Derby Day Dinner

Sunday was Daphne's girl scout pinewood derby, and I knew I would not feel like cooking when we got home.  So, we found a Chicken Korma recipe for the slow cooker on line and got that going before we headed for the race.

Daphne helped a lot with this one.  I taught her how to peel garlic with the genius garlic tube gadget, she peeled and grated some ginger, and helped measure out the Indian spices.  She did a lot of pouring and stirring, and basically made the whole sauce.  I prepped the chicken, and that was that.

This is another really easy meal with lots of flavor. The prep takes a little time, but it's not complicated.   I followed the recipe exactly, except I only added half the cayenne it called for, and I used boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts, because I everything I read says the thighs are just better for slow-cooking.  They are pretty gross to work with, honestly, but the meat was just falling apart tender when it was cooked, so the results were worth the yuck factor.

We served it with rice and naan, and Kevin and Daphne made a nice side salad.  And guess who got another Star Wars point?  Daphne loved it.

Sunday dinner.  Yum.  And we get to have the left-overs tomorrow night.  Maybe we'll have some kale chips on the side!

Original recipe below:

Slow Cooker Chicken Korma
 

Ingredients
• 1⁄4 cup (2 fl oz/60 ml) canola oil
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2-inch (5-cm) piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 2-inch (5-cm) piece cinnamon stick
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 11⁄2 cups (12 fl oz/375 ml) chicken broth
• 1 cup (8 fl oz/250 ml) canned tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Salt
• 2 lb (1 kg) skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into strips 1⁄2 inch (12 mm) wide(I used thighs)
• 1⁄2 cup (4 fl oz/125 ml) buttermilk
• 1⁄2 cup (3 oz/90 g) roasted cashew nuts
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (fresh coriander)

Directions
In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, warm the canola oil. Add the onion and sauté until it begins to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, cinnamon, bay leaves, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, and cumin and sauté until the spices are fragrant and evenly coat the chopped onion, about 1 minute. Stir in the broth, tomato sauce, sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt and deglaze the pan, stirring and scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Bring to a boil.
STOVE TOP: Transfer the broth-spice mixture to a large Dutch oven. Add the chicken strips and stir to coat. Partially cover and cook over low heat until the chicken is very tender and the sauce is thickened, about 1 hour.
SLOW COOKER: Transfer the broth-spice mixture to a slow cooker. Add the chicken strips and stir to coat. Cover and cook until the chicken is very tender and the sauce is thickened, 3 hours on the high-heat setting or 6 hours on the low-heat setting.
About 15 minutes before the chicken is done, combine the buttermilk and cashews in a blender or food processor. Blend or process until the nuts are finely puréed and combined with the buttermilk. Add to the chicken and stir to blend with the chicken and sauce. Continue cooking until the sauce is completely heated through and thick, about 5 minutes. Remove and discard the cinnamon and bay leaves.
Divide the chicken and sauce among warmed bowls, garnish with the cilantro, and serve at once.

From:  Williams Sonoma Essentials of Slow Cooking

Thank You, Billy the Produce Guy

I don't really love going to the grocery store.  Before we got a Wegman's here in town, it was REALLY bad.  There are few places as uninspiring as the Safeway by my house.  Going there sort of makes you not want to eat food anymore. Wegman's is great, and makes shopping much better, but when all is said and done, it's still really just a chore.  So, when I have to go, I like to have a plan, get in there, get what I need, and get out as soon as possible. This is much easier when I go by myself.  Taking people along creates grocery store drag.

This weekend, I ended up having to take Daphne with me to the store.  On Saturday afternoon, even.  Wegman's is at its most crowded on Saturday afternoon.  I was filled with dread.  So, in hopes of making things easier, and since Daphne can read now, I decided to give her the job of checking things off my list.  I told her to get a pencil because we had a "mission."  I don't know what I will do when tricks like that stop working.

Long story short, for me, this was one of the most fun trips to the grocery store in the history of shopping.  Daphne sat in the cart with the list and her pencil, all business, checking things off and making tally marks if we got more than one of something.  Wegman's was having an organic foods festival, so they had lots of samples and little give-aways.  With all the free pink lemonade and rooster tattoos, everyone was on good behavior, and no one was whining, complaining, or asking for toys and candy the whole time.

