Stuffed Mushroom Pizza

Earlier last month I had the ingredients on hand for stuffed mushrooms.  But realizing our ability to eat our weight in them we decided to instead make pizza.  Basically it's a pizza crust with pesto and goat cheese topped with mushrooms and prosciutto.  G declared it the best pizza I'd ever made, which is high praise indeed.

So tonight we had that with a salad of arugula with strawberries and almonds and a little balsamic vinaigrette.  It was a little too strong flavored, and next time we'll use spinach instead, but it was worth a shot.  I just ate the strawberries and then ate the rest.

Stuffed Mushroom Pizza

• Pizza dough (either make your own or buy some pre-made....but make sure it's like real dough, not creepy roll out pie crust-esque dough)
• Basil pesto
• A log of soft goat cheese, softened
• Mushrooms (either white button or cremini), sliced
• Shallots, sliced thinly
• Prosciutto, sliced into thin strips
• Olive oil

Pre-heat oven to 425°F (or whatever your dough recommends), with a pizza stone in there.

Mix together the softened goat cheese with the pesto.  Add olive oil if it's too thick, until it's sauce-like. 

Roll out your dough to the size desired (I usually end up with a 10-12 inch pizza).  Dust pizza peel with cornmeal so that your pizza won't stick.

Place the pizza dough on the peel. Gently spread the goat cheese and pesto mixture over the dough.  I find a silicone spatula works well for this.  Then it's time to assemble.  Add mushrooms, shallot and sliced prosciutto.  I recommend adding quite a bit of everything, but specifically the prosciutto because it crisps up a lot and you don't want it sparse!

Slide pizza onto hot stone and cook for 20-25 minutes or until crust is browned and cooked crisp all the way to center.  The cheese mixture will be golden brown.  Let cool, slice and devour!

Bon Appétit!

A Recipe For The Chili-er Weather

So I've had several people ask for my chili recipe, and really, it's quite simple.  However, the written one I have is from my maman, and I tweak it because I like tomatoes.  And I had both fresh that I needed to use and canned that I like to use.  So here is the recipe, and I've added notes of what I did differently.

Maman's Chili Recipe

* 2 lbs. Hamburger (I've used 1/2 hamburger and 1/2 chicken or turkey before with good results...but I would say you need at least 1 lb. hamburger for the flavor.)

* 1/2 onion, white or yellow, chopped

* 2 (15 oz) cans tomato sauce

* 2 cans chili beans (I tend to use Bush's because that's really all they have here, and it works great)

* garlic powder to taste

* sugar (1 or 2 tsp)

* salt and pepper to taste

* ketchup (just a large squirt)

* chili seasoning (I only use Williams, but also add extra of my own)

In a big pot, brown hamburger and onion together.  Drain well and then put back into the pot.  Add 2 cans of tomato sauce and 2 cans of water.  Then add the chili beans with half a can of water for each can of beans.  Add the seasonings and mix well.  I usually use at least a whole packet of seasoning mix, plus extra chili powder and cumin.  That's me.

Bring to a boil and then turn it down to a simmer and let cook 20 minutes.  Stir well.

**Now--- I didn't have tomato sauce on hand and I really didn't want to add to my grocery list.  But I did have a couple fresh romas that needed to be used, and a large can of diced tomatoes.  So what I did was brown the hamburger almost completely, added a small onion and the two tomatoes (cut in chunks) and cook that a bit.  Then as that was draining I put the large can of diced tomatoes into the staub cast iron pot, and cooked and mashed them into a chunky sauce of sorts (with an extra can of water when doing the later bits).  I like tomatoes, maman does not at all, but if you do this is a great way to do it.  If I had more tomatoes I would have added them!  I also add more onion and fresh garlic (I used a whole head) to the chili.  I like these and think it makes the flavor wonderful. 

You can use fresh/dried beans that you've pre-cooked.  However, you will want to make sure you adjust the seasoning accordingly.  It's one of the few times I used pre-flavored canned beans.

We serve with Louisiana hot sauce (not crap-tacular tabasco...blech), mexican blend or cheddar cheese, sour cream/yogurt/creme fraiche (used yogurt and some creme fraiche this time), and saltines.  Delicious and healthy...but do try and eat a salad or something on the side for some veggies!

