The Barefoot Contessa

I met Ina Garten yesterday at Central Market. She signed my cookbook! :) I'll try to make something Ina-ish this week and post it in honor of her. See her friend who frequents the show in the background??

Happy Thanksgiving!

In the excitement of hosting my first Thanksgiving, I completely neglected to take any pictures, oops!! I worked on my menu, grocery list, and day-of schedule for several weeks, and still managed to have a few bumps in the road, but in the end we had a wonderful, tasty Thanksgiving with my husband's family.

As for the bumps in the road, here are a few things I learned:
1) Reynolds cooking bags, while BIG enough for a turkey are certainly not STRONG enough for a turkey. After putting 2 gallons of brine and an 11 lb turkey into the bag, I attempted to pick it up. Before my husband could get the words out of his mouth to tell me what a bad idea that was, my entire body and my entire kitchen were covered in garlicy brine, not to mention salmonella poisoning, as the bag busted and the turkey splashed back into the sink. I just stood there and laughed, what else can you do?? On the second attempt, we put a large glass bowl under the bag.
2) You don't need a large house with an island kitchen and a dining table that seats 20 to have a home. I've been a little house crazy lately and looking around our small apartment filled with family I realized that for now, this is our home. We have an open door policy,we want our friends and family to feel welcome any time. Come over for lunch, come over for dinner, come over for coffee and pie. We're so blessed, and so thankful, for all the wonderful people we're surrounded with.




Anyway, sap aside, here is the menu!





Roasted Turkey
Sausage Dressing
Sweet Potato Casserole
Mashed Potatos
Macaroni and Cheese
Challah
Cranberry Applesauce
Apple Pie

Roasted Turkey Brine:
Adapted from allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS
2 gallons water
1 1/2 cups kosher salt
6-8 peeled whole garlic cloves
1/4 cup whole black peppercorns
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar



DIRECTIONS
In a saucepan, boil 2 quarts of water and salt, garlic, peppercorns, worcestershire sauce, and sugar until salt and sugar are dissolved. Add remaining cold water and cool brine, then add to turkey. I used a Reynolds cooking bag set inside a really big glass bowl to contain my 11 lb turkey. Soak turkey in brine for 12-24 hours.



Roasting Turkey
I used Kidd Kraddick's brown bag turkey instructions!

INGREDIENTS
1/2 large onion, cut in large chunks
Several stalks of celery (I use the leafy inside stalks that I usually throw away for veggie trays)
1 whole head of garlic, with the top cut off
Olive Oil
Turkey



DIRECTIONS
Rinse turkey after brining, both inside and out to remove any remaining salt. Place turkey in a roasting pan on a rack breast side up and put the vegetables inside the large neck cavity. Rub the entire outside of the turkey with olive oil, be sure to get inbetween the wings and legs and the breasts. Place a probe thermometer into the turkey breast, make sure it does not touch the bone. Slide the roasting pan with the turkey inside into a brown paper grocery sack. (If the sack has a logo on it, be sure the logo is on the bottom or the ink will bleed onto your turkey.) Sprinkle water over the top of the bag so the moisture can get out. Roast at 375 degrees for approximately 15 minutes per lb, or until the thermometer reads 170 degrees. At the end, I tore the top off of the bag and allowed to the top of the turkey to brown a little more for 15 minutes.





It turned out really great! Every single scrap of turkey was eaten. There was SO much flavor from the brine and the turkey was really moist.





I put the whole carcass, with the vegetables still inside, into the crockpot to make broth after dinner.



That's all for now, I may post more of the recipes later.

Pie Crust Success!

Along the road to becoming my own little Suzy Homemaker I've had a few things I count among my most proud moments. After tackling homemade bread, I decided I had to try a pie crust. I knew I could do better than what comes in the box from the store, but my first attempt was one of my biggest cooking disasters of all time. Picture a wet, gloppy mess shrunk down into the center of the pie pan. Not good!

