Gnudi

Gnudi...Isn't it fun to say?  So remember last week when I vented about my frustrations in trying to make gnocchi- an Italian potato dumpling?  Well, this pretty little thing is an Italian dumpling, too (hence the words beginning with "gn") and clearly I experienced much more success.  If you are watching your carb intake, this is a  great way to get your Italian fix. If you're not watching your carb intake, this is a great way to get your Italian fix :)  In addition to making a delicious dumpling, I also homemade this marinara sauce (it's by far one of my favorite things to make.)  More on that in a minute.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1 pound frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1 cup grated Parmesan
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 5 tablespoons flour, plus 1 cup for coating(I used 6 tablespoons)
• marinara sauce

Directions:

throw everything but the flour into a bowl (during this time, start a pot of boiling, salted water- not a rolling boil, but a good, medium boil...if there ever was such a thing)

mix everything together, then add your tablespoons of flour and mix in

form your mix into ball/oblong shape thingies.  coat with flour

shake off excess flour

slowly and carefully drop your dumplings (4 at a time if you have small pot) into the boiling water.  let them boil for 3-4 minutes.  when they are done, they will surface to the top like the one pictured.

***Note:  if you didn't add enough flour, they will fall apart (apparently- and I believe it after dealing with the stupid gnocchi s...forgive the anger.  I'm still recovering from my failure.)  If you follow the amount in the recipe, you'll be fine.

*serve with marinara sauce- here are my new found secrets that produced THE.BEST.MARINARA SAUCE I HAVE EVER MADE:

• roast your veg (a few sticks of carrots, 2 onion halves) to get some color- 400 degrees for about 40 minutes
• once cool, slice into big chunks and throw into your food processor with 3-4 cloves garlic
• add oil to a pot, and add your "sofrito" (your veg mix) and cook over medium for 10 minutes
• add a bay leaf and some oregano (maybe a teaspoon or so) as well as a good pinch of sugar
• deglaze pan with 3/4-1 cup of red wine and let it reduce for 4 minutes
• add 1 28 oz. can of diced or crushed tomatoes along with another smaller can
• add plenty of salt and some pepper, and partially cover and simmer for 1-2 hours.
• serve over gnudi as an appetizer or a main entree with salad or whatever you want!

Enjoy!

Tomatillo and Ancho Chile Salsa

My husband works at a church, which means that, for our family, Sunday is not a day of rest. He's gone from about 7:30am-9:30pm every Sunday. Boo.

However, he gets a few hours off during the afternoon when he comes home exhausted and famished. I have thus taken it upon myself to make Sunday Lunch a household tradition. A big deal. This way my hungry, hard-working man gets a hearty meal that will propel him into an epic Sunday afternoon nap, rejuvenating him for the evening activities back at the church.

This Sunday I chose to hearken back to my imaginary Latina roots where the women cook with clay pots and the air smells like mangos and spices. Isn't it wonderful that I have these beautiful imaginary memories to draw upon when I need inspiration in the kitchen?

I made "migas", a Mexican brunch dish, and topped it with the most wonderful salsa I have ever tasted. The migas were truly delightful, but I shall save that post for another day. This salsa was the star of the show, and I'm particularly proud of it because it is a completely original recipe. It's unique, too, using dried ancho chile and chipotle pepper to give it a distinct smokey flavor. I think you'll like it!

Ingredients:

- about 3/4 lb tomatillos
- 1 small-ish yellow onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- Juice and zest from 3 small limes
- 3/4 of a bunch of cilantro
- 1 dried ancho chile
- 2 serrano chilis, seeded, de-vained, and diced. We like it HOT in our home, so use less if you can't take the heat.
- 1 chipotle pepper (these come in a can, preserved in adobo sauce. find it in the international section of your grocery store. they keep forever.)

Directions:

1. "Re-constitute" the ancho chile. This means that we're going to bring it back to life by steaming it. There are many ways you can do this. I take a Tupperware container, fill it with water, microwave it for 3-4 minutes, add my chile to the water, put the top on, and let the steam do all the work. It will be all plump and lovely in about 10 minutes. Remove the chile from the water, take out the seeds and the stem, set the flesh aside.

2. Quarter your tomatillos and your onion. Place them on a baking sheet with the garlic cloves. Drizzle it all with canola oil (or avocado oil if you're like me and trying to use all the fancy kitchen ingredients you got as wedding gifts). Sprinkle with salt. Roast all of this for 17 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

3. In a blender or food processor, combine all your ingredients and give it a whirl! You may have to do this in batches. It's ok. It will still be delish.