Tacos!

Taco Night is a simple meal that can be done fairly inexpensively and rotated into your meal planning every week or two.  Since most people like Mexican (or at least our American version of Mexican), it's a winner.  And for those of you who live outside the U.S. where it's harder to find the seasonings (and I so feel your pain... England's Mexican was as bad as drinking the water in Mexico), I'm posting a recipe to make your own at home and keep stashed in a jar!

Having a Mexican night is simple.  You can change it up each time by what you have on hand.  For mine last night I took 1 lb. of hamburger and browned it with some onions.  After draining (something you don't have to do if you used a lean meat), I added it back to the pan with some chopped up jalapenos.  I like it spicy, so I add them to my meat as well.  Then I poured 1 cup of water in, added a bunch of the seasoning mix (I use a lot more than required), and brought it to a boil.  You basically just cook it down until it's thick and no longer watery.  Part way through I added a can of no-salt added red kidney beans.  Then you just lay out a tortilla (or use hard shells), add the meat, and add your toppings!

I chose to not buy sour cream for these.  The Fage whole fat Greek yogurt I've been getting is tangy enough it works as a sour cream, and it's a multi-tasker.  I hate buying yogurt or sour cream for myself because too many times I've ended up with it going bad!  This is a way to do it cheaper, and it tastes just as good as a good full fat sour cream!  I also used a can of red kidney beans instead of dealing with the dry ones I had on hand because of my exhaustion.  Normally I recommend saving yourself money by going with a dry bean.  They're easy to cook with. 

**And for those of you who are new here, I use full fat.  I've done a lot of reading and realized that the natural types of fat are actually not only not going to kill you, but in fact can help.  Chicken fat is incredibly important when making chicken noodle soup, as it's what keeps you healthy and helps fight colds!!!   Chicken soup when you're under the weather has actually been studied and is a good medicine when made right. **

For toppings it really just depends on what I have on hand.  I picked up salsa because I didn't have the time/energy to make my own (though I'm making a huge batch today to freeze).  When G is home the toppings always include cheese, and usually guacamole, lettuce, fresh tomatoes, etc.  You can do sides of rice, whether mexican rice or cilantro lime.  In fact, a friend of mine adds that to her meat mixture.  I try to limit how many carbs I am getting.  Not because I'm one of the low-carb people, but because I like granola, french bread, croissants, etc so I get plenty throughout my day and don't want to over-do it.  Garret loves rice though, so I try and make that for him. 

For those of you who prefer seafood, you can also easily do this cheaply with tilapia.  I bake it with seasonings (usually just some lime, cumin, and garlic powder) and then tear into chunks.  This is good with a black bean, corn, and cilantro mixture. 

Taco Night gets you a well balanced meal, is tasty and really affordable.  Use beans to make the meat go further.  Even if you're not a bean person, with the seasoning you won't taste the difference! 

Taco Seasoning: 

(This makes a small batch for one meal, but tastes just like stuff you buy.  I usually make a very large batch of it to keep in a jar in my cupboard, and I suggest you do the same, though it takes buying some spices in bulk... for which I recommend health food or ethnic food stores.)

* 1 Tbsp. chili powder
* 1 1/2 tsp. cumin
* 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
* 1/4 tsp. onion powder
* 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
* 1/4 tsp. dried oregano
* 1/2 tsp. paprika
* 1 tsp. sea salt ( I use a heaping tsp. of kosher salt)
* 1 tsp. black pepper

Mix all of it up well and store in a container.  When I make a big batch I multiply the ingredients by 7-10 times this.  Keeps well in a small jar.  It's suggested you use 3 Tbsp. per lb. of meat, but to be honest, I use a heap more because I like the meat to be flavorful!

Simple Meal

I mention on the baby blog that I realized I wasn't getting enough protein (or grains for that matter) and have been attempting to fix that.  Meaning I eat a lot of yogurt and granola.  But I've also been eating more animal protein.  The other night I made hamburgers that I ate with a knife and fork with some portobello ravioli (no sauce, yummy as is).

Raw ingredients, waiting to cook in 350F oven.  The two smaller pieces were from the underside of the two largest pieces.