So I called in the expert. My mom set up pie making class for me in her kitchen one Saturday and she put together the essentials I didn't have: a dough blender and a gorgeous wooden rolling pin (previous wet gloppy pie crust was rolled out with a coke can. Christmas cookies last year? A wine bottle.) She taught me how to blend the fat into the flour until I see small peas, how to roll it out without killing all the fat pockets, fold and transfer it to a plate, and flute or score the edges. After a few practices on my own, I had pretty good success last night. I decided to venture a little from my mom's recipe and use Martha Stewart's pate brisee recipe, but the technique--it's all from mom :)

Salmon Cakes

We had crab cakes Saturday night at a restaurant in Austin and to my surprise, James loved them! Maybe he's not nearly as picky of an eater as I think he is. Well I had been considering making them, then I logged on to the Whats For Dinner board on the nest and someone had posted this amazing salmon cake recipe. To my delight, farm raised salmon filets were also on sale at my grocery store--bonus! These turned out great. They're worth the little bit of work they take, and I followed the recipe exactly except I added a little salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to the flour before dredging. Definitely use the panko, so crunchy and yummy!

Pan-Fried Fresh Salmon Cakes

from Flymanswife's blog, adapted from Cooks Illustrated

1 1/4 lb salmon fillets, skinned, any bones removed

1 slice high-quality white sandwich bread, such as Pepperidge Farm, crusts removed & finely chopped

1/4 cup grated onion

2 Tbsp fresh parsley leaves

2 Tbsp mayonnaise

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 large eggs

3-4 Tbsp olive oil

3/4 cup panko, or plain dry bread crumbs

Chop salmon into 1/2-inch pieces and mix with chopped bread, onion, parsley, mayonnaise, salt & lemon juice in medium bowl. Scoop a generous 1/4 cup portion and use your hands to form into a patty measuring roughly 2 1/2 inches in diameter and 3/4 inch thick. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining mixture, making 6-8 patties. Freeze the patties until the surface moisture has evaporated, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, spread the flour in a shallow dish. Beat the eggs in a second shallow dish. Spread the bread crumbs in a third. Dip the chilled salmon patties in the flour to cover and shake off the excess. Transfer to the beaten egg and with a slotted spatula, turn to coat; let the excess drip off. Transfer to the panko, shaking the dish to coat the patties completely. Return breaded patties to baking sheet.

Heat olive oil in large heavy skillet over medium-high heat until simmering, about 3 minutes. Add salmon patties and cook until medium golden brown on the bottoms. Flip cakes and cook until medium golden brown on the other side.

Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and allow to drain for a minute. Serve hot.

Honey Wheat Bread

Well, I'm officially unemployed! :) For a few days anyway.
I quit my job yesterday, and my new one starts Tuesday, so I decided what's a stay-at-home-wife supposed to? Make bread! So I made a loaf of whole wheat (not 100% whole wheat, I wasn't brave enough yet!) I now have four kinds of flour in my house: whole wheat, all purpose, bread flour, and cake flour. I'm nuts!
It turned out pretty great!

Honey Wheat Bread
(Adapted from allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS
1/2 (.25 ounce) package rapid rise yeast (1 1/8 tsp)
1/2 teaspoon white sugar
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1/2 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons melted shortening
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
1-1/2+ cups bread flour
1 tablespoon melted butter + 1 tsp honey
A few tbs of oats (optional)
DIRECTIONS
1. Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1/2 cup warm water.

2. Combine milk, 1/4 cup water, shortening, honey, salt and wheat flour in stand mixer bowl. Mix in yeast mixture, and let rest 15 minutes.

3. Add white flour, and process until dough forms a ball. (I had to add an extra 1/4 cup or so of flour because the dough was still really sticky at this point)

4. Knead dough with hook for 5-10 minutes. (by hand 10 minutes)

5. Place the dough in a greased bowl, and turn to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or towel. Let dough rise for 45 minutes, or until almost doubled.

