February 22, 2013

It was tough week around here in terms of successes and failures in the kitchen.  With high hopes we tried quite a few new dishes including homemade bagels, pork chops, asparagus, cookies and soup.  The asparagus side dish, roasted with grape tomatoes, sounded delicious on paper.  We loved the ingredient list which included lemon zest, Parmesan cheese, garlic...but the outcome was just not great.  Bummer.

The kids had a day off of school so we tried out a bagel recipe - which was a good first attempt, but not yet blog-worthy. The same afternoon we made some peanut butter oatmeal cookies - but they were rather bland. The cookies could probably be perked up with some chocolate chips, but the recipe as it was presented can be written off.

We like to have soup once a week, and this week I pulled one from my collection called Fiesta Chicken Chowder.  Again the ingredient list was very promising: fajita seasoned chicken, onions, garlic, black beans, corn, rice, cilantro, lime.  The final soup was decent enough, and the big kids actually really enjoyed it and had second, maybe even third, helpings.  But Ryan and I weren't wild about it and we couldn't give it the keeper seal of approval.

Thankfully, early in the week we had success.  Monday night we found a keeper in an easy pork chop recipe.  I pulled out my favorite large skillet and put together this very easy dinner; I believe it is a great candidate for a busy weeknight.  The flavor was lovely, and the kids enjoyed it as much as Ryan and I. We served it with rice, but you could serve it with anything you have on hand from egg noodles to rice to mashed potatoes!  You could even consider serving it alongside my favorite vegetable side dish all in one, cauliflower rice.

With the weekend upon us we have a new week to test out new recipes.  We have really been loving the overnight pancakes and plan to make them Saturday night so we can cook the right after we walk in the door on Sunday morning after mass; I just picked up some more buttermilk.  Let me know what you are cooking this week!

Happy Cooking!

New Recipes
Saucy Pork Chop Skillet

Saucy Pork Chop Skillet

Ingredients
* 2 tsp canola oil
* 4-6 boneless pork chops
* 1 small onion, sliced
* 1 cup diced tomatoes, drained
* 1 cup beef broth
* 1 tbsp dried parsley
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp pepper
* 1/8 tsp dried basil
* 1/8 tsp dried oregano
* 2 tbsp flour
* 1/2 cup water

Directions
1. Heat oil over medium heat in a large skillet.  Brown the pork chops on both sides. Remove the pork chops from the pan.
2. Add the onions to the pan and cook until softened. Stir in the tomatoes, broth and seasonings. Bring to a boil.  Return the pork chops to the skillet, and nestle them into the sauce.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 7-8 minutes, flipping halfway through.
3. Remove the pork to a serving plate.  Combine the flour and water, and pour this into the sauce. Bring to a boil, cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.  Pour the sauce over the pork chops and enjoy!

Notes
We served this with rice, but I think it would pair equally well with egg noodles, cauliflower rice, or just on its own. 

February 15, 2013

Happy Day After Valentine's Day!  I made a favorite "red" dish for the holiday - Buffalo Chicken Lasagna.  Dinner cooked itself all day and left me with only one dish to clean up when we were through - perfect!  Plus, everyone around here loves this meal!  I guess that was our main theme this week...what  can be done ahead of time to save time in the kitchen?  The one and only keeper for the week was Overnight Pancakes!  This was very easy to throw together, and how nice to come down in the morning before school, after mass, or when a bunch of hungry kids wake up from a sleepover?  The pancake batter is ready and you don't have to measure anything or get a single bowl or spoon dirty!  The work is done the night before, and when it is time for breakfast just pull the batter out of the fridge and fire up the griddle!  I actually made them twice this week, on Saturday to make on Sunday and again tonight for tomorrow.  It is a really large batch, but my kids loved them.  It was fantastic to have all the extras for a couple of days!

Continuing with this week's "make ahead" theme, tonight made a double batch of blueberry muffins and put them in the freezer to pull out as needed for mornings.  That is going to be an awesome treat on a busy morning (which seems to be every morning because of before-school activities, early Saturday indoor soccer games, and 7:45 am mass on Sunday).  Imagine rolling out of bed, grabbing a few from the freezer, popping them into the oven and then getting ready.  The smell of warm blueberry muffins should certainly entice people to get out of bed!