Last night I knew I would make roasted chicken breast, and decided to pair it with some red potatoes from my CSA (love my CSA! they keep me eating veggies!).  I seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, parsley and cayenne.  Before popping in the oven I drizzled everything with olive oil.

This will be 6 meals for me. The smaller pieces are nibbled on when I get hungry, the three breasts divided in half.

I smashed a few of the potato pieces, applied a tiny pat of butter, salt and pepper and then despaired because I realized I had no sour cream.  Gladly, I remembered that I've been eating a ton of full fat greek yogurt, which I decided to use instead.  Discovered that I love the tangy flavor of it more than sour cream, so it was a win!  I paired this with a second course of creamy tomato soup (eaten with a small piece of baguette) finished with a dessert of dark cherries and a large glass of milk.  Mmm.

Simple Saturday Meal

It's been a while since I put anything about cooking up (probably because cooking has been nearly nonexistent).  So tonight I thought I'd share the main part of my dinner and explain how easy it was to cook!

Shrimp with pineapple in coconut oil

Easy as pie:  Heat a little bit of oil in a pan.  (I used coconut oil because the flavors sounded amazing, but where I got the recipe from, they use olive.)  Add raw shrimp and chunks of fresh pineapple.  Sprinkle sea salt and pepper to taste.  Saute until the shrimp is cooked and the pineapple is softened.  (this will mean juice is expelled making a nice little juicy sauce.)  I suggest serving over rice, but I was lazy and didn't want to make any.

Simple, and it was supremely delicious.  Tasted like summer! 

Sumptious

Something G has been wanting to try is roasted marrow bones.  So last night I put together this recipe of marrow bones and parsley salad* to eat on some toasted french bread. 

We started with a salad of arugula with some sauteed parmesan (I took this really amazing aged parmesan we have and toasted it in a pan until it was slightly crisp and then broke it into pieces) and balsamic and olive oil. 

The main course was the marrow bones with a baked potato and a side of roasted asparagus with sauteed mushrooms.  Simple comfort food and it turned out to taste delicious!  This was the first time I tried pairing the mushrooms with the asparagus and both of us really enjoyed it.

The flavor of the marrow was delicious, and we felt naughty eating it.  It's half fat, but tasty and healthy for you.  A little goes a long way.  I would say that even eating two small bones we probably only consumed a Tbsp of fat each, which really isn't bad when you consider that it's the unsaturated kind.  (well, and there was more with the butter and olive oil....it was a high fat meal).  We paired it with a glass of bordeaux, which ended up being perfection.

Would you ever eat marrow? 

*I normally hate the flavor of parsley (it's something I'm working on), but this salad was to die for and I ate some by itself!

Less Waste

 A photo of our paprika roasted chicken, unrelated to the post, but it's there because it's beautiful.

Last night as my chicken was in the oven roasting I glanced up at the half loaf of french bread that had been sitting on top of my refrigerator since Christmas.  It's from Trader Joes, and in a perforated (tiny little holes) bag.  They never have molded on me, though they can easily become hard as rocks.

Which is just how I like them.

Random fact about me:  I have always loved stale bread.  My grandma (my Dad's mom) used to leave out slices of white bread for me to get stale and crusty because she knew I loved it.  I strangely like the taste, it's completely different from fresh bread.  And I am sure that is why I have always loved crusty bread, the texture perfection to me.  

I've made bread soup before, thanks to a suggestion from a former blogger who lives in the south of France.  It turned out well and is an easy thing to throw together.  But last night I decided that though I often make croutons from stale bread I don't think I've ever really given instructions here.  So now is as good a time as any.

Croutons from Stale Bread

* Stale bread

* Olive oil

* Parsley

* Herbs and spices

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

You will take your stale bread and chunk it up, tossing the pieces into a med-large bowl (always use a bigger bowl than you think you'll need as mixing can be messy).  It doesn't need to be perfectly squared (in fact, that's mildly creepy to me).  If it crumbles a bit and leaves bunches of crumbs, throw that into the bowl as well.  

