Fresas Con Crema, and the Passage of Time

It's amazing, the changes that can take place within a year's time. Since Easter last year we have decided to join a church, to leave a church. To have a baby, then lost the baby. To not have any more children, but got pregnant again. To never leave our wonderful city, and move away the next month. At times it scares me that I don't know my future. Not entirely, at least. I don't know what my life on earth looks like. But I do know that Christ Jesus has risen from the grave and I need not fear the things of this life. He's coming back to take me Home, someday. I hope it's sooner than later, but in the meantime I have children to raise, a husband to love, dreams to pursue, and food to cook =)

This year my husband's family had a big dinner the day before Easter, and my contribution was Fresas Con Crema. A great Mexican classic dessert. Even though I wasn't there for it. I was so exhausted and starting to get a horribly sore throat that I stayed home, eating Fig Newman's and some Fresas Con Crema I saved out for myself. It really was a great combination! ...but that could be pregnancy talking =)

WHAT YOU NEED:

2 pints Strawberries, sliced

1 pint Heavy Whipping Cream

1 (14 oz.) can La Lechera Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 (7.6 oz.) can Nestle Media Crema

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

HOW TO:

Beat the 3 creams and vanilla together until fluffy and soft and wonderfully enticing.

Add sliced strawberries.

Refrigerate overnight, IF you can wait that long =)

COST:
$9 for about 8 cups = $1.13/serving

Cheater Crepes

Already feeling very shut-in, being pregnant and sick, living in a community that is far-removed from ...everything... we are also surrounded by hills that allow nothing other than three PBS stations to come in on our TV. (THANK GOD FOR THE INTERNET OR WE'D BE CRAZY BY NOW!!!) At least one of our three magic stations is Create, a fun channel that is varied in topics and styles. One of the best shows on Create is Pati's Mexican Table. My husband and I look forward to Pati's show because she shows how to cook real Mexican food, the real Mexican way. I love watching primarily to reminisce about the times I had in Mexico, and of course, lust after real food.

Sometimes she does something really different. Last night she made Dedos Gitanos, "Gypsy Fingers". I don't know why they call them this, but pretty much anything named Gypsy sounds fun though =)  I was starving, so as soon as she showed how to make them, my husband ran to the grocery store to get eggs and bread to cook for me! (Isn't he the sweetest?!?!?!) And then today for lunch, I couldn't take it, I had to have more!!! So, I cooked them up, a little different yet, and took pictures for you.

These are basically rolled up French Toasts. My husband described them as "cheater crepes" - very accurate! They are thin and light, sweet and eggy. If you like breakfast anytime of day, you'll love these =)

Roll out 4 pieces of a great country white bread between layers of plastic wrap.

Mix 2 eggs, 1/2 tsp. vanilla, pinch of sea salt, and 1/2 cup heavy cream in baking dish.

My little "helper" sneaking some of the filling -- Chocolate Nougat from my last post =)

Roll bread up.

Roll in egg mixture...

...and leave in dish for baking.

Only 4 fit into my casserole, but if you have a larger baking dish and are making this for more people, just double or triple the recipe proportionately.

Top with small bits of butter; bake at 350 for 28 minutes. You might want to check on them after 20, depending on your oven.

I made whipped cream to top mine. I don't believe in adding sugar to whipped cream when it's topping something that's already sweet, so this is just cream and vanilla.

Whip until it forms waves in the bowl and sticks to the beaters.

It should be a golden brown when done.

As soon as it comes out of the oven, top with more Chocolate Nougat...

...it will melt into a creamy blissful goo =)

Decorate to your heart's content =)

If you want to see the original recipe:

http://www.patismexicantable.com/2012/10/mexican_french_toast_rolls/

The Versatile Chocolate ...Nougat?

Nougat's not really something you would think of making at home... or even ever really think of... The word Nougat makes me think of a 3 Musketeers candy bar, but I never think of it otherwise! And then an experiment in the kitchen produced just that - Nougat.

I am a Chocoholic. My drug of choice is caffeine. I'm not interested in ruining my body with drugs and chemicals, even though I loved Brazilian and Swiss cigarettes during my high school foreign exchange stint, but caffeine? Completely different story! I would trade real food for for chocolate, coffee, and tea if I was asked to choose. It wouldn't be a very long life, but I would die high and happy and jittery =)

So, you can imagine my dismay when I discovered that chocolate, coffee, and tea repulsed me the first 5 months of this pregnancy. I hated them all. Especially chocolate. And then in the past few weeks I started to like it again, little by little. And now I can't get enough. Apparently, my son in my womb feels the same way, and does a great big happy dance every time I feed him anything chocolate =)

A few days ago I was trying to make a chocolate mousse, and it went a bit awry. At first it was fluffy and creamy, but after refrigeration it ended up a bit harder and drier. It was still creamy, it just wasn't a mousse. But this has turned out to be one of the best things I've eaten in a long time, and it goes with everything! After a couple of days in the fridge it got a bit drier and drier, so I decided to heat it up and see what happened -- it turned out to be the best hot fudge sauce ever! My husband stuffed chocolate tamales with my chocolate nougat. And, I have my sneaking suspicions it would be the most glorious filling in a cake or topping on brownies... Hmmm... Now I want to make both just to try it out!!

WHAT YOU NEED:

8 oz Mascarpone

4 oz Cream Cheese

8 oz Heavy Whipping Cream
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar

1 1/2 bags (15 oz) Ghirardelli 60% Dark Chocolate Chips

HOW TO:

Let mascarpone, cream cheese, and heavy whipping cream warm to room temperature, about 20-30 minutes. Beat together in a mixing bowl. Mix in sugar.

Heat chocolate chips in bain-marie until well melted. Pour over cream/cheese mixture, and beat together immediately.

If you aren't going to use it right away, store in an air-tight container. 

IDEAS:

Form into balls or squares directly after making, refrigerate, and cover with melted chocolate to make candies. YUM!

Dip strawberries!!