6. Punch down and pound out the bubbles. Form into a loaf, and place in a greased 9x5 inch bread pans and cover loosely with plastic wrap or towel. Let rise in a warm area until doubled; second rise should take about 30 minutes.

7. Place a small pan of water on the bottom shelf of the oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

8. Right before placing it into the oven, brush the top with the honey butter and sprinkle with oats (the oats are just pretty, they're totally not necessary)

9. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until tops are dark golden brown. Brush a second coat of honey butter on top while still warm. Slice when cool.

Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin

I normally avoid anything with soy sauce in it, because James says he hates it. I've been wanting to try Giada De Laurentiis's Balsamic Chicken Drumettes, hoping the balsamic flavor would be strong enough to overpower the soy. Thanks to a recommendation from a friend (Thanks Sarah!) I decided to try it on the half of a pork loin I had in the back of the freezer. (Tip: Kroger has whole giant pork loins on really good sales all the time, so I buy them and cut them in half to freeze separately for two little roasts that are the perfect size for us!)

I brined the roast first, since I have a nagging fear of pork drying out. I always do this when I cook pork, and I've never had a dry pork chop or roast in my house! It makes the meat really juicy and flavorful.

Note: If brining, allow 12 hours or so for the meat to brine before putting in the marinade.

Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin

(adapted from foodtv.com)

3-4 lb whole pork loin

For Brine:

1/2 cup salt

1/2 gallon (8 cups) water

1/4 cup honey

For marinade:

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce (I used low sodium soy)

3 sprigs of rosemary

5 garlic cloves, halved

1. Dissolve salt in 1-2 cups of hot water. Add remaining cold water and honey.

2. Place pork roast in a gallon size ziploc bag, pour all of the brine over it. Seal the bag well, and place it in a shallow dish in the refrigerator for 12 hours. (2+ days is recommended for a whole pork loin).

3. Remove roast from brine, rinse (to get any remaining salt off the surface) and pat dry. Pour out brine.

4. In another gallon sized ziploc bag (I used the same one after I poured out the brine) ombine the balsamic, honey, brown sugar, soy sauce, rosemary sprigs, and garlic cloves. Shake and squeeze the contents of the bag to dissolve the honey and the brown sugar.

5. Add the roast to the bag and seal with as little air as possible.

6. Marinate for 2 hours.

7. Remove roast from marinade, do not discard the marinade.

8. Roast in a 325 degree oven for 55 minutes, or until roast reaches 160 degrees in the center.

9. Meanwhile, place the marinade in a small saucepan. Bring the marinade to a boil (in order to kill bacteria). Reduce the heat to simmer and cook over low heat until thick, about 15 minutes. Reserve.

10. In the last 10 or 15 minutes of roasting, brush reduced marinade onto pork loin. When you remove it from the oven, brush on one last coat of the glaze.

James absolutely loved this. I told him later there was soy in it and he was totally surprised! It was just as good in leftovers, and great on a cold sandwich the next day.

Baking Bonanza!

Basically all I did on Sunday was bake! And here is what I ended up with:



1. One of my proudest kitchen moments: you can call it challah, braided egg bread, or as we call it at my house-- "Judy Bread." Every Thanksgiving we are blessed to visit with a family whose mother makes the most amazing bread I've ever tasted. Now, don't worry, I certainly wouldn't presume to call mine "Judy Bread", since I pulled a challah recipe from the internet, and it didn't quite live up to the fabulous standard to which we're accustomed. It was slightly less dense and less sweet than Judy's version, but that did not stop my husband and I from eating almost the entire loaf in 24 hours! It really was a great loaf of bread, and I will not hesitate to make it again.

2. BBFCCC: translation: BEST BIG FAT CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES. I've been hearing for this recipe almost as long as I've been hanging out on thenest.com cooking boards, so I had to give it a try with the new stand mixer. They turned out great! They definitely live up to everything their name says they are. I think I may prefer a crispier cookie, so I'm not going to make this my always-and-forever chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I'll definitely keep it in the box and use it every now and then.

