Food and Kittens

One thing Michael and I love to cook is beef stew.  It is simple, savory, and yields a lot of bang for the buck in terms of quantity and re-heat value.  Michael has tinkered with the ingredients for our stew quite a bit over the last 2 years, but it seems we have finally settled on a consistent recipe as of late, so it’s time to share!

For this batch of stew Michael got most of the vegetables from a farmer's market. He was so proud he took a picture.

Ingredients

• 1 lb stew meat, beef round (you can find this in your grocery store’s meat section, already cut into bite-size pieces)
• 2 carrots, sliced (the carrot pictured above was HUGE, and equals about 2 normal size carrots)
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 4 russet potatoes, diced
• 1 small vidalia onion, chopped
• 1 cup corn
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp season salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 4 cups (a 32 oz. container) of beef broth
• 1 crock pot

Preparation

1. In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat until it starts to shimmer.  Add stew meat and saute until all pieces are lightly browned all over.
2. In crock pot, combine vegetables, seasonings, beef broth, and honey.  Stir until honey and seasonings are evenly distributed.  Add meat and stir until evenly distributed.
3. Add water until all ingredients are just covered in liquid.  Set crock pot to desired cook time (Note: longer cook times will yield more tender meat).
4. Seasoning Note: I would recommend taste testing the stew about an hour before it is finished, so that you can add any additional salt/pepper you may desire.

Whether for a cold, snowy night or a friendly get together in summer, this stew will not disappoint.  With a slice of homemade buttermilk cornbread (look for the recipe in a later post!) on the side, it can’t be beat.  Enjoy!

Willy was ready and willing to help write this post.

There is a little place tucked away in Boston’s China town called the Dumpling Cafe.  This place serves the best steamed dumplings I have ever tasted in my life.  My favorite are the vegetable dumplings, which come served in a bamboo steamer with a delicious sauce in which to dip them.  Michael and I eat at the Dumpling Cafe every time we go to Boston, if we can manage it.  My experience with these delectable little dumplings inspired me to make my own, so of course I ventured to the nearest kitchen supply store, bought a bamboo steamer, and went about finding a good steamed pork dumpling recipe.  I found several that I liked, so I meshed my favorite parts of them together to make the recipe I share with you now.

Every good cook keeps a fire extinguisher near by

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 cup Napa cabbage, chopped
• 1/4 cup carrot, chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 3 green onions, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 package of wonton wrappers (50 wrappers)
• small bowl of cold water
• 1 bamboo steamer
• 1 wok

Note:  Napa cabbage != regular cabbage.  The taste and texture will be completely different if you use regular cabbage.  Napa cabbage can be found in most grocery stores, usually near items like fresh herbs, kale, etc.

Preparation

1. In a large mixing bowl combine pork, veggies, wet ingredients, and a pinch of salt and pepper.  I like to use my hands for this rather than a spoon, as it creates a more uniform meat mixture (much like mixing up a meatloaf).
2. On a clean dry surface (I like to use a plastic cutting board), lay out several wonton wrappers.  Set the remaining wrappers aside and place a moist paper towel over them.
3. Place a 1 tbsp dollop of the meat mixture in the center of each wonton wrapper (I like to use an actual tbsp for this, makes things easy).
4. Now for the folding.  Use your finger or a basting brush to wet all four edges of the wrapper with water (this is where the bowl of cold water comes in).
5. Grab two of the opposing corners of the wrapper and pinch them together over the meat mixture.  Repeat this for the remaining corners.  You should now have  a pyramid-type shape.  Pinch together all the edges of this pyramid, removing the air, until you have a tightly sealed dumpling (the final product can be seen in the pictures above).
6. Repeat this process until you have made all the dumplings you want.  This recipe makes enough meat mixture to make approximately 32 dumplings.  If you don’t want to make them all at once, you can just refrigerate the mixture and make more later, so long as you use it within 2-3 days.
7. Now for the steaming.  The ideal setup for this requires a bamboo steamer and a wok.  I used a steamer that holds 8 dumplings at a time.  Spray each tray of the steamer with non-stick cooking spray (otherwise the dumplings will stick to the trays and rip when you try to remove them).  Place 4 dumplings on each tray, evenly spaced and not touching.  Close up the steamer and set aside.  In a wok, bring 1 cup of water to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-high.  Place the steamer in the wok over the simmering water, making sure it is not touching the water.
8. Steam the dumplings for 20 minutes then serve with soy sauce for dipping.

Note: If you find that your bamboo steamer does not sit right in your wok (i.e., the bottom of the wok is too wide to keep the steamer suspended over the water), you can also use a 2-quart saucepan, or any other pan/pot that you can sit the steamer in that will keep it suspended above and not touching the boiling water.

Making dumplings turned out to be quite fun, and I can hardly wait to try other fillings, such as all veggies or fish.  I have since bought a bigger bamboo steamer (cooks 18 dumplings at a time rather than 8), which is good if you are making these for several people.  The 20 minute cook time can quickly make the 8 dumpling output of the smaller steamer prohibitive.  I’ll keep you posted on my future adventures with dumplings.  Enjoy!