Our last stop was the produce section, and after we got everything we needed, we decided to check out the "weird food" endcap by the bananas.  This is where they keep unusual things like aloe leaves and cactus leaves and plantains and weird squashes and so forth.  I told Daphne that she could pick something from the section and take it home and try it for a Star Wars point.  After much deliberation, she narrowed it down to either a kiwi or a starfruit, but then she couldn't decide. I figured this was going to take all afternoon.  But that's when I spotted Billy, the produce guy.

I like Billy the produce guy a lot.  I have asked him questions before and he is always a big help.  So I told Daphne we'd get an expert to help her decide.  I wheeled her over and we told Billy that she wanted be adventurous and try something new, but she couldn't decide between the kiwi and the starfruit.  He played right along.  He told her he's never had a starfruit, so could she please try it and come back and tell him how it tastes?  Decision made.  Then, he told us that if we wanted to be even more adventurous, we should get some kale to take home and make kale chips.  And Daphne got so excited that the "Owner of Wegman's" was talking to us, that she insisted we get some kale right away.  OK!  I wonder if Billy the produce guy could get Daphne to eat melty cheese?  I almost think he could do it.

Anyway, we went home with our kale and decided to make the chips right away to go with the last of our pasta fagioli leftovers.  I was completely suspicious of this recipe, but they were really good!  I let Daphne make them pretty much by herself.  First, you rinse and dry the kale and tear it into chip-sized pieces, getting rid of the stems.  Then you toss it with olive oil and salt:

Then, spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet:

And bake them at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes until they are crispy:

Kale is a superfood.  Low in calories, and really high in nutritional value.  Tons of Vitamin A. 

I will definitely make this again as a snack or side dish.  Super easy and tasty.  I overdid it on the salt a little, so I'll watch that next time.  And I may try to sneak in some parmesan cheese next time too.  If you Google kale chips, there are lots of ideas for seasoning out there.  And at least one person crumbled them up on some popcorn.  Sounds weird, I know, but I bet it's good.

So, there you go.  Kale chips.  Thank you, Billy the produce guy.  We'll see you soon with a starfruit review.

Easy Meal Thursday and a Flashback

One of my favorite easy meals is popcorn shrimp with pasta and pesto.  Since I already had the leftover fusilli from the pasta fagioli, it was even easier than usual to make this for dinner last night.

All I do is cook the frozen popcorn shrimp (I like Sea-Pak) and put it on top of some pasta tossed with pesto.  Then I add some sort of steamed vegetable, usually asparagus, sometimes broccoli, and last night, green beans because that's what I had on hand.  Then, I squeeze on some lemon juice and top with parmesan cheese, freshly grated if possible.  Yep.  Really easy.  Not really cooking...more like assembling. And Daphne likes it, so it's a staple in the rotation.

This meal came about when we first moved here. We were living in a crappy apartment in Herndon while we were looking for a house, and I never felt like cooking.  Big fancy meals just didn't happen very often in those days.  Except the eggplant parmesan that Kev made for us the day Daphne and I arrived from Texas.  It was quite a welcome.  Check it out...flowers and everything!

Straight off the plane...

That was definitely the best meal we had in that apartment.  And I don't think we've had eggplant parmesan since that day.  Which is a shame, because Kev's eggplant parm is amazing.  Perhaps it is time for him to do a guest-post...

More Slow Cooking with Daphne

Yesterday, Daphne and I had a play date after school, so I decided to try another slow cooker recipe.  That way, dinner could magically cook itself all day and be ready when we got home.  Whoever came up with this concept is my hero.  Absolutely genius.

I decided to try a recipe for Pasta Fagioli that I found while browsing around the pinterest boards.  There was no honey or brown sugar in the recipe this time, so I got Daphne excited about trying another new food by telling her we were going to make something really special: PAH-stah fah-JO-lee (said with a very bad fake Italian accent and wild stereotypical Italian hand gestures).  I made her say it with me, hand gestures and all. It was very silly, but whatever works.  Then I browned the meat and chopped the vegetables, and let her do the rest (rinse the beans and dump everything in the crock). She thinks she's a chef now.

When we got home from our play date, the house smelled amazing.  I threw a head of garlic in the oven to roast, cooked the fusilli noodles, sliced up some Italian bread and dinner was ready.

Yum.

