Saturday, September 26, 2009

Super Easy Sides: Roasted Veggies

Cook's note: this is much better without the side of thumb mine came with tonight but you can use any combination of fall/winter vegetables that you like, thumbs included. Especially easy if you can find the precut squash and potatoes and baby carrots in the store.

Preheat oven to 425/450 depending on how crispy you want your veggies.

3-4 medium Yukon Gold or Red potatoes, cubed
1 yellow onion cut in 1/8ths
3-4 garlic cloves, peeled
1 small Butternut Squash, cubed
2 medium carrots, cut in "thick" matchsticks
4 Tbs olive oil to coat
Kosher Salt
Fresh ground pepper
* Chopped fresh rosemary--optional

Place cut veggies in pan (I like to use a deep sided baking sheet lined with parchment) and douse with olive oil, salt and pepper and herbs and stir to coat veggies. Bake for 20 minutes and turn vegetables and return to oven for another 20-25 minutes.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Cinnamon Crumble Apple Pie

Yay for Autumn! One of the best things about fall is the bumper crops of apples. My food porn often involves apple pie, caramel apples, baked apples, apple slices with peanut butter--you get the idea: Ginny <3's apples.

My brother-in-law Chad and his girlfriend Sonja are visiting this week so I've been cooking up a storm for the guests. Also, Chad eats a lot. As he reminded me last night, I should have made a shopping list of what I thought I would need and then doubled it for him. Why the man is not 300 pounds is a complete mystery to me. Ryan can put it away too and is just over a buck fifty. Not fair.

Anyways, getting back to my original point. Apples are awesome, apple pie is even better and although I make a few modifications,this is one of the better recipes I've come across (on epicurious.com). I suck at pie dough but luckily Sonja makes a perfect crust. I include the recipe's pie dough here but you can sub in your favorite iteration of flaky pie crust. Traditionally, bakers use the granny smith which gets very soft when baked but I recommend that you use golden delicious apples. Apple pie connessieurs may be yelling "Blasphemy!" but golden delicious apples stay firmer and need less sugar and the resulting pie is more "appley" and less mushy. My version is below but you can view the original on epicurious.com here.

Crust
  • 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1/4 cup frozen solid vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 3 tablespoons (or more) ice water
  • 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Filling
  • 3 1/4 pounds Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, sliced 1/4 inch thick
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Topping
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • Vanilla ice cream

For crust:
Mix flour, salt, and sugar in large bowl. Add butter and shortening; rub in with fingertips until coarse meal forms. Mix 3 tablespoons ice water and vinegar in small bowl to blend. Drizzle over flour mixture; stir with fork until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; refrigerate 30 minutes.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch; turn edge under and crimp decoratively. Refrigerate while preparing filling and topping.

For filling:
Mix all ingredients in large bowl to coat apples.

For topping:
Blend first 5 ingredients in processor. Add chilled butter cubes; using on/off turns, cut in until mixture resembles wet sand.

Toss filling to redistribute juices; transfer to crust, mounding in center. Pack topping over and around apples. Bake pie on baking sheet until topping is golden, about 40 minutes (cover top with foil if browning too quickly). Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake until apples in center are tender when pierced and filling is bubbling thickly at edges, about 45 minutes longer. Cool until warm, about 1 hour. Serve with ice cream.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Corn and tomatoes

I made this on Friday and this on Saturday. Yum. And we felt so healthy!

We love the Bittman salad - my mom had made it for us when we were on vacation - and I think it will become a regular part of our rotation. We use turkey bacon. Also, I couldn't find Thai peppers so I just used some random kind. Make and love this salad.

I modified the Smitten Kitchen cornbread salad - not on purpose but because that's life and cooking. I didn't have the inclination to chase down the various types of greens (trader joes i love you but i hate your approach to produce; really - all those wasteful plastic containers and more of one thing than i ever need?) so I just used a mix of greens. I couldn't find a Vidalia onion either so I just used some type of sweet onion. For no good reason I am afraid of putting my skillet in the oven so I didn't use the cornbread recipe provided. I planned to use TJ's cornbread mix (forgive me), but they were out so I ended up making the Joy of Cooking's Northern Cornbread. I think it might have been better to have the sweeter TJ cornbread because it would have contrasted with the bite of the onions and the dressing. Despite my tweaks, it was good.

I wasn't going for a theme, it just looks like it. Both were very easy and yielded leftovers that we enjoyed today. Excellent.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Chicken Tequila Fettuccine (CPK Knockoff)

My friend Minal had my mom and I over for dinner and made this fabulous little recipe...after we had dinner I wanted to know what it was and she said she just did a little google search on a knockoff recipe for CPK Chicken Tequila Fettuccine. I love the lime and cilantro flavor in this. Also, am loving having people cook for me and hope to get back into the swing of things myself soon. You can only eat so many burritos from BTB (Big Ten Burrito) before it loses its allure.

