meme – Peaceful Reader

Farmers Market Bounty

I spent two hours this morning standing at an information booth for our soon-to-be co-operative grocery store. Before I settled in to that job though I took a stroll through our lively and beautiful market.

I now have turnips, swiss chard, small potatoes, four bulbs of garlic, 2 butternut squash, and about an hour spent trolling the internet for recipes ideas. Here’s what I came up with:

1. Huff Post article about butternut squash with an easy peel method!

{Naturally Ella}

2. Naturally Ella-butternut squash soup

3. Cookie + Kate-butternut tabbouleh

{NYT Cooking}

4. New York Times Cooking-swiss chard and potatoes au gratin (with gruyere cheese-ohh yes!) I love my NYT teacher subscription.

{well-plated by erin}

5. Well-plated by Erin-Slow cooker butternut squash pulled pork tacos-I’d change out the pulled pork to something else we would eat.

6. A classic family recipe from a Moosewood cookbook-black bean and sweet potato burritos that could be made with butternut squash instead. Just remembered how good they are!

Now that I’ve made myself really hungry I’m off to eat dinner at a friend’s. My recipe pull was heavy on squash but the swiss chard one is a keeper that I’m making tomorrow night for Sunday dinner. I don’t want the swiss chard to go all limp on me and the squash saves for a good long time.

Groovy Girl is turning into a kitchen staple. Last night, bored with my idea of leftovers, she took to a recipe site that takes your ingredient list and spits possible recipe choices back out. She found this recipe for chicken broccoli pasta and she made it all herself. I avoided the chicken and thought the flavor of the recipe amazing. Lemon-love lemons. Try Zakk’s Lemon Broccoli Pasta.

Enjoy! This post is linked last minute to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking post.

Weekend Cooking; Corn Chowder

We have sunshine today and it’s been a glorious day. It’s rained all week though which made me wish for some sort of soup solace. Last night I made a corn chowder recipe that I’ve been waiting for just the right opportunity to create. That opportunity arose when Groovy Girl was invited to a sleepover yesterday. She and I had discussed this chowder and she’d told me in simple words “no thanks”. I waited until she was rolling down the driveway with her friend Emma before I started tossing ingredients together.

With little girl out of the house it defaulted to date night. We ate the soup, two bowls full, and then watched a movie together. I still managed to fall asleep by a little after 10. Bedtime rocks.

Corn Chowder
{adapted from The Mom 100 Cookbook}

4 slices of organic/local bacon
1 tsp unsalted butter
1 T unbleached flour
1 cup chopped onion or 1/2 cup shallots
1/2 cup chopped and peeled carrots
1/3 cup chopped red bell pepper
3/4 tsp thyme
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups diced Yukon Gold potatoes (I did not use)
2 cups chicken or veggie broth
1 bay leaf
3 cups fresh corn kernels or frozen
2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 T thinly sliced scallions or minced fresh chives
Extra cooked and crumbled bacon for topping

Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp, 4-5 minutes. Using a slotting spoon, remove the bacon and set it aside on paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 2 tsp of fat from the pot.

Add the butter to the pot and melt over medium heat. Add the flour and stir until it starts to turn golden, about 2 minutes. Add the onion or shallots and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally. Add the bell pepper and thyme, season with salt and pepper to taste, and cook, stirring until everything is well combined about 1 minute. Add the potatoes, broth, bay leaf, and the reserved bacon. Reduce the heat to medium-low, let come to a simmer, and simmer until the potatoes are tender, 10-12 minutes.

Add the corn and let simmer until the corn is tender, 4-6 minutes. Using a potato masher or a wooden spoon, press against the side of the pot to mush up the potatoes and veggies and to thicken the broth.

Add the milk and heavy cream, increase the heat to medium, and cook, stirring frequently, until tiny bubbles form along the edge of the pot, about 7 minutes. Don’t let the soup come to a boil or it might separate. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper as necessary. Fish out the bay leaf, then ladle the soup into bowls and top with chives, scallions, and/or bacon.

This was a perfect easy meal. My husband had some fresh bread with it. I was happy with just the chowder. I’ll try this again in the summertime with fresh corn. I didn’t have any good potatoes to use so I just skipped the potatoes; it still tasted great. The soup wasn’t as thick but the flavor was spot on.

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Click to her link to find many other food-related posts.