One last thought...is there anything you can do this weekend to make meal times a little easier and smoother for the week ahead?   If you don't physically make or prep anything, perhaps consider putting a meal plan together.  It is really nice to come up with ideas a few days ahead, and not have to decide at the last minute what's for dinner.  Give it a try!

Hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day, and cheers to a fantastic week ahead! 
Happy Cooking!

New Recipes
Overnight Pancakes

Overnight Pancake Batter

Ingredients
* 1 pkg active dry yeast
* 1/4 cup lukewarm water (110-115 degrees)
* 4 cups AP flour
* 2 tbsp baking powder
* 2 tsp baking soda
* 2 tsp sugar
* 1 tsp salt
* 6 eggs
* 1 qt buttermilk (4 cups)
* 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions
1. In a small bowl dissolve the yeast in the warm water.  Let it stand for 5 minutes.
2. In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients (including the sugar).
3. In another bowl beat the eggs, buttermilk and oil.
4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until moistened.  Once combined,stir in the yeast mixture.  Cover and refrigerate the batter at least 8 hours or overnight.
5. Make the pancakes the next morning on your hot griddle!  Flip them when you begin to see bubbles around the edges.

Notes
This makes so many pancakes.  You can easily half this recipe, but why not make them all and have them in the fridge for breakfast for a few days!  Homemade pancakes with only one morning of work - sign me up!

February 8, 2013

Another week come and gone.  It was a busy week (though that goes without saying these days!) and chilly, so I tried out a new recipe for soup night.  I made broccoli potato soup which I wasn't sure was going to be a hit, but I paired it with popovers which I knew would be devoured without hesitation.  I was thrilled when the entire dinner, soup and popovers, was enjoyed by all.  Our family has had neither broccoli soup nor potato soup before, so we had nothing to compare it to and we loved it!  As a point of reference, Ryan didn't even need to use Frank's on it!  Both the broccoli and the potatoes are highlighted, and the texture was nice.  I was a bit nervous to share this recipe precisely because I didn't know what it should taste like so I brought some of the soup to one of my best friends.  She loved it as well, so the soup definitely earned it's keeper status.  It would even be easy to turn this into a completely vegetarian soup by trading out the chicken stock for vegetable stock. We might do that during the upcoming Lenten season.

For the first time ever I made popovers.  I served along side the soup and at first they got some suspicious glances.  I told the kids they were going to love them if they gave them a chance and I was correct.  I grew up on popovers and they are, in my mind at least, amazing.  Airy goodness that melts in your mouth, especially when a little butter and homemade jam are applied.  (I am smiling at the thought of this...I will have to make these again soon).  When I asked my mom for her recipe she laughed a little because the ingredients are so commonplace and the recipe is so straightforward.  The final popovers are so beautiful you cannot believe how easy these are to throw together.  These would be a lovely addition to a dinner party menu because of the presentation.

As for the chicken Marsala - this is a favorite recipe of mine.  I haven't made it in a long time because a few years ago I was serving it almost once a week and my husband grew weary of it.  To celebrate my birthday I decided on this for dinner, and we all enjoyed it.  If you make this just remember to give yourself enough time to marinate the chicken!

Have a wonderful week!

New Recipes
Broccoli Potato Soup
Popovers

Tried and True
Chicken Marsala

Broccoil Potato Soup

Ingredients
* 3 cups cubed peeled potatoes
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 2 cups chicken broth
* 1 3/4 cups water
* 1/2 tsp pepper
* 1/8 tsp salt
* 3 cups frozen broccoli
* 3 tbsp flour
* 1/3 cup skim milk
* cheddar cheese, for garnish
* minced fresh parsley, for garnish

Directions
1. In a large saucepan, combine the first 7 ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, simmer covered for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
2. Stir in the frozen broccoli, return the soup to a boil.
3. In a small bowl whisk the flour and milk until smooth.  Stir the flour and milk into the soup.  Cook and stir for 2 minutes more or until the soup has thickened.  Remove the soup from the heat and let it cool slightly.
4. In batches process the soup in a blender until smooth.  Return the soup to the pan and reheat.
5. