Meatball Stew

Well, lucky cable-free me had the opportunity to get a Food Network fix this weekend. After watching Rachael Ray, Barefoot Contessa and Pioneer Woman, it was Giada de Laurentis' cooking that caught my eye. She made this delicious looking meatball stew and I could hardly wait for the opportunity to make it for myself. It tasted just as good as it looked.  Verdict: Definitely something I will make again.

Here is my take on the recipe:

Ingredients for the Meatballs
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
4 Tbs of water
8 oz of ground turkey
2 Italian sausage links (casing removed)
1 egg
1 Tbs of Italian parsley
1/4 tsp of Kosher salt
1/4 tsp of ground pepper
1/4 cup of flour
2 Tbs of EVOO


Ingredients for the Stew
2 Tbs of EVOO
1 small onion, cut into chunks
1 red pepper, cut into slices
1/4 tsp of Kosher salt
1/4 tsp of pepper
8 oz mushrooms, quartered
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 can of diced tomatoes
1/4 tsp of crushed red pepper
1 russet potato, cut into chunks (or a sweet potato)
1 cup of frozen green beans

1) In a medium sized bowl, take the bread crumbs and water and stir together until well-mixed. Add the other meatball ingredients, mixing well. As gross as it might be to you, I recommend using your hands. It worked much better than the fork I was attempting to use.

2) Sprinkle flour on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Form meatballs with the mixture--they should be slightly smaller than a ping pong ball (about 3 Tbs each). Place the meatballs on the baking sheet. You should get about 12-16 meatballs. Roll them in the flour until they are covered.

3) In a large skillet, heat the EVOO. Add the meatballs spacing them around the pan and cooking until they are browned on all sides. When they are browned set aside.

4) Add 2 Tbs of EVOO to the skillet and then the onions and the red peppers.  Cook until they are soft and then add the salt, pepper, crushed red pepper and the mushrooms.  Cook about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms are no longer steaming.

5) Add the potato, green beans, the tomatoes and the chicken broth. Simmer about 20 minutes until the potatoes are cooked through.

If I were to do this recipe again, I would definitely use sweet potato in place of the russett potato. I also would consider serving over a smaller pasta like shells or macaroni and using artichoke hearts in place of the potato.  Nevertheless, this was the perfect meal for a cold winter evening. Thanks Giada!

Herb Roasted Chicken with Lemon

I have always been a bit intimidated by roasting a full chicken. However, armed with the poultry shears I got for Christmas, I decided to follow in my mother’s footsteps and make an awesome roast chicken. I purchased my chicken from Costco and I used a fryer. It only cost about $5, which is pretty inexpensive. The best part of making a chicken at home is that you save the bones and and leftover chicken to make chicken soup. You can turn one $5 chicken into 6-10 meals. 

Ingredients

(1) 3-4 pound chicken

(4) springs of rosemary, chopped

(12) sage leaves, chopped

(3) garlic cloves, minced

(1) Tbs of kosher salt

(1/2) tsp ground pepper

(1) Tbs of EVOO

(1) lemon, cut in half

(1) cup chicken broth

(1/2) cup dry white wine

1)      Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Pat the chicken dry, and with poultry shears, cut out the backbone of the chicken. This will help the bird cook more evenly and will also make carving easier. You can find the backbone by locating the tailbone, and then cutting along either side of it and then ripping the backbone out. Once the backbone is out, press down on the breastbone, flattening the bird into a roasting pan or casserole dish.

2)      Mix the rosemary, sage, garlic, sea salt and pepper in a small bowl. Separate the chicken skin, and stuff the herb mixture under the skin as evenly as possible. If you can, try to get the mixture in the drumsticks and wings too. If there is any of the herb mixture left over, you can spread it on top of the skin.

3)      Sprinkle a small amount of salt and pepper over the chicken, and drizzle the EVOO over the chicken, spreading it evenly. Then take a lemon half and squirt it over the chicken as evenly as possible. 

4)      Turn the chicken over, squeeze the other lemon half on the underside of the bird and then leave both lemon halves under the bird, turning the chicken, breast side up. Pour the chicken broth and wine in the casserole dish. The wine and broth will ensure the chicken stay moist.

5)      Place the chicken in the oven, turn the temperature down to 400 degrees (you start with a high temperature to make the skin crispy, but cooking at this temp for too long will make the chicken cook too fast, drying it out). Roast for 80 minutes or until a meat thermometer stuck in the thigh reads 180 degrees.

Paula Deen--Moderation and Personal Responsibility

Paula Deen has diabetes. She has had diabetes for the last three years, even though she has continued to prepare and encourage people to make high fat and high sugar recipes (ahem, a donut cheeseburger with a fried egg and bacon). Her admission also comes with the announcement she will be appearing in ads for a diabetes drug. Lovely. This quote, from a Star Tribune editorial best states how I feel:

“Deen made a career out of tasty, but terrible for you cuisine, and now she’s going to profit from a drug to treat a disease linked to what she served up. And she waited how long to tell fans of her diagnosis?”

I think what Paula Deen has done and shameful and crass. I think her appearing on the Today show and trying to tell people that she has encouraged moderation and personal responsibility is almost laughable.

However, the Star Tribune editorial makes the point that no one is being forced to watch her show. She only sells it because we buy it. We do have personal responsibility for our diets and we should practice moderation when it comes to high fat and high sugar items. I love bacon as much as anyone else, but it should not be a regular part of my diet and I know this.

I am disappointed that a figure like Paula Deen is using this as an opportunity to schlep a diabetes drug rather than to truly promote a healthy diet that will extend people’s lives and help people avoid Type 2 diabetes. While many of us have the knowledge and are in a position to moderate and control our diets—many are not, such as children who are served unhealthy food multiple times a week in cafeterias. Once kids get the taste for the high salt/sugar/fat diet, it is pretty hard to convince them that anything else tastes good and they turn into adults like the one in this article who already has Type-2 diabetes and is worrying that Paula Deen’s restaurant will turn to low-fat and more healthy fare in light of her diagnosis. He would rather “…go in and get me some more diabetes,” than be faced with eating healthy food.  

And hopefully--later tonight, you can expect a recipe for roast chicken that is both healthy and delicious.

Skillet-Baked Eggs Courtesy of Bon Appetit

There are things I love about breakfast--and when I say "things" I mostly mean bacon. However, there is nothing better than a perfectly cooked egg.  Egg do not need to be a breakfast only food though. I made this recipe as a salad/appetizer and also as breakfast with the eggs served over sourdough English muffins. This recipe truly takes the egg to a place that I did not know it could go. There are so many different flavors that all just work together perfectly--leeks, lemon, and some spicy red pepper, oh and the egg! I loved how the yolks were hot, but not completely set. I also loved how my dish looked kind of like the picture from Bon Appetite.

Since I did not alter the recipe, I will just link to it. If you make this recipe, I would recommend only eating one egg as this dish is incredibly rich. It also holds up in the fridge overnight rather well. Enjoy!

Success! Crock Pot Yogurt

Recently I learned that you can make yogurt in the crock pot. I love yogurt. I eat it every day, sometimes multiple times a day and I also like the Greek kind, which many of you know is more expensive. I have to admit I was skeptical about making it in the crock pot. I have always assumed yogurt to be one of those foods that most of us would be better off not knowing how it is made--like cottage cheese. However, curiosity got the best of me and I decided to give the yogurt in the crock pot a shot. I did a lot of reading about the process too, so I could understand the "why" behind each step.  My reading led me to the conclusion that industrial yogurt making is not all that different than making it in the crock pot--just in case you are skeptical like I was. The recipe comes from Stephanie O'Dea's blog--which I cannot recommend enough.

The recipe calls for whole milk, but you can use skim or 2%. It is a good idea to start with whole when you are learning because it will set a bit better. Once you got the process down, you can try lower fat milks.  This recipe should be started in the early evening (5-6 PM) or done on a weekend because of the timing.

Ingredients

1/2 gallon of whole milk, pasteurized (NOT ultra-pasteurized)
yogurt starter (I used 7 oz of Fage, but next time I will use my homemade yogurt)

Instructions

1) Pour the milk into a very clean crock pot. Set to low and leave for 2 1/2 hours so the milk reaches 180 degrees. Most crock pots will bring the milk close to this temperature, but you might want to use a thermometer to check. If is not at 180, leave it for 15-30 minutes. If it nowhere close to 180, turn the crock pot up to high and check in 30 minutes.

Why: By bringing the milk up to 180 degrees you kill the bad bacteria that you do not want in your yogurt that can effect the taste and the texture of the final product.

2) When the milk is at 180 degrees, unplug the crock pot, leave it covered and come back in three hours. At this point it should be at about 120 degrees. If not, let it cool more.

Why: By letting the milk cool to 120 degrees, you bring the milk to a temperature where the live cultures can thrive and do their "thing" that turns the milk into yogurt. If it is too high, the live cultures will die. If it is too cool, the cultures will not turn the milk into yogurt.

3) Scoop out a couple cups of milk and whisk the starter yogurt in and pour back into the crock pot. Wrap the crock pot in a towel and let it sit for at least 8 hours. I put my crock pot wrapped in towel in my oven (turned off). If you are doing this in the early evening after this step you can go to sleep.

Why: You want the milk to stay in a temperature range where the live cultures can do their thing. The longer your milk stays in this range, the better the yogurt will taste. This is why I put it in my oven. I figured if any heat escaped, at least it would be in a small enclosed space.

4) After 8 hours (and even a bit longer if you want tangier flavor), you should have yogurt. It might be a bit runnier than you are used to (store bought yogurt typically contains thickeners), but you can strain it in cheese cloth or with coffee filters. The more you strain it, the thicker it will be.

5) Add whatever sweetener you want--sugar, vanilla, honey, fresh fruit, or frozen fruit. 

Enjoy! It should last 7-10 days in the fridge. I store it in Mason jars. Making your own yogurt will save you a lot of money. I typically by Chobani singles which are $1.35 each. The yogurt I made today cost under $3.00 and I got at least 48 ounces. Next time it will cost less since I can use my own yogurt as a starter.  You also avoid all of the weird things in store bought yogurt and you can control how much sugar or sweetener is in it.

The Straining Process

 

BLT Chicken Pasta

I love going to the grocery store—however, sometimes I like to challenge myself and see what I can do with ingredients that I have on hand. I had two ingredients that I really wanted to use—kale and grape tomatoes. I usually cook kale at a high temperature in the oven in various sauces and spices, but I wanted something different that incorporated both. Kale is like lettuce and with tomatoes it made me think of an American favorite—BLTs. I was not in the mood for a sandwich, I needed more protein than just bacon and that is where my idea was born—BLT Chicken Pasta. This was absolutely delicious and it really hit the spot. This is definitely something I will make again.

Ingredients

4 slices of bacon, sliced in bite sized pieces

2 chicken breasts

8 oz of grape tomatoes, sliced in half

1 small head of kale, chopped

3 cups of cooked pasta (I used rotini)

1)      In a pan, sauté the bacon and once you get some grease going, add the chicken breasts and cook until they are done, about 6 minutes a side. In the meantime, cook your pasta in a large pot (you will need it later). Drain and return to the pot you cooked it in.

2)       With a slotted spoon, remove the bacon and also the chicken. Set aside.

3)      Add the grape tomatoes and the kale to the same sauté pan and cook until the kale is wilted and the tomatoes hot. Slice the chicken into strips and cut in half.

4)      Put the pasta back on the stove in the pot you cooked it in, add the contents of the sauté pan and then the chicken and bacon.  Cook under low heat, tossing all of the ingredients evenly.

This was great when I ate it and even better the next day as leftovers.

White Sauce--My Tips, Tricks and a Great Way to Use It (Mac 'n Cheese)

Last night I made a white sauce. I have made white sauces before and they just never seem to turn out the way they should. This was a white sauce for a big dinner party and it had 1 ½ sticks of butter in it, ¾ cups of flour, 7 ½ cups of milk, and 1 ½ cups of half & half, so if it did not work, it would mean a trip to the grocery store, so I was determined. It turned out perfectly. Here are my tips for making the perfect white sauce:

1)      Whisk!

Whisk, from the moment you add the flour to the butter and do not stop until it is nice and thick. If you are uncoordinated this might mean enlisting a helper to add ingredients. Whisk, scraping up the bits of flour and butter stuck to the bottom of the pan. Use a wire whisk and not a Teflon one as it just does the job better. If you have a lot of volume, it will take longer to get thick, so you could be whisking a long time (for me it was at least 15 to 20 minute process, but my recipe was tripled).

2)      Be Patient

I was on the phone asking my Mom, “What do I do if this does not get thicker? Do I add flour, cornstarch or butter?” She told me to be patient and keep on whisking. I tripled my recipe, and I expected the thickening time to be about triple that of the recipe, but it was taking even longer than that. I was beginning to get frustrated because nothing was happening. I would question myself as I looked at the sauce—is it getting thicker or am I just being hopeful? I whisked and whisked some more—and then all of the sudden the sauce changed. It turned from a frothy mixture that could barely coat the back of a spoon to this creamy thick wonder. So be patient. You will know when your sauce is properly thickened and just whisk away and await the transformation.

3)      Be mindful of heat.

During the first step when you are melting the butter, I recommend medium high heat, and definitely no more than that. You do not want the butter to burn or you will be repeating this step. You also don’t want the flour to scorch. When I added the milk, I definitely dropped the temperature a bit because I wanted it to slowly heat up and you do not want the milk to boil. As soon as it is nice and thick, turn off your heat.

Whole Milk

4) Use whole milk. I cannot stand drinking the stuff, however, if you want your white sauce to have a rich and creamy taste, milk with higher fat content will give you that flavor. I also cannot help but wonder how much the extra fat helps the sauce thicken up.

The following recipe would be great for making macaroni & cheese:

Ingredients:

4 Tbs. of butter

4 Tbs. of flour

2 ½ cups whole milk (you could use lower fat, I used whole because I thought

Salt & Pepper to taste

½ cup of Half & Half (optional)

1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese (or gruyere or Jarlsberg)

1)      In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. When the butter is completely melted, whisk in the flour.  Let the mixture become golden and bubbly—whisk constantly for 3-5 minutes. Do not let it burn. Add salt & pepper.

2)      While whisking, slowly pour in the milk and half & half. Turn the temperature down just a bit. Keep on whisking until the mixture thickens. This could take anywhere from 2-6 minutes, although if you increase the volume of the recipe, it will take longer. Be patient! My Grandma June suggested adding the milk bit by bit rather than all at once and that sounded like a good idea to me.

3)      Once the sauce is thick, turn the heat off and stir in the shredded cheese.

To make macaroni & cheese, mix some cooked pasta (shells or macaroni) with the sauce, spread in a casserole dish and top with some shredded cheese and cook in the oven for about 20 minutes at 350. Yeah—it is really bad for you, but we all deserve to indulge sometimes.