Now for the recipes!

Challah
(adapted from allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 cup hot milk
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup water
• 2-1/2 eggs (crack the last egg in a bowl, beat, and use half. save the other half for the last step before baking)
  
• 5-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 egg
• 2 teaspoons honey

DIRECTIONS

1. Proof yeast and 1/4 cup warm water in a large mixing bowl.
2. Combine hot milk, honey, butter, salt, and 1/4 cup water in a medium bowl. Cool to 110 degrees (lukewarm).
3. In small bowl, slightly beat 2.5 eggs, then add to cooled milk mixture. Add milk mixture to yeast mixture. Add 1 cup flour and beat until smooth. Slowly add remaining flour until it forms a stiff dough. Knead on a floured board for 10 minutes (5 minutes with a bread hook). Place in a large glass or plastic bowl lightly greased. Turn dough over to grease both sides. Cover and let rise in a warm, dark place until doubled in volume, approximately 60 minutes.
4. Punch down, cover, and let rise again until double, approximately 30 minutes.
5. Punch again, and form into three parts. Form each part into a 20-inch roll. Braid rolls on a large, greased cookie sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled.
6. Lightly beat remaining egg with 2 tsp honey and brush loaf. Bake in preheated 350 degree F (175 degrees C) oven for about 40 minutes until nicely browned.

This made one very large loaf of bread. We were going to eat half and freeze the other half, but James was up all night playing games at had almost eaten the half loaf I left out before I got up for work!


Best Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
(from allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Sugar cookies

I've been baking up a storm thanks to my new mixer!




First night I made a Martha Stewart blueberry muffin recipe. Pictures and a recipe won't be posted, because I learned the hard way that cornmeal is NOT good in blueberry muffins even if martha says it is.

I also made soft pretzels (recipe here) and the mixer took all the work out of the kneading.

James requested frosted sugar cookies, so my sister Caryn came over and we made both the cookies and the frosting in the mixer, and they turned out great! We had a blast. I usually use a powdered sugar/water glaze on sugar cookies, but James wanted sickly sweet frosting like they use at the grocery store.

A few sugar cookie tips:

1. Wait until dough is VERY cold to roll it out. We put it in the fridge for one hour but the dough was still a nightmare to work with. We finally put it all back in the freezer for 20 minutes or so and then it was perfect and easy. Next time I will refrigerate overnight if possible.

2. This recipe can make both thick soft cookies (my preference!) or thin crispy cookies, it all depends on how thin you roll out the dough. Rolled out at about thicker, they tasted very similar to the cakey cookies you buy in bakeries or get in a cookie bouquet.

3. It doesn't hurt to borrow your mom's rolling pin that has been grown from years of seasoning!

Best Rolled Sugar Cookies
(from allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Makes about 30 cookies

Sugar Cookie Frosting
(adapted from allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup shortening
2-3 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
food coloring (optional)

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, cream together the confectioners' sugar and shortening until smooth. Gradually mix in the milk and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth and stiff, about 5 minutes. Color with food coloring if desired.

This made more than enough frosting for all the cookies. I ended up freezing the leftovers as a single glob of each color on a cookie sheet and then putting them in a ziploc in the freezer for later. You could probably cut it in half to frost all 30 cookies.

Italian Food

It's been a long time since I've updated! First, I have to thank my husband for buying me the most awesome present ever:

I will partially thank Lowes, since they misprinted an ad and they were selling them for only $150!!! It's still a lot of money, and I can't believe James bought me one. I can't wait until I get it next week!

We went to Germany and Italy a few weeks ago and had an amazing time. My sister's wedding was so beautiful. And Italy was breathtaking. The sights, the history, and most importantly -- the food!! :)
I left with a greater appreciation for prosciutto, olive oil, cheese, baked goods, and wine. Everything was so great!