Enjoy!

P.S.
The above photo is not mine. I found it on google. I have all these friends that are really in to photography and, since being around them, I've started noticing and caring about photography way more than I ever have before. This is bad news, because I'm a terrible photographer. Because my picture of the salsa was abominable, I was forced to borrow someone else's.

Honey Oat Bread: A Baking Breakthrough

I just watched the Pioneer Woman's new cooking show on the Food Network. Meredith and I, texting all the while, decided that PW is much better as a blogger than as a Food Network actress.

If you have not discovered the Pioneer Woman's blog, click here. I particularly enjoy her "Confessions" section of the blog, because she is always writing about her ridiculous basset hounds... and I'm a sucker for anything about ridiculous dogs.

(I know what you're thinking. You're thinking I am one of those lame dog people. Well... I am. Back off. Dog people unite.)

Anyway, watching the Pioneer Woman's show put me in the mood to blog. So I flipped through the pictures on my phone and realized that I have SO MANY pictures of meals that I made this month that I have not shared with you! Why is that? Oh yeah... because I was supposed to be making recipes from Clean Eating but was covertly being unfaithful to the September Challenge. Sigh....

This recipe is from EatingWell. Shocker. With all the publicity I give them on this blog, I think they should be paying me.

Traditionally I have been a complete failure when it comes to baking. Cookies, cakes, breads, muffins... all of this homemade goodness has been unavailable to me because I fail every time. It all either comes out flat and hard or spongy and chewy. Eww. Out of fear of failure, I simply avoid baking all together.

Although still intimidated, I have recently been dipping my toe in the baking world. I'm craving a challenge. Plus, we should not let fear of failure dictate our life choices. That’s just a terrible way to live.

I made this delightful honey oat bread for small group… and because I was afraid it wouldn’t turn out, I brought along some store-bought bread, too.

It’s soooo good and soooo easy, which is good news for a baking novice like me. It’s also healthy! Which you know makes me happy. It is sweetened with raw honey, kept moist with yogurt, and uses half whole wheat flour, half all purpose flour. And it came out beautifully!

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE

A tip I learned from my friend, Hannah: Spoon your flour into your measuring cup rather than scooping it out of the bin. This keeps the flour nice and light and airy. She said something about how the “scooping” method packs the flour down too much and actually gives you more flour than you want.

A tip I learned from Meredith: Your eggs should be at room temperature when you are baking. I don’t know why. I don’t have any baking wisdom on this one. Just do it.
Yum yum yum. Everyone loved it and I was so pleased.

Oh, p.s.
Nobody touched the store-bought stuff :)

a bit of a cooking stand still

Friends, I feel like I have abandoned this poor blog!  Kate, thank God for you keeping it up!

School is a touch overwhelming right now, and apparently that sense of being overwhelmed manifested itself into my cooking.  I had my camera out, I bought my ingredients, and I was ready to make one of the Food Network recipes- Tyler Florence's "gnocchi with peas, prosciutto, and lemon ricotta."  Delightful sounding, right?  Well, I follow the recipe (even homemade my ricotta, people!), and I get to the part where it says "refrigerate gnocchi over night."  Now I want you to know that this frustrated me to no end 1) because I had spent the last hour and half (of precious time- I don't just have all day to cook anymore- school work awaits) of my life trying to not "over work the dough" and "add enough flour" to make this beautiful homemade gnocchi, and 2) well, obviously, I was hungry.  So, I stick my stupid (yet precious because they were homemade) gnocchi's in the fridge to "set" (or whatever they had to do) trying to think "well, at least you can put dinner together in a snap tomorrow night."  Well, that would be true IF THE GNOCCHI HAD NOT EVAPORATED IN THE BOILING WATER!!!!!  Grrrrr I was so angry.  I slaved away and bought groceries for POTATO WATER??  So, I ran to the commissary and grabbed some pre-made gnocchi and finished the recipe, ate it, and really, besides showing you how to make gnocchi (if I would have been successul), it was not that impressive.  Interesting, yes, but delicious....I don't know.  It wasn't my fav. Tyler Florence recipe.  I am sure that if he made it for me, I'd lick my plate clean, but truthfully it just didn't do it for me.  But, because that's where my grocery money went to this week, I've got to eat the leftovers of it and enjoy it.  It's not THAT bad, it just doesn't excite me.  Overall, a 2/5 stars.  wah wah.

Next time we meet, I'll have hopefully cooked something delicious!!