This soup was really good.  Very flavorful, with just a little kick from the tabasco sauce.  And Daphne ate a whole bowl, declaring that "next to Daddy's Famous Chicken Noodle Soup, this is the best soup I've ever had."  She said she can't wait to have it again.  Plus, it's just as much fun to say as it is to eat!  PAH-stah fah-JO-lee!

You know what I'm thinking, don't you?  I don't even need to say it.  But I'm gonna say it anyway:

If they cook it, they will eat it.  Almost every time. 

Thank you, Kev, for my slow cooker.  It has really changed mealtime at our house.  Daphne has 14 Star Wars points for trying new foods.  Fourteen new foods in less than a month is pretty much miraculous.  Six more and she gets to watch Star Wars.  Way to go, little Peanut.  And, we're having a lot of fun cooking together.  That makes me happy.

OK.  The original recipe, from A Year of Slow Cooking, is below.  I made a few changes, which I will tell you about at the end.  This recipe makes a LOT of soup.  I froze some, and there is probably still enough left in the fridge for at least two meals.

Slow Cooker Pasta Fagioli

-1 pound lean ground beef, browned and drained
--1/2 large red onion, chopped
--1 cup carrots, chopped
--2 celery stalks, sliced
--2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes (and juice)
--1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
--1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
--4 cups beef broth (check label for gluten!)
--1 jar (26-ounce) pasta sauce
--2 tsp oregano
--1 T Tabasco sauce
--1/2 tsp salt
--1/4 tsp black pepper
--1/2 cup dry pasta, to add at end of cooking time 

The Directions.

Use a 6 quart or larger crockpot, or cut the recipe in half. This makes a lot.

Brown the meat on the stovetop, and drain well. Let it cool a bit.

Chop up the carrots, onion, and celery. Add it to the empty crockpot.
Drain and rinse the beans, and add them. Add the whole cans of tomatoes, and the pasta sauce. Add the beef broth. Add the salt, pepper, oregano, and Tobasco sauce. Stir in your meat.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4. When the vegetables are tender, stir in the 1/2 cup of dry pasta.

Cover and cook for another hour on low, or until the pasta is tender. It will swell quite a bit.

Serve with a bit of parmesan cheese if you have it.

 My Adaptations:

• I used a whole sweet onion instead of half a red onion
• I used 2 cans of tomato sauce because I don't like diced tomatoes
• I didn't have a big jar of pasta sauce so I used most of a small jar of Trader Joe's pizza sauce that I had in the fridge and needed to use up
• When I browned the meat, I salted it and added oregano.  When it was almost done, I added some minced garlic and cooked it another minute or two
• I didn't add the pasta to the crock pot because I was worried it might get mushy.  I cooked it on the stove to al dente, and added it to the soup at the very end.  I cooked a whole box, and probably added half of it to the soup.

Big Meat Wednesday

Yesterday, dinner was prepared before we even ate breakfast.  That's my kind of meal.

I decided to try my favorite oven brisket recipe in the slow-cooker.  I got Daphne involved so she would be excited about trying it.  She made the sauce.  Conveniently, one of the ingredients is honey.  I told her in a conspiratorial whisper that honey was, in fact, the SECRET ingredient.  Ooooooh...how exciting!  And after she mixed up the sauce, I even let her have a spoonful of honey for good measure.  That way, I reckoned her little brain would associate the honey with the New Food we'd be having for dinner and she would be more willing to eat it.  Whatever works.

I browned the giant slab of meat on the stove, and then put it in the slow cooker.  Daphne poured the sauce over it.  I set the timer for 9 hours, and Daphne pushed "start."  Cooking dinner was pretty much done then, so we ate breakfast.  Have I told you how much I love my new slow cooker?

I didn't change anything about the recipe to adjust for the slow cooker, and it worked out just fine.  In 9 hands-free hours, we went from this:

to THIS:

And all I had to do in the evening was boil some noodles, steam some green beans, and thicken the sauce, and we had THIS:

Aaaaah, yeah.

And guess who gave it six check-marks under the "loved it" box on her New Foods chart?

If they cook it, (and it has honey in it), they will eat it.

The original recipe (below) is from one of the earliest issues of Every Day Food.  It works great in the oven, and as I learned yesterday, just as well, if not better, in the slow cooker.  I followed the recipe exactly.  Then, at the end, I separated the sauce from the fat, poured the sauce into a pan, added a slurry of corn starch and water, and brought it to a boil to thicken it a little.  Yep.  Good stuff.  And we have plenty of left-overs for another meal.  Maybe we'll have it on baked potatoes.  Mmmm.