Here are a few pictures of the food to tide everyone over until I can do a real update with a recipe!

Chicken Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Garlic

I've heard about the magic of goat cheese, but had always been afraid to try it for myself. For our one year anniversary, my husband treated me to one his favorite places: Texas de Brazil. He loves it for the endless cuts of steak they bring as long as you'll eat, but he never told me about the amazing salad bar. It was filled with pestos, cheeses, meats, vegetables, and all manner of amazing antipasta choices. One option was goat cheese with roasted peppers. I figured if I didn't like it, I could leave it on my plate. Turns out goat cheese is amazing!

I was sad to discover it cost $1 per oz at my grocery store, but since I rarely buy anything not on sale, I went for it.

I didn't alter this one at all, it's straight from Cooking Light. James even liked it! I served it over whole wheat spaghetti and with a green salad.

Ingredients:

4 ounces goat cheese, softened

3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil, divided

1 tablespoon minced garlic

4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1 (25.5-ounce) jar fat-free Italian herb pasta sauce

3 whole garlic cloves

3 cups hot cooked fettuccine (about 6 ounces uncooked pasta)

Preparation

Combine goat cheese, 2 tablespoons basil, and minced garlic; set aside.Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap, and pound each half to a 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Divide the cheese mixture evenly among breast halves. Roll up jelly-roll fashion. Tuck in sides; secure each roll with wooden picks.
Heat the pasta sauce and whole garlic cloves in a large skillet over medium heat; add chicken. Cover and cook 25 minutes or until chicken is done. Serve over pasta. Garnish with 1 tablespoon basil.

Yield

4 servings (serving size: 1 chicken roll, 3/4 cup pasta, and 1/2 cup sauce)

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 503(15% from fat); FAT 8.3g (sat 4.7g,mono 1.9g,poly 0.7g); PROTEIN 57.2g; CHOLESTEROL 112mg; CALCIUM 137mg; SODIUM 785mg; FIBER 5.5g; IRON 3.8mg; CARBOHYDRATE 48.1g

Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 2003

Spinach Quichelets

I made these little baby quiches for a work breakfast today. I grew up on this quiche, my mom made it a lot when we were little in a homemade pie crust. I remember eating the leftover crust dough baked into little pieces on a cookie sheet.

This version uses biscuits instead of pie crust, so they're much softer than a pie. Perfect for breakfast!

-3 eggs

-1 cup half and half

-1 cup mixed cheeses (I used half mozerella/provolone blend and half cheddar)

-1 10 oz package of frozen chopped spinach

-1 TBS finely chopped onion

-2-3 tubes of homestyle biscuits (1/2 biscuit per quiche, so you'll need 18 biscuits to do 3 dozen)

Instructions:

-Cook the spinach in the microwave by the package directions. Drain WELL (Ball it up and squeeze!)

-In a bowl, beat together eggs and half and half.

-Add cheese, spinach, and onion, stir to combine.

-To assemble, cut each biscuit in half, and roll it out very thin. Place each biscuit in a mini-muffin tin and put 1.5 Tbs of quiche filling inside the biscuit. Stir the filling often during assembly so all the solid ingredients don't sink to the bottom.

*It worked best for me to roll out each biscuit , stretch it across the muffin cup, and then use the teaspoon full of filling into the middle to press the dough down into the pan into a cup shape.

-Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes uncovered, then place foil on top and bake for another 10 minutes.

Yields about 3 dozen, I only made 2 dozen and then poured the rest into a ramekin and made a full size crustless quiche for dinner.

Credit goes to mom!

Happy Mothers Day!!

We had both fabulous moms (along with my dad and sister) over for Mothers Day dinner. It was great to spend the evening with family and have great conversation and great food!