Drizzle olive oil over it.  I drizzle a lot because I like the flavor once they're done.  Next toss in a bunch of fresh or dried parsley.  I always use dried because I keep a ton on hand.  After that you add whatever spices you care for on your croutons.  I generally use garlic powder, but we're out of that.  So I sprinkled on onion powder and garlic salt.  Turned out delicious, we're so doing it that way next time!  

Mix in the bowl, using a spatula or your hands (my preferred method!).  Scoop all of it out onto a cooking sheet and put in oven.  Occasionally you can turn the pieces using a spatula or do what I do and shake them up a bit on the sheet.  Toast until they are a nice golden brown and crisp.  

I have no idea how long these last as we eat them almost like crisps.  They're excellent sprinkled on salads, soup, and the crumbs are good mixed into an omelet.  These crumbs would also be excellent for the tops of roasted tomatoes.  

Have you made homemade bread crumbs/croutons before?  Would you consider doing them now that I've shown how simple it is (basically impossible to screw up unless you lose track of time and they burn)?  

Oh, and please share if you can think of any different flavor combinations of seasonings for these....I'm always looking for new things to try!

Indian Salad

Last night while grocery shopping we picked up some Trader Joe's Masala Burgers.  We had heard they were good, and they had them at the tasting station tonight so we decided a salad sounded easy and tasty.  I pan cooked them and some onions in ghee (clarified butter....a traditional Indian fat).  I piled our plates with spinach, heirloom cherry tomatoes, chickpeas and then the burgers with the onions.  Sprinkled on some fleur de sel, curry powder, and cayenne pepper. 

It was delicious!  Plenty of veggies (the burgers are vegetarian with potatoes, peppers, corn, etc).  And then for dessert we shared a grapefruit and then I took some marscapone cheese, mixed in a dab of maple syrup and we shared an apple and a banana (the latter with the puppies as well who perk up at the sound of a banana being cracked).  Rounding off the evening with some carbohydrates of french bread dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  

Salads in the summer are taken for granted, particularly when you're like us with our CSA and ate more salads than you ever imagined you would.  But winter salads are a scrumptious way to pack a vegetable (and thereby nutrients) punch. 

A Simple Quiche and A Winner!

I must start off by admitting that though I've show images of my quiches on here plenty I have never shared the recipe for our quiche lorraine because, well, I'm selfish.  I am sometimes not so nice in sharing recipes, it's something I'm working on.  I am pretty well known for it, it's always a hit, even for those who usually aren't huge fans of quiche.  The texture is perfection, soft, almost like a firm custard, never rubbery.  It's my husband's favorite food, and it's something we make at least once a month.  Since moving here I've become a bit more bold in my food experimentation and quiche has definitely been the go to for trying new flavors.  

But it all starts from the basic recipe (which I did share with the recipe for Mediterranean quiche and forgot!) and then I just play with the add ins.  Since one of my roommates at Relevant, Miss Debi, and my lovely friend, Miss Katie have asked me for the recipe I decided in the season of giving at Christmas time it was time for me to share.  So here is quiche lorraine.  If you decide to give it a whirl and add different ingredients I'd love to hear!  I think a link up day of quiche sounds amazing!

Quiche Lorraine

* I 9-inch single pie crust
* 4 eggs, beaten
* 12 slices of bacon (6 if thick cut)
* 1 c. shredded gruyere cheese (you can use reg. swiss, but it won't have the same taste)
* 1/3 c. minced onion
* 2 c. light cream (I've found that in a pinch, half and half works well too)
* 3/4 tsp. salt
* 1/4 tsp. sugar
* 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
* a little bit of good dijon mustard (I recommend Maille, once you use it, grey poupon will never be good enough again!)

Pre-heat oven to 425F.  Place bacon in a large skillet and fry over med-high heat until crisp.  Drain well on paper towels. (I usually smoosh them, because I can't handle a lot of grease.)  Chop bacon coarsely.  Brush bottom of pie crust with dijon mustard, not too much, you want just a hint.  Mix together the bacon, cheese, and onion in a bowl to distribute evenly and then sprinkle into the pie crust (even it out).  In a med. bowl whisk together the eggs, cream, sugar and spices.  Pour mixture into the pastry shell.

