rootofnewt | Entries tagged with recipes

About 2lbs skinless chicken thighs, one jar of Dulcet's Tangy & Peppery Moroccan Sauce, half a yellow onion (chopped). Toss it in the crockpot. And a handful of dried apricots (quartered) and 2/3c brown jasmine rice. Stir. After an hour on high, pour in just enough hot water to make it look slightly soupy and push the rice down into the water. Cook on high until bubbles show up at the edges, then reduce to low.

When you get back from puddle stomping, turn off the heat. Drain and rinse a can of chickpeas, stir in. Let them sit to heat through, then eat.

I put this in the crockpot at 11, turned off the heat at 5:30.

So I made some chili sauce the other night. It was meant to be a dried chili salsa for enchiladas. I seeded and toasted guajillos and pasillas, soaked them, then blended them with garlic and water and a bit of clove. I put it in a saucepan and simmered it for a bit. Bitter.

The next night, I wanted to make the enchiladas with leftover rotisserie chicken. I attempted to combat the bitterness with baking chocolate, a bit of salt, and cinnamon. No go, but the cheese and chicken worked well with it, so we used it, anyway.

I had a bit leftover. We decided it would be a good chili base.

So I browned the ground beef, added onions, then garlic. I deglazed the pan with lots of aged white vinegar. I don't know how much--more than you'd expect. Oregano came next. Then I added about 4oz (a small jam jar) of the sauce. A bit more vinegar, some water, a can of black beans undrained, a can of black beans drained . . . and then it simmered until the onions were cooked fully, then more salt and a can of corn (drained).

It's actually pretty awesome. I can't do tomatoes and I'm out of sweet peppers, but this worked really well.

Ronan and I just returned from a trip to Florida. We flew to Orlando, rented a car, and drove to Melbourne. We stayed with my brother for a few days, then returned to Orlando, dropped off the rental, and got on the Amtrak headed south.

At West Palm Beach, we transferred to the Tri Rail (regional rail) and went one station south to meet my MiL and her sister.

Tom's grandma Mary turned 90 Saturday. Her daughters decided the best surprise would be a visit from Ronan. They kept it secret until we walked in.

Anyhow, it was a lovely visit. The night before we left, I was up late and found myself paging through a random freebie booklet cookbook. I found a chicken with cranberries crockpot dish. It was pretty much this recipe, though it called for a quartered/skinned broiler (about 3.5lbs) and used a beurre manié instead of a slurry. I copied it out by hand (crampy, I rarely write these days) and brought it home.

I just made it today, using 3.5lbs of boneless skinless thighs.

Yum.

It's really good. I might up the cinnamon next time.

Made apple fennel soup tonight for dinner. We also had leftover brown rice and rotisserie chicken. Yum.

I noted the recipe in the magazine, but when I saw that fennel was on sale last night, the plan was set. It's ridiculously easy to make. I did not strain/mill it, just used the blender. We don't mind some texture to our blended soups.

A miso maker I happen to like makes very small, very limited batches of miso tamari a couple times a year. It's frequently made from their chickpea miso or their adzuki bean miso, both of which are gluten-free and soy-free. So a couple times a year, I place an order for the tamari and a couple things of miso.

The trick has been finding ways to really *enjoy* this handcrafted tamari without wasting it. Meat recipes always use a ton of it in marinade and sauce. Teriyaki really blows through it.

We've found that the trick is to use it on veggies. Nothing with heavy sauces. Instead, we go for light dressings on raw or lightly steamed veggies. There are a few in Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian which work on green beans, asparagus, broccoli, etc.

I've been making a miso slaw. Shredded cabbage, sesame oil, ume plum vinegar, tamari, white pepper, adzuki miso (heavy and red), some water, ginger, and garlic. Our salted chilies looked scary, so I'm not using those. Today I added crushed red pepper, sometimes I don't. Or I use a random chili paste from the fridge. Need to make more salted chilies soon. Fortunately, peppers are in season. I pour the dressing over the cabbage, toss, and weigh it down. Every 10-15 minutes, I toss it again, and put the plate and bottles back on top. After half an hour or an hour, it's ready to eat, but the longer it sits, the better it tastes.

Yum.

It needs sesame seeds, but I'm out.

Around noon, I tossed a couple pounds of mostly thawed bison short ribs into the crockpot, on top of a chopped yellow onion and a chopped sweet onion. Turned it on high. Added a generous amount of blueberry chipotle bbq sauce. When I saw that there was little condensation an hour or so later, I poured in a bit of water to get it going.

Around 4:30, I turned it to low and added a couple cans of small white beans (drained). Went to the pool, came home at 7ish, turned it back up and stirred in a cold cornstarch slurry until it thickened nicely.

Yum.

We'll find some veggies sooner or later.

Ronan's been watching Michael Jackson videos from time to time, though we had to turn off the TV for awhile when he got carried away with the spinning dance moves and kept hitting his head on things (train table, rocket, floor).

He's really enjoying dancing, though.

This is really tasty. I can smell it, despite being congested from the pigSARS. FiL made it when we were up there, Tom's making it now. FiL doubled the marinade. I think we just halved the chicken. ;)

Anyhow, for all I know you've made this before. I just really, really like it and it seems like something you might enjoy. Posted on LJ for all the other folks who eat fowl.

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chicken_marbella/

Current Mood: hungry

Toss 1.5 lbs bison short ribs into the crockpot. Add a diced onion or two.

Slightly less than a half bottle of Fischer & Wieser plum chipotle bbq sauce. Fill to the top with warm water, shake well, pour over ribs. Fill halfway again, shake some more, pour.

Cook on low for at least seven hours, til the meat starts thinking about falling off the bone (or does so). Add some salt and a can of (drained) cannellini beans. Maybe some dried roasted garlic and black pepper. Cook til the beans are heated through.