Coffee Glazed Brisket:

Ingredients

• 3 pounds beef brisket (thin first-cut)
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/2 cup freshly brewed black coffee
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup chili sauce
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees*. Season beef brisket with salt and pepper. In a large Dutch oven over high heat, warm oil. Add brisket, fat side down, and cook until well browned, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Remove from heat. 
2. In a small bowl, combine coffee, ketchup, chili sauce, honey, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and soy sauce. Pour over brisket.
3. Cover; bake, flipping halfway through, until meat shreds easily with a fork, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Remove from oven; slice on the bias against the grain. Transfer remaining sauce from Dutch oven to a gravy boat, and serve with brisket.**

*For Slow-Cooker, prepare meat the same way and place in slow-cooker.  Pour sauce over the brisket.  Cook all day on low (I did mine for 9 hours).

**Don't forget to skim the fat off the sauce, and then thicken it if you want.  Mix about 1-2 tbsp cornstarch with water, add to sauce and bring to a boil in a small saucepan on the stove.  Cook until thickened.  This is totally optional, but I like it better that way.

Tuesday Soup

 Do you like cheese?  How about beer?  Bacon?  If the answers are yes, this might be the soup for you.

During our Christmas trip to New York, we went to dinner at the Hyde Park Brewing Company.  It was really cold out, and I wasn't hungry enough for a giant entree, so I ordered their Cheddar Lager Soup.  And it was GOOD.  I've tried making beer cheese soup at home before, but it was sort of mediocre.  But the soup at the brewery was so good I decided to try again.

I searched through tons of recipes on the internet before I finally settled on one from Williams Sonoma.  Williams Sonoma never lets me down.  I gathered the ingredients (above) and got to work.  Here are my onions, carrots and celery (which years of watching Emeril have taught me is called a "mirepoix") simmering away in some bacon fat:

That's right.  Bacon fat.  Bacon makes everything better.

I followed the recipe exactly.  Finally, it was the moment of truth: Taste-Test Time.  So I scooped up a spoonful and gave it a try.  Hmmm.  It was good, but something was missing.  It definitely needed salt, so I added salt and tasted again.  Better, but it still needed something.

This is usually when I call Kev to the kitchen to taste things and tell me what's missing.  Only Kev was still at work.  I was on my own.

I had to use The Force.

Me plus The Force has often led to things going horribly wrong.  But not this time.  Because this time, I guessed right and threw in a pinch of cayenne and some liquid smoke:

Yep.  That's just what it needed.  The Force was strong with me last night.

A warning about liquid smoke (which you can find at most grocery stores near the ketchup and stuff):  Use it very sparingly, and use it BEFORE you adjust the salt, because it is pretty salty on its own.  I put in just 3 or 4 drops last night, and it really kicked up the flavor of the soup, but made it a little on the salty side overall because I had already added salt.

Daphne helped make this soup and she enjoyed doing it.  But at our house, the If They Cook It, They Will Eat It rule does not apply to things made with melty cheese.  Melty cheese is Daphne's Kryptonite.  I don't know how it is possible for any child of mine to be against melty cheese, but it seems to be the case, at least for now.  Needless to say, Daphne didn't eat the soup.  And I have to learn to be OK with that.

We served it in warm bowls (as the recipe suggested) with bacon and homemade croutons (above).  And a salad, because no matter how I try to spin it (Oh!  There are carrots in there!), this soup is pretty bad for you.  Beer, cheese, and bacon, you know.  Delicious, but not exactly health food.

You should know that while this soup isn't difficult to make, it does take time.  This isn't a quick weeknight meal.  But there are lots of left-overs, especially since Daphne wouldn't eat it, so we'll get a couple more meals out of it.  Left-overs are good.

The original recipe is below.  Don't forget to try adding the liquid smoke (or whatever else you think it needs) if you want a little more flavor.