The menu:
-Grilled White-wine salmon
-Garlic Risotto in Parmesan Frico cups
-Mixed fruit salad in orange cups
-Grilled zuchinni

Recipes:

Grilled White Wine Salmon

Salmon Filet, cut into portion sized peices.
Olive oil
White wine (I used Smoking Loon Chardonnay)
Salt and pepper

-Several hours before cooking, prepare fish and marinade. Mix 1/4 cup of Olive oil with 3/4 cup white wine. Place fish in a baking dish skin side down and pour marinade on top.
*You can use less or more marinade depending on the amount of fish. This 1 cup marinade was perfect for a 3 lb filet arranged in a 7x11 baking dish
-Grease grill grates with cooking spray or a papertowel soaked in veg. oil. Prep the grill to medium heat.
- Arrange fish skin side down directly on the grill. Grill for 6-8 minutes, rearranging fish pieces over hot spots as needed, until it is almost cooked through.
-Flip the salmon with a flat spatula (the fish will start to flake, and tongs could cause it to fall apart)
-Grill for 3-4 minutes top side down until fish develops a nice crust.

-Slide fish onto a spatula, peel off and discard skin (after cooking, the skins slides off easily) and flip over to serve top side up.

Garlic Cheddar Risotto

Adapted from this foodnetwork.com basic risotto recipe. I added 4 cloves of roasted garlic (roasted ahead of time, use less of raw, minced) when I added the rice to the onion. Then I added 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese at the end of cooking. Otherwise I followed the recipe! Mine got a little overcooked, risotto is best when served right out of the pot, otherwise it starts to get overly soft and starchy.

Parmesan Frico Bowls

From Confections of a Foodie Bride's blog. I used two small dessert ramekins to shape the bowls, they turned out great! A really easy way to dress up plating and make something simple look super fancy!

Fruit Salad/Zuchinni

Okay, I'm not going to give you a recipe for these. For the salad, mix your favorite fruits! I split and hollowed oranges instead of using bowls for a fun touch. I used blackberries, strawberries, watermelon balls, and pears with a little orange juice squirted on top. Chill the mixture so the flavors have time to meld.

For the zuchinni, I just sprayed a little olive oil from my kitchen mister (that I took from my mom!) and sprinkled with kosher salt and pepper, and threw it on the grill.

Here's to moms, who allowed us to stand underfoot in our childhoods so we could learn a whisk from a spatula. I love you mom!

Pictured: My grandma Genie, my mother in law Brenda, and my mom Faye!

New Pot Rack!

I found a new way to save a little space in my kitchen! I bought this pot rack from target.com after searching forever for one in stores. Not even Home Depot carries them! It just came in today, and I had it hung with all my pans within 30 minutes of arrival! I even hung a few measuring cups up there, a la Nigella Lawson! :)

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

I'll add a picture of these when I make them later this week. I've made them several times, and they are one of my all time favorite recipes! If not the best, it is one of the best things my mom makes. All credit goes to her, for her famous chicken enchiladas!

Faye's Chicken Enchiladas

-1/2-1lb chicken breasts (3 cups cooked)
-1/2 cup onion
-1 small can green chilis
-1 can cream of chicken soup
-milk
-10-15 corn tortillas
-Shredded cheddar cheese
-1/2 cup sour cream

Instructions:
1. Boil chicken in water for 15 minutes or until cooked through. Shred the chicken, save the broth.
2. Saute 1/2 cup chopped onion in butter or olive oil until clear in large skillet
3. stir in 1 can green chilis (can use a large can if you like it spicier)
4. stir in 1 can of soup
5. fill soup can halfway with milk, add to soup mixture
6. fill soup can halfway with broth from previously cooked chicken, add to soup mixture
7. stir soup mixture in skillet until warm.
8. (THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART) Put tortillas, 3 at a time into soup mixture in skillet. Add one tortilla at a time as you build each enchilada. Use the tortilla that has been in the mixture the longest to build each enchilada, they should soak for 1-2 minutes or so, until soft but not falling apart.
9. to build each enchilada, pull a tortilla out of the skillet, add some chicken and cheese, roll up, and place seam side down in a 9x13 glass baking dish.
10. As you build tortillas and the soup mixture starts to diminish, add broth 1/2 cup at a time as needed to stretch soup mixture.
11. When the pan is full, add 1/2 cup sour cream into remaining soup mixture. Pour on top of enchiladas. Top with more shredded cheese.
12. Top with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

These can easily be prepped ahead of time and baked later. They're so good!