The Premature Death of Kate's September Challenge

I am so over "Clean Eating". This dumb magazine may have good health tips, but they do NOT know how to cook.

I went home this weekend to visit my family and pick up our new foster child. Isn't she cute?



Now Willie has a playmate and he's so happy:



I digress. So I went home this weekend and cooked dinner for the fam Friday night. When I cook at home I get to go crazy with ingredients because los padres pay for the groceries :) I decided to make this wonderful sounding recipe from Clean Eating: "Broiled Scallops and Figs Over a Bed of Shredded Beets". (That's why there's a picture of a fig up at the top.)

How lovely! How exotic! So I thought...

Um. No. I was utterly disappointed and I'll leave it at that.

So I have decided to cut my "September Challenge" short because every recipe I have made out of this magazine has been just "ok" and nothing more. They are way too concentrated on health and not nearly concentrated enough on flavor. I will return to EatingWell and CookingLight for my delicious and nutricious inspirations.

Late Night Snack: "Clean Eating" Approved

Tonight Anthony and I made a late night Kroger run because we were in desperate need of cereal and shredded cheese.... not to be used together.

While Anthony was picking out the cereal, I snuck away to find a little something sweet to satisfy that sugar craving I get every night about 9:00pm. As I stood in front of the bulk containers mesmerized by the chocolate covered pretzels, I remembered a lesson I learned from my Clean Eating magazine.

(Remember, my September Challenge is to cook my way through the two most recent issues of "Clean Eating"... a magazine dedicated to healthy cuisine.)

The July issue of Clean Eating had a wonderful article all about the health benefits of nuts. Pecans are good for your heart health and reduce your risk of cancer. Almonds can help lower cholesterol. Walnuts lower blood pressure and thus stress. Etc... Nuts are good for you. We know this.

So.... There was this lovely trail-mix-of-sorts right next to the chocolate covered pretzels. It had dried papaya, chocolate covered cherries, and nuts in it.

Chocolate covered pretzels.... or trail mix.... chocolate covered pretzels... or trail mix?

The magazine said if I eat nuts, basically I won't get cancer. So I chose the trail mix. It had the perfect balance of sweetness with the dried fruit and few chocolate pieces to make me feel like I was indulging, but I didn't feel completely guilty about it because I was giving my heart a good little nutritional boost from the raw nuts.

Now, here's my beef with Clean Eating: they are sure to give you a big warning not to eat too many of these incredibly healthy little morsels of goodness because of the "high calorie and fat content".

Are you kidding me? Isn't it enough that I chose trail mix over candy??? Seriously, people. Eat healthy, as close to the earth as possible, all things in moderation, but please don't starve yourself or feel guility about eating too many heart-healthy nuts. That's just going too far.

Under Construction...

Hello all.

Meredith and I are currently in the process of changing the design of this blog. We're playing around with a few things and looking for something cute and unique yet clean and simple.

Soooooo..... thanks for your patience! Any suggestions would appreciated!

-Kate

Fig and Plum Pie

That's right.

PIE.

I have been obsessing over pie for the past few weeks. It all started when I read my friend's lovely blog about a pear pie that she made using her grandmother's crust and pears from the farmer's market. I die. I yearn. I crave. Teach me!

Luckily, she did. On Labor Day the girls in our small group came over to the The Freckled Key's house where she taught us her grandmother's pie crust recipe. We filled it with seasonal figs and plums and then giggled with delight at the results.

"Wait", you say, "Kate, aren't you supposed to be reviewing recipes from that crazy healthy food magazine, Clean Eating? Isn't that the 'September Challenge'? This doesn't sound like it came from a health food magazine. After all, there are seven whole tablespoons of butter in the crust."

Yes yes, you are right. I have not forgotten. Here's the deal: in the back of Clean Eating's August issue, there is an intriguing and controversial article that challenges readers to "re-think" butter. Since there are seven tablespoons of butter in this delicious pie crust, I decided that I could incorporate my lessons learned from Clean Eating with this delectable recipe.

A certain doctor Bowden who has a PhD., is a certified nutritionist, and the author of several books, says that butter is not as bad as we think it is... especially if it comes from organic, grass-fed cows.

Maybe you're not like me, maybe you don't scoff at Paula Deen every time she ruins a perfectly healthy vegetable by throwing it in a vat of melted butter,and maybe you don't try to make a beschemel sauce with olive oil instead of the golden fatty substance that makes a beschemel a beschemel. Maybe you're sane. I, however, cower in fear at the very mention of butter in a recipe. I run, I hide, and I swap butter for olive oil any chance I get.

