Saturday Date Nights with Yours Truly - Mushroom Stroganoff

Kevin had a man-date last Saturday, which meant I had a full Saturday night to myself.  Whenever I get a Saturday night on my own, I jump on the chance to make Mushroom Stroganoff since Kev hates mushrooms. 

This dish has been one of my favorites for years.  It was my birthday dinner with my dad since I was about 12 years old, and is my most-requested dish when I go home. My dad gets his recipe from no other than....Mollie Katzen (yes, her again - she's just SO GOOD!).  When I moved into my first apartment, my dad gave me one of my favorite gifts yet - a wooden recipe card box with my favorite recipes added in.  Stroganoff was one of those recipes. 

I cook this pretty much according to the recipe, though I do add moer wine and a little more dill than it calls for, just because I like it better that way.

Unfortunately, this recipe has the sauce cooked in a double-boiler.  I do not have a double-boiler, though at this point, I should probably invest in one. Normally, I work with what I have and put a sauce pan in a large multi-pot (8 qt. or so).  Unfortunately, I am working with less than a full set of pots and pans right now (we never bought new ones after the move, and didn't get a full set as a wedding gift, so we've only got random pots right now).  I first attempted to use my usual method using a saute pan and my 8 wt. multi-pot, but the saute pan was not large enough for all the stroganoff sauce I was attempting to make.  I also accidentally let the pot sink and got a little water in the sauce.  Oops.  I promise I'm not normally this bad with these sorts of things. Please keep reading anyways.  So I stopped cooking and started over with the pots.  This is what I came up with.

Pretty ghetto.  And since I was using a frying pan to hold the water and the pot, the multi-pot was resting on the bottom of the frying pan, which probably completely negated double-boil effect.  But I decided to ignore that and just go ahead with it anyways.

At this point, I needed a glass of wine more than the sauce did, so I opened a bottle of Skinny Girl Red.

I've never had it, and truthfully find all the Skinny Girl drinks I've had to taste a little watered-down, but I was curious about the wine.  It was actually pretty good, though it did taste a little watered-down. ;)
I will also note that I cheated a bit on this recipe.  I didn't actually steam any vegetables.  Sometimes, I just want the sauce and some noodles.  They ARE my favorite parts...

Let me tell you, with a glass (or two) of wine and last week's episode of Downton Abbey on the DVR, this stroganoff cannot be beat.  Happiness.
Enjoi!

The Thai In Me - Pad Thai

I had a craving for Thai food yesterday. I haven't had it since moving to Pittsburgh - I'm not sure if I've just been lazy in finding a good place, or if I am disdainful of any place other than Bangkok Bay in Solana Beach (Green Curry = Amazing).  But since Solana Beach is now :( thousands of miles away from me, I figured I was gonna have to figure something out soon.  Pad Thai seemed like one of the easier Thai dishes to make, and is certainly one of my favorites.  Having never made it before, I checked out a few recipes online and ran into a few issues: 1.) Most recipes seem to call for fish sauce; 2.) Most recipes seem to call for tamarind, and I have no clue what that is; and 3.) Most recipes seem to be either pretty complicated and long, or super short and don't come out as real Pad Thai. I really wanted to compromise on all these things, and I was surprised to find that I was able to pull it off pretty damn well.  I found my inner Thai as follows:

1 lb. Asian Rice Noodles
1 block Firm Tofu
1 medium Yellow Onion
4 cloves Garlic
1/2 Tbs. minced, Fresh Ginger (I actually used the prepared ginger paste from a tube, since fresh ginger in Pittsburgh is apparently ridiculously expensive - DUMB)
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup Mung Bean Sprouts
4 Green Onions
1/4 cup chopped Peanuts
Chopped fresh Cilantro, to taste

Sauce:
1/2 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Peanut Butter
2 Tbs. Sriracha or other hot sauce (use more if you like it spicy)
1/2 cup Lime Juice
meager 1/4 cup White Sugar