Sesame Chicken

CNN did a story this week about how unhealthy and fattening chinese food is for you. This came as no shock to me, I've always known every yummy, greasy bite was full of fat and sodium. The story did inspire me to start looking around for recipes so I could recreate one of our favorites at home, where I could control the ingredients at least somewhat. Sesame chicken is the only thing James will eat at Chinese restaurants, and it's usually my favorite too. I combined several different recipes from allrecipes.com to come up with this final product. It's still breaded and fried, but it's a lower sodium, all white-meat version of the original.

James told me all weekend he was going to be scared of this recipe, but the skeptic came around when he tasted it: "Babe, this is actually pretty dang good, can I have a lot more?" Yay!

Sesame Chicken

1/2 cup all-purpose flour (I KNOW I said no more white flour, but I was scared to try wheat flour. I'll try it next time!)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder (a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, fennel, star anise, and white pepper)
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into chunks
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 yellow onion, cut into wedges
1/2 cup green bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1/8 cup low sodium teriyaki sauce
1/8 cup tablespoons honey

1 Tablespoon pineapple juice

2 Tablespoons sesame seeds

1 teaspoon brown sugar

DIRECTIONS
In a large resealable plastic bag, combine flour, black pepper, five-spice powder, and red pepper flakes. Place a few pieces of chicken at a time into the bag, and shake to coat. Remove to a platter.
Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat.

Place chicken into skillet, and brown on both sides, about 5 minutes.

Stir onion wedges and bell pepper slices into the skillet with the chicken; cook until slightly browned, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low.
In a separate bowl, mix honey, teriyaki, pineapple juice, brown sugar and sesame seeds. Add it to the chicken and vegetables, stir until sauce thickens.

I served it with a box of Simply Asian noodles.

3/26 Edit: I made this a second night in a row tonight, but skipped the flour and used the same amount of seasonings to season the dry raw chicken breasts pieces. Then I sauteed the chicken in a pan with a little cooking spray, and did the rest according to the recipe. It turned out great! I would cut down some on the red pepper flakes, for some reason skipping the dredging escalated the heat a lot! It's a little different, but a much lower-fat alternative that will be great for normal dinners. It passed the James test too!

No Pudge Brownies!

I tried these brownies after a lot of recommendations from girls on The Nest. Instead of adding oil or water or anything, all you add to the mix is fat free vanilla yogurt. They're so good! We used plain yogurt and a tsp of vanilla extract instead of vanilla yogurt. I highly recommend these to anyone who loves a warm brownie but doesn't want all the fat from a regular recipe. My Kroger only carries the original, but I'm going to request the mocha flavor. Yum!

Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

This was my first experience with butternut squash, it turned out great! I separated this recipe into 4 individual tupperware bowls to take for work for lunch this week. Much better than the canned soup I usually take.

Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup:

3 cups peeled, diced butternut squash (about 1 small)

2 cups grated carrot

3/4 cup chopped onion

1 Tablespoon of butter

2 14 oz cans of low sodium-chicken broth

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 cup half and half

1. In a large covered saucepan cook squash, carrot, and onion in hot butter over medium heat about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add broth. Bring to boiling, reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 25-35 minutes until vegetables are tender. Cool slightly.

2. Place one-third of the squash mixture in a food processor or blender. Cover and process or blend until almost smooth. Repeat with remaining squash mixture. Return all of the pureed mixture to the saucepan. Add pepper and nutmeg, bring just to boiling. Add half and half; heat through.

This recipe is from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. They suggest garnishing with toasted pumpkin seeds.

