I have officially flunked out of NaBloPoMo. Just completely forgot about it last night. I’m ok with that though. The night I had to post the asparagus souffle recipe I had to do it from my phone…

I’ll definitely try to post more though!

Look guys! I cook fussy food too! I loved this recipe. I think it took me two years after the February issue came out to make this souffle from Vegetarian times. That being said, it was perfect. Not easy but it came out lite and creamy. I hope you enjoy!

Asparagus Souffle

From Vegetarian Times

Ingredients:

Bechamel

3/4 cup low-fat milk
1Tbs unsalted butter
1.5 Tbs all purpose flour
pinch nutmeg
2 large eggs separated at room temperature

Souffle
2 egg whites at room temperature Pinch of cream of tartar
pinch salt
1/2 cup firmly packed grated “lite” Jarlsberg Cheese
1/4 freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2lb asparagus, trimmed, steamed 5 minutes, sliced 1/2 inch thick
Preheat oven to 375F. Place rack on lowest level in oven.

Butter two 8oz ramekins, and dust sides and bottom with 1 Tbs. Parmesan each. Place on baking sheet.

To make Bechamel: warm milk in saucepan. melt butter in second saucepan over medeum-low heat. Stir in flour until smooth, and cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring with wooden spoon; allow to bubble but not brown.

Take pan off heat, wisk in warm milk and return to heat; whisk vigorously, scraping bottom and sides to prevent scorching. When mixture simmers, reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring often from sides and bottom, 5 minutes, or until thick. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Remove from heat; stir 1 minute more. Beat in egg yolks 1 at a time.

To make Souffle: Using electric beaters, beat 4 egg whites in bowl, starting at low and slowly increasing until they begin to foam. Add cream of tartar and salt, and beat until satiny peaks form and hold their shape; do not over beat.

Combine remaining cheeses. Using rubber spatula, stir one-fourth of beaten chites into bechamel. Pour bechamel into center of remaining whites, and fold together. With each fold, sprinkle in a handful of cheese mixture and a handful of asparagus, giving bowl a quarter turn. When everything is added and mixture is uniform, carefully spoon into souffle dishes. Put baking sheet on bottom rack.

Bake 20-25 minutes, or until puffy and browned; do not overcook– centers should be slightly runny. Serve.

Good tasting!
Sarah

I’m sorry guys, I still don’t have any pictures for you. I really enjoyed this recipe. Its great on its own with normal “chicken” side dishes, or over pasta. If you’re putting it over pasta I’d recommend a bit more olive oil in the pan at the end to get up all those flavors. My husband wasn’t as fond of it. He’s not real big on lemon and this is rather strong in that aspect.

I’m working on getting my camera back up so until then, you’ll just have to imagine.

Lemon Caper Chicken

from All Recipes

ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
4 thinly-sliced boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
Salt and pepper
4 teaspoons whole-wheat flour, divided
1 medium shallot, minced
2 tablespoons drained capers
1/2 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

Warm oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Pat chicken breasts with paper towels to thoroughly dry. Season chicken with salt and pepper, then lightly coat with flour, using about 1 tsp for each breast.
Lay chicken in skillet; cook 2 to 3 minutes, until golden brown, gently pressing down on breast to ensure equal browning. Reduce heat to medium. Turn breasts; cook 2 to 3 minutes longer, until golden brown and cooked through. Remove breasts to a serving platter.
Reduce heat to low; add shallots and capers to skillet. Cook 30 seconds, stirring. Add broth and juice, cook 1 minute, until incorporated and thickened, stirring. Stir in parsley, pour sauce over chicken. Serve immediately.

In an effort to come up with more complicated food that isn’t me trying to throw something together, I went to my cookbooks. Alas, my collection is lacking. What I do have is Jacques Pepin’s Happy Cooking which has turned out to be a decent book.

Poached Turkey in Vegetable Consommé

ingredients:

1/2 cup dried mushrooms (about 1/3 ounce)
7 cups (1 3/4 quarts) water
1 leek (6 ounces), trimmed (leaving most of the green parts), washed, and cut into 1/4-inch dice (1 3/4 cups)
3 carrots (6 ounces),
1 large turnip, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch dice (1 cup)
2 ribs celery, cleaned and cut into 1/4 inch dice (2/3 cup)
1 teaspoon salt
1 boneless turkey breast (2 pounds), skin removed
Crusty bread
Horseradish and hot mustard (optional)

Place the mushrooms in a large pot with the water. Bring to a boil, and immediately remove the mushrooms, retaining the liquid in the pot. Chop the mushrooms coarsely, and return them to the pot.