Heat up later and pour over ice cream, brownies, or both, as a fudge sauce.

Use as a frosting or layer between cakes.

And if you're like me, you probably want to fill your bathtub and roll around in it. 

Leave me a comment and let me know how any of these ideas turn out for you ...except the bathtub one. I was just joking. That you can keep to yourself, thanks =)

A Comforting Little Packet O'Joy

Our culture is built on "Me"... "What do I want?" We go to a restaurant to eat with family and friends and take half the time pouring over a menu with more options than any human needs. Then we stuff our faces, complain to the staff, stiff our server, and head home to stare at a tv.

In most cultures the experience is in the people. Women spend all day in the kitchen together pouring their heart, soul, and sweat into making a meal that, unlike ours, doesn't last 5 minutes, but sometimes 5 hours. The best meals I remember from my time in Mexico are the ones I helped make, learning so much language in the kitchen, and spent hours at the table conversing about the day, the country, politics that I really didn't understand, and the way they feel about life, love, and God. And of course, food.

Food is the manifestation of the cornerstones of some cultures. Other factors are already built in. Say, family. Mexicans don't even question whether family is important. Your entire family is going to be at every single event in your life. But what's going to be at the center of the celebration? Mole? Tamales? Tia Tere's special tamales wrapped in banana leaves? One's culture is wrapped up in a nice little packet of food. I could go on and on, but I'm going to leave it at that.

I would like to say thank-you to that friend who spent hours in my kitchen today making tamales! I hope I didn't confuse you too much with my mistakes =)

Ok... Want to learn how to make tamales? Let's get one thing straight first... Many tamales, one TAMAL. It's not a tamale, I don't care how the menu at your local TexMex place spells it =)

So with tamales, you can fill these little packets o'joy with a lot of different ingredients - meat, cheese, sweet fillings - but today I'm sharing with you how to make them with meat. I would say pork is most popular in Mexico, but I don't eat pig anymore, so I went with beef.

WHAT YOU NEED:
For the meat:
1 lb. roast pulled [beef, pork, chicken] per 3 dozen tamales
1 bag of Especies Para Tamales (a bag of tamal spices) easily found at any good Mexican tienda
1/2 cup dried minced white onions
1 TBSP. sea salt
Organic Celery, rinsed well and the ends cut off

For the dough:
2 batches of Masa Para Tamales (special corn flour for tamales), made according to the directions on that package (each one differs a little)
*Note that for the Masa you will need lard/butter/or oil, water, and salt
Corn Husks, soaked for 30 minutes prior to making tamales, also easily found at the local tienda

HOW TO:
**I'll warn you now -- these take 3-4 hours to make, IF you know what you're doing! If it's your first time, allot for more time... Maybe all day** Enlist a friend so it's more fun =)
Make roast ahead of time, say the night before. Pull meat the next morning. I always use my crock pot, because I think it produces a better roast than I can achieve in my oven =)
Fill bottom of crock pot with one layer of celery.
Place meat on top. Salt meat, then add dried onions and packet of tamal spices.
When you go to pull the meat, save the juices and spices.
**Here's another cultural tidbit -- no Mexican kitchen would run at all without two main tools, a skillet and a blender!**
Heat the juices and spices in a skillet and let reduce. Then blend well, and strain out any left-over chunks that your poor old crappy blender (like mine) just didn't get.

Make masa. You want it more wet-ish than dry! The directions on the packages never include enough water! Make it like it says, then add a little more water at a time, until it looks more and more like any other loose biscuit/cookie dough - smooth, not lumpy.

Take corn husk and fill with only a couple tablespoons of masa. You do not want to over-fill tamales.
Thin layer of meat on top of that.
Then add a bit of the spice/juice mixture.
Fold in half, tuck one side into the other. Then, from the top, fold husk down, and fold bottom up as well. (If you want to make them look even prettier, tear a corn husk up in several strips and tie one around each end of each tamal.)

Tamales are traditionally steamed. I have one tiny steam basket, so I fill that one up and get it going, then bake the others in casserole dishes. The trick to baking them is to cover the filled-up dish with a near-soaking kitchen towel, tucked INSIDE the dish, then foil covering the top really well. I bake this at 350 for about an hour, maybe an hour and a half. And golden! In my opinion, these generally have a nicer texture to them, and taste a bit better than the steamed ones.

COST: Around $9.50 for 36. That's... 26c/each.

FEEDS: If all you're serving for dinner is tamales (with some good salsa -- maybe that's my next post!), one person might eat 4. My husband would eat 6 =)  That's only $1.04-$1.56/person!!

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate Mousse Strawberry Short Cake

Some things make the evening sun feel brighter, the warm glow almost ingest-able. Tonight we had a clear sky and a sunset that melted away a little bit of the depression settling in over me. No, I don't want to live here forever... or even much longer... but I will say that consuming a nearly-perfect-for-the-first-try scrumptious cake with my husband then singing and playing with our daughter before bedtime was a perfect way to end a day. Amazingly, it didn't give me heartburn, even though I ate half of it and no dinner. Pregnancy...

The short cake recipe I got from CupcakeProject.com - it's just her vanilla cupcake recipe.

The Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate Mousse, well I started out with a recipe but said "to heck with it" and just winged it. I would definitely do something different next time, but this was pretty good for the first time =)

Basically I just kept mixing ingredients together til it came to be what I was looking for. It was 8 oz. mascarpone, 4 oz. cream cheese, about a cup to a cup and a half of heavy whipping cream, and 1/4 cup (or so) of Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate powder from our local grocery store. It's what I had on hand. And it turned out delightful!

Cure for the Common Croup

Considering I blog primarily to remind myself what the heck I made for dinner last week that my husband loved so much, and I am by no means a professional nor even much of a great cook, I keep a journal of food and life to share ideas with whomever may pass by, and hopefully print out and give to my daughter some day =)

That being said, this is no actual cure for Croup, but it sure made my daughter (and family) feel a bit better through it. It's comforting, it's rich, it's warm, and it was mostly my bff's idea to begin with. She told me to help sooth her sore throat she had been drinking warm apple juice with honey in it. And that reminded me that when my husband and I lived in this random cabin on a river in the middle of nowhere a few years ago that we would bunker down on Saturday nights in the loft, playing Scrabble, trying really hard to get NPR to come in on our crapo radio, and drinking what we would call Apple Tea.