Press the tofu for about 30 minutes (I do this by wrapping the whole block in paper towels, leaving it in my kitchen sink and piling a bunch of plates on top of it) to get the water out of it. Once pressed, cut into cubes and spread out on a lightly oiled baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees, flipping the cubes over a couple times, for about 30-45 minutes, or until each side is lightly browned and crusted.
While the tofu is in the oven, whisk together all the Sauce ingredients in a bowl and set it aside.
Cook the rice noodles according to package instructions, rinse, and drain.
Slice the yellow onion.  In a wok or large skillet, saute the oinion, garlic, tofu, and ginger with a small amount of olive oil (or sesame oil, if you have that sort of thing) for a few minutes until the onions are soft.  Make a space in the bottom of the wok and pour in the beaten eggs. Scramble them and then mix them in with everything else. Add in the cooked rice noodles and pour the sauce over everything, mixing well.  Keep over heat for a few minutes so that the noodles are warmed and the sauce begins to thicken.
Remove from heat, and mix in the bean sprouts.  Plate the Pad Thai, and top with the chopped green onion, peanuts, and cilantro to taste.

This was so easy, and really, REALLY good.  I was pretty proud of myself, to be honest.  I mixed up a quick Thai Cucumber Salad to go with this - I like the balance of the heat from the noodles and the coolness of the cucumbers.
Enjoi!

Love People. Cook them tasty food. - Brazilian Stuffed Peppers

The Wednesday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend (wow that's a long title for a weekend!), Kevin was getting sick and I was missing my sisters.  I spontaneously decided I would drive home to Wisconsin to see my family and let Kevin battle the flu on his own (you may think this is unsympathetic of me, but it wasn't, really, because he just wanted to be left alone to sleep anyways. And I could ensure I would NOT get the flu myself, which could start an endless cycle of influenza outbreak in my household, and is not how ANY one wants to spend the winter in Pittsburgh, including Kevin.  See?  I'm nice).
Thursday night I packed my bags and made Brazilian Stuffed Peppers, which is a pretty easy dish to make, and, while it sounds like a bunch of very odd ingredients thrown together, is actually rather tasty. I don't even like olives, and this recipes calls for a lot of them. I grew up with my parents making the same recipe of stuffed peppers from Mollie Katzen's Enchanted Broccoli Forest, which, as I may or may not have stated previously, is my absolute favorite cookbook. The nice thing about this recipe is that while there is an odd selection of ingredients, they all seem to be very interchangeable with what you have on hand, or to your specific tastes.  I do suggest, however, closing your eyes to the fact that it all sounds so odd, and just trying the recipe as-is.  I grew up with this recipe, and have made some slight changes to fit my personal tastes.  I've also changed some things only to go back to the original (i.e. I've used rice and thought about using quinoa instead of the Cream of Wheat, but for some reason, I like the Cream of Wheat better).

Recipe below:

4 bell peppers of any color (I like using a variety, it's prettier)
3 Tbs. butter
1/2 cup minced onion
3/4 cup minced black olives
3/4 cup minced green olives
1/2 cup Cream of Wheat cereal (uncooked)
1/4 cup water
3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries (original recipe calls for raisins, but you could use currants or really any other dried fruit that you like)
3 cups canned or fresh tomatoes, chopped

Cut the tops off the peppers and blanch the bottoms to soften them.  Dry them and set them aside.
Saute the onions in the butter with a bit of salt until they're soft. Add the olives and Cream of Wheat, continuing to saute for another 6-8 minutes. Add the water and mix well (and be amazed at how the mixture enlarges!). Cook for another 5 minutes or so, and then remove from heat.
Add the eggs, cranberries, and salt and pepper to taste.
Stuff the peppers. Put them in a baking dish, and surround and cover them with the tomatoes. Cover them loosely with foil and put in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.
Voila!

I ate one, and put the rest in the refri\gerator for Kevin to have if he felt like eating while I was gone.