Honey Wheat Pretzels

I have been on a mission lately to purge our house of enriched white flour. I recieved a recipe from a cooking message board, www.thenest.com, for soft pretzels. I love them! But after getting to the bottom of a bag of white flour, I decided to try something new. This version has whole wheat flour and a little honey, but otherwise the recipe remains true to the original. James is usually very skeptical of my whole wheat substitutions, but he loved these!

Ingredients:

1 tsp active dry yeast
2 Tbs brown sugar
2 tsp honey
2+ cups flour - half whole wheat and half all purpose
coarse kosher salt
5 Tbs baking soda
shortening or butter

Directions:

1) In large mixing bowl mix 1 tbls HOT water and 1 tsp yeast. Mix until yeast dissolves completely.
2) Stir in 2/3 cup WARM water.
3) Stir in brown sugar and honey.
4) Slowly add 2 cups flour, stirring constantly. Contuine stirring until the mixture is smooth and does not stick to the sides of the bowl.
5) Lightly flour counter. Dip your hands into extra flour. Knead the dough until it is stretchy and smooth. (Push it down and away from you with the palms of your hands, turning the dough as you work)
6) Grease cookie sheet(s) well with butter or shortening. Sprinkle greased cookie sheet(s) with kosher salt. Preheat oven to 475.
7) Using liquid measuring cup fill a large saucepan at least 1/2 full of water. For each 1 cup of water, add 1 tbls baking soda. (I use 5 cups of water and 5 Tbs baking soda. If you've never seen an empty baking soda container, you will soon!)
8) Divide the dough into 16 equal sized pieces.
9) Using the following 4 steps shape each dough ball into a pretzel shape...1)Roll the dough into a rope 14" long and as thick as your thumb. Bend the dough into a U shape.2) Cross one end of the rope over the other one. The ropes should cross about three inches from the tips.3) Twist the crossed ends, making a full turn. Fold the ends back, towards the middle of the U.4) Open the ends slightly to form a pretzel shape. Press the ends into the dough firmly.
*note: when I get halfway through a batch I usually get tired of rolling them and shaping them out and make pretzel sticks!
10) Bring water into saucepan to a gentle boil (not to many bubbles).
11) Use pancake turner to lower each pretzel into the saucepan. Count slowly to 30. Then lift the pretzel onto the greased and salted cookie sheet (shaking off excess water back into the saucepan). Repeat until all the pretzels are done.
12) Sprinkle some kosher salt on top of the pretzels and put them in preheated oven. Bake for 8 minutes or until the pretzels are golden.

You can also top with cinnamon sugar instead of salt. If you do that, don't salt the baking sheet, or your pretzels will have salt on the bottom and sugar on the top.

ENJOY!!!!!

FULL Credit for the original recipe goes to Krashed24 on the nest's What's For Dinner board. She recommends you make a double batch from the get-go or you'll be sorry. I agree!

Introductions

As a child I was the normally the only one of my siblings who stood under my mother's feet and watched her cook (although my sister is changing that lately!). In college I started to experiment a little on my own, calling my mom every night and attempting to recreate her recipes. In June, I married my high school sweetheart, James:

Over the past 9 months, I have really started to experiment with cooking. Partly because James is the most appreciative (and yet also most honest) eater a wife could ask for, and partly because I've discovered the wealth of recipes and cooking information on the internet I've really developed the "Joy of Cooking." So it all started with my mom, her chocolate chip cookies, and my burned Christmas morning pancakes.

This is my entire kitchen:

Apartment dwelling has its perks, don't get me wrong. When the toilet breaks, we call someone. We wake up in the mornings and the lawns are watered and mowed without our sweat. But don't think that I'm not designing my dream-home kitchen in my mind already! This kitchen provides its own set of adventures complete with a faulty oven thermometer and a broiler that sets off the fire alarm during every use! We're darn lucky to have everything we have. God, family and friends have all been very generous with us. I just wanted to paint a little picture of the space I choose to spend so much time in.