Not Your Mama's Meatloaf!

Ok, let's be honest here, no kid likes meatloaf.  Growing up, I can remember slathering my slice of mushed meat with ketchup and showering it with salt in order to choke it down.  When mom made meatloaf there was always a standoff and an extra glass of milk to help make it go down.  But I think it's a requirement that mom's make meatloaf, and that they force their children to eat it.  I also grew up in a household where you ate what was on your plate.  None of this "I'll make a second meal crap" 'cause my kid is picky.  Honestly,  yes, there are a few meals that aren't worth the battle and I toss nuggets or fish sticks in the microwave instead.  I know my daughter will never eat "red sauce" on her spaghetti, but that doesn't require a second dinner, just omit the sauce and add butter to hers.  But for some reason, I allow certain battles at dinner to commence.  She must try everything, even if it requires tears and sitting there for 30 minutes.  She will learn eventually that she is of my genes and hence I am just as, if not more, stubborn as she is.

Funny enough, my daughter won last night's meatloaf battle by falling asleep at the table.  Four straight days without a nap, and late nights will do that to a four year old.  There she was refusing to eat the meatloaf one second, and the next her eyes were closed and she was snoring.  Kassidy 1, Meatloaf 0.  There will be a rematch.  And it was to her loss, since last night's loaf was surely a winner!!

I base my meatloaf recipe, of course, off my mom's.  I don't veer TOO far off the original, but I add a few extra ingredients to make it my own.  And for mystery sake, I'm not telling you what's original and what's not.  Personally, I like a meatloaf full of flavor, much like a meatball, only... in a loaf.  And I'm a strong believer that my meatloaf should not crunch when I bite into it, so no celery or fresh onion for me.  I also never make the same meatloaf twice.  I'm always changing something.  But last night, winna winna meatloaf dinna!  Let's play.




Ingredients
Put all this in one big bowl.

• 1 pound ground beef (or turkey)
• 1/2 pound ground pork (a must, no substitute)
• 1/2 pound ground veal (a must, no substitute)
• Salt/Pepper
• 1T ground Savory, although I typically just dump a quarter size into my palm and toss
• 1/4 cup ketchup, estimated, I just squirt what looks good
• 2T Worcestershire sauce, estimated, I just put in 5 or 6 good shakes
• 1/4 cup milk, estimated, I just pour for 2 seconds
• 1 egg, exact
• 2-3 shakes garlic salt
• 2-3 shakes onion powder
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs (Italian, add flavor every where you can), honestly, this is an estimate, I just cup my hand and fill my hand, could be almost a full cup
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, again, I'm estimating, beucase I really just sprinkle a good layer over the top of the bowl I'm mixing things in

Run the water in your sink and get it nice and hot, run your hands under it and warm them up.  Remove any rings you're wearing.  The only way to properly mix is to get in there and do it by hand.  Why the hot water?  There's something about cold ground meat that just chills you right to the bone.  You're going to want to do this at least twice while you're mixing to reheat your hands.  Start rolling it around and squishing and get all the ingredients incorporated nicely.  I mix mine a little longer than my mom would, as I prefer a solid structure loaf, while she likes one to kind of fall apart.  The longer you "play" with raw meat like playdough, the consistently will change once cooked. Play with it less, you get more of a chunky loaf, play with it more, you get a solid structure.   Get it mixed up well and form a large meatball.

Select your pan.  I like to use my broiler pan.  Big enough to hold the loaf, but the slits also allow the juices to run down.  Plus, you don't feel like you're pushing to squish it into one of those traditional meatloaf pans.  This allows your loaf to "breathe."  So, prep the pan with a spray of cooking spray so it doesn't stick later and drop your big meatball down on top of it, form it into a loaf.

You didn't put the ketchup and Parmesan cheese away yet, did you?  If you did, get it back out.  Sprinkle the top with cheese, just a light dusting.  Then squirt on your ketchup.  Not too much, it's really for decoration and just a smidge of flavor.  (Hm... did you make breakfast this morning and not use the whole pound of bacon?  Here's a variation I've done once... before the Parmesan, lay the bacon across)

Your oven should be preheated to 350 degrees.  Place your pan on the center rack and let it go for 1 hour, 15 minutes.  Don't open the door.  When it's done, take it out, let it rest.  Very important to let it rest!!!  Just like a fine steak, all those juices are running wild inside and you don't want to lose them but cutting it open and letting it bleed.  By letting the meatloaf rest, the juices redistribute and calm down.  Give it 10 minutes, at least.

Good time to whip up your side dishes, or at least finish them up.  I always grew up with peas and mashed potatoes with meatloaf, so that's usually what I make.  And I got lazy last night, for some reason was really feeling the need for instant mashed potatoes.  Betty Crocker makes a good "butter" flavor.  And after letting it sit according to directions, add another tablespoon of butter, a dash of salt and a splash of milk, voila, no one knows the difference.  Hey, it's Christmas weekend, I had a lot going on, I deserve a cheat.

So, as we sit down to eat and commence the meat battle with Kassidy, she falls asleep.  I of course have my cell phone at hand and snap a picture.  The meatloaf battle in our house as a kid is a truth that both my sister and I share, so I sent her the picture and comment about the meatloaf battle.  She texts me back..... "wait, you made meatloaf with peas and potatoes????" - yes, there were four question marks.  Upon inquiry, I find out that she too, had made meatloaf, with.. peas and potatoes.  Now, ok really strange since we both detested it so much as children but now find that we actually kinda crave meatloaf once in a while.  And with this recipe who wouldn't?   At the same time, I had messaged my parents, the same said picture.  Yeah, turns out... they were having meatloaf too!  Really, it's funnier if you're one of our family, but it was worth mentioning.

So there's your meatloaf.  Makes a great meatloaf sandwich the next day too!  Enjoy!

Let's Holla for Challah Bread!

Alright, this all started several weeks ago around Thanksgiving time.  The Food Network aired an episode of Unwrapped and featured Challah Bread.  (See Video)  Challah bread is a Jewish bread, a special bread made for celebrations and holidays.  (Wikipedia)  It just looked SO YUMMY that I wanted to bake it.  Why bake when you can buy?  Well, my home town is very much an Italian and Porteguese fishing port, our bakeries are pretty much going to carry Italian style loaves only.  And I didn't want to have to go "out of my way" to get it.  So.. why not bake it?  I've baked.....um... well.... I've used my bread machine for raisin bread!  Hrm... that never comes out right though... but I've used my bread machine for pizza dough, does that count!?  Hardly.  So why experiment with baking bread now?  Well why not!?  And besides, I'm a converted Catholic, raised Lutheran, trying to make Jewish bread, what could POSSIBLY go wrong??

Bread is actually quite easy to make, is just time consuming.  And now that (just about) everyone has a Kitchen Aid mixer with a dough hook.. kneeding by hand is a thing of the past!  So, I started my search for the great recipe.  Gotta find a Jew.  But alas, those of the Jewish faith I know... turns out... they all BUY their Challah bread from local bakeries, or.... BJ's/Costco!  No one had a tried and true recipe for me.  I got all sorts of tales about blessings, including one from a co-worker.... it involves flinging a live chicken around your head in the kitchen, over the unbaked bread.  This is to ward off bad spirits and evil mojo or something.  Sounded more like Voodoo than a Jewish blessing/prayer to me, but I found it comical.  And not to worry, I worked it into my recipe.  Anyhow, when recipe by association failed, I headed to the internet.

Searching for a recipe took about a week.  I knew what the bread was supposed to look like, and according to the Food Network, it was supposed to be yellow and eggy and sweet, but cake like.  Right.  So, I knew the recipe needed lots of eggs, had to include sugar, and needed to be from a valuable resource.  Just as I was about to give up, I fell upon Chabad.org and what looked like a good recipe.  It also had several replies and comments of success.  Bingo.  Here we go.