Williams Sonoma Cheddar Ale Soup:

Ingredients:

• 4 thick-cut bacon slices, cut into 3-inch strips
• 2 Tbs. unsalted butter
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup pale ale
• 1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/4 lb. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• Toasted croutons for garnish
• Olio novello for drizzling

Directions:

In a 4 1/2-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until crisp, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

Discard all but 2 Tbs. of the fat in the pot. Reduce the heat to medium and melt the butter. Add the onion, carrots and celery, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened, about 20 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the flour and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the ale and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the Worcestershire, milk and broth, increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and puree the soup with an immersion blender until smooth.

Set the pot over medium-low heat and add the cheese by the handful, stirring constantly; do not allow the soup to boil. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into warmed bowls. Garnish with croutons and the bacon and drizzle with olio novello. Serve immediately. Serves 6.

Daphne's Favorite Lunch

Lunch time is tricky around here.  Daphne has to get on the bus at 11:00 am, so we have to start lunch at 10:30 at the latest.  So, what we end up making is usually more of a mid-morning snack than a lunch.  This one is quick and easy, pretty healthy, and she loves it.  On the days she eats this for lunch, I think she has more energy at school and doesn't come home complaining that she's STAAAAARRRRVING.

The PB&B Wrap

1 flour tortilla
peanut butter (or Nutella if you've been really good)
1 banana
granola
honey

Heat the tortilla.  I do mine right on the gas burner, flipping it with tongs.  It doesn't take long...watch it carefully!
Spread peanut butter on the tortilla.
Put the banana in the middle.
Sprinkle on a little granola if you have it.  This adds a nice crunchy texture.
Drizzle with honey (skip this if you use Nutella).
Roll up like a burrito and enjoy!
 

I Love My Slow Cooker

Yesterday was Tuesday.  Tuesday is my Crazy Day.  Daphne has piano and art in the morning, school in the afternoon, and every other week, Daisies after school.  On Daisy Tuesdays especially, I need an easy meal.

Since I got my slow cooker for Christmas, I have been scouring the internet for recipes, and one search that has yielded a lot of results is Pinterest.  Pinterest is a sort of virtual bulletin board where you can keep track of Things You Love on the Internet and store them in an organized fashion.  So anyway, I went on Pinterest and typed "slow cooker" in the search box, and up came all these beautiful pictures of food people have made in their own slow cookers.  I followed one of these pictures to a recipe for Butter Chicken, my favorite Indian dish, and decided that yesterday was the perfect day to give it a try.  I got Daphne on the bus, ran to Wegman's for ingredients, and got the whole thing in the crock pot by about 1:30.  I cooked it on high for about 4 hours, and then on low for another hour, and it was ready when we got home from the Daisy meeting.  You should have smelled my house!  A very happy thing to come home to.  All I had to do then was steam some broccoli and throw a couple pieces of Naan in the oven.  I already had rice from the day before, so I just nuked it, and dinner was served.

This recipe is EASY and really really good.  The hardest part is probably finding all the ingredients.  Wegman's had everything I needed, and I'm sure you could find them also easily at Whole Foods, Central Market, and any good grocery store with an international aisle.  I kept it mild for Daphne, who ate it up and got a Star Wars point for trying something new.  Next time I might kick up the heat a little, and I will definitely double the recipe since it barely made enough for left-overs.  When I make Big Pots of Things, I like to have enough for at least two family meals and a lunch for Kev to take to work.  Anyway, I highly recommend this.  It was really as good as going to an Indian restaurant.  Not bad for a Tuesday.

Slow Cooker Butter Chicken

original recipe below by Lisa Kremer found via Pinterest at Meal Planning 101.

4-6 boneless chicken thighs cut into bite-sized pieces
1 onion diced
3 cloves garlic minced
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp oil

Stir fry chicken, onion and garlic in frying pan on medium heat until the chicken has some color and the onion is translucent. Then pour entire contents of pan into crock pot. Then add:

15 green cardamom pods (can be strung together with needle and thread - I always do it this way, and then a friend informed me putting it in some cheesecloth would be easier...good thinkin')
2 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp curry paste (like Patak’s mild curry paste)
1 tsp cayenne powder (optional) It’s really hot if you add this
2 tsp tandoori masala
1 tsp garam masala
1 can coconut milk
1 cup plain yogurt
1 5.5 fl oz can of tomato paste
Salt to taste

Mix gently and cook on high heat 4-6 hours or low heat 6-8 hours.
Serve with Basmati rice and Naan.

This Alligator Jerky...

...is officially the weirdest thing I have ever eaten.