It's Simply Apple apple juice and heavy whipping cream heated up to not-quite-boiling with Celestial Seasonings Apple Cinnamon Spice Tea bags. I changed it up slightly for the Croup purpose, omitting the cream, and finishing it off with some organic honey. This paired quite nicely with a warm night playing with the wind chimes on the back porch and a good chunky slice of Irish Soda Bread. A good way to celebrate St. Paddy's Day weekend =)  I love my family.

Sláinte!

PS - If you notice the awesomeness of the mug, I would just like to say that this is one of the most meaningful gifts anyone's ever given me!! (And it came at the perfect time, too, Debs!) If you are looking for a FANTASTIC gift for a tea-or-coffee-holic you want to remind everyday that you care about them, this will do the trick =)

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies Full of Comfort

Are you a big fan of oatmeal cookies? I'm still trying to decide. Love the taste, hate the heartburn... Love the goodness of oatmeal, hate the raisins... Until this recipe came into my life! Yes, it changed my very view of oatmeal in a cookie. The chocolate and fiber and goodness of oats for my heart outweighs the stinging of heartburn (OK, I'm weird, YES oatmeal gives me heartburn!) and, nope, no raisins!!

If you were one of those kids whose moms would give you chocolate chip cookies (or cookie bars in our house) and you were sure the world was alright after all, then this recipe really is for you!

You know, I know that there's more to life than what we eat. I know that food doesn't actually make anything better. But there is some moment of bliss and escape with just bunkering down with a cookie in some soft, cozy spot, taking comfort in something that is ...mmmmm!

And then it is also very sweet to share these with others. It's a wonderful communion to bite into a warm melt-in-your-mouth pocket o'joy and look at your husband and he has the same goofy "mmm" look on his face that you do, as if nothing else could be so yummy! I love sharing a [tiny] crumb of chocolate or sweets with my daughter and she says, with SO much gusto, "NUM-NUM!!!!!!!" And then begs for more, with all the manipulating puppy-eyes an 18-month-old can muster.

But my favorite thing about making these cookies is making them. I LOVE baking. I LOVE cooking. I LOVE feeding others! I like to share, but I LOVE to be the artful master behind the delectable morsel.

So I saw an episode of Good Eats a few days ago (I fall asleep watching Alton Brown most nights) where he was making several recipes with Oats. I want to try each of them, they were all pretty creative. So, since I was inspired, and I wanted sugar, I went with the cookie idea first. Now, when I went to The Food Network's website for his recipe, I found that I didn't like how it looked that much after all, so I also found another one on allrecipes.com and combined the two.... Then ran out of oats and added some stuff... And then some cocoa powder.... Plus a little more sugar and salt to balance that out... Then, well, my recipe didn't resemble anyone's! (Which I LOVE!!!!)

By the way, did I mention these are [mostly] GOOD for you!?!?

So here ya go:

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups wheat bran

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup Ghirardelli 60% cocoa chocolate chips

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
2 eggs

1/4 cup cocoa powder (Penzey's is BEST!!!!)

3 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. sea salt

HOW TO:

You know what, just mix it all together! Well ok, butter, sugar, vanilla, eggs, and salt first. Cocoa powder next. And the rest just dump it in at will. Mix it up really well, and it'll turn out =)  Bake at 350.

I made these REALLY big cookies!!! I suggest you do the same, as well. It'll make your loved ones a little happier =)

Butternut Squash Bisque w/ Roasty-Toasty Bell Peppers

I'll never be a famous blogger that makes tons of money from the shear volume of hits they have on their website and the ads they have on their pages, or receive a million offers a month to host giveaways for washers and dryers, hair products and new cookware and cloth diapers and ... new cars, or whatever the heck people get for just being a blogger. Or go on talk shows and become a famous chef, that no one really knows anything about... mysteriously... PepperOnce is a recipe box. It's open for whomever may pass along and look inside and find something that sparks their interest and ACTUALLY cooks it for their family. It's a recipe catalog of things I cook once and forget I ever made, so that my husband can scroll through the pages and decide what we're having for dinner next week (because I HATE being the only one planning the family menu). It's a fun place to get out my frustration of being a stay-at-home mom with nothing else to do but clean up cheerios and poop all day long... comforting boo-boos along the way. It's a recipe box for my daughter, for the day that she leaves for college and realizes that she never listened to any of my cooking advice, gains 15 pounds her first week eating cafeteria crap food, and can't travel home every weekend to eat my food - she can figure out easily from my blog how to cook it herself. Or I can print it out and gift it to her when she gets married. It's a place I can share a little more of myself with people I don't get to hang-out with very often, but wish I could get to know better. It's one of the best ways to share a funny story (or, obviously, a good recipe) with my best friend. It's one of the only avenues of remaining fairly anonymous. It's a place I can brag. (It's definitely not a place I can be "real" because my mom's reading it... But,) It's mine. It's a place for me. No one else has any real say. Suggestions, sure. Decisions, naught! I can make up whatever the heck I want, and someone might actually take my advice on it. I do have more hits from other countries most days, so I can call things what I want... And I'm calling this a Bisque...

A bisque is by the very name and etymology of the word made from seafood. Never you mind this small detail, this is a bisque. And a really dang good one at that.

WHAT YOU NEED:

1-1&1/2 lbs. Butternut Squash, chopped (bags of frozen works GREAT!)

1 small bag of mixed frozen Organic Bell Peppers

1 large Onion, sliced

1 clove minced Garlic

2 TBSP. Unsalted Butter

2 TBSP. Olive Oil

Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Black Pepper

4 cups Veggie Broth

1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

HOW TO:

In medium saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter with olive oil. Saute onion and peppers. (This would've been SO much better if I had roasted the peppers!!! But, alas, they were the bagged frozen kind.) Add garlic towards end of that. Salt at each stage, lightly. Add squash. Cook for about 10 minutes, half-covered. Add veggie broth and let boil for 5-ish minutes, stirring a few times. Pepper it up! (Black pepper makes everything better!) If you do not have an immersion blender, use a regular blender. Add cream when blending. Serve piping hot! *Pairs perfectly with Ham-Swiss-and-Mayo sandwiches (Arnold's Oat Nut Bread is PERFECT!!)

Simple. Easy. Quick. YUMMY!

ENJOY!! =)

Easter Potluck Contribution: Cauliflower Surprise!

My husband and I have vacillated long enough with which church to make home. This mainly has been my fault, even though he is sweet enough to take responsibility for our family upon himself as the leader, as a real man ought. But I know that our hesitancy has been due to my past heartaches, and has kept us (especially him) from enjoying the consistency of worshipping in a church family.

Especially since Baby came along. They say that having a baby changes your life, but this one ripped mine apart. I love her, I reallllly do! I don't blame her, I blame pregnancy and all the issues that have followed postpartum.

But here's my point:  We've made a decision. It's a HUGE decision for me. We've settled on a church. It's actually not even... a church... yet... It's a "church plant", meaning a new church, only team meetings thus far. Our launch service isn't for another couple of weeks. But we made a decision, and that's big for me. That's big for our family.

Far away from family this Easter (and not having any other children in our family our daughter's age anyway), we thoroughly enjoyed the company of our new church family. They are a very interesting mix of people. We loved getting to know a few of them last night. But more than anything, we loved watching our daughter playing with the other children. And when she wasn't really even interacting with other kids, she would run around and copy the things they did. We've always said that she's the type of kid who should've had older siblings! Maybe her little church friends will help her grow into a not-so-akward only child =)

Anyway, we had a potluck. It was a nice spread of food! Since I knew we were having ham as the main dish, and I had a storehouse of cauliflower in the freezer, I made a great cauliflower and asparagus cheese sauce for macaroni. Thus, "Cauliflower Surprise" was born, and eaten right away!

WHAT YOU NEED:
1 lb. cauliflower (fresh or frozen)
1 lb. asparagus (bottoms chopped off)
3 carrots
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
Spices to your taste
1 cup half&half
5 oz. asiago cheese
8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese
1 egg
1 box whole wheat rotini or macaroni

HOW TO:
Rule #1: Don't over-crowd your pan, the blender, or the casserole dish! (This is true in pretty much every area of cooking, by the way.... Except with meatloaf!)
Cook pasta to desired firmness, rinse with cool water, and set aside.
In large stockpot heat 3 TBSP. olive oil on medium high.
Let asparagus cook at least 5 minutes before adding all other veggies; cook at least 10 minutes more with lid half-covering.
Add spices; let cook a little longer, tossing often - just until the pot is very fragrant.
Blend half of the cooked vegetables (with all the juice from said veggies), all asiago, and half of the cheddar. Blend until smooth. (If doing this in a regular blender, do in two installations, depending of course on the size of your blender.)
Add half&half, blend again.
Add egg. Blend briefly. Do this DIRECTLY before building casserole (and get into oven immediately!) You don't want the egg to start cooking and curdling, 'cause yuuuuck!
In casserole layer: veggies, a little sauce, pasta, more sauce. And then, shred remaining 4 oz. cheddar on top. ...Or you could get the shredding out of the way earlier =)
Bake at 400 for just about 10 minutes! And done!

COST: $12 for 12 servings

How was YOUR Easter? Did you celebrate Christ's sacrifice and the new Life He has given us? Did you hide eggs for your little munchkins to hunt? Did you spend the first half of the morning in a coffee shop finally finding a few minutes of solitude, away from the munchkin (like I did!)? Leave me a comment!!

Mmmmm... Choco Banana PB Smooooooothie!

Enter: The Inner Life of a PMSing Dieting Woman, Act I

PMSing Me: "I'm like a freakin' stuffed sausage! This was my PREGO skirt! Now I'm outgrowing it! Argh! I'm going to have to start throwing up after every meal!..."

My Dear Husband: "Talitha, don't say that! You're beautiful."

Me: "I'm FAT!"

Hubby: "You might weigh a little more than you'd like, but you're beautiful."

Me: "You're sweet. But you're either blind or lying to make me feel better..."

Hubby: "Ok, you said you read that people always tend to reward themselves while dieting with food that they miss, but it's better to reward yourself with non-food items, right? ... Well then, if you go this next week without any sugar (desserts), then buy yourself the DrawSomething app that you want!"

Me: "That's a GREAAAAAT idea!!! Yay! 2,000 more words for only 99c! I can do that! I'll gladly do that!!! You're the best husband EVER!!! You are SO thoughtful and sweet!!!!!"

Act II

I've had mysterious headaches for three days and I'm about as grouchy as my 16-month-old... Who's either got a bad case of diaper rash or baby angst, I don't know which (but neither once would excuse trying to bite Mama).

I-Need-Chocolate-Me: "So, if you're going to the store anyway, and you're buying bananas for smoothies anyway, could you some dark chocolate chips for Chocolate-PB-Banana Smoothies? Because YUM!" (Note: Dark Chocolate is allowed)

Husband: "Yeah! Let's make them with Greek Yogurt. Do I need to buy some?"

Me: "No, we have enough." (Inside I'm actually doing the happy dance that I get something sweet)

Act III

The baby is in bed - EARLY! Thank God, too, because she was being a pain in the arse this evening, just as cranky as can be!