Bake for 15 min. in the pre-heated oven and then reduce heat to 350F and bake an additional 30 min. or until a knife inserted 1 inch from edge comes out clean.  Allow quiche to sit at least 10 min. before cutting into wedges.  (I usually insert the knife in the middle since it's the last to be done otherwise I've had it a couple times be found to be too soft and have to go back in.  But keep in mind because of the cream the egg will not be super firm, but more thick custard-like.)

 * As for the DaySpring Jesus is the Gift giveaway (which I kinda forgot about) the winner is number 6 MissRis!  I'll be e-mailing you your code!

Salmon with Roasted Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts

There is nothing tastier to me than roasted salmon.  I can eat it for days on end without tiring of it in the least.  However, if you are not a fan of salmon the same concept can be used on a white fish (like tilapia) or even chicken. 

Roasted Salmon

 *please excuse the "dirty" pan, I had just roasted the potatoes in it!

Pre-heat the oven to 350F.  Take fresh salmon fillets (or thawed frozen ones) and place in shallow baking dish.  *I was roasting 2 lbs. of salmon, so I used a larger casserole dish, but a small dish works better for smaller pieces.

Squeeze lemon juice from half of a lemon over fish.  Spread dijon mustard over the fish.  I prefer Maille brand.  I've said it before, once you try this brand you won't like the taste of grey poupon again.

Thinly slice (the closer to paper thin the better) some onion and distribute over the salmon.  Place in oven and cook according to weight and how done you like it.  For mine it took about 1/2 an hour, but in the end I would have reduced that time because we like ours more med-rare.  For a couple small pieces it usually takes approx. 15 minutes.

Roasted Potatoes 

Turn oven up to 425F.  If using tiny potatoes, skip to third step.

If using plain large potatoes, cut into medium size chunks (the kind that are about 2 bites).  Put into water, bring to a boil, and cook until just slightly tender.  Dry. 

In a roasting pan (or baking dish), drizzle a couple glugs of olive oil (or use a tablespoon or so of duck fat....far superior, but harder to find).  Place in oven to heat up.  Once hot, toss potatoes (and some chopped onion if you like onion...it's good) and place in oven for 30-45 minutes until tender, turning once.   Sprinkle with salt to taste.

This also works for a mix of root vegetables, such as potatoes with carrots and parsnips...so tasty!

Pan Roasted Brussels Sprouts:  use this recipe from Desert Candy, it's amazing!

This is a relaxing meal at home.  It does take a little bit of time since everything uses the oven.  I like to roast the potatoes first, then as they are cooling I stick the salmon in.  I begin the brussels sprouts on the stove while the salmon is in the oven.  Once the salmon comes out I move it to a separate plate (so that the hot pan doesn't keep them cooking) and stick the brussels sprouts into the oven to finish.  It moves seamlessly, I enjoy a glass of wine while cooking and then we sit and eat.  

It's an easy meal in that I serve it American-style....all on one plate.  Sometimes there really is no "pretty" way to plate something, and this is one of those times.  Bon apetit!

How To Make Fruit Decadent

http://unemaisonchic.blogspot.com/2010/11/thankful-giveaway.htmlThe other night as we were reading the Country Cooking of Ireland cookbook I decided to roast the remaining hazelnuts we had using their recipe.  They were good, and I felt inspired so I threw together a little decadent fruit dessert that had G "mmm"-ing his pleasure.

Apples and Pears with Cream and Hazelnuts

* 1 med. apple sliced into fairly thin slices

* 1 green pear (I suppose you could use whatever pear you wanted, but make it similar size to the apple) slice into fairly thin slices

* 2-3 Tbsp. butter (please don't use vegetable spread for this)

* sugar

* cinnamon

* roasted hazelnuts

* half-n-half

In a small skillet heat 2-3 Tbsp of butter until melted.  Add the sliced fruit and sprinkle over sugar (I used my fingers to pinch and sprinkle, so do it to taste) and cinnamon.  Cook until softened.  In small bowls or tea cups add cream.  

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT: Add the cooked sliced fruit one piece at a time to bring the cream to a warmer temperature so it won't curdle.  It will eventually become lukewarm.  Add a few hazelnuts to each dish and enjoy!

And I have a GIVEAWAY over on Une Maison Chic... so check it out!

My Very Own Made-Up Recipe

Tonight's dinner was supposed to be mashed/pureed turnips with carrots, roasted chicken and brussels sprouts.  But I must admit I was bad and didn't eat anything but a pear and half a tea cup of eggnog all day (well, I had a Godiva truffle).  I literally just didn't get hungry until about 6 tonight.  And suddenly the above was sounding less appetizing and pizza sounded better.  We nearly scrapped it all and ordered Dominos when I decided no, we would make a pizza.  But making a crust takes rising time, so I thought, "Trader Joes has fresh pizza dough."  So off we went and to my delight discovered they had 3 types of pizza dough: regular, whole wheat and an herbed one.  I grabbed the herb one and created this:  Turnip Sauce Pizza.  And yes, don't be afraid, it is actually to die for delicious and I kind of feel like a genius!  In fact G and I have decided this might actually be my very best pizza ever and I'm fairly well known for my pizza.  So be bold, be brave, and try it!

Turnip Sauce Pizza

* 1 herbed pizza crust (I think this could easily be done homemade, it was a plain crust with herbs like basil, oregano, and garlic mixed in.)

* Roasted turnip and carrot puree (roast the vegetables at 4 hundred, then mash and/or puree....add butter, salt, pepper, a hint of nutmeg and garlic powder.  We roasted 6 med. turnips and about 5 carrots and this took less than half the puree.)

* 1 loose cup of sharp cheddar cheese

* 1 c. roasted chicken, chopped up

* 6 oz. button mushrooms, pan cooked until slightly soft

* 1/2 med. onion, chopped up and sauteed until slightly soft

Place pizza stone in oven and pre-heat to 425F.

Roll out your pizza dough to about 12" round on a well floured surface.  Spread turnip and carrot puree over crust.  Sprinkle cheddar cheese lightly over the sauce.  This is a light sprinkling of cheese because cheddar is greasy and you want to be able to see some sauce through it.  (emphasis, the sauce is delicious!)  

Distribute evenly the chicken, onions, and mushrooms.  

Slide the pizza onto a hot stone and bake 10-15 minutes until crust is golden and top is golden and bubbly.  Remove, slice, and grind fresh black pepper on it before devouring.  You're welcome.

This was nearly a disaster as I don't have a pizza peel and was trying to slide the somewhat heavier pizza off a plastic cutting board onto the hot stone.  It got disfigured and I had to rush and quickly fix it before it cooked enough to set that way.  Disaster was averted and dinner was delicious.  First time ever eating turnips and I think I'm in love. 

Simple (Cheap) Comfort Food

I've been told that my cooking is intimidating.  And I've noticed a certain tendency amongst my friends and family to look to me when cooking as if I were a food wiki.  Apparently it's thought that I eat divine, complicated foods all of the time.  This is simply untrue.  I want to tell a quick tale of a wife who didn't really know how to cook much.  Who taught herself out of sheer determination (and more than a little desperation).  But also learned to fake it till I can make it.  My husband couldn't cook either, and his parents hadn't been huge cooks so it was easy to please him with basic home cooked things like spaghetti with meat sauce using jarred pasta sauce and a roast that I could only make after getting extremely detailed instructions from my maman and praying I didn't mess it up.  (we won't mention the overly salted noodles and gravy I made while we were dating because dear maman failed to mention the necessity of diluting the broth.)  

So as a newlywed I made things that were simple, easy, and my husband would eat, including sausage boats that we made in college.  Basically it's this:  take smoked sausage, top with boxed mashed potatoes, shredded cheese, and bake until heated.  We normally had this with a green veggie.  Tonight I made it for the first time in a long time, and I'm going to show you how!  It's super easy, can be done in parts, and tastes delicious.

I didn't use boxed mashed potatoes this time.  We had 4 small potatoes from our CSA left, so I threw those in the oven to bake at 400F for a few hours while we went for coffee and to the store for fruit.  We came home and they were pretty dang done.  Soft, easily smashable, and I didn't have to do much.  I figured baking would leave more nutrients than boiling anyway (my Irish ancestors are gasping....we seem to boil everything!).  I hand mashed them, added a couple tablespoons of butter and some half and half (we're out of milk).  A dash of garlic powder, some salt, some parsley and they were smelling pretty tasty. 

