harvest stew

this hearty meal is an excellent way to celebrate the bounty of the autumn harvest. some of the ingredients may seem a little strange, but trust me, the finished product is quite delicious.

harvest stew

 

1 1/2 lbs pork

1 1/2 cups of flour seasoned with 1/2 tsp each: dried sage, salt, pepper, allspice

3 tbs olive oil

1 acorn or butternut squash

2-3 potatoes

2-3 carrots

2 apples

handful of mushrooms

1 cup apple cider or juice

3 cups chicken stock

water to cover

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup dried cranberries

cut pork and vegetables into 1 inch cubes. dredge pork in seasoned flour. coat the bottom of a large pot (the bigger the better) with olive oil (2-3 tbs should do) sear the flour coated pork over medium high heat. remove pork, set aside and add the squash cubes to the pot, season with salt and pepper. saute for 3 minutes then add potatoes and carrots, season. saute 3 more minutes and add apples and mushrooms. pour apple sauce over the veggies to deglaze the pan (make sure you use you spoon to sort of scrape up the flavorful bits on the bottom of the pot), then add the pork back to the pot. add chicken stock and water to cover. bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until vegetables are tender. add dried cranberries just before serving.

sidenote: if you anticipate a lot of leftovers (as i always do) you might want to leave the cranberries our of the pot and simply add them to the bowl as you serve the stew. they get a weird texture when heated, then refrigerated. i don't know why, that's just the way it is.

chicken soup for my soul

it's officially fall, which means it's officially soup season. happy face. let's say we kick thing off with this oldie but goody (maybe besty). chicken noodle soup. used to be i only liked the stuff when i was sick, but this version is sooo good i could eat it all year long. wait...that's exactly what i do. anyhow...
i think this soup is best made with the carcass leftovers of a roasted chicken. even if i'm buying chicken specifically for this soup i'll roast it first. it may seem like an extra step, but the flavor is IMMENSELY better that way. also, you really can't substitute boneless anything into this soup, it will be bland and gross. okay, so here it is, my grandmother's recipe with a few little tweaks of my own:

chicken noodle soup

2 tbs olive oil

1 onion, diced

1-2 medium to large carrot(s), diced

2 celery stalks, diced

1 potato, peeled and diced

1 tbs salt

1/2 tbs pepper

6 cups water

bones from a roasted chicken

6 sprigs fresh thyme

2 cups chicken stock

noodles (recipe below)

heat olive oil in a large soup pot. saute vegetables 3-5 minutes. add salt and pepper, water, thyme and chicken bones.  bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 1 hour. strain and reserve liquid (this is homemade chicken stock for those who are wondering). let the bones cool enough to touch. pick off and reserve any meat left on the bones, then discard them along with the vegetables* and thyme sprigs (the leaves will have fallen off into the liquid). return your cooking liquid to the stove over medium to medium-high heat, add the extra chicken stock** and the reserved meat. slowly drop in your homemade noodles and heat through (about 10 minutes).

*these vegetables have totally leached all of their flavor and nutrients into the broth so they're pretty gross now. if you like veggies in your soup (like i do) chop up a few extras and saute them before you add the liquid back into the pot.

**i supplement with extra stock rather than more water to deepen the flavor.

noodles

5 large eggs

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

measure flour either onto your board/counter or into an extra large bowl. add salt. form a well in the middle (like a flour volcano). break eggs into the well. using a fork, break the yolks and slowly mix the flour into the eggs. mix until you have formed a stiff dough. on a floured surface, roll dough out very thin (about 1/8 inch thick). using a pizza cutter or a vary sharp knife, cut into strips (noodles) make sure each of your noodles is covered with a dusting of flour (this thickens your soup later). let stand 1-4 hours*

*the drier the better. if your noodles are too wet, they cook up more like dumplings than noodles-not that that's a bad thing...

holy slacker batman!

i apologize for my absence (although very few people actually care). i have no legitimate excuse so i won't bother. no recipe in this post, but i have big plans for dinner tonight so i'll get back to you on that one. i'll be better. i promise.

i will not be shamed by this

sometimes when i cook i pretend i am hosting a cooking show. rephrase: almost every time i cook i pretend i am hosting a cooking show. i talk to imaginary cameras and give tips to an imaginary audience, even when i'm making grilled cheese. ridiculous? maybe, but when the food network offers me my own show, i'll be ready...

a tour of my kitchen

please forgive my absence, i have been busy preparing to move. again. i do that a lot. i have mixed feelings about this one though, there are some things i will totally miss about this place and there are things i most definitely will not. for example: my tiny kitchen. it's not the world's smallest by any means, there's actually plenty of room to move around, but there is very little cupboard space and even less counter space. this problem is compounded by the fact that i have roommates. plural. so here's my tribute/goodbye to this space and a little insight for you.