We close her door and turn the box fan on high, to cover up the noise of the blender as best as we can. I find two medium bananas - one slight green and one slightly brown, a cup of plain Greek Yogurt, about a quarter-cup dark chocolate chips, four-or-five tablespoons of natural peanut butter, two teaspoons ground golden flax seed, and a little more than a cup of almond-coconut milk to make this a real smooooothie =)

As my husband and I enjoy our perfect 12-ounce cups of chocolate-peanut butter-banana joy, we play a game on our new iPad and enjoy the rare silence coming from the next room. Joy in a cup, joy in silence, joy in each other. Joyful night.

Act IV

It's one in the morning. The baby is silent. The husband is snoozing. The streets are silent. Spiders everywhere are spinning their webs. And I'm still awake from the blasted caffeine in the chocolate! Headache? Worse. There's one aid: creativity. Mine, and others'... I'm gonna go watch some Good Eats. Bless Alton Brown. Maybe there's an episode on smoothies... Bless YouTube!

Copycat

There's something about creating food that is exciting... and disappointing... all at the same time. Last night I was at a loss as to what to make for dinner, and only had about an hour before I had to walk out the door for an event, and had a timebomb of a baby in her crib. I already had black beans cooking the whole day, so I wandered through the contents of my fridge, which all had claim on them for other meals, and ingredients in my head. I thought, "Well, quinoa goes well with everything... I could steal a little bit of this or that from other meals..." And then I tried to open the blasted quinoa package and it had a recipe on the back for a quinoa and black bean dish! "AH! They STOLE my idea!", I thought. Then I realized that the person who came up with that idea had probably been in a pinch for dinner at the time, too. There's no real genius to this. Just well-timed ideas =)

Black Bean Quinoa Mess That Turned Out Great
What you need:
4 cups cooked black beans
3 cups cooked quinoa
1 cup cooked corn
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 organic red bell pepper, minced

What you do:
Mix it all together =)  Good hot or cold. Serve with chips.

White Cheddar Asparagus Soup

When my family moved into our current apartment, friends of ours that already lived in the same building brought us dinner our first night. The apartment really wasn't as clean as I wanted it, and I had a BUSY 7-month-old baby to look after while my husband was working 60 hours a week at the time. So, BLESSED BE my dear friends, they brought us a wonderful Cauliflower Cheese Soup, along with German Soup Pearls. I begged my friend for the recipe, and she had to translate it (and the measurements) out of German, because her Jamie Oliver cookbook was ... in ... German ... Go figure!

Anyway, I spend 106 words telling you this, really just to let you know that this White Cheddar Asparagus Soup is a deviant of Jamie Oliver's Cauliflower Cheese Soup recipe. I like to get pretty creative with recipes, but this time it was out of necessity. I didn't have any carrots, and I didn't want my beautiful asparagus (that I didn't have any other real plans for) to go to waste. I bought it at a store called The Fresh Market, where most things are too high-priced, so when I do find a steal I buy it with grand hopes of making something wonderful out of it. I honestly liked this version better than the original, especially because I used white cheddar instead of sharp... And I am a sucker for white cheddar =)

WHAT YOU NEED:
1 bunch asparagus (about a pound), cut off thick bottom ends
1 head of cauliflower, use only the florets (about 3 cups)
1 large onion, cut in small sections
2 organic celery sticks, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1-2 TBSP. coconut oil (or olive oil)
5 cups vegetable broth
1/2 tsp. cracked brown mustard seed
Sea salt
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Tiny pinch nutmeg

HOW TO:
Heat oil in large stock pot over medium heat, throw in all cut veggies, and leave 10-15 minutes with lid half-covering pot. You may want to check in and stir every few minutes.
Pour in vegetable broth. Leave half-covered to boil for another 10-15 minutes, stirring the same.
Take off heat. Add mustard, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
Add an equal portion of veggies/broth and cheese to blender. Pour into another vessel once blended very well. (It might take three turns, depending on your blender size.)
Serve with asiago crumbles, and garlic toast -- Mmmmm! Perfect combo! (By the way, have you ever tried parsley on garlic toast??? It's fannntassstic!!!!!!!)

SERVES: 8

COST: $9 ($1.13/each serving)

Basil Manicotti with Zucchini Cream Sauce

Having a definite hatred of all things tomato, but still loving and craving Italian-style food, I opted for a creamy, hearty approach to the sauce for Manicotti - my fave in the pasta family. (I do wish I could find a whole wheat version! Any ideas, anyone?) This dish took way too long to make, and I am hoping that was because it was my first time making it!

I love meals that are involved -- Recipes that call for sautéing, deglazing, broiling, puréeing, stuffing, and baking -- All in one recipe!!! That is like a dream for me. Granted, there are nights when the microwave is my primary implamentation of heating up some...thing... that I should be ashamed to admit to eating... But we all do eat pre-packaged foods, because this is America and we're busy, tired, and as the average "middle" class can't afford servants =) Besides my husband is tired of eating at 8:00PM!

This is one of those I-will-be-making-a-LOT meals, although next time I do think I'll make a second batch and freeze them! It's definite comfort food, not exactly as healthy as it could be. I'm not going to lay out an exact recipe here, I think I'll just let you know in general what I did:

Sweat one medium onion, then add one garlic clove to finish sautéing. Put onion and garlic in blender. Deglaze skillet (brand-new cast iron skillet in my case - yay birthdays and thoughtful, attentive husbands!!) with vegetable broth, pour into blender. Add more fat and sauté three peeled zucchini. Toss in blender. Deglaze again and add to blender. Broil one organic red bell pepper; skin and seed. Blend very well with other vegetable awaiting their organic friend in the blender. Add one container of Philly Cooking Cream, some spices to taste, and blend again. Meanwhile, or even beforehand, boil manicotti, drain, rinse with cold water. Stuff with a ricotta, basil paste, and mozzarella mix. Line in casserole dish. Pour on sauce (in between layers and on bottom to help with non-stickage. Sprinkle with asiago. Bake. Enjoy.

(I guess that did turn out to be a full recipe!)