We used turkey kielbasa from Trader Joes (I really should become their spokesperson), and cut it into 4 parts.  Then took each part and cut down the middle, just until the end (so it opens up).  Plop the potatoes on top, take some shredded cheese (G grated some aged British cheddar) and sprinkle, covering the top of the potatoes.  Put into oven to heat.

We ate it with brussels sprouts.  If you're new, please visit this post on how we cook them and why they are so good we sometimes fight over who gets more.  No, I'm not kidding.  They're super duper delicious!  I also slices some of the last tomatoes of the season that we've had ripening in a brown paper sack from our CSA.

It was the perfect, simple, comfort food.  And here's the breakdown of why it's not only good for you food and delicious, but also affordable:

*Turkey Kielbasa:  $3.99, split into 4 servings

* Potatoes: estimated at about $0.25 a serving

*Cheese: $3.99, used about half for 4 servings

*Brussels Sprouts: $3.49 for stalk, used 1/2 for 4 serving

*Tomatoes: about $1 for 2 servings

*Seasoning and oils I had on hand

*TOTAL: less than $2.75 a serving!  You can't eat that cheap even at McDonalds!

So hopefully I've convinced you that comfort food can be a little different, really tasty, and completely affordable!  And it will look impressive, I promise:

Spiced Fall

Last night G and I got together with friends for a Halloween dinner.  The food was yummy, and I was in charge of making a dessert and bringing rum for hot buttered rum drinks.  So I whipped up a spiced yogurt pound cake and picked up a bottle of Bacardi Select rum.  Hot buttered rum is delicious, but not just a drink--it's a dessert in itself.  I thought perhaps it was the perfect example of how I have to choose my poison.  While I love the spice cake (and it was the first of the season, so I was anxious for a piece), I didn't want a large piece knowing that the drink coming was a dessert as well.  Both were delicious, and complemented each other fantastically.

Hot Buttered Rum (found at Mahalo.com)

* 1 bottle Dark Rum

* 4 cups boiling water

* 2 cups brown sugar, lightly packed

* 1 tsp. cinnamon

* 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

* 1/2 tsp. allspice

* Dash of ground cloves

* 1 stick of softened butter

Mix together the softened butter, sugar and spices.  Place butter in the refrigerator for about half an hour to set. Scoop 2 tablespoons or so of spiced butter into each mug, then fill each mug 1/3 full of rum (or more to taste).  Top with boiling water.  Scoop fresh whipped cream on top and serve!

I halved this recipe because there were 4 of us, and 1 drink a piece was plenty.  We sat around, played cards and drank hot buttered rum.  Then it was into the living room for a horror film before saying goodnight and driving home to a quiet street.  The perfect Halloween.  

Vegetable Beef and Barley Soup

I thought I would share the recipe for the soup I made last night night.  It was delicious, and healthy to boot!  This made a huge pot of it, so feel free to scale down, but it's amazing as leftovers.   It has a lot of ingredients and seems like a lot of steps (that's because I tried to break it down as much as possible), but is really simple to make, you don't have to be a "great" cook. 

 Vegetable Beef and Barley Soup 

* Package of stew beef from Trader Joe's--We chose it because it's free of hormones and anibiotics, but really the amount of stew meat is what you want, it doesn't affect the soup too much, since it's more of a veggie soup.

* 1/2 c. barley (we like a lot, use less if you just want it sprinkled throughout)

* 1/2 of a large onion or 1 medium onion

* 3 carrots, chopped

* 2 sticks of celery, chopped

* 2 medium potatoes (about 2 lbs.)

* 3-4 roma tomatoes, deseeded and chopped

* 1  1/2 c. frozen peas

* 1 1/2 c. frozen green beans

* 2 Tbsp. chopped garlic

* 4 portobello mushrooms, chopped

* 8 c. beef broth

* 2 c. water

* olive oil

* butter

* salt and pepper to taste

* garlic powder, dried basil, and celery salt to taste

Heat large pot with 1-2 Tbsp. of olive oil on medium heat.  Once oil is hot, put in chopped onion and let sweat, saute until soft.  Add carrots, celery, and garlic and let sweat.  