So Friday night I left straight from work to drive the 8 1/2 hours out to Wisconsin.  I got there at about 11:30pm, WI time, and was greeted by my little sister and my dad.  Happiness!  I spent a relaxing Saturday with my 2 sisters, sister's fiance, dad and step-mom.  We had brunch at my sister's, and sat around chatting and drinking coffee for hours.  Then we got to check out where she's getting married this summer, which was so exciting to see! Eventually we made it back to my dad's and started thinking about meals.  Dinners with my dad are always the best.  He's an amazing cook, and will spend an entire afternoon cooking a fantastic meal. I love sitting in the kitchen, sometimes helping him, sometimes just chatting and sneaking tastes of everything he's working on, drinking wine, and laughing with everyone. As we sat around, I noticed a card they had on display in their kitchen.  It made me smile, because it was so perfect for the moment.

That Saturday night he made Russian Carrot Pie (also from the Enchanted Broccoli Forest), heart-attack mushrooms (yes, we actually call them this, I don't know what else they would be called - mushrooms baked in a cream sauce with lots of cheese - delicious), baked potatoes, and for dessert, my absolute favorite, chocolate orange mousse.  It was a happy, happy meal. :) I felt loved.
Sunday was a very lazy day.  My grandparents came over for a(nother) fantastic meal, and then left us to lay around and nap all day. My sisters and I stayed up late playing games and catching up.
Monday I had to get back to Pittsburgh, so I started out early, around 11:00am.  Of course, on my way out, I had to stop at O&H Bakery (best. Kringle.ever), and Mars Cheese Castle to pick up Kringle and cheese curds to bring home. Not all the curds made it home.
All in all, a long trip to do on my own, but tasty food was cooked, and I felt loved. I suppose that's all that really matters.

A Lil Bit(e) of 2013 - Moroccan Carrot and Chick Pea Salad

2013 came in with a bang and is hear with a vengeance - I can't believe we're halfway through the month already!  To end the holidays, I got a delightful cold, most likely due to my lack of attention to the fact that I now live in Pittsburgh, rather than San Diego, when dressing myself in the morning.  I still haven't quite gotten the knack for wearing socks, or a coat that is for warmth rather than a fashion statement.  But whatever.
This is my first week back at work (and it's been a hell of one - TGIF!), as well as my first week back to cooking normal dinners for Kevin and I (i.e. rather than cookies, snacks, or random side dishes to bring to holiday family dinners).  As most Americans do these first few weeks of January, I am craving healthy foods - colorful veggies, lots of citrus (for the cold!), and things that are all around not covered in a cream sauce or in sugar. Therefore, when I saw a recipe on 101 cookbooks for this Moroccan Carrot and Chick Pea salad, my taste buds perked right up.  When I think Moroccan, I think warm and spicy flavors, yet the carrots and chick peas sounded down right American-after-the-holiadys delicious.
Perhaps my favorite thing about this recipe was the fact that I got to use my mortar and pestle, which makes me feel like an aspiring and exciting chef, as well as possibly an old Native American woman, when I use it. I, in my usual fashion, made some changes and updates to my taste preferences and the (pathetic) availability of ingredients at any store near my abode.

I first made the dressing by toasting 1/2 Tbs of cumin seeds in a skillet until the seeds were lightly browned (about a minute or two). I then ground the seeds into a powder with my trusty mortar and pestle.
In a small bowl, I mixed together 1/3 cup of olive oil, 2 Tbs. lemon juice, 1 Tbs of honey, my ground cumin, 1/4 tsp of salt, and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Then I stuck it in the fridge so all the flavors could introduce themselves to each other.
In a medium bowl, I mixed a 10 oz. bag of grated carrots, 1 can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed), 1/2 cup of pitted dates, chopped in quarters, and 1/3 cup of fresh mint. I tossed it together and stuck that in the fridge.  I also browned some almonds in the cumin seed skillet. Once we were about ready to eat, I took it all out of the fridge, and tossed the salad together with the carrot/chick pea mixture, dressing, and the almonds.  I also added a little more salt to taste.

To go with the salad, I made a quick and easy orzo pasta (I've been on a big orzo kick for the last month or so).  I sauteed up some onion and garlic, added in some vegetable broth, and brought it to a boil.  Then I added in the orzo, and cooked it, covered, until it was done and the liquid was gone (about 15 minutes).  I mixed in some freshly grated parmesan and some black pepper, and called it a meal.
It was delicious.  Easy and delicious.  And not super bad for me, either.  Wooooo!
Enjoi!