Got home, cleaned up the kitchen, occupied the kids, time to bake, recipe -> Print.  Ok... 5lbs of flour.  POUNDS!?  Wait a second... just how much bread is this going to make????  2oz of fresh yeast.  FRESH YEAST?  Where in the world does one get that?  Can I substitute, all I got is Active Dry and Rapid Rise... oh jeeeze and how does one measure one half of 1/3 cup?  So, last minute scramble with yet another internet search on how to convert this to that and that to this.  And oh yea, Rob I'm getting flour on your mail scale.

Phew.  Ok.  Recipe found, math done, kids still occupied, Karsyn's getting fussy, must act fast, here we go, let's play.  (The original recipe can be found here.)

This current recipe will make a giant loaf of Challah.  If it rises correctly, you will get loaf that should just about fill your cookie sheet it's being baked on.  Double the recipe by making it twice, and you'll get two loafs that size.  Or, you can cut this ball into even smaller  pieces and get 2 small loafs out of it.

Ingredients
     I cut everything from the original recipe in half in order to get it into my Kitchen Aid mixer, and below are those conversions.
 
2.5lbs sifted all-purpose flour
1oz fresh yeast (or .4oz Active Dry yeast) - get a scale, I didn't convert to tsp or T
1T course salt, I didn't have course salt, so I used 1.5T of table salt
2 1/4 cups warm water
1/4+1/8 cup of vegetable oil
1/2+half of 1/3 cups sugar (yea, estimate that half of 1/3)
2.5 egg yolks (this was just about 1/4 cup of yolk)
(keep those egg whites aside for later)

1. No need to dissolve the yeast, we have Active Dry, which means it's going to activate once the water hits it while its rising in your bowl.  Or something like that, I'm no chemist, but I know this works.  It's how the bread machines do it!
2. In the mixer, add in this order:  salt, 2/3 of all the flour, oil, sugar, yolks, water, yeast.
3. Put your mixer on 2 or 3 and let it go for 12 minutes while everything is combined.  You may need to scrape the side at least once.
4. Add the rest of the flour while the mixer is on speed 1, let it incorporate and up speed back to 2 or 3 let the dough come into a ball.  Don't over mix.  Just as it looks like a tangible ball, stop the mixer.
5. Prepare a well greased bowl that is twice the size of your current ball of dough and transfer the dough into that bowl.
6. Cover with saran wrap and let it sit on the counter for 2 to 3 hours so it can rise.  It will double in size.
7. Repeat steps 2-6 if you want to make more dough.

Let it rise.............. 3 hours, what to do with all that time?  Well, you can make dinner, watch the Survivor finale a day late, and put you little one to bed while the dough rises.

Ok, it's risen!

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Spill the dough onto a VERY lightly dusted flour surface.  
3. Separate into 6 pieces and roll into your traditional play-dough snakes.  
4. Line them all up next to one another and start braiding.  Now, I did a weave because that made sense to me.  The website I got the original recipe from tells you how to do the 6 strand braid, but it was all Latin to me so I just guessed.  
5. Braid it all up nice and tight, tuck the ends under, and place it on a greased cookie sheet. 

• Let it sit, 20 minutes.  What to do.... how about all the dishes?  Yep, that worked.  Set the timer, get going.
• Ok, now what?  Oh right, co-worker mentioned his grandmother would fling the chicken around the kitchen over her head.
• No chicken... not happening... now what?

•  Chickens...check.

1. Remember those egg whites? Yeah, give them a good whisk.  Break out that basting brush you never use and slather those egg whites on the dough generously.  Now, the recipe calls for more egg yolks, but really, must we waste more egg whites?  Let's just use them.  Should be the same result.
2. Put the bread on the middle rack of your oven at the pre-heated 400 degrees and set timer for 10 minutes.
3. 10 minutes done, set the oven down to 340 degrees and set timer for 30 minutes.

and wait.....

Ding!!!!  Oven says the bread should be done.  But how do you know it's really done?  Well, another Google search... take it's temp.  Apparently 190 degrees internal temp for bread is the correct doneness.  So, find that meat thermometer you just had to have but never use, and take the temperature of the bread.  190?  good, take it out and let it cool!

 Now, I'm told that there are two GREAT ways to eat Challah.  The first, is you just pull the braided chunks and dive right in, eating in plain.  One variation of this is to serve with a little whipped cream cheese and smoke salmon.  I will be apparently trying both methods tomorrow with my co-workers providing said means of consumption.  The other great way I'm told to eat this... and if this is the case, I just might have to make this again after the holidays when I have another 4 hours of time on my hands... is to make FRENCH TOAST.  Now, if you could smell my kitchen right about now, you'd realize just how AWESOME this idea of french toast out of Challah bread really and truly sounds.

Now... I have yet to take a bite of this bread, so while I'm writing this, I can't tell you how successfull this recipe really is.  So, an update tomorrow I'm sure.  For now, they are cooling and making my kitchen smell divine.

Happy Hanukkah everyone as my timing for baking is just right.

----------------------------------------------------
OK, totally couldn't wait, I just had to pull a chunk from the side as I was wrapping one up....
OH
MY
GOODNESS
I'm never eating real bread again,
ever.

My Goodness, My Greenbeans!

Somehow I made it through Thanksgiving weekend without having to really cook anything.  I did make homemade cranberry sauce, but that's super simple.  And I was left on Monday after the holiday with not a single left-over.  No "Gobbler" sandwich for me!  That just wouldn't do.  I must have turkey leftovers.

So that Sunday I bought myself a turkey.  Hey, they were on sale!  W00t!  But.... after doing the math, a 20lb turkey would not cook in enough time for the day that I had left myself.  Booooo.... Yes, you read that correctly, a 20lb turkey... for 2.5 of us.  It was the smallest Market Basket had...  So... into the freezer the bird went for a few days to be cooked the following Sunday, this past Sunday.

To go with it?  Mashed Yukon Gold potatoes cooked in 50/50 water/chicken stock.  Mashed butternut squash.  Stuffing, inside the bird.  And green beans.  But not just ANY green beans.  Recently, at a holiday meal at work, they had made Green Beans with sliced almonds.  They were awesome!  And during that same week, my mother-in-law made a similar recipe.  They were awesome!  So, now, I must make green beans, with almonds.  Oh no, but I don't stop there.... let's add bacon, and cook them in the bacon grease, with garlic.  Yep, I used bacon grease again!  Does life get any better?  Let's play!

Ingredients:

• Several Handfuls of fresh green beans.  Washed and trimmed.
• 3-4 slices of crispy MAPLE bacon, roughly chopped into bits, you want to be able to see and bite them, not disappear so chop accordingly.
• Small handful of salted, roasted almonds.  I just chopped mine.  Pre-sliced cost more.
• 1 medium clove of garlic, smashed and finally chopped

Time to Cook:

• Have a nice big breakfast that morning, eggs and maple bacon, go head, cook a whole pound.  Set 3 or 4 slices aside and pour out most, but not all of the bacon grease.  You'll want to leave a small slurry on the bottom of the pan.  Keep it as is, set the pan aside until you're ready later that day to make the beans.
• Ready?  Heat your large skillet with the bacon grease still in it on med-high and add the green beans.  Cover.  Adjust temp as necessary.  Cook and toss occasionally until they are at just under your desired firmness.  I like mine to still be crunchy and bright green (more nutrients retained that way)
• Toss in your chopped bacon, garlic and almonds.
• Continue to cook and move around until green beans are at your desired firmness.

Serve.  Sorry there is no picture of this one, but I wasn't sure how it was going to come out.  And voila, who knew, it's amazing!!!  I find that mixing the bacon and almonds into my stuffing if they are sitting next to one another on the plate was very delicious too.