Easter Blessings

{Egg decorating 2014 w/ Groovy Girl}

Once again I’ve inadvertently let a week traipse right by without a bit of writing. It’s been a busy week and that excuse is ever present yet this week there was an added snafu. My lithe little MacBook Air died or so it seemed. It did some kind of strange fake death worthy of a Shakespearean play. I could get it to make the sound and the white apple would appear but then before you could say Macbeth the screen would go black. Stupidly I kept trying it whilst pushing button combinations. After 4 days of that nonsense I sent an emergency text to my friend and co-worker, Al, who embodies the word super techie. Thank all the powers that be for people like Al, including Al, as he always been able to help me out. MacBook Air is back up and running as of yesterday. Don’t ask me what he did as I prefer to think that he waved his magic wand three times right over my silver baby and viola!

Now let’s talk food. While everyone around me talks about their Easter ham we are bucking tradition, pretty normal here, and making a large Alaskan wild caught salmon. Groovy Girl loves fish and she can pretty much finish off an entire plate of fish herself so I bought extra. Added to the fish we will have copious amounts of roasted brussels sprouts, baked sweet potatoes, a little green salad, and strawberries and chocolate for dessert. Nothing on the menu that even needs a recipe other than what’s already in my head. A deliciously simple meal to celebrate Easter, leaving me lots of time to relax with my family.

I was going to make this yummy carrot-ginger soup for dinner. A friend made this soup for our last book club and I’ve been waiting for this holiday to make it. I thought the Easter bunny would dig it! Instead I mopped up water in our basement. I guess while I was carpooling for Groovy Girl’s theatre rehearsal my husband, while doing some Spring yard work, inadvertently created a huge water leak in the basement. I came home to huge ~~puddles~~ lakes in the three rooms of our basement. Not nearly as much fun as making soup. We ate Jimmy John’s after a trip to the hardware store to buy a wet-dry vac. Last time we had water in the basement we borrowed a friend’s and felt that this was an important purchase for us though we hate buying things. I could put bunny ears on the wet vac as this present is better than any other Easter basket I could have surprised my husband with this holiday.

No matter how you celebrate have a lovely day ushering in Springtime. Feliz Pascua!

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads weekend cooking meme. Click her link to see many other food-related posts.

Breakfast or brunch, whichever.

{Ree’s photo, not mine)

My husband would love it if I cooked like Ree Drummond most of the time. He’s a fried chicken, grits, biscuits and gravy kinda guy. I made him a homemade plateful using a recipe for biscuits and gravy I found on her website. There were delicious. I’m more of a vegetarian, salad, healthy-type eater so we balance each other out. I’ve learned to appreciate something as hearty as this dish as long as it’s like eaten not more than once a year and made with high quality, local sausage like Beeler’s.

Last night we secretly made him a strawberry-rhubarb pie. It is hiding in the cupboard waiting for tomorrow night. I used frozen rhubarb from last summer’s crop and some berries my mom brought me the other day. I don’t know where she got the berries and I’m not asking as they were big (and definitely NOT local) but perfect for this pie. It’s his favorite. I used to be afraid of making pies all because of sticky crusts. My mother-in-law shared her recipe with me and I finally got the hang of making it. Last night Groovy Girl and I worked happily together interlacing the pie crust to make a lattice top.

The pie was quite juicy I think because of the frozen rhubarb. It has settled not and should be perfect for serving tomorrow night. I always bake it on top of a cookie sheet which saved my oven this time as it leaked right up over the top.

Here is the pie crust recipe so you to can feel pie-successful:

Phyllis’ Perfect Pie Crust

For a double crust pie:

2 cups flour
1 cup Crisco (today I used butter as I was out of Crisco)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup cold water

Mix together dry ingredients, cut in Crisco with a pastry blender. Pour in cold water and mix only enough to stick together. Roll out one-half of the dough at a time for a double crust pie. You can sprinkle top with sugar or cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Toss in your fruit of choice and bake. The lattice top in the photo above does not look as good as we’ve done before but he is not going to care. He is going to be delighted that I’m still willing to craft a pie for him! Why all this catering to the husband? His birthday is tomorrow!

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Click on her link to find many other food-related posts. Happy weekend.

Baby, It's Cold Outside…

{source}

It is snowy and oh, so cold. I do love the snow when you can go out and play in it but when it is 16 degrees outside. When it’s cold outside I turn to my dear friend hot chocolate and add a little zip to it. In the spirit of making things from scratch I found a recipe for homemade hot chocolate mix and it is delicious. Steaming mug with either fresh whipped cream or marshmallows, take your pick. I don’t care.