A Slight Diversion - From Holidays to Favorites

I've been throwing myself into the holidays this month.  Probably because I'm still acclimating to a new city, a new married life, a new job, a new family.....you get the picture. I've been baking almost daily, and in between ovens overheating the kitchen and timers constantly going off, I have been designing and sending out our holiday cards.  This year I splurged and spent a lot more than I normally would on Christmas cards, but it's our first married Christmas and I thought that should get some attention. 
As I designed our holiday cards and ordered them (twice - I ran out the first time and realized I needed double what I had ordered in the first place), it gave me time to go through the wedding pictures from our photographer, Kate McCann.  I've shared a few previously, but here some others, some of my favorites.





Our cakes from Cape May Bakers were absolutely gorgeous - and delicious!





Not only did we have cake, but we had an entire cookie table, which included Terrible Towel cookies, a shout out to Kev's hometown (and now ours) of Pittsburgh!



Our centerpieces were done by our brother-in-law, Dave.  He made these tall ones from hydrangea and branches, and some shorter ones of white roses.



One of our first kisses as husband and wife!

Check out that new bling!

Old age, rocking chairs, and conversation....reminds me of that quote, "Grow old with me, the best is yet to come". Sigh...Swoon....

Another beach shot, playing with shadows

My gorgeous flower girl (and neice), after her spontaneous and hilarious speech at the wedding.



Right after our first dance



Ahhh, how I wish I could do it all over again!! And now that I've had that Christmas Vacation locked-in-the-attic moment, I'll take my leave.  I'll be back soon with more of my holiday baking stories!

I Did It For The Colors

Today is 12.12.12, which I find to be completely awesome.  I've been writing the date on everything all day just because I like the way it looks.  Who knows, if I would have wanted a winter, Wednesday, wedding (say that 3 times fast!), maybe we would have picked today.
But yesterday is what today's blog is about. I've become increasingly interested in kale and squash, mainly because I find the colors to be so pretty together.  The bright green of cooked kale, and that Dalai Lama gold color of butternut squash makes my eyes happy every time I see it. 

 

And there are a plethora of recipes out there with these 2 ingredients in them, so yesterday I started reading and combining and thinking about them and how to make some sort of entree.  One particular recipe that stood out to me was the Roasted Vegetable Orzo at 101 Cookbooks.  I decided to use that as a base recipe, mostly because I liked the idea of using orzo, and the dressing in that recipe was super easy (meaning I had all the ingredients for it), and it sounded delicious.  But I also thought it could use some revisions to fit my needs, so I read the recipe, and went forth into Morgan's World, which included tofu for protein. 

Here is what I did, in paragraph form this time, as it better follows my thought process:

Roasted Vegetable Orzo with Honeyed Tofu

1 butternut squash

1 bunch of kale

3 small onions

Olive oil

2 c. uncooked orzo

2 pkg. extra firm tofu

1/2 c. orange juice

1/4 c. balsamic vinegar

pinch of cayenne pepper

1/4 c. honey

1/2 c. pine nuts

Dressing:

1/2 c. plain yogurt

5 cloves roasted garlic

sea salt to taste

I poked holes in the whole squash with a fork and microwaved for 4-5 minutes to soften the rind.  Then I put the whole squash in a baking dish and put it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes.  While that was cooking, I wrapped 2 packages of tofu in paper towels and pressed them between a cutting board and a pile of plates in the sink for about 30 minutes.  Then I mixed a quick marinade with the orange juice,balsamic vinegar, and cayenne in a mixing bowl.  Once the liquid was pressed out of the tofu, I cut the tofu into cubes and added it to the marinade, and set it aside. 

I chopped the 3 onions into large chunks and put them in a separate bowl.  When the squash was able to be easily cut through with my trusty kitchen knife, I pulled it out of the oven and sliced it in half, length-wise.  I scooped out the seeds and strings, and peeled the whole thing with a vegetable peeler.