Enjoy!

Chicken Fingers Aren't Just for Kids

Sometimes, even moms want to eat chicken fingers and french fries for dinner.  But the frozen variety that come out of a bag, just not my style.  Well, OK, maybe sometimes when Kassidy hasn't finished all hers, and I'm really hungry.  But regardless, sometimes we just want that chicken finger feel, but as a parent, not the chicken finger experience.

Walking around Market Basket last night, all I had on my mind really was asparagus from yesterday's entry.  And along with that I was hungry for chicken fingers.  How on earth do you combine the two?  Easy, make your own.  So, I grabbed a package of chicken breast, a bundle of asparagus and potatoes.  I took a white russet potato for Rob, and sweet potatoes for me.

This will easily feed a family of 4, or in our case, a family of 3 (an extra piece for mom, and leftover for Kassidy's lunch)

• 3 Chicken breasts, fillet them into strips, much like chicken finger strips.  Make them as long as the breast itself, no more than 1/2 in thick, and no more than 2 inches wide.  From the 3 breasts I think i got 16-18 fingers.
• Place them all into a bowl.
• Add to this bowl 1 beaten egg and enough milk to just cover all the chicken.
• I add in many shakes of Franks Red Hot as well.  Something I picked up from Paula Dean several years ago on the Food Network.  As Kassidy gets older I will be dumping more and more hot sauce in.  Right now, it was really just used as an acidic seasoning.  You don't taste it in the finished product.  But eventually, I'll add enough so you do.  For last night, it was enough to turn the milk/egg mixure into a pink color.
• Let the chicken sit in this and get happy for 20-30 minutes
• Or, for however long its going to take you to prep the asaparagus and potatoes.

• Wash the asparagus, break them, put them into a frying pan, drizzle with oil, salt and pepper.  Don't turn on, that comes later.  Also, while you're waiting for the chicken to get happy, prep your potatoes for french fries.

• Peel skin off the potatoes.  Slice into thin strips that look like french fries.  The thinner you cut them, the less time it takes to cook, just remember that.
• Cover a cookie sheet with tin foil, spray it with cooking spray (so they don't sick) and lay out the fries.  Drizzle with olive oil, generously coat with salt and pepper, get your hands dirty and toss them around.  Pop them into a high broiler and close the door.  Keep a watch on these, you'll want to turn and flip them every so often.  

• OK, back to the chicken.  Time to prep the cooking station.  I use Peanut Oil.  You can use Vegetable, Olive, etc, but I find that Peanut oil for frying gives the most consistent heat and stays a good moderate temperature.  
• You need a sturdy frying pan.  I use a Calphalon 16" skillet, you can also use a well seasoned cast iron pan, or if you're lucky enough to have a deep fryer, you can try them in there too, but this is a pan fried chicken finger recipe.  Results should be the same.
• Pour enough oil into the skillet to give it a good covering.  Let me put it this way, when the chicken is lying it in, the oil should cover just over 1/2 the depth of the chicken.  Remember, you sliced them thin, so 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch of oil in the pan.
• Heat the oil on Med to Med-High heat, depending on your range this could vary.  You'll know the oil is hot enough when 2 things happen:  1.)  you start to see rings in the oil and 2.) if you toss a droplet (and I MEAN A DROPLET) of water into the pan and it POPS.  

• Back to your chicken.  Now, I've fried chicken several times, and I go back and forth between a a flour base and a bread crumb base.  It really depends on what you're in the mood for and what type of meal you're making.  In this instance, I used Italian Seasoned bread crumbs.
• In a separate bowl, sprinkle a good layer of bread crumbs in and place 4 chicken fingers onto the bread crumbs.  Pat down, flip, pat down, give them a good covering.
• Using long handle tongs, GENTLY place 1 finger at a time down into the oil.  We're only going to do 4-8 of these at a time, giving them room to cook, not shocking the oil and keeping things at a nice even temperature.
• Let them sizzle and get happy.  You know they're ready to turn when you can visibly see that the chicken is hardening.  Flip them, move to another side of the pan and place 4 more in.  This way, you're always rotating 4 fingers at a time, optimizing your time and keeping htem all warm so they don't end up at the table cold.
• Hey, did you check the french fries?  Open the oven door, give them a toss.
• If you turn your chicken over and find that it's black, then you either left it in there too long, or your oil is too hot.  Adjust accordingly.  Remember, these are going to continue to cook a little once you remove them from the pan, placing them on a paper towel to soak up the excess oil.
• Keep repeating these steps until all your chicken has been cooked.
• Hey, check your fries!  Toss and check tenderness.
• When you have 8 chicken fingers to go, turn your asparagus on Med-High Heat and cover.
• You're basically steaming these like any other vegetable to an al-dente, still crisp state, but cooked through.  Give them a toss about 1/2 way through cooking.

• All your fingers done?  Good, your fries should be too, remove them from the oven.  Check the asparagus, and remove everything.
• Plate & Serve
• I enjoyed these with a glass of Virginia Pearmund Cellars Viognier.  Kassidy chose chocolate Milk, and husband had water.  Very versatile meal.
• Enjoy!

Your Mom Made WHAT for Dinner?

Today's meal is good "5 ingredient fix" and great for leftovers.  I can take absolutely no credit for this dinner, whatsoever.  This one comes straight from my mother in law. 

Back in the 90's when dating my husband, then boyfriend obviously, we came home to his house one night to his mom cooking this in the kitchen.  Now, my own mom is a great cook and experiments a good amount and I grew up with a decent variety of food.  But when you're introduced to another family, you're introduced to a whole new culinary experience too.  I was also brought up on the philosophy that you eat what is placed in front of you, all of it.  And if you are a guest in the house, you choke it down and compliment it like its the best thing you ever tasted.  Thankfully, I do have a pretty varietal palette and have yet to really come across something I can't choke down.  Example:  I had asparagus the first time ever with my husband's family.  Smothered them in ketchup of course, but ate them nonetheless.  Today, they are a regular vegetable in our house, and I have my mother in law to thank for that.  But this isn't about asparagus.  This particular meal is simply referred to as "that ham, egg and pea thing."

The "ham, egg and pea thing" was boiling away that fateful night when we came home and I wondered just what I was in for.  Chopped up pieces of what appeared to be left over ham, peas (oh God), hard-boiled eggs (hrm) and... some kind of white sauce.... poured over spiral noodles.  Everyone seemed pretty excited they were having this meal, particularly my husband, while my mother in law just matter of factly placed the mixture on the table and we all dug in. 

I proceeded with caution.  Noodles, check.  And this mixure of ham, egg, peas (?!) and sauce over it.  How, on earth, was this going to come together in my mouth and taste good?  If you've ever watched me eat; I'm known to eat the contents of my plate from smallest to largest, one item at a time, and I twist my plate towards what I'm currently consuming.  Yeah, not really an obsessive compulsive, just a quirk.  My sister gets a kick out of it.  Anyhow... I like my foods separate.  Prime example, Thanksgiving dinner.  Each food group gets a corner of the plate all to its own.  And certain foods are actually required to be next to one another. Stuffing must be placed next to potatoes, which must be placed next to turkey, and so on.  As a child I watched my great-grandfather put it all on the plate and then scoop it all into a pile and mix it up.  I think it was this horrifying experience at the tender age of 8, that I now must eat things separate, but equal.  But I digress.  So here are these ingredients which typically would be served scooped on the plate separately, being served to me all on one spoon.  Sitting down, hoping no one sees my trepidation, I take my first bite, and voila, who knew... it's awesome!  I ask, what do you call this?  The answer is just "the ham, egg and pea thing."