The mug of warmth does make you forget about how cold it is outside especially if you’ve laced your cup with a little peppermint schnapps or Bailey’s. Grown up hot chocolate. I’m making some right now. Our house is old and drafty and this is a necessity I tell you. This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Click her link to find many other food-related posts.

Stay warm out there!

My recipe:

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Hot Chocolate Powder

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup cocoa

pinch of sea salt

Triple it in jar and shake to mix.
Scoop 1-2 tablespoons into mug and pour in hot milk mixture. I use a combination of water/milk or even
soy/coconut milk warmed in a small saucepan on the stovetop. Add freshly whipped cream or a marshmallows.

Serve immediately.

Weekend Cooking…a little curry dish.

I listened to my daughter and her friend swoon about the chicken curry at our local Indian restaurant and ever since then I’ve had a craving for curry. Naturally I wanted to make my own though so I pulled out Six Spices; A simple concept of Indian cooking by Neeta Saluja. My stepbrother Sean recommended this book to me as we both love Indian food and the author is his ex-girlfriend yet-still-friend’s mother~always nice to have a family connection!

I pulled the book out to see what type of curry recipe I could make with what I already had at home and decided the mixed vegetable curry would be perfect on this very chilly early evening. I had 90% of the ingredients and would have to make due and my husband was impressed as he walked through the door an hour later as I was elbow-deep in spices.

Mixed-Vegetable Curry
{Rase wali Mili-Juli Subji}

Ingredients

6 cups assorted vegetables (carrots, cauliflower, turnips, potatoes, or peas)
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 tsp garlic, chopped
1 tsp ginger, chopped
1/4 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
7 T cooking oil, divided
6 T + 2 cups water
1 large tomato, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 T fresh cilantro, chopped

Method:

1. Peel and cut all the vegetables into somewhat large size pieces.
2. Place onions, garlic, and ginger in a blender. Add a small amount of water and run blender intermittently until it makes a smooth paste.
3. Add chili, turmeric, and coriander powders. Run blender again to mix the spices into the paste.
4. In a medium saucepan, heat 4 T cooking oil on medium high heat. When oil is hot, add the onion mixture. Cover pan to avoid spattering.
5. Reduce heat to medium. Stir mixture continuously to avoid burning and scorching. Add 6 T of water, one tablespoon at a time, to prevent burning. Cook until most of the moisture evaporates. At this time the oil will separate from the onion paste, and the raw smell of onion and spices will change to a more roasted and flavorful smell.
6. Add tomatoes and a little of of the salt. Cover the pan. Cook, stirring the mixture occasionally, until mixture forms a smooth paste and oil is separated.
7. Heat remaining oil in a large skillet. When hot, add cumin seeds. Stir in all chopped vegetables and fry for 6-8 minutes.
8. Add fried vegetables, and the rest of the salt to masala (curry paste). Stir the mixture.
9. Stir in 2 cups of water and let the vegetables simmer on medium heat until potatoes are cooked.
10. Garnish curry with cilantro and serve hot.

After the holidays I haven’t felt much like whipping up multi-step recipes as I think I wore myself out cooking (joyously) for the two older kids and other friends and family. This recipe brought me back to life.

The two substitutions I had to make; I did not have nor do I usually buy tomatoes in the winter so I used a little canned tomato juice from my pantry, which has tomatoes from my mom’s garden plus I somehow ran out of cumin seeds over the holidays and forgot to replace them so I added the veggies (potatoes, carrots, and peas) to the oil and then I added some garam marsala just to add something to the potatoes as they cooked.

I love everything about cumin so was sad not to have that smell and flavor. I would absolutely make this dish again and I will try more from this book. I get so used to “googling” for a recipe or searching Pinterest yet often what I need lies right in my own cabinet. Yep.

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads weekly cooking meme, Weekend Cooking, where many other foodies talk about food. Click her link to find out what everyone’s talking about today.

Weekend Cooking; Fresh pizza dough

I made pizza this weekend and it turned out fantastic. The dough was triple light and airy because I rolled it out early and let it sit on the pizza stones in the oven for 3 hours while I went to another event.
When I came home and pulled the stones out of the oven to decorate the pizzas and let the oven heat up the dough was this puffy, airy mass. I poured some red sauce on and set it in the middle of the table.

