moroccan chicken stew 9/10

mmm mmm good! this was a really yummy and flavorful dish that tom cooked up one night while i was at work. it's really got a rich flavor and the spices in the couscous and sort of an exotic taste which is delightful! tom made this with bone-in, skin-on thighs because it adds a lot more flavor while it cooks. just take the skins off to decrease the fat. i don't know if it was any trouble to make but he didn't complain about it after the fact so i'm guessing it was fine. and everything is so much easier with our le cruset oven. we love it!! it's absolutly perfect for all these fall stews and meat we've been cooking up lately! yumm yumm!




Moroccan Chicken Stew with Sweet Potatoes
from martha's edf oct 07
Serves 4
Prep: 15 minutes Total: 45 minutes

Cinnamon and ginger complement the sweet potatoes in this easy but exotic-tasting chicken stew. Fluffy couscous absorbs the aromatic sauce.

Ingredients
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 piece fresh ginger (2 inches long), peeled
1 cinnamon stick
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 pound total), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
Pinch of saffron (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup couscous
Cilantro sprigs, for garnish (optional)


Directions
-Place flour in a wide, shallow bowl. Season chicken with salt and pepper; dredge in flour, shaking off excess. In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add chicken, and cook until browned, 4 to 6 minutes per side; transfer to a plate.
-Add onion, ginger, and cinnamon to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion starts to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Return chicken to pot. Add broth, sweet potatoes, and, if using, saffron. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer until chicken is cooked through and sweet potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Discard ginger and cinnamon. Stir in lemon juice, and season stew with salt and pepper.
-While stew is simmering, prepare couscous according to package instructions. Serve chicken stew with couscous, garnished with cilantro, if desired.

hopefully if you make this you'll enjoy it as much as we did! keep eating...

wild-rice stuffed squash 10/10

this was a great dinner for fall flavors! super yummy and pretty easy! we made everything the same but stuffed only 1 squash so we ended up with a lot of stuffing! really great if you love squash (and we do!). the dried cherried really added a tasty zing and the pecans make it rich. great meal that can be paired with a chicken breast if you want some more meat/protein.


Wild-Rice Stuffed Squash
from martha's edf nov 07
Prep: 15 minutes Total: 1 hour

Grace vegetarians at the Thanksgiving table (and beyond) with stuffed baked squash, flecked with crunchy pecans and sweet dried cherries.

Ingredients
Serves 4.
2 acorn squashes (1 1/2 pounds each), halved lengthwise, seeds removed
2 tablespoons butter
1 shallot, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 box (6 ounces) wild-rice blend (seasoning packet discarded)
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, arrange squash cut side down; cover sheet tightly with aluminum foil. Roast until tender when pierced with the tip of a paring knife, about 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat butter over medium. Add shallot, garlic, and sage; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add rice and 1 3/4 cups water; bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook until tender, without stirring, about 25 minutes.
Remove rice from heat, and stir in cherries and pecans; season stuffing with salt and pepper. Season the inside of each squash half with salt and pepper. Dividing evenly, mound stuffing into halves, and serve.


keep eating!..

pigs in a phyllo blanket 6/10

so as it turns out these were only ok. they were actually better cold the next day for breakfast. i think this recipe was competing with the memories our tastebuds have of the pigs-in-a-blanket of childhood. you know, the ones rolled up in the refrigerated pillsbury dough? yeah, those were what we really wanted. these were nice with the grown-up phyllo and poppy seeds but the phyllo was annoying to work with and when you ate it was really dry and crispy. it was sort of like the slatine challenge where if you took a bite then talked a big puff of phylo crumbs would explode from your mouth. not a good impress-people kind of snack. but it was ok. and they always look cute!

pigs in blankets
from martha's edf sept 07
makes 30


-1 sheet puff pastry (1/2 17.3 oz pkg thawed)
-1 pkg (12oz) coctail franks patted dry (we used lil smokeys)
-1 egg, lightly beaten
-2 to 3t poppy seeds
-ketchup or something for serving




oven to 400f. cut pastry into 10 equal strips and then crosswise into thirds (for 30 1x3" pieces). wrap a strip around each frank and place on a rimmed baking sheet seam side down. brush top of pastry with egg and sprinkle with poppy seeds. bake til golden ~25-30m. serve with ketchup or other dip.