So, doctor Bowden says that health nuts have been avoiding butter because of the high saturated fat content. We avoid saturated fat because it contributes to high cholesterol, which we don't want because it causes heart disease. He goes through a lot of scientific jibber jabber that sounds really impressive and convincing but that I truthfully don't understand. Basically, he says scientists haven't really connected high cholesterol to death from heart disease... half of the people that die from heart disease don't have high cholesterol. Also, butter is a good source of vitamin A, which is important for a healthy immune system and eyesight. Plus, if your butter comes from healthy happy cows who have been fed organic grass rather than processed grain, your butter will have elevated levels of omega-3s, which is the HEALTHY fat that we make such a big deal about in fish.

Clean Eating says that, even with this new information, we shouldn't use butter in every meal. And we should limit our consumption to one-two tablespoons per recipe.

Weeeeeeellll, this pie crust has seven tablespoons of butter in it. And it's delicious. And I'm not sorry. Because pie is a rare little treasure that we enjoy on occassion and it is OK. Say that to yourself: "It. Is. Ok."



Enough of me talking. Here's Hannah's grandmother's pie crust recipe that she so generously gave me permission to post:

INGREDIENTS:

Crust:
- 1 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
- 7 tablespoons of butter
- 3-4 tablespoons of ice water
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of salt
Filling:
- 1 lb plums
- 1 lb figs
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:

Crust:

1. Combine the dry ingreditns until it resembles cornmeal
2. Add the ice water one tblespoon at a time until th e dough just starts to come together
3. Roll the dough into a five inch disk and wrap in plastic wrap
4. Refrigerate for one hour
5. Roll the crust out, starting in the center and rolling to the outside
6. Give the dough a quarter turn every so often
7. If the seams tear, just mash them back together :)
8. Make a 13 inch crust if you are using a 9 inch pie plate
9. Transfer the dough to the plate and tuck whatever hangs over the edge underneath to form a lip. Pinch the edges to make a pretty little rustic design. (Ok, is it obvious that I am not a baker? I realize that this description is despicable.)

Filling:

1. Mix all the filling ingredients in a bowl.
2. Pour them over the crust (which you have already put in the pan)
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes

*** If you are my mother and you love tart things, you will love this pie. If you are me and you love sweet things, I would suggest adding some more sugar or a drizzle of honey.


This is not the pie in the picture, but let's pretend.

Chocolate Covered Toffee Almond Bars

This recipe comes from Wolfgang Puck.  The guy knows what he's doing....so much so that it took me not one, not two, but THREE tries to perfect this toffee.  If it wasn't so good I'd be cursing it, but WOW.  I'm a sucker for toffee- Heath Bars are my absolute favorite- and these were Heath Bars elevated to another level.  I brought some of this to class with me and people loved it, as well as sharing it with some other friends and they too loved it!  As a matter of fact, I'm munching on some as I type this and couldn't be happier.  I'm so glad that I know how to make this because not only is it delicious, but it would make great gifts for the holidays (or any day, really).  We're going to walk through this process together, look at my mistakes, and see how the toffee SHOULD look. 

Ingredients:

• 10 ounces whole unblanched almonds (whatever that is...I just did a couple handfuls)
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup light corn syrup
• 1/3 cup water or rum (I used rum and you couldn't taste the alcohol...no worries)
• 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
• candy thermometer 

Directions:

• Toast your almonds at 400 degrees for 7 or so minutes (don't walk away- you will forget them and they will burn.  never fails)
• You can chop them roughly if you want to, I did not.
• Make the toffee: Place sugar in a small deep saucepan. Add the corn syrup and water/rum and, over medium heat, bring to a boil. Let boil until medium/large bubbles form on the surface, 3 to 4 minutes. Cover and boil 5 minutes longer. 
• Add your cut up butter into the pot (see below what it will look like) and let it cook on a medium boil until your candy thermometer reaches 300 degrees, "about 30 minutes" (as Wolfgang Puck claims). Then, add your salt and baking soda. 

(this picture is during the boiling process, before the salt and baking soda are added.  At this point, it's getting close to being done.)