Bosnian Zeljanica Burek Recipe

On 2/15 you might remember me mentioning a Bosnian recipe I saw in the newspaper that I was fascinated with, but couldn't find a name for at first (when I did it was called Zeljanica), and there was no recipe included in the article. Well, I'm happy to say that after a little research (i.e. Google) I found a bit more about it, made it, ate it, and LOVED IT!!!!!!!

Burek is a savory pastry, like a rolled up meat pie. YUM! It can be made with a sweet filling instead, or Zeljanica, which is the spinach and ricotta version. But I don't have a lot of patience when it comes to new foods, so I filled mine with spinach and cheese AND meat! Burek is also described in some places as street food (like our hotdogs), or an appetizer. I made mine as the main dish.

I compiled a few different recipes for this... Not only because I tend to do that with any new food, but especially because I've found with foods from other cultures it tends to be like our meatloaf here -- everyone has a differing recipe because everyone's mother's mother's mother's mother has been making it a special way ever since they first set stake to land. 

Considering I'm not much of a pastry chef, I didn't even bother trying to make the dough. I bought phyllo dough in the freezer section and used it - and it worked out great. If you would like to see how to make the dough from scratch, Baker's Corner has a great tutorial about it. It is a GREAT blog!!! (WHAT are you doing still reading MINE??? Head over to her's immediately!!!!!! =)

Or read what I did:

(By now you know exactly what I'm going to say, right? ... I didn't follow the recipe! My post-childbearing-brain doesn't remember ricotta when I have a list in front of me at the grocery store!!! So, this is what you get instead ... A lot of substitutions, and a happy yummy meal :-)

Melt 2-3 TBSP. butter on low heat.

As soon as it starts to think of bubbling, pour in just a very small bit of heavy cream (about 1 TBSP.), letting it heat back up and reduce slightly.

Do this several times, stirring constantly! I used almost a half-cup in this stage.

I did have on-hand some white cheddar, and about 3 TBSP. cream cheese. So, I first dropped in the cream cheese, 1/2 TBSP. at a time and let it melt. Then, same with the cheddar.

Next, I stirred in a half-pound of organic spinach.

You might have to add in a little more cream along the way. I ended up adding in yet another half-cup along the way... But I guess really you'd want to just buy ricotta (it's authentic to the recipe, and more artery-friendly!)

This needs to cook way down, so just keep stirring and as it cooks, add more.

Also, I salted and peppered this stage quite a bit.

In another pan, cook 1 lb. lean beef with salt, pepper, 1 TBSP. paprika, and 1 tsp. allspice.

When the meat is finished cooking, remove to another vessel and cook 1 diced medium onion.

Alright, mix it all together now!

Place two sheets of phyllo on a surface you can get buttery - because this stage is a mess! - and butter the top phyllo sheet, spooning in a line of filling, as seen in the photo at right.

Roll filled sheets up tightly, then roll into a spiral.

Butter it up! (This isn't a heart-healthy snack, this one, she ain't! *said in an excited Irish accent*)






I got an early birthday present today! My husband was SO sweet to give me a Pampered Chef Baking Stone!!!!! I've always wanted one of these, ever since I lived with my dear friend Mary Lou in Tennessee. She used her Baking Stone for everything from pizza to her AMAZING biscuits, and I've coveted one ever since!!! Finally, I've got one of my very own =)  PRAY I DON'T BREAK IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's usually my luck...

And for the finished product.........

YUM!!!

This recipe made 8 burek.

(I think they could've been made smaller, or rolled in a straight line and cut into sections.)

Ajwain Butternut Curry

Ajwain is described at Penzey's as Thyme + Pepper, and that's exactly how it smelled when I was in the store last Sunday.* I was intrigued at it's smell, because, except for a tiny amount in Italian dishes, I really am not a big fan of Thyme. I read a bit about it on Wikipedia, and although there are differences (obviously), when I cooked it, it really DID smell like that wonderful spice in the store!!!

Tuesday night I was going to make a Butternut Squash Soup that I found a recipe for, and well, by now you should realize what I'm about to say... I CAN'T stick to a recipe! I ended up making a fabulous curry. Following is the recipe -- a little of what I did, and a little of what I should've done - as usual! =)

WHAT YOU NEED:
1 Butternut Squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed (considering the time of year, the one I bought was the largest my grocery store had. In summer, it might've been considered a medium... Let's say about 2 lb. after cubing)
3 TBSP. butter
Sea Salt
Thyme + Fresh Ground Black Pepper = "Ajwain" (Grind in food processor together to really blend the flavors!)
6 oz. Organic Low-Sodium Chicken Broth (or homemade is even better!)
A HOST of spices: Dried Minced Garlic, Dried Minced White Onion, Ground Anise Seeds, Parsley Flakes, 5 Dried Sanaam Peppers (if you are feeding children leave these out!), Curry (I used some sweet-mild-red-ish leftover curry we still had, out of a packet... I really couldn't tell you which one it is! Sorry!), 3 small pieces Australian Crystalized Ginger, a very small bit of Ground White Pepper
1 can of Coconut Milk (okay, there are two types in the Asian section of the grocery store... I don't know the difference, but one is thicker. It is more expensive. Buy the cheaper one, it is thinner and better in curries!!!)

HOW TO:
I really suggest fresh Butternut Squash. Frozen would just turn to mush in an instant.
Put Butternut Squash, 1 TBSP. butter, and a pinch of salt in large soup pot, on Medium heat. Stir more or less continuously. Add another TBSP. butter and pinch of salt as you see the first one has melted. Same with third... You are coating the squash with butter and salt, lightly sauteing. Do not let the butter get too brown.
Sprinkle in "Ajwain", a bit at a time and stir. (I don't measure very often, so my best guess here is... to your taste. Is it getting pretty fragrant? That's what you want!!)
Add 1/3 of Chicken Broth at a time. You are still stirring often. Let each 1/3 of broth reduce quite a bit before adding the next. (This is a little time-consuming.)
By time the chicken broth has boiled and reduced three times, the squash will be cooked through. Add the can of Coconut Milk and remainder of spices, reduce heat to low. Let simmer for a few minutes, stirring a couple of times.