One of our little guests, Jackson, took a break from petting Sadie the rabbit to help me put topics on the pizza. YES, mother, he washed his hands thoroughly before adding straight cheese and a few tiny mini sausages to the kid’s pie. He liked helping so much he topped the adult pie as well with sautéed mushrooms, black olives, fresh spinach, and plenty of cheese! I didn’t want to seem like a dweeb as we made these pizzas but they were picture-worthy. Thank you to Jackson for you pie decorating abilities.

Here is the dough recipe I used

Pizza dough
adapted from Rodale’s Basic Natural food’s cookbook

2 cups warm water
2 T. local honey
2 full T. of yeast
3 T. vegetable oil
5-6 cups unbleached flour-can use a mix of white and whole wheat

In a large bowl combine warm water, honey, and yeast and let proof. (Proofing means let it get active, it will be bubbly) Then add oil and enough flour to make a firm dough. Turn dough onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic., adding flour as need. Place dough in a well-oiled bowl, and turn over to coat. Cover bowl with a damp warm towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough, knead briefly in bowl and let rise again. Then divide dough into two balls. Form each ball into a flat circle and roll out into a circle. I use my Pampered Chef silicone mat for this and it makes it so easy to lift up the dough flip it and turn it over.

We used most of the dough up last night but the rest is going to be turned into a calzone for tomorrow’s lunch box main dish for Groovy Girl! I’m off to create that with her now. This holiday time make some dough and have an easy pizza party. I had all my ingredients prepped and in lidded containers so I could just whip them out and let Jackson go to town. It made for a very easy entertaining trick.

Have a holly jolly week!

This is loosely linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Click her link to find many other food-related posts.

Weekend Cooking; The holiday recipes

{source}

Ohhh, we had a lovely Thanksgiving Day, filled with good food and a visit from dear friends. I made a simple roast chicken, baked potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts, and fresh cranberries. Everything was easy to put together and I didn’t spend much time in the kitchen. The highlight was putting together 2 desserts; a sweet potato pie (which we much prefer over pumpkin) and bread pudding with bourbon sauce.

Bread Pudding recipe (adapted from an old Vegetarian Times recipe):
Oven at 350*

3 large eggs + 2 egg whites
1 cup skim milk
3/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
5 cups, cubed day old whole wheat bread (1/2 cubes/I say bite-sized)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Whiskey Sauce:
1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup bourbon

To assemble:

Whisk together first 7 ingredients. Fold in cubed bread, raisins, & cranberries. Let stand for 5 minutes or so to allow the custard to absorb into the bread.
Coat 9-in square pan with spray and spread mixture in pan. Bake 35-40 minutes until no egg mixture is bubbling up.
While it is baking make the sauce: In a small saucepan heat the water and brown sugar together. Boil on medium heat for two minutes. Remove from heat and add in bourbon. Boil two more minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a small pitcher and allow to cool just a bit. Serve warm over bread pudding. Serve in bowls with homemade whipped cream on top. Yum!

We also started our day with a quick brunch that included homemade Bloody Mary’s. It was a trial run for another Christmas event that we always host that includes family friends and a hunt for an evergreen tree. Instead of buying Bloody Mary mix I wanted to try my own and found a keeper in this recipe. If you love Mary’s as we do, this recipe will make you smile and it was very easy.

One year I made fresh cranberries and I had a perfect recipe that used less sugar adding orange juice for flavor~I didn’t save the recipe (pre-Pinterest) and can’t find it but I did find this recipe and I just squeezed in a whole orange from my counter. I love, love the bright taste of this fruit and wonder why we don’t eat this all year long! I saved this recipe and will make it again at Christmas time for teenage boy who loves this crisp red berry as well.

Happy Weekend cooking! It’s just one short sleigh ride into Christmas…

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme where she gathers together many other food-related posts.

Weekend Cooking; Garden produce

We have a beautiful garden this summer. My husband and I compost lots of kitchen scraps and we dump them into a large ball composter that looks a lot like this one. This year when we rolled it from one end of the garden to the other (it IS heavy and it takes both of us to push it around, thus moving the scraps around) we had a really nice fertile (mucky) batch of compost. My husband dug down about a foot and we layered in a batch of compost, which looks like wet dirt, and then cover that layer back up with dirt. It’s a little like burying a treasure!

