Childhood Food Memories

I grew up as a vegetarian all the way till about age 12 or so. Being a vegetarian used to be difficult, to find dishes when you went out that didn't have some sort of meat base...so we ate at home most of the time. I remember lots of good foods coming out of our kitchen, but there are a few that really stuck with me and a rice casserole dish is one of them. It's not the greatest looking for food pictures but it tastes SO good...and that's all that really matters right? I've changed this recipe a tad from when my mama made it. She used cauliflower, but I had broccoflower in my fridge and I believe she used cheddar cheese where I used smoked gouda.



EQUIPMENT
Pot with lid
Saute Pan
Knife
Cutting board
Casserole (or baking dish)



INGREDIENTS
Rice (I like Basmati)
Olive Oil
Unsalted Butter
Head of Broccoflower, broken down and chopped
Medium Onion, chopped
3 Cloves Garlic, rough chop
lb (or so) of Mushrooms (Cremini or Button are best), sliced
Fresh Lemon Juice
Salt and Pepper
Gouda Cheese
Dried Oregano


Cook your rice according to the directions. *Make sure you rinse the rice first, it will remove some of the starch and prevent sticky rice. Since you aren't making sushi, sticky rice is not wanted here.

In medium saute pan melt butter and olive oil together. Add sliced mushrooms and a pinch of salt, when mushrooms are halfway cooked add your garlic and a squeeze of lemon juice. Remove mixture to a bowl and set aside.

In the same pan you cooked the mushrooms in, add some butter and toss in your broccoflower with some salt, pepper and dried oregano. You can add a little chile powder if you want a little kick to the dish as well. Cook until just about tender. Remove to bowl with mushrooms.

Mix the rice, veggies and cheese together and spread in a casserole or baking dish. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or so, until the cheese is melted and everything is warmed through and the flavors are mingling.





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Chantarelles Are Here!

A friend of mine who goes mushroom picking, dropped by my work the other day and delivered a little bundle of gold...freshly picked Chanterelle Mushrooms! This is going to be one of those recipes that I didn't measure a thing and just tossed things together until it smelled to my liking. I will try my best to lay out some sort of measurement guidelines to follow though.


EQUIPMENT
Pan with a lid
Cutting board
Knife
Whisk



INGREDIENTS
Chicken Thighs (6 boneless skinless)
Olive Oil
Butter (unsalted is best) about 1.5Tbl.
Shallot, roughly chopped
White Wine 3/4-1C
Chicken Broth 1.5C
Flour 2Tbl
Salt and Pepper


Clean off any excess fat on your chicken, pat dry, salt and pepper and set aside.

Heat oil and butter together over medium heat in your pan. Add the chicken and cook about 2-3 minutes on each side. Sprinkle shallots on chicken and poor wine around the chicken. Cover and cook (undisturbed) for 20 minutes.

When chicken is cooked remove from pan and tent with foil to keep it warm.

Whisk flour into chicken broth before you add it to the pan (it will help prevent lumps). Whisk your broth/flour mixture into the wine/butter that's already in the pan. Bring the liquid to a simmer, then lower the heat, add your chopped mushrooms and cook (covered) just until mushrooms are done...overcooked mushrooms are like chewing on rubber. Return your chicken thighs to the pan just to ensure that they are warm all the way through.

Serve Chicken thighs with your sauce poured over top.




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Caramel Apple Butter

I'm not real big on pancakes, but when I do eat them I love them slathered in homemade apple butter. I recently got a new cook book called "Edible DIY" and was thrilled to see a recipe for Caramel Apple Butter. This recipe is started in a stock pot, but finished off in a crock pot. To have this wonderful treat stashed in your pantry for up to a year, I suggest following the canning process.



Equipment
Peeler/Knife
Stock Pot
Immersion Blender


Ingredients
6lbs Apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1" thick chunks
2/3 C. Apple cider, juice or water.
2 C. Brown Sugar
2 tsp. Cinnamon



In a large stop pot cook your apples and water/juice until boiling, turn down heat and simmer for 35-45 minutes (until apples can be mushed with a spoon. Use the immersion blender to blend everything into a smooth consistency.

Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon into the apple pure' and transfer to your crockpot. Cook on low for 8 hours, until the mixture has thickened up.

Transfer canning jars (size is your choice) and boil for 10 minutes, with canning equipment. Remove jars and let cool completely before storing.

This will last (canned) in a cool, dark place for a year. Open in the fridge for about 2 months.



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Creamy Leek and Potato Soup

Yesterday was the start of some nasty weather for us here on the coast, side ways rain, wind...the usual, if not a bit earlier this year. Regardless to say it is soup and other (wondrous comfort food) weather. Nothing (well that may not be totally true) could be easier than this tasty recipe.


Equipment
Large Pot
Knife
Immersion Blender
Large Bowl
Liquid Measuring Cup
Wooden Spoon/Spatula


Ingredients
3 Lrg. (or 4 mdm) Leeks (green tops removed, and stalk shopped into rings)
3 Mdm. Yukon potatoes, peeled and diced
4 Tbl. Unsalted butter
Good size pinch of Kosher salt
4C. Vegetable or Chicken Stock
1C. Heavy Cream
1C. Buttermilk
Pepper to taste



Rinse leeks in large bowl (after chopping) to get the dirt out from between the layers.