Eat over buttered pasta with a bit of the broth poured over the top.

(This broth is way too sweet to reduce to a sauce. We value our beloved pancreata. No sense in actually making it too easy to eat up in mere spoonfuls.)

I'm putting my mother's three cheese lasagne recipe here so that I can memory market and keep it around. I generally use Muir Glen tomato sauce (organic) and Tinkyada brown rice noodles--cook them a little less than the package says. You can make the sauce thinner and let the dry noodles soak it up, but I never do. If mixed up before the noodles boil, the dried minced onion soaks up all the liquid, so I often add an extra small can of sauce or a 6oz can of tomato juice.

Cheese Lasagne

1 (15 oz.) can Hunts Tomato Sauce
½ C. minced onion
½ t. garlic powder
2 t. Italian herb seasoning
2 eggs, beaten
1 (16 oz.) carton ricotta cheese
1 (8 oz.) pkg. lasagna (I use 6 noodles)
1 lb. mozzarella cheese (thinly sliced)
½ C. grated Parmesan cheese

Combine sauce, onion, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Blend eggs with ricotta cheese. Spoon a little sauce mixture into 9 x 13” baking dish to coat bottom. Arrange a layer of noodles, ricotta mixture, sauce and mozzarella. Repeat until finished. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting. Serves 6.

Another simple dinner . . .
onion sautéed in olive oil with garlic and crushed red pepper
two cups of broth brought to a boil
two frozen TJ's boneless/skinless chicken thighs, added white wine to cover (about half a cup/glass)
boil on medium covered for 15-20 minutes
add the washed and torn tops of two bunches of beets (golden & red)
simmer covered for another 10 minutes
add two diced roasted red peppers, season with salt and black pepper
serve with brown rice pasta.

Very nice. I don't add parmesan rinds regularly because boy avoids dairy. they'd have been great in this, but it was lovely just as it was. We each pulled out a thigh and cut it up before adding veggies, broth, and pasta.

Sometimes the yummiest things are the simplest.

2.28lb chuck blade roast, boneless

Quickly brown roast on all sides in hot olive oil in pressure cooker. Add a large onion, minced. Bay leaf. Freshly ground sea salt & black pepper. One cup red wine, half cup water. Bring to pressure, rock gently for 35 minutes. Let cool naturally. Remove roast, thicken broth with cornstarch (dissolved in cold wate, natch).

We ate it over leftover brown rice. I'm sure it would've been great with celery, carrots, and potatoes, but we felt like eating immediately.

Notes: more salt, don't be afraid. Skip the water, go all wine.

It's the kind of food I grew up with, minus the wine. Simple, hearty, pressure cooked. Yum. I think I'll generally opt for the pressure cooker for pot roasts from now on. I'm really picky about my beef and can't stand toughness. The crockpot and slowcooking stovetop/oven methods haven't really made me happy. I think the pressure cooker wins.

Current Mood: satisfied

I'm still creeped out by all the meat I eat. I'll be happy when I get back to posting (and eating) vegetarian recipes.

Anyhow, last night's main dish turned out very well. I browned about a pound of boneless, skinless chicken thighs in olive oil in the pressure cooker. I added a can of fire-roasted crushed tomatoes, about a quarter of a red onion (chopped), a generous forkful of minced garlic, 1 and 1/3 cups of a white wine/broth mixture, some thyme and basil (dried) . . . and then put the lid on, brought up to pressure, and let it rock for 8 minutes. Cooled with cold water. Added a roasted pepper (chopped) and a rinsed/drained can of chickpeas. Served with pasta spirals.

I just had some for lunch. Yum.

Someone who shall remain unnamed likes to link lots of yummy recipes. It's very cruel to read such a list when pregnant.

This was one of those links.

I love lemon poppyseed breads. So I carried the laptop into the kitchen and got to work, chatting with

baobh while I pulled out ingredients.

I did adapt, of course. Juiced a couple lemons, so just under two tablespoons of juice. Grated some of the zest, but got tired, so added in about a teaspoon of dried peel. Said, "oooh, crap" and added extra lemon flavoring (and then more, and then more). The soymilk (UGH!) was replaced with buttermilk (dry solids in with flours, water in with liquids).

Anyhow, I baked 'em. My flour mix is teff, brown rice, white sorghum, and tapioca. I filled the muffin tins and 15 minutes was perfect.

Interestingly, I should've waited. The remaining batter had time (20 minutes) to perk up (buttermilk, baking soda, etc). The remaining batter filled four slots in the tin. THOSE muffins peaked nicely--excellent muffin tops resulted. I'm used to flat muffins these days, but now that I know I can tweak recipes with buttermilk, I might just have to do that. I was taking a risk--they could've swelled and exploded, but risks are worth it with lemon poppyseed.

Current Mood: happy

I was at Trader Joe's in Centreville with

ez_mo yesterday doing my usual thing--browsing aisles and filling my cart with rice pasta. I happened to decide to check out all the vinegars and saw one I hadn't seen before: mango chili vinegar.

It jumped into my cart. I immediately wheeled around and found manchego in the cheese section, then zipped down to the bagged produce for baby spinach.

Tonight, I washed and spun-dry the spinach and filled two plates.

In a small skillet, I heated some olive oil over medium heat. I tossed in several cloves of garlic to sweat. After they started turning golden, I added two generous fingerfuls of red flame raisins and about a quarter cup of pine nuts. I tossed those for a couple minutes until the raisins were just about to burst. I quickly scooped the raisins, garlic, and pine nuts onto the spinach. I whisked the oil with some of the mango-chili vinegar and then poured it over the two plates. A generous grating of cheese, cracked pepper, and sea salt and we were ready to eat.

Oh. My. God. So good. Definitely a keeper.