• it was around this time that I thought I had plenty more time until the toffee was done.  The timer wasn't close to being done, so I just walked away and this is what happend:

•  this, my friends, is a perfect example of overcooked toffee, which I don't even know if you can recognize through the smoke.  The house smelled like cotton candy, which was the good news, but unfortunately, this pot took an act of congress to clean and it's all because I walked away.  Let me break it down for you:

• the recipe says to cook the toffee for 30 minutes. FALSE. It does not take NEARLY this long for the toffee to reach 300 degrees.  Pay attention to your thermometer, NOT your timer!
• the SECOND the thermometer's red line starts creeping up to 300 degrees, take that sucker OFF the heat  (the heat in the pot will continue to allow the temp to rise) and add your salt and baking soda. Whisk together.
• If it starts rising past 300 (and it will- or at least mine did), start spraying some super cold water on the bottom of the pot like a frantic person (like me) OR, have a bowl of ice water ready (just in case....I'm not saying your toffee won't turn out beautifully without having to take extreme measures to protect it, but let's face it: this stuff is tough to make and it is delicate! Just in case it starts rising past 300 degrees, you'll be ready).
• So, take two:

 "Help me! Help me! I'm getting too hot and dark!" But did Mer Mer listen? No.  I just tried to convince myself that I had achieved a beautiful "dark amber" color and continued to pour it into my non-stick aluminum foil

 It looks like chocolate.  This is NOT what your toffee should look like!

• THIS is what your toffee should look like when you pour it into your NON-STICK aluminum foil (or you could just coat a pan with non-stick cooking spray)

 THIS is good lookin' toffee.

• Ok so after the toffee hit 300 degrees, I added my baking soda and salt and whisked it all together.
• I poured it into some non-stick aluminum foil that was folded up to form a rectangle smaller than my baking sheet (that's the best way I can describe it).  However you form it is fine because guess what?  Mine wouldn't cut into bars, so it was really more like brickle.  
• After you've poured your toffee, place your chocolate into a microwave safe bowl and reserve 1 ounce (one Baker's square)
• Heat the chocolate in the microwave in 20 second intervals and stir between times.
• Once most of the chocolate is melted, and there are still a few lumps that haven't melted, take it out and whisk it quickly, and the lumpy chocolate will dissolve.  At this point, add your ounce of reserved chocolate and whisk that in vigorously.  You have just tempered chocolate.  Well done.  It should look smooth and shiny like this:

• pour your chocolate over your toffee.  My toffee had pretty much hardened, which is fine, but when I cut into it the next day, the chocolate separated from the toffee, so I wonder if pouring the chocolate over the toffee while it's still a  little warm would help?  Or, just leave off the chocolate.
• I added this little touch after the chocolate was poured on: sea salt- because why not?

•  let this harden (stick it in the fridge for 10 mins or so) and then leave at room temp and cut up as needed...because let's face it: toffee is a need.  
• my review:  5 stars, for sure.  Here's my only thought: the next day, my chocolate turned a little white (can anyone explain that?  I haven't researched it yet.  Maybe it was letting it harden in the fridge?) so next time I think I will just make the toffee and omit the chocolate, or let it harden at room temp.
• also, I happened to have everything (minus the almonds) on hand so it was relatively inexpensive, but heck, if you don't have nuts, it's not the end of the world, and you could always use whatever nut you have on hand.

Enjoy!  This is one for the books! For the full recipe (because I recognize that mine can get a little confusing with all of the pics in between, click here).

French Onion Soup

Hi friends, Meredith here (some people ask us whose posts are whose but can't you tell our talking in our writing???).  Last night I made Anne Burrell's french onion soup. This is a recipe that I have not EVER tried before but I know that I absolutely adore this tantalizing soup.  It's perfect for a cold day, yet not too heavy just in case you happen to be like me who wants to make it on a semi-brisk day in early September.  This dish was so simple, relatively healthy, AND-even better- cost effective.  I already had half the stuff sitting around (the sherry, the bay leaves, the thyme, and the chicken stock) so all I really needed was onions (cheap), a baguette (on sale at Kroger- score!) and some Swiss cheese (maybe $3 but I got the Publix brand because I couldn't wait to go to the commissary otherwise it might have been a few cents cheaper).  The point is: it's cost effective, feeds a lot (I halved the recipe because I didn't need so much but the recipe says it will feed 6...maybe 7), and is hearty enough to be a main dish (ok- maybe you'll have to give your husbands 2 bowls but still, cheese, bread and soup all rolled in to one?  Yes, please.)  On the flavor scale (since we are going to start rating our tested recipes on a scale of 1-5 stars...right, Kate?), I'd give this 4.5 stars.  I might try using Cognac next time instead of Sherry, but both yield delicious results.  Oh, another reason this was such a cost effective dish was because I was using the chicken stock that I previously made with a de-boned rotisserie chicken (used for another purpose many moons ago) and all the veg I saved as I've cooked throughout the weeks.  This is one of those recipes where, because it's a lot of stock, it's best to use homemade (I know, just call me Ina flipping Garten).  If you don't have homemade, or haven't ventured there yet, that's ok! (But start soon because it really is cheaper and delicious!)  So, onto how to make this delicious soup:

You'll need the following:

• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 8 large onions, thinly sliced from stem to root end
• Kosher salt
• 6 ounces dry sherry (or cognac)
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 bundle thyme
• 2 quarts chicken stock
• 12 thin slices baguette
• 1/2 pound Gruyere, grated (I used plain ole Swiss...same thing)
• 1/2 bunch chopped chives (I didn't use)

Directions:

• Slice your onions "root to end" as Anne says, and add them to a deep pot that's been coated with olive oil over medium heat

• cook COVERED for 15-20 minutes with a good pinch of salt (this sweats 'em out REAL good)
•  after 20 minutes, you'll open the lid to find soft onions that have let out a lot of water 
• now, this is where I must quote Chef Anne because she's genius:

"Once the onions have gotten very soft and let off a lot of water, remove the lid and let the onions cook looooow and sloooooooooow. That's right low and slow to really develop their rich brown color and sweet flavor. There is no shortcut or rush for this, DO NOT TRY! Caramelized onions take a long time, about an hour, accept it and move on."

• I love her.
• When the onions are at the stage below, add your sherry (or whatever alcohol), your bay leaves, and your thyme

• let your sherry/cognac reduce by half, then add your chicken stock

• let this simmer for ONE HOUR.  Anne says you'll potentially need to add a lot of salt because caramelized onions need a lot, but do this according to your taste
• now for the really good stuff.  grill or toast some baguettes:

• my oven was at 400 degrees. I toasted them for about 7 minutes.
• now, ladle your soup into an oven-safe bowl, then top with your baguettes and sliced cheese like so:

• stick this pretty little thing in the oven until it's bubbly and slightly brown and baked on top

• look at how pretty our girl is!  AND BOY WAS SHE GOOD!!!!  As a matter of fact, I brought some to school as leftovers and I let my friend (Hi Melissa!) try some because she was skeptical...she liked it so much that when I left for a second, she snuck TWO MORE BITES! Next time I am going to use cognac, however.  I just like the bite it has :)  But however you make it, please do!  Affordable and delicious! 

Mughlai Chicken

This is Mughlai Chicken.  I can't even pretend that I know how to pronounce this but I can tell you that it was heavenly.  It is Indian inspired- but don't let that scare you.  This recipe is full of the most warm, delightful, aromatic spices that will arouse your palette.  I love Indian food because it uses spices that American cooking does not typically use, so we are tasting flavors we are unfamiliar with.  They all work together beautifully to create a sweet and savory combination that will leave you wanting more. 

Here we have cloves, coriander, cumin, cardamom, garam masala, bay leaves, ground cinnamon, and red pepper flakes.  You can find garam masala at Whole Foods but you can also google how to make your own garam masala with spices you can find at the regular ole' grocery store (even the commissary, Columbus ladies!)

So, here are our Ingredients:

• 1 (1-inch) piece ginger, peeled
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes
• 4 tablespoons of sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup water
• 5 cardamom pods, bruised (or be like me and just sprinkle cardamom heavily)
• 1 cinnamon stick, broken in half, or a heavy sprinkling of cinnamon
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 cloves
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 pounds bone in chicken thighs
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 1 cup Greek yogurt (you all should know how I feel about this: don't spend the money on Greek yogurt. just strain your regular plain ole' yogurt to get that extra moisture out and you've got Greek yogurt, my friends)
• 1/2 cup sultanas (golden raisins); I didn't have these on hand so I used reg raisins
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 bunch of cilantro, chopped

Directions:

get out your food processor, ladies and gentleman.  you could also use a blender if need be.

throw in your garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, cumin, and coriander.

this is what it will look like after you blend it

now add your almonds and blend away

now add your water and blend again

at this point, I tasted it and it needed a touch of salt

now, get out your chicken

salt these bad boys on both sides generously with salt and pepper and get 'em in a hot pan with your vegetable oil

make sure your pan is nice and hot (medium high heat so you can hear them sizzle).  place them skin side down, let them cook for about 4 minutes on each side, or until they come off the pan easily

when the chicken is seared on both sides, transfer it to a plate (we're going to do that thing again where we partially cook a chicken by searing it in both sides then put it in our sauce and let it finish cooking in the sauce)

ok so now that your chicken is removed to a plate, reduce the heat to medium and throw the rest of your spices (cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves, cloves...everything but the garam masala and sugar) and let them cook in the oil for a sec.  now add your onions and cook everything together.