Serve over Quinoa and Steamed Veggies! YUM! (SUPER healthy, cheap, and you won't miss meat!!! Did you know that Quinoa has THE most protein in the plant kingdom?)

PS - If you want to go completely vegan, use coconut oil in place of butter, and vegetable broth instead of chicken!)

SERVES: 6

COST: Around $13 ($2.16/serving)


*My mom & dad might be some of the most thoughtful and generous people alive!!! They sent me a gift card - and AMAZINGLY by God's sweet provision, a coupon came in the mail on the same day!!! So, check out my loot!

$25 goes a lonnnnnnnng way at Penzey's!

The 3 jars on top are going to my best friend. The other 3 jars I have long been coveting =)

Sanaam, in the center, was a hit in the butternut squash curry! It's Scoville Unit ranks around 40,000!!! It lit my husband on fire!!! I was not brave enough to actually take a bite out of one, but I did enjoy the heat it left in the curry =)

Seriously, four oz. of parsley was bigger than my head!!! Quite a bit of that is heading your way as well, Debby! =)

Nachoverload

My husband and I like our nachos OVERloaded! Lots of veggies, lots of beans.... You know how at Thanksgiving you always take "a little" of everything and then you have a volcanic eruption of goodness you don't know what to do with (but secretly you love it and wish you had added a few deviled eggs as well) on your plate? ... And you forgot to wear your fat pants! Well, that's nacho night at our house.

WHAT YOU NEED:

3 chicken breast, diced
1 tsp. olive oil
1/2 TBSP. butter
A boatload of spices -- ground onion, ground garlic, ground chili, cayenne, salt, black pepper, dried Mexican oregano

1/2 red onion

3 cloves garlic

1 organic red bell pepper

2 zucchini

2 large (or 3 average) jalapeños 

6 green onions
1 can of salsa verde -- unless you want to make it at home!
1 bag organic corn chips
3 cups of beans -- cooked in the crock pot that day =)
16 oz. mixed ("Mexican blend") shredded cheese

WHAT TO DO:

Soak beans overnight (I used white because that's what I had on-hand); cook all day long, with salt and dried minced white onion (Penzey's is THE best!!)

Saute diced chicken in the olive oil and butter, add spices early on.
Half-way through add the following diced veggies: red onion, garlic, bell pepper, zucchini, jalapeños, and green onions (cut in 1-2 inch pieces).
Add salsa verde at the end. You really only want it warm and mixed with the rest of the chicken and veggie mess.
Layer chips, some cheese (protects the chips a little from bean juice and salsa), beans, chicken/veggie mix, and more cheese; broil.

Ok, if you are like me, you like your nacho fixings on your chips, and actually appreciate the slightly soggy chips at the bottom. If you are like my husband, you would rather eat your nacho slop with a fresh chip out of the bag each bite... Either way, slop it how you like it on foil, on a cookie sheet, and put on the lowest rack in the oven and heat for just a couple of minutes under the broiler. **Make sure that no chips are showing - burnt corn chips are naaaasty!**

For easy clean-up, just serve your nachos on the foil on the plates!
Serve with some guacamole or sour cream on top, if desired.

COST:

At least another week's time before you fit into your jeans again...

SERVES:

Six American adults, or a nation of malnourished yoga gurus.

Did you know that nachos are named after a man named Ignacio who created the fun TexMex classic? His nickname was "Nacho".

Truffles

Any food is only as good as the ingredients you use.... My favorite is Ghirardelli. It's not too expensive, and it's not chalky like Nestle.

WHAT YOU NEED:
12 oz. (1 bag) Ghirardelli 60% Cocoa Chocolate Chips
3 TBSP. unsalted Butter + a little tiny pinch sea salt
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup Ghirardelli Baking Cocoa Powder
4 oz. (1/3 bag) Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

HOW TO:
Place the 60% chocolate chips with room-temperature butter and salt in a mixing bowl.
Add vanilla to cream in a sauce pan. Heat on stove top to slight simmer, over medium heat. (This should only take a minute. Stir constantly. When cream gets too hot, it's done for...)
Pour over chocolate mixture in mixing bowl. Leave for about two minutes! Then, stir to mix well. (If it's cold in your house, or the chocolate chips or butter are cold, then you might have to do like I did and dump the whole mixture back in the pan to melt thoroughly -- that's okay, but take heed to ONLY bring it to the melting point, stirring vigorously!!!)
When melted together thoroughly, cover mixing bowl and leave in fridge for at least one hour.
When chocolate and cream mixture is well-set, use a spoon or ice-cream scoop to scoop out enough to make one-inch balls. Use your hands -- but only your fingertips, and be QUICK!!! The heat from your hands will surely melt anything they touch... Then your kitchen will be pretty grimy, like mine was =)
As you roll each truffle ball, set on a large plastic cutting board or a cookie sheet lined with parchment or foil.
Let these rest in fridge again as you prepare the toppings.
Pour 1/4 cup baking powder in a cereal bowl (or something large enough to just hold about 3-4 truffle balls.
Pour about 1/3 of the bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips into a microwave-safe dish, and melt in microwave on high heat, at 20-30 second intervals -- STIRRING in between!!! (Do not cover the chocolate as it heats in the microwave!)
Pour that into a zip-top bag, squeezing out the air, and sealing it.
Remove truffle balls from fridge.
Roll in cocoa. Place back on cutting board, or whatever they came from =)  Make sure they are close, but not touching.
Cut a small hole in one corner of the zip-top bag, and squeeze semi-sweet swirls on top of each truffle.
Refrigerate to keep... They keep for a couple of weeks in a sealed container!!

I know, I know... Everyone says that Truffles taste best at room temperature, but I just don't like chocolate at any other temperature than straight-from-the-fridge! I always thought my Grandma was SO weird for keeping KitKats and M&Ms in the fridge, and now I see why =)

COST:
About $8 for 25-30 Truffles.
....Let's see here, you divide by... and add the 1... that's... Um, I'll check on my calculator.... between 27-32 cents/each
(Does anyone really care how much good chocolate costs? It's usually worth it!)

