We've Made It to Winter

Hey All,

Wow, the last few weeks leading up to the holidays have flown by.  Winter is officially here, we've only had bits of snow, but I'm definitely in hibearnation mode.  The joints are a bit achy, the thought of going out in the cold makes me shiver, and I can't seem to drink enough hot beverages.

OK, that's a really dramatic take on winter, but that's often how I feel about it.  When I was younger, I loved the snow and all the great  things it brought.  These days, I see walks that need shoveled, difficult driving, the inversion that Salt Lake has become infamous for, and far too much time indoors in dry air.  The gardens, if they haven't already, are rapidly dying and I am relegated to the markets for food.....

So yes, energy levels have been low and stress has unnecessarily built up.  The good news, this holiday has me relaxed and back on track.  2 days of mostly sleeping and not doing anything with a splash of company thrown in, a day of mostly laziness but with dim sum at Hong Kong Tea House, a nice soak and sauna, and today, a bit of shopping that has me energized to keep making our home a place of wonderful food.

So let's dig in.  This time around, I'm only going to talk about recipes for which I have pictures and unless I deviated wildly from the recipe, I'll leave only links.

Chicken Korma, comes to us from a college friend.  Our history is really something, a couple of really good fights, but an enduring friendship that has stood the test of time.  I'm lucky to have a great friend who also shares a love for wholesome meals with her family.

My dish isn't quite as pretty as the picture in the link, but the flavor was spot on.  I think I just cooked it a bit too long.  Despite my cooking prowess, I'm often one to leave the crockpot going for way too long and making some delicious sludge.

 Moroccan Pot Roast with Dried Cherry Couscous, was another of those recipes that randomly flew by on Facebook and I had to hunt it down.  This meal was delicious!   My only complaint was that the flavors became a bit bitter when eaten as leftovers.  This recipe also calls out for Ras el Hanout, as I talked about earlier, a properly stocked spice cabinet can make just about any one of these exotic sounding spice blends....here's an easy recipe from allrecipes.com.

Finally, in the "new" category this round, is a potato soup that kinda came out of nowhere.  The boys went out on a goodwill mission to Laramie, Wyoming.  Its one heck of a drive and our first real weather of the season was kicking in.  With it being cold, I had absolutely no desire to leave the house, but I knew they'd be hungry when they got back.  I figured a comforting bowl of soup with croutons and bread would fit the bill.

I cut up 5 potatoes and put them in the crock pot with 4 cups of water, 2 tomato and chicken bullion cubes, some powdered onion (I normally use fresh, but I didn't have one in the pantry), and garlic.  I turned it on high and let that cook for several hours until the potatoes were boiled and I could mash it all up a bit.  At that point, I threw in some celery and baby carrots, a sprinkle of thyme, and let that cook on low until they were about an hour out.  When they were about an hour out, I added some cheese curds and mozzarella balls that were leftover from the symphony.  While all this was going on, I decided to give breadmaking a shot.  It wasn't perfect, but it still tasted good.  We managed to get food in us and get them calmed down after a harrowing journey just in time to go out to the club and have the DJs no show.  I can't say they no-showed;  the show was supposed to start at 9:00pm, we left the club at 11:30pm, and through the modern luxury of Facebook, I learned the DJ showed about 12:30am....you know just in time for last call.  A disappointing evening, but I did have a nice day of solitude in my kitchen.

I'm also excited to announce that I finally got a tiffin.  It dawned on me that metal won't work in the microwave for warm dishes, so I'm on the hunt for a perfect sized plate to slip in there.  In the interim, I have a shallow bowl that will work just lovely.  The dual compartment also leaves me thinking I'll eat a bit more roughage this winter.....suddenly, a beet salad for a work lunch doesn't seem so impossible.

Its also cooler weather, so that means tea.  I love a good strong cup or two of medium roast coffee in the morning, but coffee is not an all day thing for me.  I think part of this is my continued battle with insomnia, which seems to get worse during the winter months.  I also don't care for cocoa throughout to the day....as a nice treat here and there, I enjoy it, but its just too rich, heavy, and sweet for an all day sip.  So along with the tiffin, I've been keeping my eye open for mugs with built in infusers....  I've had two gripes with the one's I've seen:  a) plastic...tea is meant to be enjoyed with ritual from ceramic, I even shun glass when it comes to tea, b) price tag - I'd be OK with $20 for a good ceramic one, but for plastic with a metal strainer....yeah, um, NO!  Today, while I was cruising Global Supermarket for tea, I decided to have a look at their kitchen supplies.....lo' and behold, I found my mug, a nice porcelain one for Husbear, and my tiffin....they also have a steamer set that I'm eyeing to start doing at home dimsum for easy weekend brunches.

I hope you all are keeping warm this winter.  I've managed to warm myself up and keep my head screwed on....

3Day

I'm back!

Hey All,

As you saw, we were down with this delightful little cold that has been going around. There is nothing quite like a mucus filled illness to turn grown men into cranky babies. Food was up and down during that time. I will say, I have relearned the joy of Papa Murphy's Pizza. It used to one of those things we ate a lot of in college. A few days ago, Paul brought one over as a quick fix. I think we cooked it right, as the crust was that perfect spongy crunchy that I like in pizza and the flavors were great!