cook your onions until soft and translucent. pour in the blended paste and your greek yogurt

throw in your raisins (throwing them in the heat plumps them up and turns them from drab to fab)

now put your browned chicken, and any juices that have collected into the pan

let this simmer for about 20 minutes until cooked through

in the meantime, preheat your oven to 425, slice up some carrots, toss with olive oil, salt, and coriander

throw 'em in the oven for 20 minutes and you've got a delicious, healthy, and simple side dish

once your chicken is cooked through, plate it and top it with cilantro.  I served my chicken over brown rice (I use the 90 second bag), had the carrots, and topped it all with a generous amount of cilantro and it.was.PERFECT. 

oh, and I put some Naan on the side to soak up the sauce.

SO YUMMY!!!!  Expand your taste horizons and try this dish! (courtesy of Nigella Lawson from my Food Network recipe box but I adapted it to fit my needs...ie; not using heavy cream in addition to the greek yogurt, and adding cilantro). 

Chicken Noodle Soup: Asian Style

It's the September Challenge! Meredith and I have chosen to focus our cooking efforts by trying recipes from one exclusive source all month long. She is working her way through recipes that she has saved from the Food Network and I am making recipes from the July and August editions of "Clean Eating". Never heard of this magazine? Well, if you are interested in organic hippie food, this is the magazine for you. It is SUPER healthy (maybe a little too much so) and is all about eating "close to the earth" and eliminating all the artificial additives that are so bad for us. This is a challenge for me because, although I love healthy cooking magazines, I don't often stray from Eating Well or Cooking Light. Before picking up Clean Eating, I thought that I was a pretty healthy gal, but these people have put me to shame. They are CRAZY healthy and take eating close to the earth to the extreme. I am learning so much about how to use and find the best possible ingredients for my body and how to eat seasonally. I'll keep you updated with all the fun tidbits I come across.

So.... confession. This recipe that I'm about to post is NOT from Clean Eating.

I know I know! My first post in the challenge and I've already strayed from the path.

Here's the deal, Anthony and I are obsessed with this restaurant in Houston called Jenni's Noodle House. It's reasonably priced, off the beaten path, and sooo yummy. We generally go about once a week, but other obligations have kept us away lately. Beginning to crave my miso ramen soup, I decided to re-create my Jenni's favorite dish at home tonight. Here's how I justify posting it: Clean Eating would be proud. This soup is packed with fresh ingredients, lean protein, and tons of vitamins. It's so easy, so delicious, and so healthy (never mind that we shared a quart of ice cream afterwards).

Instead of a miso base, I used my homemade veggie stock spiked with soy sauce. Although a bit pricey up front (I spent $25 on ingredients), I think it evens out because it makes a TON of soup. At least 10 servings... maybe more. We'll be eating it for the next few days.

INGREDIENTS:

- 4 quarts of homemade veggie stock
- About 1/8 cup of organic soy sauce
- 1 package of udon noodles (found in the international section)
- 2 lbs chicken breast: bone in, skin on (for flava!)
- One handful of snow peas, ends cut off
- 1 package of bean sprouts
- 10 ounces of cute little grape tomatoes
- Cilantro to taste, chopped
- 1 bunch of green onions, chopped
- 1 package of enoki mushrooms (I'll admit, these may not be necessary unless you just want them for their nutritional value. They didn't contribute much taste. If you like mushrooms, maybe substitute another kind.)


DIRECTIONS:

1. Rub the chicken with olive oil. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Bake them for 35 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool. Remove and discard the skin. Shred the meat and set aside. (Save the bones for stock!)

2. Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to package directions. Udon noodles are thick, creamy, and healthy. Yummmmmmmmm.

3. Heat the stock slowly in a very large pot and add your soy sauce. Add your snow peas while you do this, because we want to cook a little bit of their "bite" out.

4. Add the noodles to the stock. Just before you are ready to serve, add all the other ingredients.

Enjoy, people, enjoy. It is so flipping good.

P.S. This soup contained mushrooms, green onions, and cilantro: three ingredients that Anthony vows to hate. He is currently eating his second bowl. Am I proud? Yes, yes I am.