For Kev's birthday, his sister got him the Gift of Jerky, a three-month membership in the Jerky of the Month Club.  Such an awesome gift idea.  I had no idea there was such a thing, but there is, and if you want to know more, you can visit jerky.com to read all about it.  So, a couple of days ago, a big white envelope arrived from jerky.com.  No surprise there.  But what was IN the envelope was very surprising.  Alligator jerky.  Nope.  Didn't expect that.

Well, in the spirit of setting a good example for getting Daphne to try new things, I, one of the most unadventurous eaters you will ever meet, decided that - in spite of everything in my head and in my heart telling me to please not eat a poor helpless, probably really yucky, alligator - I would eat an actual piece of alligator jerky today.  And I did.  And even though I still feel a little queasy when I let myself start really thinking about it, if I am to be honest, I have to tell you it tasted quite good.  In fact, alligator jerky, and I'm not even kidding, tastes like chicken.  Very sweet.  Like the sesame chicken I always get from our favorite local Chinese place.

So there you go.  I ate alligator jerky.  I'd have totally bet against that ever happening.

Fun with Chili

Kev got me a really nice new slow-cooker for Christmas.  So, I needed something to make in it.  This coincided with really cold weather and a recent push to get Daphne to try new things.  So, I decided this was the perfect time for chili.

Chili can be a very controversial thing.  There are many regional varieties, and I have witnessed plenty of arguments about what is and what is not REAL chili.  My mom grew up close to Cincinnati, so we always had mild chili with ground beef, red beans, and spaghetti.  People across the nation would consider this last ingredient complete and total chili blasphemy.  But it's GOOD!    Kev likes Texas style chili, with stew meat, lots of heat, and no beans.  And most definitely no spaghetti.  One time when we went camping, he made chili this way.  I am pretty sure this is the spiciest thing I have ever eaten.  I thought I was going to spontaneously combust.  But I liked Kev a lot, so I ate it (along with probably a whole sleeve of saltines, several pieces of white bread, and about a gallon of milk to take the edge off).

Anyway, since we both like totally different kinds of chili, we never make it, so Daphne has never had it.

On New Year's Day, we started a "New Foods Chart" for Daphne.  Every time she tries something new, she rates it and gets a point.  When she gets 20 points, she gets to watch Star Wars, which is a pretty big incentive in Daphne's World.  We have discovered that she is much more likely to try something new if she helps to cook it.  So I had the idea to get her involved in the whole chili process.  I found an ATK chili recipe which I used as a guide, left out any and all spicy ingredients except a pinch of cayenne, busted out the new crock pot, and we got to work.

Daphne did a great job helping me.  She was totally enthusiastic about the whole thing.  She helped make a bread and milk paste, she measured out ingredients, she poured and stirred, and even read parts of the recipe to me so I could carry out the steps.  She got to use some of her new cooking tools that she got for Christmas.  The deal was sealed when she found out that the "secret ingredient" was brown sugar.  Mmmmm...sugar...

So, we got the chili going in the morning, and when she got off the bus after school, she ran, sniffing frantically,  directly to the kitchen and demanded a taste.  Well, OK!  I let her use a Frito instead of a spoon for her tasting vessel.  She went crazy.  There was even a funny little joyful Chili Dance.  Next to the German Apple pancake, this is the most highly ranked food on her New Foods Chart so far.

If they cook it, they will eat it.

I guarantee that if I had made the chili alone while Daphne was at school,  and just put it in front of her at dinner time, there would have been a battle to even taste it, and even if she did taste it, she wouldn't have liked it because her mind would have already been made up.  Don't say it, Mom.  I know.  Payback time.

We made it this time with ground beef and red kidney beans, (no spaghetti), served it with Fritos and cheddar cheese.  And last night, we used the left-overs for chili dogs.  Yum.  I think Kev even sorta liked it.  And he definitely liked that DAPHNE liked it.  Dinnertime was pleasant.  That's always good.

Here is how I made it, loosely based on a recipe from America's Test Kitchen  "Slow Cooker Revolution."  It isn't the best chili I've ever had, but it was good and warm and I would make it again for sure based on how easy it was and how much Daphne liked it.  Next time I would probably double the recipe as well.  I bet the left-overs freeze well.

Daphne's No-Alarm Slow-Cooker Chili

1 slice white bread torn into quarters
2 tbsp whole milk
1 lb ground beef
   Salt and pepper
2 tbsp veg. oil
1 onion, minced
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp tomato paste
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
   pinch of cayenne
1 29 oz. can tomato sauce
1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar

1.  Mash bread and milk into a paste in a large bowl using a fork.  Mix in gr. beef, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper using hands.

2.  Heat oil in 12" skillet over med-high heat until shimmering.  Add onions, chili powder, tomato paste, garlic, cumin, oregano, and cayenne and cook until onion is softened and lightly browned (8-10 min.).

3.  Stir in beef mixture and cook, breaking up any large pieces, until no longer pink, about 3 minutes.  Stir in half of the tomato sauce, scraping up any browned bits.  Transfer to slow cooker.

4.  Stir in the rest of the tomato sauce, beans, soy sauce, and brown sugar.  Cover and cook until beef is tender, 6-8 hours on low, 3-5 hours on high.

5.  Let chili settle 5 minutes. then skim fat from surface using large spoon.  Season to taste, and serve with two Bean-O tablets and your favorite chili toppings.

6.  Do the Chili Dance.

Family Cooking Time

New Year's Day Dinner Menu:

Salad (baby romaine, dried cranberries, toasted pumpkim seeds, and breaded warm goat cheese rounds with Wegman's Raspberry vinaigrette)

America's Test Kitchen Cold-Start "Easier French Fries"

Pumpkin Coconut Soup

New Year's Day dinner was extra good because it was a team effort.  We even put Daphne to work.  She tossed the salad and set the table.  Kev was in charge of the experimental fries, and I made the pumpkin soup and breaded goat cheese.

Let me tell you about these fries.  My friend Emily told me about them when she came to visit last summer, and sent me the recipe when she got back to Texas.  I was suspicious.  You start the fries in cold (room temp) oil, bring the temp up to boiling, and just let them cook with no stirring for 15 minutes.  Then, you stir them gently and cook them for another 5-10 minutes, and you end up with perfect crunchy-on-the-outside, creamy-on-the-inside french fries.  Yum.  We served them with warmed-up Patak's Korma curry sauce that I found in a jar at Wegman's.  It was good, spicy and sweet and went nicely with the fries.  So, thanks to Emily for the great recipe and to America's Test Kitchen for experimenting with fries and coming up with this.  So easy.

Kev's Spam apron was a gift from my friend Whitney.  Awesome, huh?

We recently went to a dinner party and my friend Jen made some great pumpkin soup.  She was nice enough to send me the recipe, so we decided to try it for New Year's Day dinner.  This was another very simple recipe, and the results were great.  I followed the recipe exactly, and the soup was good, but seemed to need something.  I added more lime juice, which helped a little, and then Kev swooped in with some cinnamon and nutmeg, which really made it great.  We drizzled on a little cream and served it with toasted pumpkin seeds.

Daphne was eager to try the soup, and she tried really hard to like it, but she just didn't.  That's OK, though.  At least she tried it without a battle.  She loved the fries and ate up all her salad.  It was a good meal.  And meals are always better (more pleasant) when Daphne is involved in the planning and execution.  Wait until I tell you about the chili!  But that's another story.  Recipes below.  Seriously, those fries are pretty amazing for how easy they are.  Let me know if you make 'em.

Pumpkin Coconut Soup

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon canola oil 
• 1 onion, chopped (1 cup) 
• 2 carrots, chopped (1 cup) 
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 (14-ounce) cans chicken broth, divided 
• 2 (15-ounce) cans unsweetened pumpkin 
• 1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons lime juice 
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 tablespoon sugar 
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt 
• Garnishes: drizzle of whipping cream or crème frâiche, toasted coconut, lime zest curls

1. 1. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add onion and carrot, and cook, stirring frequently, 5 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften. Stir in garlic, and cook 30 seconds. Add 1 can of chicken broth; bring to a simmer, and cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are very tender. Remove from heat; cool 10 minutes.
2. 2. Transfer mixture to a blender, and puree until smooth. Return mixture to Dutch oven, and add pumpkin, coconut milk, and remaining can of chicken broth, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a simmer over medium heat; stir in lime juice and next 3 ingredients. Garnish, if desired.
3. Note: Pumpkin Coconut Soup can be made the day before. Pour into a screw-top container, and store in the refrigerator until you're ready to hit the road.