Who says you can’t bring a website back to life after not posting anything for a long time?  Well, I did several months ago after work started consuming every moment of my free time.  Now, however, I have found a balance that will allow me to enjoy my hobbies, which means it’s time to cook!  For my comeback, I present to you my own special Stir Fry recipe.

Stalker kitty wants ur food!

Ingredients

• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 bundle of broccoli florets (about 2-3 cups), cut into bite-size pieces
• 3 stalks of celery, chopped
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
• salt and pepper

Preparation

1. Bring 4-5 cups water to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan.  Add rice and cook until tender (I like to cheat and use boil-in-a-bag rice, ready in 10 minutes!).
2. In a wok, heat olive oil over medium high heat until it starts to shimmer.  Add chicken, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and saute until no longer raw on the outside.
3. Add onion and garlic and saute for 5 minutes.
4. Add all remaining ingredients and stir until well mixed.
5. Cover wok and allow mixture to simmer, stirring every 2-3 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink (about 10-15 minutes).
6. Serve stir fry over dollop of brown rice.

This recipe originated from one found on the Weight Watchers website.  I modified it to better fit mine and Michael’s tastes (the original suggested mushrooms, which would have sent Michael running to McDonald’s in a hurry), but therein lies the beauty of this recipe.  One can easily change up the ingredients to match their respective tastes.  Baby corn and water chestnuts are just a few different additions/substitutions you could make to change the flavor profile.  One addition I’ve made in the past is thinly sliced almonds, which I highly recommend.  Enjoy!

When my husband looked at me and said “I have an idea for a pizza cake.”, I was more than a little puzzled.  I feared that futile attempts to meld marinara and chocolate were in my future.  What resulted, however, was a surprisingly wonderful thing.  Thus without further adieu, I bring you…Pizza Cake!

Ingredients

• 1 loaf of Italian style round artisan bread (it will look like a big, uncut bread bowl)
• 1 1/2 cups marinara sauce (about half of a 24 oz. jar)
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 lb. ground beef

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. In a skillet, cook the ground beef over medium high heat until no longer pink.  Drain any excess grease from the meat and set aside.
3. Cut the artisan bread into 1-inch slices with a bread knife, creating flat, round layers.  You should be able to make at least 3 cuts.
4. On the top of each slice, apply an even layer of marinara sauce, ground beef, and shredded mozzarella.  Place the next slice on top of the last and repeat until you place the “cap”.
5. Drizzle 2-3 tbs of marinara sauce over the outside of the ‘cake’, then sprinkle mozzarella over the top.  Bake for 15-20 or until all cheese has melted.

I was pleasantly surprised by how well this turned out.  As you can see above, we were able to cut triangular pieces that had layers similar to an actual cake, which I thought was hilarious.  The bread came out satisfyingly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside with all the gooey cheese and sauce.  What I love most about this recipe, however, is the potential to modify the ingredients.  As with a pizza, the possibilities are endless.  You could add olives, peppers, different cheeses and meats, etc.  I look forward to making a black olive and mushroom variety.  Enjoy!

Growing up, there were few other foods my mom would prepare that I got more excited about than her potato salad.  Often served with her crispy homemade fried chicken, it was a delight every time.  It is fun to watch her make it, because it leaves you wondering how in the world she can make it taste the same every time.  She never measures anything, just throws one ingredient after another into a big bowl as if the exact amounts needed were pre-programmed into her subconscious.  So you can imagine my anxiety when I attempted to make her potato salad for the first time, since I had no earthly idea how much of each ingredient to use.  I only knew what it was supposed to taste like.

With that, here is my best guess at a recipe for one of my favorite foods from childhood.

Ingredients

• 5 Yukon gold potatoes
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 1 tbs dill relish
• 2 tsp yellow mustard
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 tsp season salt
• 1/2 black pepper

Preparation

1. Bring 5-6 cups of water to a boil in a stockpot.
2. With the skin on, cut the potatoes into bite-size pieces (it is perfectly acceptable to take the skin off if you prefer). Boil the potatoes until tender (about 10 minutes), then drain and set aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl, combine all remaining ingredients.
4. Gently combine the chunks of potato into the mayo mixture using a folding motion.  This is to ensure the potato does not become mushy.  Continue mixing until all ingredients are evenly distributed.
5. Place the salad in the fridge for an hour or until cool (I prefer the salad served cold, but you can eat right away if you don’t mind it being a little warm).

I doubt I will ever be able to perfectly replicate my mom’s potato salad, but I think this came pretty close   I served it with hamburgers cooked on my indoor grill, and homemade BBQ baked beans.  I called it a “Rainy Day BBQ”, because we were supposed to grill outside with our neighbors but the weather had other plans.  Enjoy!

A few months ago I bought The Betty Crocker 300 Calorie Cookbook.  In it I found a recipe for Cajun Oven-fried Trout, a pretty straight-forward recipe that sounded both tasty and healthy.  I had only two problems: 1. Michael doesn’t like Cajun seasoning, and 2. I couldn’t find any Trout.  Not to let that stop me, I decided to substitute the Cajun seasoning with a different ingredient, and use Haddock instead of Trout.  While Haddock is not as firm as Trout, I rather liked the result because I like fish with a light, flaky texture.  But enough of my babbling, now for the recipe!

Ingredients

• 1 lb. fresh Haddock filets
• 1 lightly beaten egg white
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/3 cup unseasoned bread crumbs
• 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
• Cooking spray

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
2. In a bowl or shallow dish, mix together the buttermilk and egg white.
3. In another bowl or shallow dish, mix together the cornmeal, breadcrumbs, and Old Bay seasoning.
4. Dip each Haddock filet in the buttermilk/egg white wash, then roll it in the cornmeal/bread crumb mixture until it is evenly coated.  Place the filets on an ungreased baking pan.
5. Spray a light coating of cooking spray over the filets and bake for 10 minutes.  Finish with a splash of lemon juice and serve.  Makes 2-4 servings.

Michael and I were both quite pleased with the texture of this dish.  My only complaint was that the crust needed a little more oomph (which I’m sure the Cajun seasoning would have given), but I think the addition of either lemon pepper, season salt, or even brown sugar would rectify this small problem.  For those of you who like Cajun seasoning, you’re all set   Enjoy!

And here it is!  My first attempt at photographing/explaining my attempts at cooking.  I put this meal together on Friday August 20, but just now got the site to a level of functionality I am pleased with.  I will be posting again later after completing my next challenge, Oven-Fried Haddock.

Corn and Gnocchi Chowder

The inspiration for making a corn chowder came after Michael and I had a fabulous variation of it at a wing place in Manchester, NH.  I started by looking up corn chowder recipes on the internet, but found that none of them looked like they would turn out the way we wanted (most called for cans of creamed corn, which frankly made my skin crawl).  Then I got an idea.

Earlier this year I made a clam chowder using a recipe from one of my favorite websites, Cooking for Engineers (I highly recommend visiting this site, it is amazing).  My idea was to modify this clam chowder recipe into that of a corn chowder.  The base of all cream-based chowders is essentially the same, and the Cooking for Engineers clam chowder recipe lent itself to be easily modified for corn.  Specifically, instead of using clam meat and clam juice, I used whole kernel corn and the juice from the cans of corn.  One substitution that was purely for style (suggested by Michael) was to substitute Gnocchi for the potatoes.  The Gnocchi was not hand-made, I am not that talented yet   Now for the recipe!

Ingredients

• 2 cans of whole kernel corn (13 oz.)
• 1 cup reserved corn juice (from the cans of corn)
• 1 package gnocchi (typically found in the international section of your grocery store)
• 5-6 slices of bacon (I would avoid any special flavors, like maple)
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 3 Tbs. all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Salt and pepper

Preparation

1. Drain the cans of corn and reserve 1 cup of the juice.  Set aside.
2. Cook the slices of bacon and reserve 2 Tbs. of the grease.  Set cooked bacon aside.
3. In a stock pot saute the chopped onion in the bacon grease over medium-high hear for about 1 minute.
4. Add the gnocchi and saute for additional minute.
5. Stir in the all-purpose flour.
6. Add the corn juice and simmer over medium heat for 5-10 minutes or until gnocchi is heated through.  Stir often.  While this mixture is simmering, mix the milk and heavy cream together in a large measuring cup (or other container).  Chop up the cooked bacon you set aside earlier.
7. Once the gnocchi is heated through, add the milk/heavy cream mixture, corn, and chopped bacon and stir until well mixed.  Heat through without boiling the chowder.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

This will produce a fairly thick chowder (which Micheal and I prefer), but if you prefer a thinner consistency, use only 1-2 Tbs. of all-purpose flour.  Makes 4-6 servings.  Enjoy!

Turkey Garden Wraps

This recipe was born out of my desperation for a more interesting lunch to eat at work.  I had a spinach wrap from my work cafeteria one day, and spent the entire time thinking about how I could do it better.  So I decided to do just that.

The secret to this is hummus.  Rather than using mayo or other milk-based dressing, I used hummus (again, not homemade.  That is an adventure for another time).  Hummus serves as the perfect backdrop to all of the ingredients in this wrap, accentuating the various salty, savory and sweet flavors.  I like using spinach wraps because they are not only healthier, but don’t overpower the ingredients of the wrap with an overly wheaty flavor.  As for the vegetables, you can use pretty much any combination you prefer, I just chose my favorites.  Here’s the recipe!

Ingredients

1. 1 spinach wrap
2. 2-3 Tbs. Hummus
3. 1/4 of an avocado, sliced
4. 1 Roma tomato, sliced
5. handful of sliced black olives
6. 1/2 of a red/orange/yellow bell pepper, sliced into long thin strips
7. 1/5 lb. smoked turkey breast (from your grocery store’s deli)

Preparation

1. Lay the spinach wrap out flat.  Spread the hummus evenly over the surface of the wrap.
2. Place sliced vegetables in a layered fashion onto the wrap.
3. Place turkey evenly on top of vegetables.
4. Roll the wrap into a tight cylinder, bringing the sides in as you roll.  Cut in the middle to create two halves.

This wrap is good by itself or served with a soup (such as a Corn and Gnocchi Chowder ).  Enjoy!