keep eating...

stuffed chicken with roasted broccoli 4/10

we just didn't really like this. it tasted ok but the chicken was really plain and roasted broccoli has a funny texture because it gets kinda dried out at the tops. the stuffing was REALLY good though! but it just seemed like too much work for a so so meal. but here's the recipie anyway because maybe you can do it better than me!

Stuffed Chicken Breast and Roasted Broccoli
from martha's edf oct 07
Prep: 20 minutes Total: 1 hour 20 minutes

To help the chicken cook evenly, break the breast bone: Place chicken, skin-side up, on a work surface, and push down firmly with the palm of your hand.(i don't think we did this.) If you can't find a roaster chicken breast, a 3 1/2-pound bone-in, skin-on turkey breast half works just as well -- simply increase cooking time to 1 1/2 hours.

Ingredients
Serves 4.
1/2 loaf Italian bread (5 ounces), torn into bite-size pieces
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced didn't use
1/2 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
1/2 small onion, chopped
1/3 cup dried cranberries
4 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 roaster chicken breast (3 to 3 1/2 pounds), breast bone broken (see note above)
2 heads broccoli (about 1 1/2 pounds total), florets separated, stems peeled and sliced into 2-inch lengths (just used flowerettes)

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine bread, celery, sage, onion, cranberries, and 1 tablespoon oil; season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Working from neck end of chicken, use fingers to loosen skin from flesh, and separate skin from center breast bone with a paring knife. Generously season under and over skin with salt and pepper.

Place stuffing under skin, distributing evenly. Rub skin with 1 tablespoon oil, and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of breast (avoiding bone) registers 165 degrees, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Tent with aluminum foil, and let rest for 15 minutes.

While chicken is resting, toss broccoli with remaining 2 tablespoons oil on another baking sheet; season with salt and pepper. Roast until beginning to brown, 15 to 20 minutes, tossing once.

Remove breast from bone, slice crosswise, and serve chicken with broccoli.

keep eating... unless it doesn't taste that great. then eat something else!

braised short ribs and apple upsidedown cake 10/10!

here's a fancy dinner that tom picked out to make for our friends beau and alli. i think it was a hit since all the ribs were gone after dinner! we served it with frozen spinach and creamy thyme polenta and then had an apple upside-down cake for dessert. the cake was sort of a bitch to make because it involves whipping the softened butter for the batter; just took longer than we expected; and while we had guests waiting for us! usually i read a recipe before hand but i forgot this time and got burned! but it came out really fluffy and moist. and we brought it fishing the next day to share with our other buddies. it really was a hit!

braised short ribs

from martha's edf oct 07

serves 8 (or a few big guys) prep:45m total:2 3/4hr

stuff:

1/4c all-purp flour

s&p

4# or 16pcs bone-in beef short ribs

1T veg oil

4 carrots in chunks

2 onions quartered

1 btl dry red wine like merlot

1 14.5oz can chicken broth

4 sprigs fresh thyme (we had to use dry)

1 28oz can whole tomats in puree

do:

1. preheat to 400f. season flour w/ s&p in med bowl. toss ribs in to coat and shake off extra

2. heat oil in dutch oven or pot. brown ribs on all sides ~10m. move to plate.

3. + carrots & onions to pot, cooking til lightly browned ~3-5m. + wine, broth, thyme, tomats, ribs and boil. cover and place in oven. cook 1hr. reduce to 350f. cook til fork tender ~1hr more.

4. transfer ribs to plate and moisten with cooking liquid. cover with foil. strain liquid, + back to pot and boil til reduced to 2c, ~10m. + s&p. serve ribs with sauce.

-the recipe says to discard the veggies but i would never!! we saved them and put them with the extra polenta when the ribs were gone. makes a yummy fall lunch!

creamy polenta with thyme

serves 8 time:20m

s&p

1.25c yellow cornmeal

2T butter

1T fresh thyme (again we used 1/2T of dried)

1. in a big pot + 7c H2O, 2t salt, 1/4t pepper and boil on hi. wisk constantly while adding cornmeal. red to med, simmer polenta, wisk frequently until thick and creamy, ~10-15m.

2. remove from heat. stir in butter and thyme. + s&p. garnish with thyme and serve.

Apple-Cinnamon Upside-Down Cake
from martha edf sept 07

Prep: 20 minutes Total: 2 hours Serves 8

You'll want firm but ripe apples that are sweet, such as Empire or Gala. With the cinnamon in this homey cake, they'll hit the spot. Take a few minutes to arrange the apple slices in neat circles on the bottom of the pan -- when the cake is baked and inverted, you'll find them decorating the top.

Ingredients
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
3 apples, Empire or Gala (about 1 1/2 pounds), each peeled, cored, and sliced into 8 wedges
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat bottom and side of a 9-inch round cake pan with 2 tablespoons butter; sprinkle bottom with brown sugar. In a medium bowl, toss apples with lemon juice; arrange in prepared pan in two concentric circles (you might not use all of them).
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.
With an electric mixer, beat remaining 8 tablespoons butter with granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until incorporated. With mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture in three parts and the milk in two, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
Spoon batter over apples in pan; smooth top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack, at least 30 minutes and up to 6 hours (if cake has risen above rim of pan, simply push back inside rim).
To serve, run a knife around edge of pan, and invert cake onto a rimmed platter.

looks beautiful when it gets dumped out since the butter is all pretty browned with the sugar n all. the apples didn't add much but they sure looked pretty! i actually used some "older" golden delicious that neither of us would have eaten out of hand because they were a little too soft. they worked great here though! keep eating...

cornbread and beef skillet pie 9/10

so here's another dinner that tom and i couldn't quite aggree on. i gave it a 5 and he thought more of a 3.5 or 4. i don't know, i thought it was amazing! so warm and comfort food-ish. in a way it tasted sort of like sloppy joes with cornbread biscuits on top. i just thought it was great! i guess it was more of a "kid" kind of meal; like the stuff my mom would've made if we weren't health-nut vegetarians. i know, like the stuff my friends' moms made when i stayed the night! that's what it reminds me of and why i think i liked it so much. plus, i just love stuff with a "bread" component. anyway, if you want a fun fall dish that's uncomplicated and unpretencious try this. i think it'll be totally worth it!

cornbread and beef skillet pie from martha's edf nov 07

1/2c yellow cornmeal

1/2c + 2T all-purpose flour

1t baking soda

1T olive oil

2 red bell peppers thinly sliced

1 med red onion

10oz white mushrooms thinly sliced

1.5# ground serloin

1/4c tomatoe paste

3/4c reduced fat sour cream

1 lg egg, lightly beaten

1. preheat to 425F. in sm bowl wish cornmeal, 1/2c flour, baking soda, 1/2t salt.

2. in lg ovenproof skillet heat oil over med/hi. add peppers, onions, mushrooms and season with s&p. cook til tender 8-10m.

3. raise heat to hi, add beef and tomat paste, cook, stirring, til meat's not pink, 3-5m. add 2T flour and 2/3c water, s&p.

4. make cornmeal batter. add sour cream and egg to cornmeal mix and stir til JUST MOISTENED! drop tablespoons of batter over beef mix in skillet 1" apart. bake til biscuits golden and toothpick comes out clean, 15-20m. (we couldn't fit everything in a skillet so we transferred the meat mix to a glass 9x13 in pan and cooked it that way. and it makes a lot! she says 4 servings but we got 6 pretty big ones!)