I have yet to really play with this recipe, since I find it's pretty perfect.  The combination really needs no added flavor or changes.  While I've often thought about what I could do with it, I hesitate in fear of truly ruining it some night and finding I have a pot full of it, and a husband who won't eat it.  Why mess with something that works?

There is no measuring in this.  Just eyeball how much you need for how many you need to feed and make.

• Leftover cooked ham.  Cut into 1 inch chunks.
• Pasta
• Frozen or leftover peas
• Hard-boiled eggs, sliced
• White Sauce - Milk/Butter/Flower/White Pepper/Mustard Powder

1. Boil water, pour in pasta, about 1/2 way through cooking, add your peas to cook them if frozen, and cook until pasta is just al dente
2. Strain into colander, let sit, return pot to burner on med-high
3. Melt ~6T of butter, sprinkle in white pepper to taste (later you can add more), add ~1/4c flour and a good shake of the mustard powder - keep stirring, don't let it sit, you'll burn it.  cook for a minute or two to make the flour taste go away.. this is a rue
4. Add to the rue, 2 to 2.5 c milk, whisk and keep whisking until it comes to a slight boil and starts to thicken -> White Sauce
5. Turn down to low, keep a watch and stir often
6. Fry up your ham so it's warm
7. Cut your boiled eggs (about 4).  slice and dice, so the pieces are large enough to find, but not giant
8. Put the eggs into the white sauce and whisk up well until all the yolk is dissovled and mixed in
9. Add the ham to the pot
10. Add the pasta/peas to the pot
11. Mix until all items are coated in white sauce
12. Serve

I like mine with a sprinkle of black pepper over the top.
This is something that even my 4 year old picky eating daughter will consume with glee.

Ribs: 300 for 3, yes please!

Every so often, while browsing the meat aisle in the grocery store, a miracle happens; ribs go on sale. 

It is at this point I notice that my cart is already over-flowing and I've gone well past what I "told myself" I was going to spend.  But the chef in me kicks in and throws caution to the wind and I snag up those ribs and toss them on top of the pile.  I'll just close my eyes at the register.  But, they're on SALE I reaffirm myself with, so it's OK!  I get home, toss the receipt aside and put my ribs in the freezer.   Yeah, they're such an impulse buy that I don't have time to make them that night, and probably won't have time the next, or the next after that, so they are stashed in the basement freezer for another week.

The first time I did this, I really had no idea what I was doing.  Ribs.. right, you just cook them, don't you?  So I had slathered them in BBQ sauce and dropped them on a hot grill.  25 minutes later I had "ribs."  Yeah, they were edible, but they weren't mouth watering, finger licking good.  They were sub-par at best and kinda tough.

Every rib eater has their own style of ribs.  Some like 'em dry, some like 'em wet.  Some like 'em to fall off the bone, others want to play T-rex and rip 'em down.

I grew up in a house-hold where all pork was par-boiled first.  What does this mean?  Well, the pork chops were placed in a big pan, filled with water, covered and simmered for about an hour or so.  When they came out, they were shreddable.  Yum, right?  Yeah, well, I love my mom, she's a GREAT cook, but pork in our house, was a night of pure misery for my sister and me.  That's all we got on those chops, no flavor.  You got a spoonful of applesauce, while she delightfully covered hers in saurkrap (aka sauerkraut), I shudder today at the thought of saurkrap.  My sister and I went through almost a whole jar of applesauce to choke those chops down, and I can remember sitting at the table for hours trying to get the chops down with milk in my glass.  My mom's a great cook, but this is very German, and it's how her mother did it, and her mother before that.  Not.. my... style. 

So then, my next introduction to pork chops was actually through my husband, then boyfriend.  Fast forward to college, where he's cooking for himself.  He would skillet fry his, with salt and pepper and other things.  This would result in a tougher piece of pork, yet flavorful.  So, experimentation began once we were married and I have found a happy medium between these two methods for pork chops that allows them to tenderize but not shred, and also have a massive amount of flavor.  They key, is the CUT.  I tend to now purchase more dark meat pork than white and I've changed up my cooking methods.  But I digress, we're talking about ribs, not chops.  Chops is another blog for another time.

I like my ribs to be tender and fall off in pieces, but still be chewable enough you have to rip them from the bone.  Here's how I accomplish that.  Let's play.

Like any meat, you want ribs that have some fat on them.  That's what makes them juicy and keeps them that way.  So, select your rack, large or small, doesn't matter, the timing is all the same.

I like to give mine a nice rub down and let them marinate all day.  I use a dry rub.  I vary this rub from time to time and use store bought this or store bought that.  Emeril's line of seasonings make a good Southern style spice rub.  Right now I'm actually using a rib rub I purchased at an Amish Country Store in Branson, MO.  I like my rib rub spicy, and then I slather it in sweet BBQ, so your end result is a sweet lips and a zesty tongue.  So give your ribs a good rub (you did remember to defrost them in the fridge overnight, right?), massage those spices right in.  Get your hands dirty and rub that rub right into every crevice of those ribs.  Place on a plate and cover with plastic wrap.  Let them sit from morning until afternoon in the fridge.  Take them out 3 hours before you want to eat.  That's your cooking time.  Hey, I never said this was a quick one!

• Pre-heat your oven to just 300 degrees
• You're going to need a roasting pan, with a lid.  If you don't have a roaster with a lid, use a deep baking dish, and heavy duty tin foil that you can press on tight and seal really well, let no steam out.
• I prefer to lay my ribs on a rack inside the pan so they're not touching the bottom.  Not required.  So remove your ribs from the fridge and place them into your pan
• Cover, put into oven.  Set timer for 2.5 hours.  They're actually going to be in there for a full 3 hours, but 2.5 will remind you that you have to make sides and start finishing the rest of dinner.  If you're doing these not as dinner, then set for 3 hours.

Ok, now you wait and let the oven and rib rub work their magic.  Go make a cocktail, or have a beer.

When the ribs are done, take them out of the oven.  If you like them dry, let them sit for about 15 minutes for the juices to redistribute.  Slice them up, and serve.  If you used a spicy rub, oooohhh yum, look out!

If you like them wet, fire up your grill.  Get the grill going at about the same 300-350 degrees.  Grab your favorite BBQ sauce.  Put ribs down on grill top up, slather in your BBQ sauce.  Close the lid, let them sit 10-15 minutes.  Turn, slather with more sauce.  Let sit 10-15 minutes.  Turn, slather with more sauce, let sit 10 minutes.  Remove from grill.  Let them sit on your cutting board for another 10 minutes to let the juices redistribute.  Slice them up, and serve.

Hey, I NEVER said this was a quick recipe.  Yes, total cooking time is just about 4 hours from the time you put them into the oven to when you can put them on your plate.

And you know, I'm pretty sure if you opt out of the oven, you could put them in the slow cooker/crock pot on Low for 4 hours and they'd be just as good, for those of you who enjoy using your crock pot.  And no grill?  No problem, place them back in your pan, no lid and turn on the broiler on high.

AND, this recipe works for both PORK and BEEF ribs.  Beef ribs come out AMAZING this way.
My sides were peas and garlic/cheesy mashed potatoes.  Also good are home made steak fries.  Hmm.. yet another blog.

Got Dough? Make stromboli!

Tuesday night was pizza night in our house this past week.  I took dough out of the freezer, was all excited that I already had the necessary ingredients and was feeling ready to go.  It was 4:30, the dough should be defrosted by 6:30/7:00, this was great.  WRONG.  Pizza dough does not defrost in just 2 hours.  By the time Rob got home and we decided what to do, the dough balls were still frozen solid.  So the great husband that he is, he went to the grocery store and bought two fresh balls for pizza night.

This however, left me with 2 extra balls of dough and what to do with them....Didn't have time to do anything Wednesday night and who really wants pizza two nights in a row?  There was no time on Thursday, and Friday we went to the Topsfield Fair.  So there the balls of dough sat in my fridge exploding inside their bag they were rising so much.

Well, conveniently Saturday night, I had invited neighbors over for food and drinks, so it was time to play.  I've been craving an Italian Sub recently, so I thought an Italian cold cuts calzone or stromboli would fit the bill, just right.  But I've never actually made one.  Can't be too hard, roll up the meats, add some cheese, bake it, slice it.  Alright, let's play.

Ingredients: (makes 2)

• Mortadella - 1/2 pound sliced
• Salami - 1/2 pound sliced
• Hot Capicola - 1/2 pound sliced
• Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• Now, I opted for Mozzarella because it's the cheesiest and I like things to be ooey and gooey.  My husband also prefers this cheese.  If I were making this for just me, I would be using sliced of provolone, since that's what really goes into an Italian sub.
• And of course, dough, 2 balls

Let's Play:

• Preheat oven to 475 degrees, place rack in center
• Roll out the dough, using flour so it doesn't stick.  You want it in a rectangle shape.  I made mine probably 12" x 18" - didn't really measure it, just guessing.
• Once rolled out start with the mortadella, lay it out, one slice on the other the long way, use half of your stash
• Then layer on the salami, i do a double row so it's the same width as the mortadella
• Then layer on the capicola
• Top it with some mozzarella cheese.
• Fold the left and right sides of the dough in on top of the meat
• This will prevent the cheese from seeping out the sides.  It should all start to look like this:

 

• Start at the bottom and now roll it, like you would a swiss roll.
• Once rolled, place it on a cookie sheet, or a pizza pan, that you've lightly dusted with corn meal so it doesn't stick.
• Repeat this and make a 2nd one. (providing you purchased ingredients enough)
• Place them in the oven for 10 minutes.  At 10 minutes, watch them to make sure they're not burning too much.  Start to gauge whether you "think they are done" - and just cook them maybe 2 minutes longer if you don't believe it's cooked through.

Sauce:

• While the stromboli is cooking there for 10 minutes  you may find yourself bored, so make this quick dipping sauce for them.
• 4oz can of plain tomato sauce
• Dump into a small sauce pan
• Add to it - garlic salt, basil, oregano - be generous here, it's a  flavorful sauce so you want them to really come through. 
• Bring to simmer and let simmer for the 10 minutes.  Taste, if not flavorful enough, add more Basil and garlic salt.

Slice the stromboli with a serrated  knife, not pressing down too hard, let the knife do its cutting.
Put sauce in a bowl, place stromboli around the bowl on your plate.
This makes a great appetizer for a party, it even makes a good meal if it's just 4 of you.

Peking Ravioli Cravings

So, last week was my sister's birthday.  Happy Birthday 'lil 'sis!  We celebrated at my parents' house yesterday.  Tradition states you get whatever you want for dinner.  She chose Lasagna.  My mom makes THE BEST.  I've played around with her recipe, I've made her recipe exact, I still can't duplicate it.  I make a mean lasagna, but hers wins hands down every time. 

Anyhow, 'sis asked for appetizers, etc.  That was my job.  I never know what I'm going to make until I start at the grocery store.  I was planing on making some kind of Italian sausage dumpling/pot sticker.  I made these spinach/garlic/mushroom ones once that were to die for and now that I know how to use Wonton Wrappers, I think that everything... let me repeat,  EVERYTHING should be wrapped in wonton and fried/sauteed/steamed in them.  But as I walked around the store I remembered the Lean Cuisine commercials I've seen lately, they make a Peking ravioli.  And I've been craving Peking Ravioli.  So I thought to myself... "self, you can do that!"  So I whipped out the iPhone did a quick Google search, looked at one recipe to find out what kind of meat went in Peking ravioli, and what spices.  Retrieved said ingredients and went to my parents' house and proceeded to cook, from memory of aforementioned" recipe".  Partly becauseI couldn't find it again, and partly because it's more challenging and fun to just toss things into a pan!
 

The ingredients are basic enough, I know what it's supposed to taste like, I'm just going to toss stuff in and play.

Ingredients:

• 1lb of ground pork (PORK!  Who knew!  I had no idea that Peking ravioli was pork)
• Sesame Oil
• Soy Sauce
• Fresh Ginger root (get the tiniest piece you can find, mine cost just 3cents!  if you can't get a little one, it DOES freeze)
• Fresh Garlic, 1 clove
• Scallions (fresh, not dried)
• 1 package of Wonton Wrappers - found in the cold aisle near the veggies, usually near bagged salad and sprouts

Now before I continue, I should state, that this isn't going to be REAL Peking Ravioli like what you get if you were to order Chinese food, but it's a damn fine substitute!  Also, these can be done 2 ways, I'll give you exactly how I made them yesterday, and then give you the slightly longer and more delicate way of how they probably should have been done as options at the end.

Steps:

• Making the Meat
• About 1/4 cup of scallions, finely chopped across the board
• 1 garlic clove, smashed and chopped into a fine "mush" so you have approx. 1T
•  1 piece of ginger, the diameter of a quarter and at a 1 centimeter thickness, sliced, smashed and chopped into a fine "mush" so you also have about 1-2T
• Non-Stick frying pan, large enough for your ground pork.
• Drizzle generously with the sesame oil, this isn't for non-stick purposes, it's for flavor infusing
• Drizzle even more generously with soy sauce
• combined, if you NEED to measure, you want the soy sauce AND sesame oil to both add up together to about 1/4 cup
• Add the pork, add the scallions, add the ginger, add the garlic
• Take a wooden spoon and start mashing and stirring all ingredients together
• Turn on Med-High Heat and fry up until cooked through, remove from heat and put aside so it can cool enough that your fingers can touch the meat without burning you.
• Making the Ravioli
• You need a small bowl of water to wet your finger with for the wontons
• Now, some might call these pot-stickers, some might call them dumplings, others ravioli.  Whatever you want to call them, they were yummy and this recipe worked.
• Prep a cookie sheet by spraying it with cooking spray, this is just an area where you can put your prepped ravioli before cooking them. The spray prevents them from sticking.
• Lay out your wontons.  I do 6 at a time.
• Put small amount of meat mixture in the center of the wonton.  Not so little that you hardly have any meat, but also not too much that you can't close and seal it.  It'll take you a couple to get the right amount and then you'll start cruising through them.
• Wet your finger and moisten 1/2 the border of the wonton.  If it's a square (usually is) then moisten just 2 sides of it, finger width. 
• Fold over the dry side onto the wet and press them together really well to seal them up
• You can leave them like this in the triangle shape or you can fold the corners back or around, or whatever.  I fold the corners back to make it look like a house with flaps.
• Anyhow, work through and finish off the pack, or the pork, whichever comes first.
• Pan Frying:
• Non-stick pan - generous drizzle of sesame oil - heat up nice and hot
• Start placing your ravioli into the pan one at a time and fill the pan, but don't fill it so much that they can't breathe and you can't get a spatula in there, you need to be able to turn them
• This is going to be a look and feel thing, you need to keep watching them.  Let them saute in the pan until golden brown on both sides.
• Once golden brown, take them out and put aside, do another batch, and repeat until they're all cooked.
• Sauce:
• I did not make my own sauce.  Next time.  
• The "Ethnic Foods" aisle actually had a "pot sticker dipping sauce" so I grabbd that.  Otherwise, I believe that Soy Sauce, Scallions, Hoison Sauce and Dark Rice Vinegar in some combo make up this sauce.  
• I did however quickly chop a few scallions and toss them into the store bought sauce.
• Put everything on a plate and serve.  Be sure you put a few aside for yourself, because as soon as you drop them to the table, they're going to disappear!!