Add all the remaining vegetables and the salt to the pot, bring the mixture to a boil, and boil gently for 5 minutes. Add the breast of turkey, and bring the mixture back to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and boil gently for 10 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat, and let the meat and vegetables stand in the hot broth, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove the turkey to a cutting board and slice it.

Place one or two slices of turkey in each of four soup bowls, ladel the hot broth with vegetables on top, and serve with crusty bread. Offer horseradish and hot mustard on the side, if desired. Or the turkey can be transferred to side plates to be eaten with the bread, mustard, and horseradish, while the broth and vegetables are consumed separately.

It was a rough day for me food-wise. I had some time between jobs so I went to Binders to pick up some new paint pens and then stopped in at the newly renovated Disco Kroger. Kroger has started renovating their stores to turn them into these beautiful, open places with more exotic fruits and fresher vegetables. There was a manned sushi bar in the one I went into today. They’ve installed new shelves that keep the vegetables off of each other. Attended seafood and meat counters. It was like a Whole Foods Market but a Kroger! It was beautiful. But instead of getting to buy all those pretty fresh veggies, I had to go to work.

On my way home today I stopped at my dismal Publix to buy dinner. The vegetables there are ALWAYS lacking. I try not to shop there but it’s the closest grocery and I was tired. Spent the next half hour getting crankier and crankier as I couldn’t find what I wanted. Tomorrow I’m going somewhere else.

That being said, I absolutely didn’t want to cook and I really couldn’t without ingredients. So I went to a favorite of my friend Fara, beans on toast.

It was perfect for my day. The beans I used were just a little bit sweet. Over toast and cheese with a nice fried egg. mmm.

So here’s the “recipe”, great for a nice cloudy day lunch, or dinner when you’ve lost faith in your grocery store.

Beans on Toast

ingredients

1 piece of bread, a nice crusty sourdough would be good
1/2 cup baked beans, I used Heinz vegetarian baked beans
1 slice cheddar cheese (optional)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon butter

Fry your eggs together in a pan however you like them. I prefer mine over medium. While that’s working, toast your bread and heat the beans in the microwave or on the stove top. Everything should be warm about the same time. Grab a plate and stack, toast, cheese, beans and egg. season with salt and pepper to taste.

Good tasting!

Sarah

Okay, so first things first. I got blogged about! This is a first for me and it probably wasn’t even very big, just a mention of a creative cranberry recipe, but it means people are really reading my blog! So thank you Sugared Ellipses and thank you everyone else.

So I know you didn’t come here for the gushing, you came here for food. I have a doosy for you today. I made the most delicious enchiladas. They were so easy too. For simplicity I went back to my staple, Kroger’s rotisserie chicken. If you include the time it took me to de-bone and de-fat the chicken, this took 30 minutes, a good thing when you’ve spent the morning playing with a three year old (not mine). These were cheesy, salty and perfectly spiced. They did however use bottled taco sauce, it was really tasty taco sauce though. So here’s an assemble and go enchilada recipe for you.

Also, I’ve misplaced my camera charger so you don’t get a picture of this. Just imagine lots of cheese.

Easy chicken enchiladas

ingredients:

4 medium to large tortillas at room temperature
1/2 rotisserie chicken, shredded (I used barbecue in this recipe since the husband likes it in his Mexican food)
1 15 oz can black beans
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
1 1/2 – 2 cups taco sauce (I used ortega)

Preheat oven to 400 F

Fill each tortilla with 1/4 of the chicken and beans and about 2 tablespoons of cheese. Roll and place in a 9×9 inch baking dish. Pour sauce over everything.

IF YOU HAVE NON-STICK FOIL pour on the cheese, cover with the foil and bake for 30 minutes. If you don’t have nonstick, don’t put the cheese on yet, cover with regular foil and bake for 30 minutes. At this point remove the foil and add the cheese if you haven’t already, and bake for 15 minutes more.

Let sit for 5 minutes and serve.

Good tasting!

Sarah

I made this for the first time several months ago; once again borrowing recipes from Smitten Kitchen. She talks about diving into a cookbook with such glee that it makes me want to start buying cookbooks. While I love fussy food, I never seem to want to make anything I see in a cook book. But this recipe is far from fussy in my opinion. From “Honey what’s for dinner? We’re out of food.” to “Dinner’s ready.” was thirty minutes at the most. Even with my gimpy food processor. So here’s the recipe, complete with her notes on the bottom!