Jackie Mills, MyRecipes
NOVEMBER 2004

(Note:  We added cinnamon and nutmeg to taste)

ATK Easier French Fries 

Ingredients:

2 1/2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes (You MUST use Yukon gold in this recipe for it to work - not russets) scrubbed, dried, sides squared off, and cut length-wise into 1/4 x 1/4 inch batons.

6 cups peanut oil

Kosher salt

1. Combine potatoes and oil in a large dutch oven.  Cook over high heat until oil has reached rolling boil.  Continue to cook, without stirring, until potatoes are limp but exteriors are beginning to firm, about 15 min.

2. Using tongs, stir potatoes, gently scraping any that stick, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until golden and crisp (5-10 min).  Using skimmer or slotted spoon, transfer fries to thick paper bag or paper towels, season with salt (right away! while they're vulnerable! - from Emeril) and serve immediately.

If you are registered with ATK/Cook's Illustrated on line, you can read about this method (and the science behind it) in more detail if you look it up.  There is even a video.  But trust me.  It works.

Breaded goat cheese rounds

 

Goat cheese log (I like the honey goat cheese from Wegman's or Trader Joe's)

Panko  (Japanese bread crumbs)

One egg white, beaten with a little splash of water 

1. Cut the goat cheese into rounds about 1/4" thick. (Dental floss works nicely for this)

2. Dip the rounds in the egg white to coat, then dredge in the panko.  Refrigerate until you're ready to cook them.  (It works better if they've been in the fridge for at least 15 minutes)

3. Heat a very small amount of olive oil in a nonstick skillet (I usually wipe it around the skillet with a paper towel just to lightly coat the bottom), and cook the goat cheese on both sides until it's as golden and crispy as you want it.  Put it on your salad of choice.

This makes pretty much any salad more fun to eat. Unless you are Daphne and hate melty cheese.

 

It's a New Day, It's a New Year, It's a New Blog...

We started 2012 with a German Apple Pancake for New Year's Day breakfast.  It just seemed like the thing to do.  My parents gave me the Williams Sonoma Breakfast cookbook for Christmas, and this recipe looked easy and so good.

The recipe is below.  I didn't have raspberries or creme fraiche, so I made whipped cream to go with it.  We also had maple syrup, but didn't really need it.  I used York apples from the farmer's market, and we had local maple sausages on the side.  I recommend serving this with something savory like sausage, or you will feel like you had dessert instead of breakfast.

This recipe is extremely easy.  The hardest part was inverting the pancake onto a plate.  So, I made Kev do that because it was too scary for me.  It was beautiful.  And SO SO tasty.  Daphne kept asking for seconds.  This recipe will really only serve 4 people, so it's great for a small family weekend breakfast, but not so much for big groups of visitors.

Ingredients:

• 5 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup plus 1 Tbs. granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. fine sea salt
• 1 1/2 Tbs. unsalted butter
• 2 large, tart apples, peeled, cored and cut
   into wedges 1/2 inch thick
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbs. confectioners' sugar (optional)
• 3/4 cup fresh raspberries
• 1/4 cup crème fraîche

Directions:

In a blender, combine the eggs, vanilla and the 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar and blend until combined, about 5 seconds. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and blend until smooth, about 10 seconds more.

Preheat an oven to 375°F.

In a 10-inch ovenproof, nonstick fry pan over medium heat, melt the butter. When the foaming has subsided, add the apples and sauté, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle the apples with the cinnamon and the remaining 1 Tbs. granulated sugar. Stir together and sauté until the apples are glazed and the edges are slightly translucent, about 2 minutes more.

Spread the apples evenly in the fry pan and pour the batter slowly over the top so the apples stay in place. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the bottom is firm, about 8 minutes. Transfer the pan to the oven and cook until the top of the pancake is firm, about 10 minutes more.

Remove from the oven and invert a flat serving plate over the fry pan. Holding the pan and plate together, invert them together and lift off the pan. Cut the pancake into 3 or 4 wedges and transfer to individual plates. Sprinkle each portion with confectioners' sugar and scatter with a few raspberries. Top with a dollop of crème fraîche and serve immediately. Serves 3 or 4.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Collection Series, Breakfast, by Brigit L. Binns (Simon & Schuster, 2003).