Ingredients
  • 1 lb dry spinach fettuccine (or 2 lbs fresh) .
  • 2 tbsps minced fresh garlic .
  • 1/2 medium yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced .
  • 2 tbsps gold tequila .
  • 2 tbsps minced jalapeno peppers (seeds & veins may be eliminated if milder flavor is desired) .
  • 1/2 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced .
  • 2 tbsps freshly squeezed lime juice .
  • 3 tbsps soy sauce .
  • 1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced .
  • 1 1/4 lbs chicken breasts, sliced 3/4 inch .
  • 1/2 medium green bell pepper, thinly sliced .
  • 1 1/2 c heavy cream .
  • 1/2 c sliced fresh cilantro (2 tbsps reserved for garnish or finish) .
  • 3 tbsps unsalted butter (reserve tbsp per sauté) .
  • 1/2 c chicken stock (preferably homemade)
Instructions

Step #1 Prepare rapidly boiling, salted water to cook pasta; cook this until al dente, 8 to 10 mins for dry pasta, approximately 3 mins for fresh.

Step #2 Pasta may be cooked slightly ahead of time, rinsed & oiled & then "flashed" (reheated) in boiling water or cooked to coincide with the finishing of the sauce/topping.

Step #3 Cook 1/3 c cilantro, garlic & jalapeno in 2 tbsps butter over med-heat/flame for 4 to 5 mins.

Step #4 Add stock, tequila & lime juice.

Step #5 Bring the mixture to a boil & cook this until reduced to a paste like consistency; set aside.

Step #6 Pour soy sauce over sliced chicken; set aside for 5 mins.

Step #7 Meanwhile cook onion & peppers, stirring every once in awhile, with remaining butter over med-heat/flame.

Step #8 When the vegetables have wilted (become limp), add.

Step #9 chicken & soy sauce; toss & add reserved tequila/lime paste & cream.

Step #10 Bring the sauce to a boil; boil carefully until chicken is cooked through & sauce is thick (about 3 mins).

Step #11 When sauce is done, toss with well-drained spinach fettuccine & reserved cilantro.

Step #12 Serve family style or transfer to serving dishes, evenly distributing chicken & vegetables.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Kung Pao Chicken

...ANOTHER Cooking Light recipe. Sometimes when I make this and then I overeat I'm like "hey but its cooking light". Awww the food addict's dilemma.

Kung Pao Chicken
Ingredients
1 tbsp canola oil, divided
4 cups broccoli florets
1 tbsp ground fresh ginger, divided
2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (more to taste)
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4 inch strips
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp corn starch
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp coursely chopped salted peanuts

Instructions
1) Heat 1 tsp oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add broccoli and tsp ginger to pan, saute 1 minute. Add water. Cover, cook 2 minutes or until broccoli is crisp-tender. Remove broccoli from pan, keep warm.
2) Heat remaining 2 tsp of oil in pan and add remaining 1 tsp of ginger, crushed red pepper, and chicken. Cook 4 minutes or until chicken is lightly browned, stirring frequently.
3) Combine broth and next five ingredients (through garlic) in a small bowl and stir with a whisk. Add broth mixture to pan, cook 1 minute or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Return broccoli to pan, toss to coat. Sprinkle with peanuts.

Chile-Cheese Corn Bread

Would you believe this is from a "lighten up" section of a magazine? Me neither--but its really quite good! We had it with Miracle Chicken Tortilla Soup last night. Seems perfect for the harvest season, too...with a good chili or perhaps some bean surprise?

Chili-Cheese Corn Bread
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup egg substitute
1/3 cup nonfat buttermilk
2 large eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup shredded reduced fat extra sharp cheddar cheese (or more to taste but that defeats some of the "lighten up" aspect to the recipe, no? mmm cheese).
1 (14 3/4 oz) can cream-style corn
1 (4 1/2 oz) can chopped green chiles undrained
Cooking spray

DIRECTIONS
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2) Combine softened butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg substitute, nonfat buttermilk, and eggs, beating at low speed until well combined.
3) Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups and level with a knife. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking soda, baking power and salt in a medium bowl and stir with a whisk. Add flour mixture to buttermilk mixture, stirring until combined. Fold in shredded cheese, corn, and green chiles. Pour batter into a 13 x 9 inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes in pan. Yields 16 servings.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Bean Surprise*

Ok, folks. Here is quite possibly, THE easiest dinner you can make. It's loaded with protein, and even if you want to go totally veggie and leave out the chicken, there's plenty of protein left.

Seriously...got a can opener?

1. Poach chicken and cut into cubes.
2. In a saucepan, combine the chicken, 1 can of refried beans, 1 can of pinto beans (do not drain), 1 can of red kidney beans, 1 can or jar of salsa.
3. Stir until mixed well.

This is actually Roger's recipe, and he came up with it back in the oooooold days of bodybuilding. There's virtually no fat, and it's got tons of protein and fiber. We mix this up lots of different ways - serve in a bread bowl or over rice, add garnishments like cilantro or green onions, sour cream and tortilla chips, wrap it up in a tortilla, etc. I actually just make a bunch and freeze it to use later. It's hearty!

** You've probably guessed what the 'surprise' is by now, right? Ahh beans, the magical fruit. :)