see why i'm glad to get out of here?

a fiesta for your fourth

summer is upon us and summer brings all sorts of wonderful things, including weather so hot you cannot imagine wanting to stand inside and cook a meal. so what do we do? we take it outside to the grill. ahhhh, the grill, the most manly cooking accoutrement since we emerged from the cave and stopped consuming raw dinosaur meat. ladies, don't let them fool you, you more than capable of holding your own out there (but if they're willing why not let them do all the work?). we have reached the height of summer, the fourth of july, and that means 2 things: fireworks and hamburgers. yeehaw! two of my very favorite things brought together on one fabulous day. but in a summer filled with grill marks, burgers can be a little mundane. worry no more, my friends, i am about to introduce you to the anti-mundane burger-well, one of them anyway...

fiesta burger with all the fixings

fiesta cheeseburger (and toppings)

1 lb ground beef

3 tbs fajita seasoning (that's 1 1/2 packets of the store bought stuff)

2 bell peppers, sliced (1 used 1 yellow, half a red and half a green, but do your own thing here)

1 small/medium or 1/2 large onion, any variety you like, sliced (use more if you like, less if you don't)

5-7 mushrooms, sliced (optional)

2 tbs oil (vegetable, canola, olive, i'm not picky)

1/4 cup water

sliced tomato, sliced avocado and sliced cheese (i use this great chipotle cheddar i found at winco)

mix 2 tablespoons (1 packet) fajita seasoning, water, and oil in a large ziploc bag, seal and shake to mix. add peppers, onion and mushroom slices, seal and shake again. set aside while you prepare the burger.

add remaining seasoning mix to ground beef and get handsy with it. combine well, but be careful not to over-mix because that will make your burgers dry and tough. form beef into patties (4 to be exact) and let them rest a minute while you tend to the peppers. now, i live in a small apartment, with a small kitchen, and no yard, which means no grill. so i'm using a grill pan and sauteing my vegetables in a large skillet over high heat. if i were grilling for realsies i would pop my veggies into a foil packet (just fold the foil in half and crimp the edges into something resembling an envelope) include the liquid from the baggie, and throw them on the grill while you cook the burgers. speaking over burgers, it's time to throw them on the grill too. i'm gonna go ahead and assume that you know how to proceed from this point and jump to the end. put your now cooked burgers on a bun and top with the cheese, your also finished veggies (they need the same amount of time as your burgers, and need to be flipped once, just like your beef), tomato and avocado. i find that tongs are the best tool for this job. this is not a ketchup and mustard kinda burger, so if you need a condiment stick with mayo-the creaminess can help counteract the heat in the seasonings and such.

chili spiced corn on the cob

4 ears of corn, in the husk

1 stick of butter, softened

1 tbs chili powder

soak the corn in water for 3-5 minutes. leave it in the husk. i know it sounds weird, but this is my favorite way to grill corn. now place your husky, soaked corn directly on the grill for 10-15 minutes. since i don't actually have a grill, i put mine directly on the rack of a 425 degree oven. you'll know the corn is done when you can smell it, or, for you visual people, when you pull the husk back a bit and it looks done. while your corn is cooking, mix up a little chili spiced butter by combined the chili powder and butter. that's really all there is to it. remove the husk, smother your corn with the spiced butter and enjoy.

classic creamy coleslaw

okay, not my recipe (i don't have one) so click the link and use that recipe.

orange/honey glazed chicken

confession: this recipe was invented because i had an orange that wasn't gonna last much longer, but i wasn't in the mood to just eat it. they say necessity is the mother of invention and, in this case, they were right.

orange/honey glazed chicken

2 boneless skinless chicken breast, or 2 lbs chicken tenders
2 oranges
4 tbs honey
1 tbs poppy seeds
1 tbs fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
pinch of salt
pinch of black pepper
zest and juice the oranges into the bottom of an 8x8 baking dish. add honey, poppy seeds, rosemary, salt and pepper. whisk to combine. add chicken, cover with foil and marinate for 15-30 minutes. bake (covered) in a 350 degree oven until chicken is cooked through, about 30-40 minutes (tenders will only need 15-25 min). remove foil and let rest 5 minutes before serving. the sauce will concentrate as it cooks leaving a delicious glaze on the chicken and the rosemary adds a great earthiness to an otherwise sweet glaze.
this glaze also works on pork and is delicious over a whole roasted chicken, although the application is a bit different in that case. look for a post about it in the future, or feel free to e-mail me if you just can't wait :)