I will say it didn’t look that dark in real life… Maybe tomorrow you’ll get a recipe from somewhere other than my blog crush.

tortilla de patatas

as seen at Smitten Kitchen

where she adapted it from The New Spanish Table

3 medium-sized Yukon Gold potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled and quartered lengthwise
Coarse salt (kosher or sea)
1 1/4 cups extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, quartered and thinly sliced
6 large, very fresh eggs, preferably organic
2 tablespoons chicken stock or broth

1. Using a food processor fitted with the slicing blade, slice the potato quarters thinly crosswise, then pat thoroughly dry with paper towels. Alternately, you can use a mandoline set to 1/8-inch thick. The original recipe then says to rub the potato slices with salt, but for the life of me I could not fathom why I should bother with such a tedious step (I had hundreds of small slices), and simply seasoned the potatoes after I cooked them.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat until very hot, about 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the potatoes in even layers. Cook, stirring occasionally, to prevent the potatoes from sticking and browning, until they are half-cooked, about 7 minutes. Stir in the onion, reduce the heat to low, and cook the potatoes until all of them are soft, about 15 minutes more. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the potatoes and onion to a colander set over a bowl and let them drain thoroughly. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the cooking oil and strain the rest for another use. Season the potatoes with salt.

3. Place the eggs, chicken stock, and a couple of pinches of salt in a large mixing bowl and beat until just scrambled. Gently stir in the potato mixture. Mash and stir the egg mixture gently with a fork to crush the potatoes just a little and mix them up well with the eggs. Let stand for about 10 minutes.

4. Heat 5 teaspoons of the reserved olive oil in a heavy 8-inch skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium-high heat until it is just beginning to smoke. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet and flatten the potatoes with a spatula until the top is fairly even. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook, moving and shaking the skillet, running a thin spatula around the edge and sliding it into the middle so that some of the egg runs under for about one minute, then let it cook undisturbed until the top is a little wet but not liquid, 6 to 8 minutes. Run the thin spatula under the tortilla to make sure that no part of the bottom is stuck to the skillet. Top the skillet with a rimless plate slightly larger than the skillet and, using oven mitts, quickly invert the tortilla onto the plate. If the skillet looks dry, add a little more olive oil. Carefully slide the tortilla back into the skillet, uncooked side down. Shake the skillet to straighten the tortilla and push the edges in with the spatula. Reduce the heat to very low and cook the tortilla until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, 3 to 4 minutes. Invert the tortilla again, as before, to cook on the first side for another minute.

5. Invert the tortilla onto a serving plate and pat the top with a paper towel to get rid of excess oil. Let it cool a little, then cut the tortilla into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature. To serve as a tapa, cut the tortilla into squares and serve with toothpicks.

Serves 6 to 8 as a tapa, 4 as a light main dish.

Notes from Deb: Even though I am indeed in love with this cookbook, I had to make a few adjustments to the recipe in places where it confounded me: I clarified the thickness of the potato slices, limited the egg-pushing step to one minute (it led to the slightly busted appearance of mine, and made little sense) and cooled the potatoes a bit more than suggested, for fear of cooking the eggs in the bowl, not the pan.

Good tasting!

Sarah

So the galettes I’m posting are a little small, well, too small to serve 8 atleast. For the party last night I made two kinds. The butternut squash one I posted last night and this one with cabbage and mushrooms.

I pretty much said all I had to say about these yesterday. I will say that I should have used more dough on this one, I don’t know if its really more or if I just used too much cabbage… Alos, it’s really good with the horseraddish sauce so don’t leave it in the fridge and forget about it like I did.

Cabbage and Mushroom Galette

from smitten kitchen

ingredients:

For the pastry
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into
pieces
1/4 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup ice water

For the filling
2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, finely diced
4 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded, caps thinly diced
1 teaspoon chopped thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon chopped tarragon or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1 tablespoon chopped dill or 1 teaspoon dried
6 cups thinly sliced cabbage, preferably Savoy, or 4 cups cabbage plus 2 cups other greens, such as beet, chard, or kale
salt and freshly milled pepper
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 hard-cooked egg, chopped
1/4 cup sour cream or yogurt
1 teaspoon tarragon vinegar
2 tablespoons melted butter

For the horseradish sauce
1/4 cup prepared horseradish
1 cup yogurt or sour cream

1. Make pastry: In a bowl, combine the flour and salt. Place the butter in another bowl. Place both bowls in the freezer for 1 hour. Remove the bowls from the freezer and make a well in the center of the flour. Add the butter to the well and, using a pastry blender, cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Make another well in the center. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, lemon juice and water and add half of this mixture to the well. With your fingertips, mix in the liquid until large lumps form. Remove the large lumps and repeat with the remaining liquid and flour-butter mixture. Pat the lumps into a ball; do not overwork the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. Prepare the filling: Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, mushrooms, and herbs and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the cabbage, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 cup water. Cover and cook slowly until the cabbage is tender, 15 to 20 minutes, turning it occasionally. Add more liquid. When tender, uncover and raise the heat to evaporate any excess moisture. The mixture should be fairly dry. Stir in the parsley, egg, and sour cream. Season with vinegar and taste for salt and pepper.

