was using stainless steel cookware. 

The potatoes were boiled then I added crushed garlic, a little butter (seeing a theme here--the whole meal had 10 T of butter all together--yikes!), 2 T cream cheese, 1/2 c sour cream, and a little chicken broth (no milk).  They were so creamy.

Just some fancy looking rolls to go along--we never eat bread in addition to dinner unless we are eating a sammy of sorts, so it was a treat. 

I recommend for a nice, fancy dinner that's not all that hard.  I've made the chicken all the way before and it's really not that bad if you roll it instead of stuffing it, but definitely makes a bigger mess.

No drinks or desserts.  It was a welcome change.

Spanish food

So Scott's pick game today was Switzerland vs. Spain (total upset w/the Swiss victory).  I chose to make Spanish food.  We had paella (which was delicious) and sweet catalan cream (the spanish version of creme brulee)  The paella turned out delish, but took a long time to make (see below) and the creme didn't set the way it was supposed to even though the taste was yummy.  I think I will try the cream again b/c it is easy and a do ahead, but will try to make it w/a traditional creme brulee method (cooking in the oven in water bath) instead of cooking it all the way on the stove trying to get it to thicken b/c after 20 min. of stirring constantly it wasn't thickening.

I'm including the recipe for the Paella b/c it was so incredible I want to get it down before I forget my revisions to the recipe I followed. 

Paella
Feel free to adapt however you see fit.  I did!  It's not traditional paella b/c I included chorizo (which is a Mexican sausage) and I chose crab meat instead of squid and/or mussels. 

3 T olive oil
chicken thighs (1 per serving) or chicken breasts cut in cubes
paprika
oregano
salt and pepper
12 oz chorizo (out of casings, ground up--mine came easy to remove from the inedible casings)
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
12 oz arborio rice (or 2 cups short grain rice) * I combined the two w/half of each amount
5.5-6 c chicken broth (I used a mix of chicken broth, clam broth, and clam juice since I wasn't using mussels--was not overly fishy tasting)
1/2 c white wine
1 sprig thyme
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
bay leaf
lemon zest from 1 lemon
10 saffron threads
salt and pepper to taste
crabmeat (I used imitation b/c real crabmeat is 3 times the price--no extra splurging w/ a week of meals)
1 can diced tomatoes
2/3 c frozen peas
1 bag frozen shrimp (they were large, uncooked, peeled w/tail on)
1/4 c parsley, chopped
lemon wedges

Heat olive oil.  Season chicken thighs w/oregano, paprika, salt, and pepper.  Sear on both sides.  Add onions, peppers, garlic, and chorizo.  (My pan was so full I took out the chicken until these all cooked down a bit)  Add rice-cook 2-3 min.  Stir in 3.5 c stock, the wine, thyme, red pepper, bay leaf, zest, saffron, salt, and pepper.  Bring to a boil and simmer until done (the cook time will vary depending on type of rice you choose--b/c I used a mix w/brown rice--it took 50 min--long time).  You will likely need to add some or all of the rest of the broth (2 -2.5 c or so) as the rice cooks.   Add crab, peas, and tomatoes.  Cook 4 min.  Arrange shrimp and cover.  My pan was so full this took a long time.  Again I had to remove my chicken, turn up my heat a bit, and get the shrimp to the bottom of the pan to get them cooked.  It took about 10 min. which is way longer than normal for shrimp).  If necessary, add chicken back in and you're ready to go

Garnish w/parsley and a squeeze of a lime wedge. 

This is what it looks like when you add the first of the broth.

The finished product (there is not room for anything else in this pan)

This is how much was left after we ate.  Craziness.  We barley made a dent.  I pulled out all the meat and enough rice for leftovers and then froze the rest of the rice for a side dish later. 

Here's the cream.  It was like drinking it b/c it never set, but the taste was really good.  It was similar ingredients to creme brulee except you flavored the milk w/vanilla, a cinnamon stick, and lemon rind.  Very subtle.

Portuguese Chicken

So here's our meal from last night.  It was uber rich and creamy w/lots of steps--to essentially be a casserole.  It was good, but I probably won't make it again--the pay off wasn't tasty enough for the 2 hour prep/cook time.  We had port w/pineapples for dinner--we should have skipped the port.  We like the pineapple w/o it better.  Oh well, it was fun.

This is the pic before cooking.  When it's finished you top w/sliced Black Spanish olives--which was really good w/the creaminess of the chicken, onions, peppers, and fried potatoes inside.  If you're wondering those are shredded carrots on top.

Pumped by the world cup

I know lots of Americans poo-poo soccer in general and the World Cup, but in our household it is a major event.  It always coincides w/Scott's b-day, so it is part of his zone this year.  We are continuing a tradition we started last time of sampling beers from pick teams every day (well not every day, but games we're especially pumped about--and only 1 per day).  So far we've tried a German beer and English beer.  Both were new to us, and we liked.  I am expanding our tradition to include foods since we are attempting to curb our alcohol consumption a bit.  So we are splitting a beer when we indulge.   This attempt to really curb will definitely be attempted in earnest after this first round of games is over--as you can tell from our menu.  The opening night we had curry (not S. African style, but curries are big in S. Africa).  We also had a S. African wine (Sebeeka a Gallo product) and a S. African dessert.  It was a crustless milk tart.  Super duper easy and very yummy.  C loved it.  He pulled himself into my seat after vacating his own and proceeded to eat the piece I'd dished for myself after he'd refused to try it from his seat.  He kept saying yummy.  Here's a link for the recipe.  We highly recommend it.  I will have to take some pictures as we continue. We had fish and chips yesterday--not exactly glamourous but very English before the big game.  Tonight we are having german style brats (sauerkraut, potatoes, and all).  Tomorrow is a house favorite for the Italian game-carbonara.  Tuesday will be Portuguese.  I'm trying a recipe that's chicken in bechamel sauce w/a Portuguese interpretation (supposedly) with a white wine from Portugual and then fresh pineapple in port.    I'm going to try a Paella for the Spanish game--not sure how it will turn out--kind of anxious about it.  Then for dessert a Spanish interpretation of creme brulee (one of Scott's favorite)--supposedly it is less rich thought--sweet catalan cream.  Then we're going for a French deal-chicken cordon bleu courtesy of Fresh Market w/aparagus argentuil.  Sushi for Japan's Sat. game (also courtesy of Fresh Market--the coolest grocery store in town).  I don't have anything planned after that.  These meals are all part of Scott's 30th b-day zone (14 days celebrating Scott w/things he loves--30 items in 14 days).  So far he's loving it!