Shopping has been dismal, as I plain flat haven't had the energy to shop.  That should change this week.

In amongst, though, I did get some cooking done. Albeit things were a bit more complicated during another busy and hectic work week than I like. The good news, the crazy with work is likely behind me. Now, I am faced with the task of cleaning up documents and implementing lessons learned. Its actually an enjoyable part of the job, as it usually doesn't fail a deadline or leave anyone hanging with important things.

So first let's recap from where I left off. With the past couple of weeks being what they were, these are more the highlights than anything else.

A creamy cauliflower soup (Thanks for the idea, Lisa!) was great during one of the first cold days of the season. I don't have any pictures, and it needs some tweaking for the crockpot, but it ended up being great. Couple that with a good loaf of bread from Stone Ground Bakery, which is just around the corner, and it was a very satisfying hearty meal.

The curried chicken salad was one that fed us for a suprising number of days. I visited lots of recipes on the web and concluded that its pretty much like any other chicken salad, but with the addition of curry powder. I did half and half to taste of Vindaloo curry from Market Spice and the stuff from the supermarket.  I added the usual culprits of chives, raisins, almonds, and halved cherry tomatoes.  I also used half and half sour cream and may for the base.  I think the mayo is a must here as it adds a bit of sweetness that cultured dairy on its own does not.

The chorizo and peppers was a bust.  If I were to do it again, I'd opt for a fajita.  Something about a chili type thing on spaghetti didn't work for me.

Somewhere along the line, I found the dregs of a bag of chicken wings.  So I decided to make wings and "rippin" chicken.  The Popeye's ads have been tormenting us, as we both love their chicken, but unfortunately the nearest one that doesn't require a boarding pass is some 30 miles away. I also still had the peppers from the chorizo and peppers, so I diced a couple of those up in a pot with 50/50 sugar and vinegar, garlic, sliced ginger, a shot of Shriracha, and a bit of cornstarch to make a sauce:

I cut the chicken like this:

 I dredged it in my secret blend of 1 cup flour, 1 Tblsp. cornstarch, and some salt.  After the chicken was dredged, I threw the flour mixture over the wings and shook to coat.  Then off to the deep fryer....

That's all that was left of the poor chicken....it sure tasted good!

Up next was a find from Recipe Girl.  It isn't kind to say, as I do like how she cooks, but she is mostly facebook fodder to inspire my own cooking.  This Lemon Chicken Parmesan, in particular struck my fancy.  The way the parmesan, lemon, and past come together, and the richness of the breaded chicken made for a fantastic meal.  I made this one ahead, having everything in the baking dish ready to be finished.  I did a few things a bit differently, the pasta, butter, lemon zest, and parmesan all got mixed in the baking dish.  I had pre-breaded chicken breast fillets (which I paid less than I would have for chicken without the breading, mind you...my frugal sense hasn't gone completely out the window!), so I just deep fried those and generously sprinkled with lemon juice.  I will add the lemon slices are an absolute must....it presents nicely, and if you cook the dish covered and then brown the cheese under the broiler, the whole dish gets perfumed with lemon.  It was delicious!  Here's a picture, I even did a bit with the plate to make it look nice :)

Last but not least was this Cajun Shrimp and Quinoa.  Carl joined us for dinner this night.  Along side was plenty of local beer and lots of great conversations.  Read this recipe a few times before you make it.  If you do it right, you'll only dirty an extra pan to make the quinoa.  I didn't read it a few times and ended up destroying the kitchen with the prep.  Again, I prepped this ahead, had it ready to go in the oven and then broiled it off at the end.  I should also mention that cajun spice is really easy to make for a fraction of the price.  Once again, Allrecipes.com comes to the rescue with this Cajun Spice Recipe.

This is how the dish looked on the plate.  The picture in the article does it perfect justice for how it came out of the oven:

So now for the week ahead:

Chili!  The weather is turning colder, so its a perfect time for chili.  I adapted this White Chili Recipe from Pat and Gina Neely for the crock pot.  I didn't have the peppers and didn't feel like going to the store, so I substituted some roasted hatch chilis I had in the freezer.  I also used the ground turkey I picked up on sale instead of chicken.  I also did half canned black beans and half peruano beans.  I stayed true to the other seasoning and I'm glad I did.  Its in the crock pot now for tomorrow and it tastes and smells delicious.

Meatloaf and mashed potatoes.....not much to say about this one.  Its easy to prepare and great cold weather comfort food.

Veg 1 and broccoli. This is another staple in our house and I've written about it here.  Start a pot of rice, a quick toss in the pan, and dinner!

Spaghetti and clams.  This is one that husbear makes and I love it.

Pot roast.  This Morrocan Pot Roast came across my facebook feed and it sounded good.  I also just happened to score on couscous the other week.  I'm going to substitute dried cranberries for the cherries, but I'm sure it will be good.  This is one we'll just throw in the crock pot and enjoy.

I hope you all are healthy and well.  If you haven't already done so, get your flu shot to ensure a healthy winter season!

Lotsa Love,

3Day