3. Assemble galette: Preheat the oven to 400» F. Roll the dough into a large thin circle and set it on the back of a sheet pan or cookie sheet. The edges will hang over the sides. Add the filling, making a mound 7 to 8 inches across, then fold the edges over and brush with the melted butter. Pour any extra butter into the vegetables. Bake until browned, 25 to 30 minutes. While it is baking, mix the horseradish and cream to form a sauce, and season to taste. When galette is done, carefully slide it onto a serving plate. Serve with the horseradish sauce on the side.

It’s game night over here. Every month or so we try to get friends over or we go over there, have dinner, play some board games and catch up. It was at my house this time around so I got to make the fancy food.

I made pastry dough from scratch!!!! No really this is a big deal for me. I’m a big fan of refrigerated dough. You know that cranberry pie I gave you yesterday? This year I might make dough myself. I’ve fallen in love with this pastry recipe. It turned out really light and flaky.

Butternut Squash and Caramalized Onion Galette

from Smitten Kitchen

ingredients:

For the pastry:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into
pieces
1/4 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup ice water

For the filling:
1 small butternut squash (about one pound)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 to 2 tablespoons butter (if you have only non-stick, the smaller amount will do)
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced in half-moons
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
3/4 cup fontina cheese (about 2 1/2 ounces), grated or cut into small bits
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves

1. Make pastry: In a bowl, combine the flour and salt. Place the butter in another bowl. Place both bowls in the freezer for 1 hour. Remove the bowls from the freezer and make a well in the center of the flour. Add the butter to the well and, using a pastry blender, cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Make another well in the center. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, lemon juice and water and add half of this mixture to the well. With your fingertips, mix in the liquid until large lumps form. Remove the large lumps and repeat with the remaining liquid and flour-butter mixture. Pat the lumps into a ball; do not overwork the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. Prepare squash: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Peel squash, then halve and scoop out seeds. Cut into a 1/2-inch dice. Toss pieces with olive oil and a half-teaspoon of the salt and roast on foil lined (for neatness sake) sheet for 30 minutes or until pieces are tender, turning it midway if your oven bakes unevenly. Set aside to cool slightly.

3. Caramelize onions: While squash is roasting, melt butter in a heavy skillet and cook onion over low heat with the remaining half-teaspoon of salt and pinch of sugar, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly golden brown, about 20 minutes. Stir in cayenne.

4. Raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Mix squash, caramelized onions, cheese and herbs together in a bowl.

5. Assemble galette: On a floured work surface, roll the dough out into a 12-inch round. Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet. Spread squash, onions, cheese and herb mixture over the dough, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border. Fold the border over the squash, onion and cheese mixture, pleating the edge to make it fit. The center will be open.

6. Bake until golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, let stand for 5 minutes, then slide the galette onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges and serve hot, warm or at room temperature. Serves 6.

Good tasting!

Sarah

So it’s 10:30, I’m exhausted and I sooo didn’t cook tonight. I therefore have no pictures for you. Instead, I’m leaving you with my favorite pie recipe ever. Maybe when I make it this season I’ll take pictures. This takes everything you like about cranberries, adds butter and serves it like a cherry pie. How can you not love this?

Also, I have friends coming tomorrow and I swear I will give you the most beautiful galettes over the next couple days.

Buttery Cranberry Pie

from here

ingredients:

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie (or refrigerated pie crust)
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1 (12 ounce) package fresh cranberries
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 dash ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)
In a saucepan, combine sugar, flour, salt and water. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring constantly until thick and smooth. Add berries, lemon juice and cinnamon. Cook 5 minutes until mixture is thick and berries pop. Remove from heat and stir in butter.

Roll one ball of dough out to fit a 9 inch pie plate. Place bottom crust in pie plate. Spoon in filling. Roll out top crust and cut into strips for lattice. Place lattice strips on top and seal edges.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Good tasting!

Sarah