5. ENJOY!

keep eating!

onion soup with cheese toasts 9/10

so tom absolutly loved this soup but i just really, really liked it. i thought it was a little too sweet and not enough beef-brothy. but he made the whole thing while i was at work the other night and i was lucky enough to have a big steaming bowl of it once i made it home. it's really good and not too much trouble, according to him. we used our new le cruset (pronounced lay crew-say) french or dutch oven (i can't remember which) that we got as a wedding gift. it's awesome for these big rich pots of stew and soup. mmm.....



onion soup with cheese toasts
martha's edf nov 07
serves 8, prep and total time:1hr

stuff:
2T butter
2T olive oil
4# onions (~8) halved and thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
salt & pepper
1/2c port or marsala wine
2 cans (14.5oz ea) red-sodium beef broth
2 cans red-sod chicken broth
cheese toasts (gyurere cheese and baguette, how-to below)

do it:
1. use 5qt heavt pot/dutch oven to heat oil and butter over medium. and onions and garlic, s&p. cover and cook, stir occasionally, 12-15m, til onions soft.

2. uncover and cook, stir occasionally til onions dark golden, 25-30m. add sm amts of water if bottom of pan gets too dry.

3. add port and cook 2-3m til surypy. add broths and 2c water, s&p, then simmer. add a cheese toast on top and serve.

cheese toasts:
heat broiler, rack 4in from heat. place 8 1/2in thick slices of baguette on a broilerproof baking sheet. sprinkle evenly with 1c shredded gruyere cheese. broil til golden, 2-3m.

it's a really great meal for this time of year and very rich! next time we may use dry red wine instead of the port which was sooo sweet! we may also use only beef broth and no chicken; give it a beefier flavor! keep eating...

cake decorating

so there's this cooking school up here that tom and i go to quite a lot and i decided to take my first class alone this month! for my birthday, my friend alli, gave me a cake decorating set with frosting and everything. and since i don't really know how to decorate with all those tips, i took a class! we only used one tip but i learned tons about how to use it as well as frosting in general. we parcticed all our techniques with mashed potatoes first (since we could just scoop up our designs and reuse the potatoes as much as we wanted). we practiced lines, shells, rosettes, stars and the "basketweave" pattern. mostly the technique comes from filling the pastry bag only about 1/2 full, palming/squeezing the bag with your dominant hand while directing with the non dominant, getting the tip really close to the surface and stopping the squeeze before lifting the bag to start a new design. we also learned how to make swiss buttercream frosting which is pretty labor intensive; heating egg white and sugar in a double boiler (but not cooking them), making a merenge, softening and whipping butter and then mixing with the merenge. and then you color and go! i have recipes for french, swiss and italian buttercream frostings but you can just let me know if you want one of them. i found out that apparently my favorite frosting isn't buttercream though (like i always thought it was), it's creamcheese frosting! silly me. one other really helpful tip i learned was the "crumb layer". take some frosting (uncolorred is fine) and put in a separate bowl before using it to thinly frost your whole cake. cover everything! then put it in the fridge for 8-10min and when you take it out you can frost away without ripping up bits of cake and getting your frosting all messy and ugly with crumbs. it's the barrier between your fantastick frosting work and the crumbly cake. let's see. also, it you brush both sides of your cake with sugar water when it comes out of the oven it supposedly keeps the cake from drying out while it cools. and for a really smooth frosting finish after you've finished your base frosting (without the fancy designs) put it in the fridge again. then take it out after an hour or so and brush quickly and lightly with boiling water the just barely melt the outer bit of frosting for a really sleek smooth look. oh, and apparently those little spinney lasy susan cake turner things are really helpful for decorating things too. and that's cake decorating 101!

pot roast with friends 10/10

we like getting together with people and making food. bent, maggie and griffin are often our guinnea pigs and always bring a delish dessert! then we get to go to their place for a treat of dinner where we get to bring the after dinner sweets. i don't have any pix of our dinner because i forgot about this whole blog thing until brent asked about it. whoops! got a pic of him with his wife's tiramisu though! our dinner was a slow cooker thing which was great because it also made the house smell yummy!