In large pot, over medium heat melt butter and sweat leeks with kosher salt for about 5 minutes. Lower heat and cook (stirring every once in a while) leeks about 25 minutes. Add potatoes and stock, and cook for 35-45 minutes, until potatoes are cooked through.
Use your immersion blender (a regular blender will work just be careful about the heat of the soup) to blend everything together. Once there are no chunks, mix in your buttermilk, cream and pepper.

Serve hot with fresh dill or chives, and little parmesan toasts on the side.



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Party Balls

My roommate and I recently threw a Keg & Diaper part for a friend of ours, who is going to be a first time father. It was an early evening (but after dinner time) event so we needed some good snacks that were easy to eat. So...the BBQ Wing Balls, and the Buffalo Wing Balls were born. These are made with ground turkey, but you could easily substitute any other type of ground meat of your choosing.


Equipment
Sauce pan
Baking dish
Mixing bowl
Mixing utensil (fork, wooden spoon ect...)
Oil for greasing baking dish




Buffalo Wing Balls
1/2 Stick Unsalted butter
1/3C Franks Red Hot
1lb Ground Turkey
1 Egg
3/4 Celery stalk, finely minced
3/4C Bread crumbs
salt
Pepper


Preheat oven to 450

In a medium sauce pan melt the butter and sauce together. Remove from heat when melted together and let cool.

While butter mixture is cooling, mix together your ground turkey, egg, celery and bread crumbs. When butter mix is just about room temperature, add it to the meat mixture and mix everything together.

Roll balls to desired size, and place in greased baking dish.

Cook for about 20 minutes.

Serve with Blue Cheese Dip, or Ranch if preferred.



BBQ Balls
1 lb Ground Turkey
BBQ Sauce of choice
1 egg
Salt
Pepper
3/4C. Bread crumbs


Mix all ingredients together, adding as much (or little) BBQ sauce as you would like for desired flavor. As with Buffalo Balls, roll into desired size and bake in greased dish for 20 minutes at 450.


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Buffalo Chicken Mac n Cheese

I absolutely love hot wings, and mac n cheese...so why not combine them?! I used chicken breasts for this recipe, but you could easily use already cooked rotisserie chicken from the store if you wanted to cut your time down.
*I would suggest making a little extra sauce in case you want to add more when reheating your leftovers.

1/2 - 1lb Pasta
4Tbl Unsalted Butter
4 Chicken Breasts (cut in strips)
Minced onion and or garlic
1C Franks Red Hot
3Tbl. Flour
2tsp. Dry Mustard
1 1/2C Cheddar Cheese (grated)
1/2C Pepperjack Cheese (grated)
1C Milk (more if needed)
1/4C Heavy Cream
1/3C Sour Cream or Plain Nonfat Yogurt
Sour Cream
Salt
Pepper
Blue Cheese Crumbles


Equipment
2 sauce pots (one medium and one large)
1 saute pan
Whisk
Cheese Grater


In large Sauce pot boil water with a pinch of salt to cook pasta.

While pasta is cooking melt a tablespoon of butter with a splash of olive oil in a saute pan and add chicken (seasoned with salt and pepper) to pan with minced onion (or garlic)when onion has just softened add Franks Red Hot to cover chicken and let it simmer. Flip the chicken every once in a while so it cooks evenly.

While chicken is cooking you can start your sauce. In a medium size sauce pot melt 3Tbl. butter, whisk in flour and dry mustard. When the this is crumble begin to whisk in the milk and heavy cream. Stir in Cheddar and Pepperjack cheese, when cheese is about melted stir in your sour cream. If sauce is too think you can add a little more milk. Add in Salt, Pepper and Franks to taste.

Drain your pasta and return to pan off of heat. Chop up cooked chicken and add to pasta. When sauce is to your liking pour over pasta and serve with blue cheese crumbles on top.




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Pumpkin Alfredo

While flipping through one of my numerous cooking magazines, I cam across a "kids meal" that just sounded so wonderfully tasty I had to give it a whirl. Since it was suppose to be a kids meal, with very light flavors I decided to punch it up a little bit with some garlic, a tad more cheese and a pinch of chile.
This will server roughly 5 hungry women.

EQUIPMENT
Medium saute pan (you can use a pot, I just find the saute pan easier for whisking)
Knife
Cutting Board
Grater
Whisk


INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 Tbl. Unsalted butter
1 Shallot, minced
1/2 C. Pumpkin (Libby's is my favorite)
Pinch of Nutmeg and Chile Powder
1 1/2 C Parmesan, grated
1 1/4 C. Heavy Cream
1 tsp. Garlic powder
Salt and Pepper to taste


Melt butter on medium heat, add shallot and cook 1-2 minutes (until just soft). Add pumpkin, nutmeg and chile powder, stir until just incorporated. Slowly whisk in cream (so as not to splash everywhere), when cream has all been mixed in add the cheese a bit at a time until it's all melted. When cheese has all melted in with the cream and pumpkin and your garlic powder, and your salt and pepper to your taste. Server warm over alfredo noodles or cheese tortellini.



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