I cut it into bite sized chunks, and added it to the bowl of onions, with the olive oil and some sea salt, mixed it all together with my hands, and threw it on to a baking sheet (cover it in foil! it's worth it when cleaning up!).  I added 5 cloves of (unpeeled!) garlic for the dressing, and stuck it in the oven.  I let it roast for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees, fliping/stirring it occassionally.  At the same time I put that in, I put the tofu on another foil covered baking sheet, drizzled it with half the honey, and baked it. About halfway through, I flipped the pieces and drizzled the remaining honey on them.

While THAT was going on in the oven, I started the dressing by mixing the yogurt and about 1/2 tsp sea salt together and putting it in the fridge.  I also washed, dryed, and de-veined my kale, and sliced it into strips that would be able to fit in one's mouth.  I put it in the same mixing bowl that I'd mixed the squash in, and added a bit more olive oil and salt.  I spread it out on another baking sheet covered in foil, and put it in the oven for about 10 minutes, until it was bright green and chew-able (NOT chew-Y).  A couple of the edges of the leaves were slightly crisp, but nothing was browned or burnt.

I also cooked the orzo as I would any other pasta, and drained it immediately before adding to a large pasta bowl. I lightly browned the pine nuts.

When both the squash and the tofu were slightly browned and crispy, I pulled them out of oven.  I took the garlic out of the roasted vegetables, slipped the outer skin off, and mashed it into the yogurt mixture, adding salt to taste. 

Then I mixed the orzo, kale, vegetables, and tofu together, added the dressing and mixed it in, and topped it off with the pine nuts. 

It. was. delicious. 

SOOOOOOO good.  I served it with rosemary roasted baby potatoes, which may seem like a lot of starch in one meal but was delicious so I ignored it.

For Those Cold Winter Nights (You Know, the 56 degree ones)

One of my biggest trepidations about moving to Pittsburgh was the cold, and since it hasn't been THAT cold, you would think I'd be happy, but no. I WANT SNOW!!  I EXPECTED snow! And snow DAYS!  But nothing.  Just mildly cold, very rainy weather.  Dumb.
While the weather hasn't been exactly wintery lately, I've decided to pretend it is while in my kitchen.  Last week I made Dutch Onion Potato Soup, and a loaf of Beer Bread to go with it.  It was perfect for those not-very-cold winter nights. The potato soup started out, as many of my experiments do, with an online recipe (Dutch Onion Potato Cheese Soup) that I enhanced to my own tastes and vegetarian diet. 

1 Tbs. butter

1 Tbs. canola oil

3 c. sliced onions

¼ c. flour

8 c. vegetable broth

12 oz.  beer

4 c. diced potatoes

2 c. cheddar cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat butter and oil in a soup pot.  Saute the onions for about 10 minutes, until they are soft and golden brown.  Stir in the flour, and then add broth and beer (I used a honey wheat, but this would also probably be really good with a darker beer).  Bring the soup to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Add the potatoes, and bring to a boil again.  Cover pot and cook for 40 minutes or until potatoes are tender.  Mash the potatoes in the broth.  Remove from heat and add cheese (I sliced mine into this strips, grating would be fine too), and salt and pepper to taste (I like a lot of fresh-ground pepper).  Put on low heat and stir until the cheese melts.  Continue to stir occasionaly until ready to serve.

For the Beer Bread, I followed a recipe from Recipe Lion, and it turned out fabulously - a hearty, dark, flavorful bread that paired perfectly with the soup, and is also delicious smothered in butter and honey.

3 c. flour (I used a mix of white and whole wheat)

3 Tbs brown sugar

1 Tbs baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 bottle room temperature beer

3 Tbs melted unsalted butter

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.
Add the beer and stir for about 20 stokes, just until the flour is incorporated. (Try and not over-stir the batter.)  Pour into your prepared pan and drizzle with the melted butter. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes on a cooling rack before removing it from the pan.

Overall, a hearty, delicious meal, no matter the temperature outside!