Chicken with Mustard Mascarpone Marsala Sauce

Yes, my sweet friends, it is as appetizing as it sounds.  I made this last week and I can STILL taste it in my mouth.  I mean, it is one of those great chicken dishes that I've decided will be a go-to dinner....if only I were like Giada and kept marscapone cheese just lying around...ok so maybe it will be a meal I bring to my friends on special occasions.  But either way, it was definitely outstanding.  Five stars for sure.

You will start noticing a trend of Food Network star recipes in the next month's posts from me because what Kate and I have decided to do for this month (maybe trickling into October, we'll see) is to narrow down a month's worth of recipes that we've been wanting to try but have been lost in our abyss of recipes over the years.  So, I chose to start with my Food Network Recipe Box which I have neglected, and friends: can you guess how many pages of recipes I have?  72!!!  So, I went through and chose the top recipes that sounded incredible and that I hadn't yet made.  Don't you guys find that sometimes you just get lost in your recipes and you want to try them all but don't ever just DO it?  Well, that's sort of the point of this little exercise Kate and I are doing: to cook our way through all of our insane amounts of recipes little by little, and in an ORGANIZED fashion.  Organize your recipes in anyway, but the point is: find something and stick to it!  Is it cooking through an edition of Cooking Light for a month?  Do it!  We are finding that not only is this adding organization and structure to our cooking lives, but it is allowing us to FINALLY try those great recipes saved over the last 4 or 5 years.

Ok so on to the chicken recipe.  I had an accomplice in my kitchen this night (Hi Boo! (Sara)) to take pictures of my every move so yes- this is going to be one of those step by step posts.

This serves about 4 people and I'd say between prep and actually getting it on the table, I'd give yourself 40 or so minutes

Ingredients:

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper 
• 2-4 chicken breasts, pounded thin
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 chopped yellow onion
• 1 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced (or chopped fine so you can disguise the mushrooms...I'm onto you non-mushroom people)
• 4-5 big cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup dry Marsala wine (or any kind of white wine)
• 1 package of mascarpone cheese
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves, chopped for garnish (or you could use thyme)

pound out your chicken breasts (my package  had two breasts, but the sauce can easily cover 4 breasts)

get your oil (olive) heated in a skillet on medium-high heat.

season yo' chicken (S&P on both sides)

get those babies sizzlin' and searin'

that, my friends, is a good sear.  Make sure you do not turn the chicken over until it is ready- if it sticks to the pan, it's not ready.

ok so when your chicken is seared on both sides (again, you'll know because it will easily lift off the pan), remove it to a plate (no, it will not be cooked through at that point)  then turn your heat down to medium, and add your onions, garlic, and chopped mushrooms as I am doing in the above picture

now we've got everyone in the pan, nice and happy, sizzling away.  add a dash of salt and let this cook down

(note: I'm sorry for the quality of pictures.  I went back and edited them but clearly my computer did not save those changes...yes, it was the computer's fault.) ok, after your mushrooms and onions and garlic have cooked down, have beautiful color on them, and the onions are translucent, add your marsala or white wine, or in my case, both white cooking wine and sherry.

once you add your liquid, let it reduce down a bit

1) notice the beautiful color of the mushrooms and onions- a dark, rich, beautiful color, right?

  thanks for humoring me, now add your mascarpone cheese and dijon (not pictured)

look at everything coming together so beautifully.  mmmmmm. now, bring this to a strong simmer

ok now add your chicken back in (and those juices that collected under the chicken- that's flavor)

let this merry together on simmer for about 5-10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

there's that beautiful chicken doin' it's thing.  gosh I can taste this right now.  Ho.ly. Mo.ly. 

sautee some spinach (all this entails is adding a slight touch of oil to a pot, pour in your spinach, season with salt and pepper, cover with a lid and let cook down for 10 or so minutes

cut up some red potatoes, drizzle in a bit of olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. toss together (psst: there shouldn't be an abundance of oil- just enough to coat) roast at 425 for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. add some chopped garlic and fresh thyme for extra flavor

there we have it- with my limited presentation skills (hey, I didn't go to culinary school!).  I sprinkled with some freshly chopped parsley and topped my beautiful bed of sauteed spinach with the chicken and it's silky smooth sauce with roasted potatoes for a perfectly balanced dinner.  It was memorable to say the least!

For Giada's version, where it is served over pasta, click here

 try this asap!  you won't be sorry you did!  Oh, and if you are craving a sweet treat, I whipped these up the other day for a cookie exchange and they were scrumptious