Country Beef Short Ribs over Gorgonzola Polenta

from bhg.com

Prep: 20 min. Cook: 9 to 10 hr. (low) or 4 1/2 to 5 hr. (high)

Ingredients
2-1/2 to 3 pounds boneless beef short ribs, or one 2-1/2- to 3-pound boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 1-1/2-inch pieces
2 large onions, cut into thin wedges
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced (1 cup)
1 medium fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into thin wedges (1 cup)
1 14-1/2-ounce can tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 cup dry red wine
2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
Polenta we used the "cornmeal mush" recipe on the side of the cornmeal container. mostly just 1 part cornmeal + 4 parts water and some salt and butter *
1/3 cup crumbled Gorgonzola or other blue cheese
crumbled Gorgonzola cheese or other blue cheese (optional)

Directions
1. Trim fat from ribs, if using; set aside. In a 5- or 6-quart slow cooker, combine onions, carrots, and fennel. Place beef on top of vegetables.

2. In a small bowl, stir together undrained tomatoes, wine, tapioca, tomato paste, dried rosemary, salt, pepper, and garlic. Pour over mixture in cooker.

3. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 9 to 10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4-1/2 to 5 hours.

4. Meanwhile, prepare Polenta as directed, except reduce salt to 1/2 teaspoon; stir in the 1/3 cup Gorgonzola cheese after cooking.

5. To serve, spoon Polenta into shallow bowls. Spoon beef and vegetable mixture into bowls. If desired, garnish with crumbled cheese. Makes 6 servings.

very rich, hearty dinner. everyone seemed to really enjoy it. and it was plenty easy enough to make again. it was a little fatt from the beef though and i really tried to clean the fat off the roast while i was chopping it. o well. it was delish!

the tiramisu that our guests brought was awesome! i'm pretty sure they said that the recipe came from a recent issue of cooking light so if you're ambitious you may be able to find it online at their website. i think this is the link to the recipe she used: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1662914

Nutrition Facts for dinner
Nutrition facts per serving:
Calories 489
Total Fat (g) 18
Saturated Fat (g) 8
Monounsaturated Fat (g) 7
Polyunsaturated Fat (g) 1
Cholesterol (mg) 113
Sodium (mg) 1121
Carbohydrate (g) 32
Total Sugar (g) 5
Fiber (g) 4
Protein (g) 41
Vitamin C (DV%) 20
Calcium (DV%) 11
Iron (DV%) 31
*Percent Daily Values are base on a 2,000 calorie diet

amazing mexican meatloaf 10/10

so i'm not a big meatloaf person, mostly because i've never really eaten it and they make fun of it on tv all the time. i think i may have ordered it once at crackerbarrel but that's the extent of my experience. but i've been carrying around this recipe clipping in my "to make" file for like 5 years and finally got the nerve to make it and WOW it was great! i mean, i really liked it but tom loved it! he has a lot of differnt meatloafs to compare it with though, i guess. the only complaint he had was that it looks gross; kindof a pinkish, spam thing. not super appealing but really good and healthy too! i'm pretty sure i pulled this out of an oxygen magazine (serious fitness mag for those who don't know).

mexican meatloaf

6 servings

nonstick cook spray

1# extra lean ground turkey breast (we had to use "ground turkey")

1c med-spice salsa (used hot)

1can bush's best vegg baked beans (no size given but i used the big can and had a little left over)

1/4c grated low-fat parm (didn't use)

1/4c shredded fat free monterey jack cheese (used 1/2c of low fat mixed jack and colby)

2 egg whites

1c old fashioned oats

1. oven to 350F. spray 9x5 loaf pan with nonstick spray.

2. mix turkey, salsa, 2/3 can beans (i used about 1/2 big can), cheese, egg whites and oats.

3. place mix in loaf pan and top evenly with remaining beans (or whatever fits).

4. bake 1hr or til done.

nutritional as made above: cal 272, fat 4g, prot 29g, carbs 30g, fiber 30mg

we had ours with fresh corn on the cob and it was delish! the next day we went fishing and brough leftovers to eat cold. mmmm... good! we also got more like 8 servings rather than their suggested 6.