Chicken With Rice

Last night we made a simple dinner...chicken with rice (and mushrooms). But, oh...how I wish we had chicken soup with rice, if only so I could post this:

But alas, soup wasn't in the cards, and instead we settled for roasted chicken parts, sauteed mushrooms, broth-cooked rice and a little mushroom gravy. So, really...it wasn't settling at all.

We had a bunch of bone-in chicken parts form our meat CSA to use up, and decided to roast them. It couldn't have been easier. Set the oven for 425 and prep your chicken. We poured a bit of olive oil on the bottom of the pan, but sometimes I use coconut oil - really, whatever is on hand. Then, I added a bit of salt, pepper, oregano, thyme and a few lemon wedges, and roasted them, breast side down for 15 minutes.

After flipping them, I cooked them another 15 minutes, re-seasoned and flipped them again, cooking another 15-20 minutes. Since they were smaller pieces, they cooked through perfectly, but make sure to check that the juices run clear when you slice into the meat and there is no pink.

Crispy skin and juicy meat!

For the mushrooms, I just sauteed them in a tablespoon of olive oil and added some salt and pepper.

I then saved some of the mushrooms to make a gravy. I added a couple tablespoons of flour, some drippings/oil from the pan of chicken, and some wine. I had hoped to add some white wine, but only had some Pinot on hand. So, in it went.

mmm...gravy!

Yes, the plate lacks some green, and I totally own up to that, but it was a chilly night (we woke up to yet another snow storm!!) so I cut myself some slack.

And, the best part is - leftovers! Tonight I'll be using the leftover rice to make a Mexican style rice and beans, while the leftover chicken will get shredded and star in some chicken nachos. And I'll make sure to have extra greens! 

Art for Dinner

Last night's potluck took on a different form than usual when we ventured out to an art gallery at a local university campus. One of our potluck members (and my best friend!) had the opening night of an installation that she's spent a lot of time on.

We wanted to be there to support her, and so instead of our usual Monday night gathering, a few of the families met at the art gallery and then we followed it up with take out burritos from a local restaurant. While our night was different from the norm - the same key elements were there - community, friendship and food, just in a different setting.

And so, while I don't have pictures of delicious food or a recipe to share, I do have some shots of Hannah's art show, which can at least feed you in a different way.

Hannah's installation: With Paper and Pins

Artist's Statement

The artist and her work

Potluck friends checking out the installation

Simply Delicious

It's been a long week.

I think we're on our 5th or 6th storm of 2011. I'm not quite sure, as they tend to blur together after a while...a big mess of ice and snow and sleet.

I do know that I'm done with shoveling snow... that my upper arms bear the mark of somebody intimately familiar with the shovel-scoop-toss that accompanies these New England storms.

My son has only had 1.5 days of school this week. I may have even turned to Dr. Google, and am 96% certain that I suffer from an actual case of Cabin Fever.

And so, tonight, after yet another snow day, I needed something simple. Simple and delicious. Only two requirements, and I think I managed to come out on top. At least one thing is in my favor this week.

There really isn't much to this meal, and I even wondered for a second why I should even devote a blog post to it. However, in the end, I came to the realization that they reason is in the simplicity of it all. Not only is this meal easy to prepare. satisfying and delicious. There are very few ingredients and it takes very little "hands on" time as well.

Ingredients: 
-a bag of small, fingerling potatoes
-one large onion, quartered
-2 peppers, sliced
-turkey (or pork) kielbasa
-herbs (I went with thyme and oregano)

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350*

Mix together the potatoes and onions with some olive oil to coat. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on them and set them in the oven for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, add the peppers.

I went with a green and a yellow

After mixing in the peppers, cook for an additional 20 minutes, stirring once midway. Then add the kielbasa. I like to slice mine up to the same size of the potatoes. Stir it all up again and add your herbs, about a teaspoon of each. Pop it back into the oven for another 10-15 minutes.

Check the potatoes to ensure it's done. Piercing with a fork is the easiest way to do so.

nom.

We paired this with a simple salad and it really was the perfect meal to end this week with. Hope you all stayed warm and well-fed, wherever you are!