Optional Cooking Method:
I pan fried mine because I wanted them quick, and I wanted to make sure this first time around that the pork was definitely cooked through.

• Option 1:  Rather than fry up the ground pork, put it in a bowl and mix the ingredients in like you would for meatloaf or meatballs.  Place raw meat onto wrappers and seal up.  When you seal the wontons for these, make sure there are no holes or tears, or I believe this doesn't work.  Boil water.  Drop them into the boiling water and let cook.  When they're done and cooked through, THEN pan fry them for color.
• Option 2:  Prep the raw meat the same way as option 1, but rather than boil, prep a double boiler and steam them.  Once cooked through via steam, THEN pan fry them for color.

Orange Paradise

I don't just play with food.  I can often be found "behind a bar" mixing drinks.  Several years ago I took a bar tending class.  The hope was to pick up a few night shifts during the week and make some extra cash.  However, they all required Friday and Saturdays and I didn't want to commit to those full time.  I did however spend a few nights and Fiesta weekend behind the bar at Valentino's last summer.  That was a lot of fun.

I'm at work, so this is a quicky update and it's a SUPER easy recipe.  I'm sitting here thinking it would be nice to have one of these right about now.  "Why are you thinking about drinking at work Jenn?" - have you seen what I do on a daily basis?  I need a drink today.

Anyhow, I did make this last night and tossed it together with whatever I had at home.
This is a mix in the glass drink, it's that quick.

Apple, Kiwi, Strawberry Juice - pretty sure it was Langer's brand
Bicardi O - this is an Orange Rum


Pour 1 shot of the run into the bottom of your martini glass
Fill the rest of the way with Juice.
Drink.

Optional:  rim the glass with margarita sugar, drop an orange slice into the bottom

Caution:  You can't taste the rum and this goes down fast.  For a stronger drink, add more rum to taste.

Cheers!

Quick & Dirty Cod or Haddock

Fish night is usually a last minute "I'm hungry for fish" kind of evening that causes me to run to the store after work and specifically pick up fish.  I never really plan it.  So by the time I get home, it needs to be done quick, and flavorful. I love fish, and I never seem to buy enough of it the night I make it.  I could eat a whole plateful, forget about sides.  Fish is also healthy, (depending on how you prep and serve) and I try to keep it that way for the most part, that way I can afford to eat MORE of it.  It's also one of the few meats that Kassidy will devour and ask for more of.

I prefer cod, Rob prefers haddock. I make them exactly the same.  The fish itself is really the only difference.  Cod is more dense than haddock and haddock tends to flake when cooked.  I like my meat tender so I'll tell you to pull it from the oven when it's just barely done, leave it in the pan for about 5 and it'll continue to cook to perfection.  Ingredients, you should already have stocked.  So here we go.

Purchasing Fish:

• If you're buying a white fish, you want the fish to be white, not yellow, and not of a mealy looking texture.  It should be vibrant and actually smell like fish.
• If you're buying tuna, you want it bright red.  If it looks pale in color or kinda "limp" let it go, it's been out too long or not fresh.
• If  you're buying salmon, same thing, you want it a nice bright orange/pink and should smell like tuna.
• Haddock, usually comes in a fillet, 2-3 fillets will give you a pound of fish, give or take.
• Cod, can come in a fillet, same as haddock.  But can also come in what's called the captain's cut, which is the larger meatier part of the fillet.  Personal preference.  I like more bang for my buck and just get the whole fillet.

Prepping the Fish:

• Give it a quick rinse under cold water.  Use a paper towel and pat it dry.
• I have a pair of tweezers just for this purpose that I keep in my kitchen utility drawer.  Rub your hand along the top of the fillet and feel for bones.  The fish monger doesn't always get them all.
• Locate the bone, squeeze it and rip it out in the direction that the bone is leaning.
• Turn the fillets over so that what would be skin side is facing up, salt and pepper, sprinkle high, coats evenly.  

 Into the pan:

• I use a clear glass Pyrex baking dish
• Arrange the fillets in the pan.  Turn the thin ends under doubling the thickness. You want the fish to cook evenly throughout so one end is not dry while the other is perfect.
• Sprinkle again with salt and pepper
• Now we play... get ready to get dirty
• sprinkle with paprika, not tooooo much, but a good shake on each fillet.  Rub it in.  Give that fish a nice red massage.  Get into the crevices and turn it pink.
• Give each fillet a quick squeeze of lemon juice, give it a good massage...
• Quick drizzle of olive oil over each fillet, rub it in.  Give it a good massage again, this will help give it a tan crispy top.
• Now, you could stop here and toss them into the oven....
• But why stop, when you could add bread crumbs?  I use Italian seasoning blend.  Coat them evening on top and again, pat it down and rub them on.

Baking:

• I like my fish broiled.  As a mom of now 2, dinner needs to be done in less than 30 minutes.  Turn your oven broil on High.  Put on center rack.  Close the door (yeah, I know, you're not "supposed" to when you broil, but this works, trust me.
• Set your timer.  This should only take 8-12 minutes.  Yes, you heard me... 12 minutes to make yummy, fish.
• When the timer goes of at 8 minutes, check it.  Open the flakey crevices a little bit, do they still look translucent and raw?  Put them back in for another 2 minutes, repeat.
• When the flake pieces start to separate from one another, the fish is done, pull it immediately.
• Let it rest, like any other meat for 5-10 minutes.

 I serve this typically with Beats (for me, since Rob doesn't like them and Kass is touch and go), "some kind of green vegetable" and pan fried potatoes. (yep, another recipe for another blog)

Five Guys Leftover Fries - Take 'em Camping!

While "Five Guys" restaurant may not be the classiest joint in town, it certainly has the BEST burger, and who can go wrong with potatoes fried in peanut oil?  I find myself in this joint from time to time with close work guys.  Yep, we drive 30 minutes out of Ipswich, MA all the way to Gloucester, MA to chow down on burger and fries, just to drive 30 minutes back to Ipswich.  Yeah, it takes longer than a one hour lunch, but this place is so good, it's a "manager approved" trip, and he's been known to join us for this 1 hour 20 minute excursion.

The burger, that's a blog in itself.  Let's just say you can order it loaded with just about any topping you can think of and while you're eating it, you feel as if you should be in a corner having "private time" as you sink your teeth and wrap your lips around it's bun.  Yeah, it's that good.  And unless you've brought your appetite, don't bother ordering a large fry, 'cause just a small will do ya.  You order a small, you get an 8oz paper cup of fries, but wait, there's more.  They put the burger in the bottom of your bag, place your cup 'o fries in next to it, and then proceed to dump in another generous heaping amount of fries into the bag.  By the time this bag gets back to your table for consumption, it's soaked in peanut oil and oozing with yummy goodness.

So yeah, you're going to have too many fries.  But what to do with them?
My solution, toss 'em in bacon fat and make them into something else! 
So here's my play with leftover fries, more specifically, leftover Five Guys fries -> Home Fries
I can't get enough breakfast when I go camping. It's (one of) the best things about camping.  I can eat as much bacon, sausage, pancakes, eggs and syrup I want since... well, just why the hell not?  And with that, let's add Home Fries.  Typically, I slice up fresh potatoes, pan fry them and go.  (another recipe I created, for another time).  But today, here's how simple leftover Five Guys french fries can be made into home fries.

This of course, is assuming that with breakfast, you have already fried up bacon.  You need bacon.  This is key.  Breakfast isn't complete without bacon... so go get  yourself a pound and fry it up.  When it's done, DON'T dump that bacon greasy goodness down the drain (you shouldn't anyhow, it plugs it up) - leave at least 1/2 of it in the pan and proceed from here.

1. Remove Fries from Fridge
2. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3. Toss them into your hot pan of bacon grease
4. Generously douse in salt and pepper
5. Add onion powder and garlic powder (sprinkle high and coat evenly, but don't over do it)
6. Toss around and fry up until the fries are crispy and warm.

