Brie Will Have a Good Time

This holiday season has been one of "what's in my pantry" toss stuff together food. Because with three kids, a full time job, and the holidays, who has time for much else?  As it is, my 10 year old made the Christmas cookies this year. Two amazing batches of chocolate chip!  But every so often I get a craving for something particular.  A friend of mine recently brought Brie and pears on toothpicks to a party. I swear I ate half the tray. I love Brie... Love it.  So of course I've been craving more.  And as I wandered around the over crowded grocery store the other day, it dawned on me I should do a baked Brie for a Christmas meal we attended last night.

Now, baked Brie is pretty basic. It's Brie. Baked until gooey.  And after much searching of the Internet, I found recipes to be fairly basic. Bake the Brie, drizzle honey, maybe some nuts.  But I was looking for more. So I wandered around the jammed grocery store looking for inspiration. Besides, the more time I wasted maybe the lines would get shorter? (Did not happen)

Roaming from aisle to aisle, throwing more things into my cart than I came in for to begin with, I rounded he dried fruit section and saw dates.  I haven't had dates in many years. I love dates. Dates are sweet. Dates have a great reference to one of my favorite movies Indian Jones. Dates... Yes dates! And other dried fruit! And that's how this recipe came to be. All the dried fruit I could think, and of course that "drizzle" of honey. Oh this was gonna be great. Let's play!

Ingredients

• Small wheel Brie
• Dried sweet dates
• Dried apricots
• Craisins
• Dried pomegranates
• Golden raisins
• Honey (I chose a Brazilian raw honey, only because I did not have a local honey in stock)
• Green apples

Steps

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. Unwrap the Brie and place into oven safe bake wear or parchment lined baking sheet 
3. Cut four slices in top of Brie
4. Set aside until oven is warmed to temp 
5. Meanwhile...
6. Chop the dates, and apricots to be the same size as raisins, craisins, pomegranates.
7. How many of them Jenn?? - how much fruit do you want to serve over top? Little or lot? I had enough that when combined was about a cup and half
8. Put all chopped fruit into small sauce pan
9. Pour in honey, Enright to cover all fruit. I probably used 1/4 to 1/2 cup.
10. Bring to simmer and let the honey bubble around the fruit for 5-10 minutes so that fruit reconstituted a bit and absorbs the honey.

1. Once the oven is at 350, put the Brie in.
2. Let heat in the oven until soft and pliable. If you press down on top of cheese and it gives way easy, or starts to ooze out of the cuts you made.
3. Remove Brie from oven
4. If you baked in a bakeware dish, just pour the fruit and honey chutney right over the top, serve hot
5. If you baked on a cookie sheet, carefully remove Brie and place on plate, pour chutney over top, serve hot.

Slice green apples and serve as chips to dip. Don't bother serving this with actual crackers, the green apple tartness with the sweet fruit chutney and the bite of the Brie will be an explosion of flavor in your mouth.

Enjoy!!!

Ooey gooey amazingness going on right here.

Last Minute Easy Spicy Squash Soup

It's been a year since my last update.  So much going on.  New baby (ok not so new at this point, 10.5m old) and two older children taking up all my time.  Husband adding on to the house, me juggling trying to get the kids here, there, and everywhere.  I've had very little time to cook, let alone actually play with any recipes I've found.  There have been a few successes and a few failures.  None of which I have pictures for, but I'll attempt to get you caught up over the coming weeks.

It's my favorite time of year to cook.  It's crisp outside, so heating up the kitchen isn't quite as big a deal as it is in the summer.  I baked an apple pie yesterday.  Middle child is begging for a slice with every single meal.  Always a good thing, and I can validate pie for any meal with a variety of reasons.  Last week we went to the orchards; Russell's Orchards to be exact.  That's where the apples came from for aforementioned pie.

While there, I selected an acorn squash.  Just a small one, knowing full well I would be the only one consuming it.  However, middle child said she'd try it with me.  This is not my first time with an acorn squash, I ADORE acorn squash.  Roasted in the oven, then served with butter, maybe a smidge of maple syrup.  So much yum.  But, it sat all week.  One dinner went by, two, then three, then pizza take out, followed by Chinese take out.  Which got me where I am today.  Knowing I was going out tonight I wanted to make the squash, for myself, for lunch.  So I set the oven at 350 to pre-heat.  Sliced the squash in half, scooped out the guts, gave it a good spray of cooking oil (so it doesn't dry out), and placed them on a middle rack.  45m later out they came.  And that... is when I decided to do more with it.  Remembering back to a Spicy Pumpkin Soup recipe I received from a friend, I started to pull spices from my cabinet and decided to play.

Spicy Squash Soup

1 acorn squash, guts scooped, roasted to tender, cooled
1-2c chicken broth (I keep jars of Better than Bouillon in my cabinets should the need ever arise, I use it in everything)
Onion Powder
Ground Ginger
Curry Powder
Cumin
Coriander
Cinnamon
Salt/Pepper
Cream

1.) Scoop the squash into a blender, add to it 1c chicken broth
2.) Start adding spices, how much?  Come on, you know me better than that by now. If you don't like Curry, add less curry.  Don't want onion, don't add any.  Start with "less is more" and add some later.  But add a little bit of everything.
3.) Whirl it all together on puree setting.  If you like a thick soup, add less broth, if you like a thinner soup, add more broth.  I tend to go about 1.25 to 1.5c of broth.
4.) TASTE, adjust spices
5.) Whirl more, finish with a splash of cream, whirl again.
6.) Pour into pan to warm on stove, bring to simmer.  Let simmer for 15 minutes.  This is where the spices will really come into their own.

Serve.  Enjoy.

And then realize, that, you purchased this for your middle daughter try with you, and now that it's soup, she's not going to touch it.  Thankfully, this made just two servings.  Lunch today, and lunch tomorrow.  Win.

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.

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.