Snowman Cake

This past weekend we held a birthday party for my son, filling our house up with friends, family and food! Starting many moons ago, my son made sure that I knew of his wish for a "snowman cake." I'm not sure how he came up with that idea, or if he had seen something similar, but all I know is that he really, really, really wanted a snowman cake.

I grew up with fond memories of homemade birthday cakes that came in various shapes and sizes and I wanted to continue the tradition with my own family, so a snowman cake it was. Despite my husband's apprehension, I decided upon a tall snowman cake, rather than a shaped sheet cake. I didn't really have a concrete game plan, only that I wanted it to be tall, round and super cute. I think (hope) I accomplished that.

Okay, so he's kind of stumpy, but he was damn tasty! And isn't that what counts?

While it may have looked a little bit like a hot mess, the cake was actually pretty easy to make, and really delicious as well. The day before the party I made all four layers of cake. Yup - that's right: FOUR. In addition to knowing he wanted a snowman cake, my son was also very clear as to what it would include. He wanted alternating layers of chocolate and yellow cake as well as strawberry filling. 

I used the same recipe that I had used earlier in the week for cupcakes for the yellow cake, and it made enough for the bottom and top layers of the snowman. For the chocolate part (I made two 8 inch pans worth) I found a really easy and delicious recipe. 

Start by whisking together: 7 tablespoons cocoa powder, 1 cup flour, 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp baking soda.

Make a well in the middle and add: 2 eggs, 1/2 cup milk. Whisk about 40 times until all blended. I beat the eggs and added it to the milk and stirred before adding it to the dry ingredients.

Then add: 1 stick of melted butter and 1/2 tsp vanilla.

Whisk it all together.

Then bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

It really came out perfectly and only used up one bowl - a total success in my book! When all the cakes had cooled, I wrapped them up so they'd be ready to use the next day. Saturday rolled around and I made some strawberry filling. I didn't really have a recipe, and just kind of winged it. I took a bag of frozen strawberries, mixed in about a 1/4 cup of sugar and a few tablespoons of corn starch. I let it cook down on low and mashed it around with my fork. Once it cooled I spread it between my layers of cake and then frosted the whole thing in cream cheese frosting.

Then it was time to decorate! I used blackberries for the snowman's eyes, a carrot nose, raisins for its mouth, strawberries for buttons, fruit leather for a scarf, a cupcake hat, pretzel rod arms, and shredded coconut for snow.

I also took a slew of photos...

The birthday boy assesses the cake

Phew. He seemed to dig it

ooooh, cake! 

Yeah, it was pretty delish

The remains

Sloppy Joes

This weekend was a whirlwind. We hosted a small birthday gathering at our house on Saturday that went well past dinner time with friends and family staying for dinner(party blog w/crazy cake pictures to come later this week!). Sunday brought a friend's birthday party and found us out of the house for most of the day. When we finally got home, I wanted nothing more than some easy comfort food. I almost gave in and ordered out - much easier, of course, but I also craved some home cooking, so the task was set to find something that would be soul-satisfying and relatively simple.

And then, all it once...it came to me: Sloppy Joes!

There is no way I could write a post about Sloppy Joes without a nod to Adam Sandler.

In fact, I'm pretty sure I hummed this song the entire time I was in the kitchen last night, and may have even broken out into song during the chorus a time or two. So, crank up your volume, grab some ground beef and lets make some slop...Sloppy Joes! This is my own recipe - one I've perfected over the years, and it really is pretty darn simple. 

1. Brown a pound of ground beef. This is a great recipe to use up all the ground beef we get in our meat share. 

The package of beef was actually almost 1.5lbs (I adjusted the sauce accordingly)

2. While your beef cooks up, prep your veggies: 2 cloves of garlic, 1 red pepper, 1 med onion and 1 stalk of celery.

3. You can also use this time to gather the ingredients for your sloppy sauce.

Red Wine vinegar (regular white vinegar works in a pinch), Worcestershire sauce, tomato sauce, ketchup & brown sugar

4. After the beef has fully browned, add all the veggies and cook until they soften, about five minutes or so. The best part of this is that you don't need any oil, as the veggies cook in the fat from the beef. Then add all the rest of your ingredients to make the sauce.