We have about 5 tomato plants, three robust basil plants, one acorn squash plant, one cucumber plant, and one zucchini plant and they are all producing for us this year. I love it when I can go out and gather a small handful of tomatoes and fresh basil and then turn it into a simple and delicious lunch.

From this:

to this:

Fresh roma tomatoes, snipped basil still warm, a little mozzarella cubed, sea salt and pepper, oil drizzled plus a scoop of homemade pesto there in the corner to add even more flavor.

I found this zucchini in the garden the other day and plan to shred it and make bread with it. Anyone have a great zucchini bread recipe to share? I have one I plan to use but I always like to find new ones.

Groovy Girl was so amazed by the mammoth size of the zucchini she had to have a comparison photo. Won’t that be delicious in some bread!

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking. Click her link for many other food-related posts.

Dinner; A Love Story

My friend Janice gave me this book, Dinner, A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach, at the end of the school year. After reading many positive reviews about it I’d looked for it at the library (always out) but I didn’t want to shell out 30 some dollars at our Barnes and Noble for the book. Now if I’d actually gone to the bookstore, sat down and started reading I would have fallen in love with Jenny’s writing and walked in a lovely trance to the check-out counter. Lucky for me, Janice did that for me! Thank you dear friend!

She knew this book would appeal to me as I work hard to make dinner for my family every night because I think it is really important to sit around the table and eat together. It’s more than just eating, even when there is complaining.

I have not finished reading this book but I did cook my first recipe from it yesterday. And just like the whole Julia Child trend a few years ago I started with the very first recipe, chicken cutlets. As a former full-time vegetarian it is still always startling to my family when meat is on my menu. They used to only get meat on Thursdays when my husband was in charge of meals and then (usually) only turkey burgers.

I liked Rosenstrach’s first story of her mother going back to school and that this is what was the go-to meal she taught her husband to make as she hurried off to law school. I grew up in a busy household like that; my dad’s go-to meal though was scrambled eggs.

The chicken cutlets turned out fantastic and everyone finished their plates. There are only three of us now at the table as College Boy made his big move to Colorado. We had the cutlets, corn on the cob, salad, and beets (fresh from the farmer’s market). It was a delicious summer time meal. Groovy Girl ate her entire chicken breast and couldn’t finish two of her beets because she was full. She LOVES beets so this was a major change of events.

The veg head that lives permanently in my heart and soul knows the beets are better for her but she seems hungry for meat as well. I found my happy chicken breasts at Target. On short notice I can’t find organic chicken breasts here in my little town anymore. It is very important to pay attention to where your meat comes from so where it says chicken in this recipe I recommend organic or farm-raised breasts if you can. If the package says “natural” it doesn’t really mean what you think it does. I do have three farm-raised whole chickens on order from my favorite farmer though.

Here’s Jenny’s recipe:

Breaded Chicken Cutlets
(aka Grandma Jody’s Chicken)

total cooking time: 25 minutes

A few generous glugs of olive oil (5-6 T.) more if necessary but remember you are not deep-frying here.
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups plain bread crumbs or Kellog’s corn flake crumbs that have been salted and peppered
4 boneless chicken breasts (about 1 1/4 lb), rinsed and patted dry and pounded like crazy

Add the oil to a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Set up your dredging stations: one rimmed plate for the eggs, one plate for the flour, and one plate for the bread crumbs. Using a fork, coat your chicken pieces first in the flour (shaking off any excess), then in the egg, then in the crumbs, pressing the chicken into the crumbs to thoroughly coat.

Fry each breast in the oil for 3-4 minutes on each side. I did all three in my large skillet with no problems. The cutlets are cooked when the chicken is firm to the touch but not rock hard. I used my meat thermometer and they were at 120 degrees.

Remove and drain the chicken onto a paper-towel lined dinner plate tented with foil if you have more pieces to fry. Add more oil to the pan and fry the remaining breasts.

**Note: Feel free to add any of the following to the bread crumbs; a pinch of cayenne, a tsp of dry mustard, fresh thyme or oregano leaves, some ground flax or sesame seeds, or freshly grated Parmesan.

There is a whole sidebar on pounding the chicken-which I needed being a newbie meat pounder. I even had to borrow a mallet from my husband’s tool bench. The important part is to put chicken between two sheets of waxed paper on a cutting board, and pound away to flatten chicken for even cooking.

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Click her link to find many more food-related posts. I love the new look! Happy healthy cooking!