Serve.  And DON'T even THINK of putting ketchup on them.  They don't need it.

Chicken Soup - Have a Bowl

The last few blogs have been within a 24 hour period of me actually cooking the food that I've described and provided the steps for.  Today however, I was inspired by Rob bringing chicken thighs home last night to cook up so he could have chicken salad.  It reminded me about my home-made chicken soup.  Which, is probably how I got started with playing around with recipes.  I mean, it's soup, throw stuff into a pot, cook it, call it done.

This recipe makes soup for an army.  I mean really, you can't make soup for just one, let alone two, or even four.  You make stock, and you make STOCK.  I came about this recipe several years ago after realizing that I had a lot of chicken left over after making a roast and just wasn't sure what to do with it.  So, this is really a "left over meal."  But, you could make fresh, it's just  more work the night you make it, that's all.

This recipe has gone through a few changes over the years as well.  This is the best part about playing with food.  It started out as just plain old chicken soup.  Then I realized that I "could" add noodles and made chicken noodle soup.  Few years later I was reminded of this chicken and corn chowder that I used to get growing up.  My father was in the Boy Scouts of America, and they had this dinner every year and "this guy" (hey, I was like 8, how am I supposed to remember what the dinner was for and who the guy was?) and he made GREAT chicken and corn chowder WITH dumplings.  Now, I have not yet added dumplings to this soup, but it's an option to consider later down the road.  What I really did with this soup was make it taste like my great grandfather Pappy Bro and Grammy Ester's soup.  THEY made an awesome chicken and corn chowder.  Odd thing is, I can only remember having it once or twice.  But I have memories of it nonetheless.  And I put noodles in mine, they didn't.

So, while I call this "chicken soup" it's probably more appropriate to call it "Chicken Chowder Noodle Soup" since that's what goes in it and how it comes out.  Get ready to feast and let's play.

Pre-Ingredients:

• You will need an already roasted chicken carcass.  You can use a leftover that you recently made or simply go get a rotisserie from your local supermarket.
• Make sure that it's scraped clean of the meat and set the meat aside in a bowl or bag.  If you don't get all of it, don't worry about it, that just adds extra flavor and the 4 hour boil you're about to put it through will help it come off the bone later. 
• Chicken - you can use your leftovers, or you can bake up more parts and use those, and/or saute up a bunch of chicken breasts, add the meat from here to that bowl/bag from above.

Stock:

• Of course I make my own stock!  It's EASY
• You'll need:  Olive oil, Carrots, Celery, Onion, Salt, Pepper, Your chicken carcass, Water
• Get a giant pot.  How big?  Well, how much soup do you want to make and how big is your chicken?  Yep, that big.
• Give the bottom a quick splash of the olive oil, covers about 1/2
• Add your carrots, celery and onion - these have been roughly chopped, looks don't matter, we're going to toss them later
• heat them up and stir them around until they are just "squishy" and the bottom of the pan is mildly brown
• Toss a little water in and deglaze (we've covered this, it means srape the brown off the bottom)
• Add the chicken carcass
• Pour water into the pot until it's about 2 inches over the carcass
• Generously salt and pepper
• Cover, bring to a boil, turn down and simmer it for about 3 hours
• Every once in a while, open the lid and skim off the white frothy fat with a spoon
• After 3 hours, turn it off.  Time to strain it.  KEEP the stock, toss the rest.
• Put your stock aside in another container, we're going to reuse the pot (don't clean it) for the soup

Soup's On

• Carrots, chopped nicely
• Celery, chopped nicely
• Onion, chopped fine (not a fan of huge pieces in my soup, but love the flavor)
• So, this combination is known as Mirepoix - hence forth to be called "The Holy Trinity" of soups
• OK, back to our pot, olive oil again, toss in the Holy Trinity and saute until soft
• Pour in the stock over the top and bring to a high simmer, not quite full boil
• Add more vegetables!!
• You can use frozen veggies, which I usually do, or you can use fresh
• Corn, Green Beans, Peas, more Carrots
• Locate the chicken meat that you placed aside from pre-ingredients
• Shred or chop this up to bite size pieces
• Add it to the pot
• Keep the temp so that the soup is still at a good simmer
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• I tend to under salt, allowing the consumers to salt their bowl to taste
• Right now, you have CHICKEN SOUP  

• Add Noodles:  optional
• I like egg noodles personally
• Now, you have CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

• Time to thicken things up a bit, get the soup to a rolling boil
• If you need this to be gluten free, use cornstarch, if you don't care, use flour
• Mix up 2oz of flour/cornstarch to 8oz of water and shake/whip until combined
• While the soup is at a rolling boil, start to slowly pour the thickener into the pot, keep stirring at all time so you don't get lumps.
• Pour about 1/2 the slurry in, let bubble and thicken.  Want it thicker?  Add more slurry.
• Now you have CHICKEN CHOWDER NOODLE SOUP

I like to serve this with a  nice crusty piece of bread.  You might choose Italian or even French.  It's GREAT for dipping into.

Whatever you don't consume that night, you can freeze.  This soup freezes really well.

I'm overdue to make this.  Hrm.  Now I'm hungry.  Anyhow, enjoy and happy souping!

Chinese at Home

So, I crave Chinese food on a fairly regular basis.  I think they put something it in that tells your brain "In four to seven days, you will want me again."

To entertain, I think yet another football night Rob had a buddy coming over several years ago, I looked up how to make "Chinese food."  What kind of Chinese food, isn't that hard?  Well yes and no.  Don't you need a wok?  Nope!  And to be more specific I had certain dishes in mind that I researched, not just "chinese food."  I have found that most of the recipes I review aren't that complicated, they just require a lot of ingredients and a well stocked pantry for said ingredients, which can get costly.  But, you can cheat your way through some of them and not always have to include every single ingredient and still satiate the pallete. 

One of my cheats is "red meat" as my daughter calls it (aka Boneless Spareribs).  Check your local grocery store in the ethic foods aisle and locate "Ah-so" sauce.  That's all it takes.  Find your favorite cut of pork, slice it up, drown it in Ah-So and bake.  If you let it marinate overnight, it's WAY better, but just tossing it around and throwing it into the oven works too.  I broil mine in a Pyrex clear dish until they look "done."

 So, I did this Tuesday night but needed a side dish.  Duh, fried rice.  Doesn't every single Chinese food meal come with Fried Rice?  And what could I do to it so I wouldn't have to make an extra vegetable.  Pork was a toss and cook.  I can take a little time to make a good rice.  Compared a few recipes, left some ingredients out, and produced the following:

Ingredients:

• 2c uncooked rice – cook it according to package directions (makes 4 cups cooked, give or take)
• Handful of bean sprouts
• now, when I say a "handful", it means, as much as you think should go in there
• Handful of Frozen peas
• Handful of Frozen diced carrots
• 1 egg, scrambled raw in bowl
• Mini pre-cooked tiny frozen shrimp, thawed or frozen, i started frozen, I was in a rush
• Oyster sauce
• Soy sauce
• Sesame oil

And away you go, start playing:

• Heat skillet/wok/sturdy non-stick frying pan really really hot
• Add sesame oil, get it hot
• Add the shrimp – stand back!
• Toss around until heated nicely, takes like 1 minute
• Add the carrots, peas and bean sprouts
• Add oyster sauce
• probably about a 1/4 cup, I don't really know, I just tossed some in until it looked good and tasted nice
• Add soy sauce, to taste, but not more than a few tablespoons
• you don’t want it to taste like soy, unless you like that
• Toss around, keep moving until veggies cooked through
• Make a hole in the veggies so you have the center of the pan clear
• Add the egg, let sit to cook, chop it around, stir into rest of veggies
• Add rice and toss
• KEEP THINGS MOVING AT ALL TIMES

I Could Eat a Whole Bag of Mozzarella Cheese

It's pizza night at our house.  For a while we were doing every Thursday.  Changing things up now due to scheduling conflicts on Thursdays.  I grew up in a household where mom cooked dinner every night.  But dad, dad could make pizza.  And THAT was awesome.  We (my sister and I) would stand about the kitchen as he pulled and prodded and tossed and turned.  Sauce would flow and the mozzarella cheese was endless.  It would come out of the oven all hot and ooey gooey.  Many a tongue was burnt since we dove right in anxious to get the first bite of cheesy goodness.