For the sauce: Add 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1 15oz can tomato sauce, 1/4 cup of ketchup and some brown sugar (to taste).

I hate when recipes say "some" or "to taste," so included a picture of how much brown sugar I used. About...that much.

5. Mix it all up and let it cook on low for 15 minutes or so. The longer you cook, the better it will be. Grab a bunch of kaiser or bulky rolls (don't toast them!) and fill them up with Sloppy Joe goodness.

nom.

We ate our Sloppy Joes with a side of potato chips and some leftover caramelized onion dip.

double nom.

In the end, the meal was perfect, albeit a bit...well, sloppy. But, so, so worth it.

Tonight, we have potluck, and after cooking all weekend, I'm a bit burnt out, but well still be attending for sure. Instead of whipping up an actual dish, however, we'll take a slight pass and bring a bunch of tasty appetizers. We still have some onion dip (which really just gets better with each passing day), cheese and crackers and the most kitchen prep work that we'll get done is preparing some guacamole to go along with some chips. A lazy woman's potluck dish, if you will.

Happy Monday!

A Privileged Dilemma

Between snow days and birthdays and baking crazy three layer cakes, it's been a bit hectic over here at Monday Night Central. I could regale you about all the phenomenal things I've been cooking, but the truth is, it hasn't much of a week for cooking.

Yesterday we celebrated my son's birthday with a trip to a favorite Mexican restaurant and then to a local ice cream shop. Even a state of emergency could not prevent us from getting his anticipated birthday ice cream (a sugar cone filled with cookies & cream and topped with rainbow sprinkles!). And while the chilly, snowy weather has me aching for some hot soup (who knows, I'll probably whip something up tonight...I've certainly neglected the poor soup-a-long enough), for now, all I have to offer you is a radio interview.

A friend posted a link to a Canadian radio show that features an interview "debate" between Anthony Bourdain and Jonathan Safran Foer. Both men have strong viewpoints regarding food and what we eat, and sit on opposite sides of the spectrum for the most part

.

vs. 

Hm...hardly seems like a fair fight, eh?

This interview, which I feared could turn into a loud shouting match of catch phrases, ended up being an incredibly intelligent and thought provoking event. Anyone who knows Anthony Bourdain, knows that he's up for anything on a culinary level and in fact, even promotes the consumption of meat as a social norm. Jonathan Safran Foer, is on the complete opposite side of the coin, known best for his harsh critique of the meat industry in his book, Eating Animals.

While both men had excellent points on each side, what struck me more than the whole "meat vs vegetarian debate" was when Bourdain conceded that he has the luxury of choosing to eat meat that is not a part of the factory farm system. When you start talking about access versus choice, then you've stumbled into trickier water.

Like Bourdain, many of us have the luxury of making this choice - we can afford to practice an organic vegetarian diet or, like my family, eat a diet consisting of meat raised locally and humanely. Yet, especially in the "foodie world," it's easy to forget that not everyone has access to these choices. The fact that these two men can even have this debate reminds us of the social/economic implications surrounding food.

Bourdain makes mention that while he eats meat, he explicitly stays away from "The King, the Clown, and the Colonel" - referring to Burger King, McDonald's and KFC.

The reality is that there are many people for whom this diet is a daily reality. Safran Foer quickly made the point that you can easily provide a healthy vegetarian diet for comparable costs, yet I think he fails to see that access remains an issue.

I'm lucky enough to have the privilege to choose what I eat, and I wish everyone could say the same. Yet, that is not reality. In addition to having the privilege of choosing what I eat, I have access to information that helps me make these decisions...again, not everyone does.

This interview resonated deeply with me, because it brought to mind something I struggle with on a weekly basis. Once a week I head into a nearby city to tutor teen moms who are working towards their GEDs. These girls are wonderful - full of energy and excitement and many of them truly want to make their way to college and better their lives, for themselves and their babies.

While we pour over worksheets and practice questions, I find myself wondering how it's completely common place that a greasy bag from McDonald's is the standard breakfast, or that a bag of Twix and a stick of beef jerky constitutes lunch. After noticing the various food choices these girls made for a few weeks, I finally brought it up with them, asking about what goes into their decisions when it comes to food.