While that is doing it's thing, heat small skillet to medium-low with butter.  Once butter is melted and hot, add portobello mushrooms and saute until softened.  Set aside for later.  (If you put the portobellos in too soon, they absorb the flavour of the soup and you lose their deliciousness!)

Add broth, water, potatoes, tomatoes and barley to pot and bring to a boil.  Taste the broth and season to taste.  We like a lot of black pepper with steak and mushrooms, so there was quite a bit added.  Celery salt sounds odd to use, but I've found it is absolutely necessary for most soups. (I even used it in my potato bacon soup and it took it from good to "holy cow.")  Yes, you've put garlic and garlic powder in....they're different tastes, and both necessary.  Let simmer for about 45 minutes (the barley takes a while).

Once the veggies are soft, and the barley has poufed up and is softened (but not mushy), add the beef (I cut mine up into small bites), frozen peas and green beans.  It will cool the temp down and you will need to let it come to a boil again.  Cook until peas and beans are fully cooked (you don't want them too crunchy or they will stick out as you eat it).  Once it's cooked to where you like it, turn it down to low and add the mushrooms.

Stir it up, ladle into bowls and enjoy!  This was my first time throwing this soup together (the recipe is my own) and G and I both agree it's even better the next day!  It will absorb the liquid, so if you like more broth you might need to add either water or broth the next day.  I don't mind it being more chunky veggies so we left it as is.  

Bon Appetit!

Simple Sunday

For dinner the chicken got scrapped for some roasted shrimp.  I took that, a green colored tomato (it was a ripe tomato, just green like a watermelon), some mozzarella, a red onion and some chopped up fresh basil and made a salad for our dinner.  Dessert was the last of the strawberries cut up with a local juicy peach and topped off with fresh whipped cream (that G whipped up by hand).  Simple as always and the salad will be what we're having for lunch tomorrow as well!  Dinner tomorrow night is from the French cookbook, so stay tuned!

Mixed Up Salad

I have been eating a lot of caprese salads and a lot of salads with tuna and red onion.  Tonight I decided to mix it up.  Fresh mozzarella, red onion (super thinly sliced), roma tomatoes (love my CSA!), fresh basil (from my CSA), with fresh black pepper and extra virgin olive oil and we split a can of tuna in olive oil.  I was worried about it tasting good together, but after the first bite we realized this will now be a weekly meal for the summer.  It was delicious, perfectly satisfying, and a light meal that doesn't leave us feeling sluggish. 

Now I'm off to continue reading "A Good Year."

Simple Yummy Dinner

We are out of a lot except veggies in this house.  So last night I rolled out the second half of the pizza dough (that we had frozen) and made ratatouille pizza with red onion, yellow pepper, zucchini, tomato and eggplant.  It turned out delicious and was our breakfast and lunch today too.

Then today, we realized, um, yeah, we still don't have much food.  So instead of running to the store (and losing our parking spot---it is a Sunday after all) I told G to boil some water and throw in some pasta (actually the only pasta we had in the house).  While that was boiling I chopped up the last remaining bit of turkey kielbasa (less than a bratwurst worth) and sauteed it to crisp it up some.  Then I sauteed some onions and garlic and dumped the rest of the goat cheese in to soften.  While that all was doing it's thing, G and I shelled fresh peas (snacking on their casings, which are delicious!).  I also chopped up some tomato.  Throw everything together and a surprisingly tasty meal is what you get.  I recommend it to someone wanting something simply but flavorful.  

 (We left the peas fresh for the crunch, and ground some fresh pepper)

Now of course I really do need to make a grocery list.  I'm thinking roast chicken since it's cheap, quick, easy and will last all week.  That with some eggplant I made last night and some roasted potatoes and steamed carrots.  A mainly veggie meal with local organic produce from our CSA!

*EDIT* Because we used all the fresh peas, I lightly cooked some frozen ones for today's lunch.  While in the freezer I found the last of our chicken meatballs that we made last month, so there is our meat for our meal!  

Beet Salad

Red romaine with roasted beets, roasted chicken, tomatoes, onions, radishes, and goat's cheese.  No dressing needed!