Now that I have a household of my own, I pass this tradition down.  Kassidy doesn't like sauce.  No pizza sauce, no spaghetti sauce.  A blog for another time.  So, the solution was to make pizza rather than buy it.  But isn't pizza hard to make?  You ask.  But what about the dough?  You ask.  This my friends is pizza in 15 minutes or less.  By no means gourmet, but hey, let's play!  And for you parents out there, this is a great way to get the kids involved!  They can help at ever single step.

• Pre-heat your oven to 475 degrees, NOW, do not put the pizza in until it's 475
• Pizza dough - where can you get this?  Well, your local grocery store of course.  You didn't know that?  Yep, usually in the deli section "somewhere" - and most places do regular "white" dough, as well as wheat options.  I like the wheat, it tends to crisp up more.  But we usually just do the white.
• Now, if you want this dinner to take more preparation and longer than 15 minutes, this is where you can divert from the recipe.  Dough, cold, directly out of the store bag will work, just fine.  It makes a "heavy" crust, you can get it crisp.  But if you like a light and fluffy crust, you'll want to let this sit out for a bit.  Get a bowl, spray it with your cooking spray of choice, place the dough in, turn it once to coat both sides, cover it with a towel, and let it sit.  On the counter.  Don't worry, it's going to be fine.
• Ok, so we got the dough.  Give it a good splash of flour so it's got a light dusting on all surfaces.  Stretch it, toss it, roll it out.  Have fun.  Get it into a circle if you have circle pans, put it in a rectangle for cookie sheets.  I use 14" round pans I got at a certain W-mart store for $12 each.  LOVE them.  Before you put the dough on, give it a few shakes of corn meal.  Don't have cornmeal, give it a light dusting of flour.
• With the dough on the pan, move onto sauce.  I use plain old, no ingredients, store brand tomato sauce.  Small can, what is that like 4oz?  Spoon it out in the quantity you desire.
• Now, we play.  Spices!  Think ITALIAN. - Basil, Oregano, Parsley, Onion Powder, Garlic Salt - sprinkle high for even coating.  (Kids LOVE doing this)
• Cheese... Oh Cheese, how do I love thee, let me count the ways...... Mozzarella and lots of it.  I load it on.  You'd think I was having cheese with some dough rather than dough with cheese.  Oh yes, the ooey-ist and gooey-ist.  Often, I find that adding some cheddar, monterrey jack, provolone, parmessan... oh yes, cheese, I love you.  {drooooool}  Anyhow, load your cheese on.
• Toppings!  Time to play again.  Load it up.  Broccoli, pepperoni, mushrooms, chicken, pineapple, ham, linguini, peppers/onions... a blog for another time again... but choose your favorite and put it on.
• Oven - remember do NOT put it in if the oven isn't full 475 degrees.
• 10 minutes, don't open the door until the buzzer goes off.  And even then, don't open it, turn the light on and look at it.  Did the dough rise? Is it a golden brown color?  No?  Give it just 2 more minutes?  How about now?  no?  1 minute.  Keep watching it and pull when you think it's done.
• Cutting board, pizza slicer, put the slices back on the hot pan to keep them warm.
• Add your favorite cold beverage to a glass.
• Yum.
  
  This is our 1/2 cheese no sauce, 1/2 mushroom extra cheese pizza from tonight.

Vegetarian Chili

It's Football Season!!!  Whohooo!!!  Nachos, Buffalo Wings, Chili, Dip, Chips, bar food gallore!
Patriot's opening night Monday Night Football was this week.

Now to be perfectly clear, since my husband will read this.. yes, I like football, I enjoy watching it.  However, I'm no stats guru.   I don't know all the rules, I don't know all the players.  I was in a fantasy football league once, that was fun.  I fall asleep by half-time.  But the concept of football, yeah I'm down with that.  Besides, I work in a department full of guys, I need something to talk about.
 
But this is a blog about food, so here we go.
Typical Menu, nachos, drowned in cheese, topped with taco meat, sliced jalepenos, gobs of sour cream and beer on the side.  In the mood for more spice, I'll toss a bag of frozen buffalo wings into the oven.  Hey, a working mom can't do it all.  Besides, I spend my time making the nachos, those are my favorite anyways.

But wait... people are coming over.  Someone's a vegetarian.   I can't make nachos without taco meat, that's just not right.  I'll skip the machos nachos. What to do... what to do?  Vegetarian chili, sounds good.  But how do you make chili without meat?  And what actually GOES INTO vegetarian chili?

So this is how I play it.  Ask around.  Who's got a good recipe?  No answers really.  Pulled up my favorite search engine, "vegetarian chili" -> the results are endless... how exciting.  I don't print a single one out.  Why?  Because it's chili, who needs a recipe for chili?  Just toss things into a pot and cook it!  But, I'm curious what others put in it.  So I take a little bit of this, and a little bit of that.  And voila!  Results below.

-    1 large yellow onion – chopped
-    Drizzle bottom of pot with olive oil to coat bottom, toss in onion, heavily salt/pepper
-    Saute over medium heat until onions are golden brown and there are crustys on the bottom of the pan.
-    Deglaze with liquid of choice.  I used water because I didn’t know my audience, but would have used perhaps a red wine or even a sherry

Jenn, stop.. what do you mean "deglaze" - well, pour the liquid in, use your WOODEN spoon to scrape the yummy crusty stuff off the bottom, that's not burning, that FLAVOR!  Professional cooks, I believe call this "fond" - well, if it's black and starting to smoke and smells bad, then it's burning.  But a good dark brown before that, that folks is yummy goodness.

-    (if you want to turn this into a meat lovers chili, add 1lb of ground beef or ground turkey at this point and sauté until no red left – deglaze pan when done)
-    1 large green bell pepper, 1 large red bell pepper, 4 stalks of celery – chopped, bite size pieces
-    Toss into pot and continue to sauté until there are crustys on the bottom of the pan
-    Deglaze with liquid of choice.
-    3 or 4 carrots, chopped to bit size pieces, toss into pan.
-    ½ to whole jalepeno pepper finely chopped (I take out the white veins, not so spicey that way, leave on if you want it spicier)
-    Continue to sauté until carrots are mildly soft.
-    Put in one 8oz can of tomato puree, deglaze pan if you got more crustys.
-    Put in one 16oz can of chopped tomoatoes
-    Fill ½ of the 8oz tomato can with water and put that in
-    Toss in one 8oz can of (rinsed) black eyed peas
-    Toss in one 8oz can of (rinsed) kidney beans
-    Toss in one 8oz can of (rinsed) cannellini beans
-    (optional) Toss in one 8oz can of (rinsed) black beans
-    Toss in a bunch of frozen corn
-    Chili Powder – to taste, I like just a little zing on the tongue when cooking for a crowd and this results in about 2T of powder, or the way I measure, cup your hand and fill the center.  Add more if you like it hot.
-    Turn heat up, bring to boil, turn heat to Med-Low simmer
-    Serve with shredded cheese of choice and a tab of sour cream in the middle
-    Serves 6-8 depending on your bowl size