None of them had a real answer. Many of them cited money or ease of access to fast food. When I asked if any of them enjoyed cooking they all said they didn't really know how beyond some favorite fried food. These girls are right at the crux of the debate between Bourdain and Safran Foer, yet they're also invisible in this debate.

These are the people that should be given better access to food choice. These are the ones that should have a better understanding of where their food comes from and it's affect on them. Last week, after having yet another discussion about food, I approached the director of education of the program, asking if we could somehow find a way to offer a cooking class that focuses on easy, inexpensive and wholesome food.

There are plenty of obstacles in our way - from funding to actual kitchen access - but the seed in planted and we're hoping to figure out a way to make this a reality. Perhaps by getting these girls in the kitchen and allowing them hands on experience with food it will give them the opportunity to even fathom the choice the Bourdain and Safran Foer so easily debate.

Click here to read more and listen to the interview. In addition to the actual interview, the comments left by others are also incredibly enlightening and thought provoking.

Cupcake Craziness

Continuing in our celebrating milestones at potluck theme, last night was another festive occasion. We celebrated my son's 4th birthday, even though it's not technically until tomorrow. Since we're already planning an actual party for the weekend that will include cake, I decided to try my hand at cupcakes. I made a yellow cake batter from Smitten Kitchen and my own strawberry "frosting" per the request of the birthday boy. 

The cupcakes themselves turned out incredibly tasty and we actually pretty simple to make. I 1.5'd the recipe, since I wanted to make sure that everyone got their own cupcake. For the regular measurements, pop on over to Smitten Kitchen.

Start by creaming some butter and sugar (I actually used  3 sticks, yikes!)

Creamy!

Once creamed, add some vanilla & a bunch of eggs to the butter/sugar mixture

Then sift together all your dry ingredients

Sifted! 

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix till just combined. The batter yielded 36 cupcakes, so I baked them (for about 28 minutes at 350*) in shifts.

They came out perfectly

Then it came time for the frosting. My son asked for strawberry frosting, and I decided to take my tried and true cream cheese frosting and doctor it up a little instead of looking for a recipe online.

Yeah.

The first part turned out great.

Mix together 1 stick of softened unsalted butter and 1 8oz package of softened cream cheese

I then added 1 lb of powdered sugar and a couple tablespoon's of milk. The cream cheese frosting turned out perfectly. Now it was time to add in the strawberries.

I started with about 1.5 cups of chopped strawberries

And using my hand blender, mashed it down to this strawberry puree.

It was then added to the cream cheese frosting

I didn't take into account that when mashed, the strawberries would be very liquidy, thereby turning what was once a perfectly textured frosting into, well...

More of a sweet, strawberry sauce-like-topping.

So, of course, I thought I could salvage it. I added more cream cheese, but it was still pretty thin. I added more butter, but all that did was fleck the frosting with bits of butter that would not incorporate into the mix.

Mmm...buttery deliciousness

I even tossed it into the fridge to see if it would firm up. It didn't.

So, in the end, instead of piping beautiful designs onto the cupcakes (which had been my intent), I ended up taking each cupcake and dipping them into the "frosting" to coat them.

Toss a few candles in and *voila* - birthday cupcake!

After all was said and done, it didn't even seem to matter. Despite their somewhat sloppy appearance, the cupcakes were eaten, the frosting was eaten (and praised!) and even more frosting was eaten when folks realized they could dip their cupcakes back into the bowl. If I had put spoons out surrounding the bowl of frosting, it would probably have disappeared.

While my strawberry frosting didn't turn out as expected, it still managed to do its job, and the birthday boy was very pleased with it, so in turn, so was I. 

The meal proceeding the cupcakes, by the way, was extraordinary... we dined on chili, muligitawny stew, coconut rice, broccoli slaw, chips & salsa, homemade nachos and popovers. It was quite the array of food but it certainly provided for a festive feel.