Enchiladas

The word enchilada in Spanish means "inspiced". Not "in spice", but something can become spiced. It's a fun word, and a super fun thing with their language! They can just make up words easily, thus enabling them to express something a little more easily, more compact...ly...

One time at a Mexican restaurant here in the States my husband and I saw an item on the menu described as encebollado -- "inonioned". Cute.

Anyway, I'm going to teach you to make a REAL Enchilada. The way a real, true-blue Mexican would. In their home. Not just at a Tex-Mex restaurant! At anytime of the day, too. Enchiladas are not restricted to dinner only... As most countries around the world do not restrict meat and vegetables to dinner only either. Most people around the world don't have the luxury of eating whatever they want at any point of the day. Most people, the world over, eat what they have on hand at every meal and are grateful to keep their children nourished.

'nuff soap box! On with the food!

WHAT YOU NEED:

Sauce... leftover Mole is good =)

Corn Tortillas

Queso Quesadilla (Easy to find! If it's not at your grocery store, go to a local tienda)

If using a green sauce, top with Lettuce and Queso Fresco (ONLY use the packaged, pasteurized kind!!! Again, if not at the store, go to the tienda)

Slice Queso Quesadilla.
Fold corn tortilla in half.

Fill a saucepan or skillet with sauce.
Keep on low-medium heat.
Dip proto-quesadilla in sauce.

Fold some of the sauce over the folded tortilla.

Yep... Just like that!

Cook in sauce ONLY for a minute or two -- until sauce bubbles slightly. All you're doing is melting the cheese inside and "inspicing" the tortilla =)

It'll look like "schlopp schlopp, beautiful schlopp"... but without the cherry on top ... and it's okay if it looks messy! All Mexican food looks messy. If it actually tastes good =)

(I'm sure he really enjoys this on my blog!)

... My wonderful husband has enjoyed THREE straight meals involving Mole sauce over the past 24 hours!!!

I Promised You Mole, and Mole You Shall Have!

I'm exhausted... I made Mole today. I ignored my husband and child. I spent the entire day in the kitchen. We skipped church. But... I made Mole.

I won't lie, making Mole IS labor-intensive. When toasting the peppers, we had to turn on fans and vents, and at one point my husband and child actually left the house for a half-hour because they were coughing and gagging and my daughter's face was turning red!! In Mexico, they always have their windows open. No one has AC -- it's too expensive, and seriously, the electricity goes out too often to turn something like an AC unit on anyway! =)  So, winter in the midwest found me making Mole in a very tightly closed-up house and chile oil in the air.

Anyway, it IS worth it!!! When I tasted that Mole, it took me far away. It made my sweet adoptive Mexican family come back to me. They ate my Mole with us. (I think they would've been proud of me for making it from scratch!!) My husband, and our friend Amanda, and I ate Mole and each talked about our individual experiences in Mexico. We compared cultural notes. We brought something to life that in a sense is gone. I know that not everyone I knew a decade ago is dead. But since I almost never have contact with them, they are so far gone to me that they are only a memory and it hurts. But the sweet/tangy/spicy homeyness I brought to life made me feel close to friends again. It took me back to many a wedding, baptism, and Quinceañera.

Below are a few pictures, but I owe the recipe (as far as I ever follow a recipe) to a blog I found called "Mexico in My Kitchen". Here is the link if you want to make it, too:
http://www.mexicoinmykitchen.com/2009/02/how-to-make-mole-poblanocomo-hacer-mole.html

I substituted the tomatoes with tomatillos (once again, because red tomatoes make me barf), left out the bread and added a tiny little bit of arrowroot starch (which it might have done without!), lessened the amount of almonds, and increased the amount of onions, garlic, and raisins.

Cut peppers open, removing seeds, and toast each side... but only for a minute because they burn quick!

Once you toast the peppers, grind the spices, fry the plantain, pumpkin seeds, almonds, raisins, onion, garlic, and tomatillos, blend with chicken broth and chocolate in blender, and then stew for a little bit.

In large stock pot add Mole sauce to about 12-15 chicken drumsticks, and stir AT LEAST every two minutes. Scrap the bottom of the pan because it sticks very quickly!!!

Serve with Mexican Rice and corn tortillas! (ummm, I'll write more about Mexican Rice once I master it!)

Here is my dear friend Amanda, about to dig in! She was sweet enough, as was my husband, to actually eat my rice! Ayayayay! I need work on that part of it =)

PS -- You might wonder why I tagged this post as both "peppers that don't bite" AND "spicy"... Well, it's not all that spicy like hot-spicy, but it's rich, flavorful, and might be a little spicy for the average American tongue! There is a Mexican saying that goes: "Comida sin chile no es comida", which means: "Food without spice isn't food". You could even say the emphasis is more like "Food without spice JUST isn't food", or "Food without spice isn't REAL food". Anyway, whichever way you interpret it, they are right!!! It is now my mantra.

Scalloped Corn -- for Jean

I'm posting this for my husband's co-worker, Jean, who wanted the recipe....

Scalloped Corn??? Yes. At least that's what my mother's always called it. I think I've actually ever only seen this type of recipe one other time, ever, and they called it like "Corn Casserole" or something. This goes great with Chili or your Thanksgiving meal... um, or pretty much anything!

WHAT YOU NEED:
2 boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix (and whatever it calls for on the box - eggs and milk, I think)
1 can of corn
1 can of creamed corn
8 oz. sour cream
half stick of butter, at room temperature

HOW TO:
Okay, this is easy... Mix it all together!
Bake at whatever temperature Jiffy tells you to. That's it!!

Impressive? Not really... until you taste it!!! Your mouth will melt, and you'll never go back to that dry crap called cornbread. By the way, if you want to get creative, try adding some sauteed jalapeños & shredded cheese -- YUM!!!

ENJOY!