A Different Kind of Cooking...round 2

We woke up yesterday to snow covering the ground and chilly temps outside. It was as if the weather dictated our day. I had been looking for some time to set aside for crafting, and a chilly, snowy day seemed ideal. 

Earlier in the week, a friend of mine posted this on his Facebook wall:

Pay it forward in 2011! I promise to send something homemade by me to the first 5 people to comment, but they must promise to repost this and do the same for their first 5.

Always a fan of homemade crafts, I eagerly signed up and reposted the message on my own profile. I soon had five people of my own to craft for, and I got to work, trying to figure out what to make. I decided that food was out since most people were probably overstuffed from the holidays. After struggling with my sewing machine for the potluck gifts, I decided I wanted to steer clear of any crafts that required a stitch. 

I finally settled on a craft that I have been doing for a while now: soap making! I've been dabbling in soaps for quite some time, and have made soap completely from scratch (using lye and vegetable fat) as well as the heat & pour glycerin base soap method. Since I had an eager helper that's not quite 4, I decided that crafting some glycerin based soaps would be best. 

Using a ready-made glycerin base soap is fun and easy and allows you to really focus on all the fun add-ins you might want to use. 

You can pick up 2lb bricks of glycerin soap at most craft stores or online

The first step is to chop up the glycerin. I have tools (knives, pots, etc...) that are completely relegated to soap making so they don't get mixed up with my food ones. To fill one mold you'll need about 1/3 of the soap block all chopped up.

If you have a microwave, the next step is even easier, but since we don't have one, it was double boiler time for us! I put the chopped up glycerin bits into a sauce pan and then placed that in a pot of water, heating it up slowly.

The key is to keep it going low and slow and stir continuously. I use a wire whisk and stir the melting soap frequently. If you're using a microwave, nuke the soap in a glass dish at 30 second intervals. As the soap gets more liquid, nuke it at shorter intervals, (10-15 seconds) and stir in between. 

Almost fully melted

Once the glycerin base has melted the entire way, it's time to add the fun stuff! In the past I've made a variety of soaps from herbal scented ones to citrus or even oatmeal. For this batch we decided to go with a lavender/rose combination. I also decided to add a little grapeseed oil for a moisturizing effect. 

Dried rose petals, dried lavender, lavender essential oil & grapeseed oil

I used to live in a town that had a fabulous herb store and I was able to find good quality dried herbs and various essential oils at excellent prices. I would much rather buy them from an herb store than a craft store. Craft stores tend to sell "scented oils" which have more chemicals than actual herbs and don't really save you that much money. If you don't have a local herb store near you, there are plenty of great sources online. Two places that I love are Useful Weeds and Mountain Rose Herbs.

Rose petals and lavender - all crushed up together 

Once the glycerin based has fully melted, you can then add your herbs and oils. You really don't want to "cook" the herbs or oils, so at this point, shut the heat off. I eyeball the amounts to add, but it's about a tablespoon of each herb and a few drops of lavender essential oil.

Again, continue stirring as you add the herbs/oils

Then it's time to pour into your molds. Over the years I've acquired tons of molds and yet still find myself buying more. Molds are pretty cheap and there are a lot of different kinds. If you're just starting out, getting a couple different mold trays from your local craft store is your best bet.

I used 1/2 of a block of glycerin base, so it filled 6 molds

I will give the soap a quick stir or two with a knife a few minutes after I've poured it into the molds. That way it helps to evenly distribute the herbs so they don't all settle up at the top.

I love how the herbs lightly color the soap.

Allow the soap to firm up for a couple of hours before you gently pop them out of them molds.

Handcrafted soap - a product of a snowy day!

After popping them out of the molds, I let them rest overnight and then wrap them up in pretty paper or cellophane. 

Today we woke up with another dusting of snow...as if it was a sign I should keep making more soap. It looks like today's batch will include some calendula and apricot kernel oil. After they're all done, I'll wrap them up and send them out to the 5 friends who signed up. I love this idea of craft exchanges...what a great way to share homemade treats, even across state lines. I can definitely see myself initiating something similar again soon.

If you're feeling crafty, perhaps post something similar to your own Facebook or Twitter account, or even suggest a craft exchange among a group of local friends. Happy crafting!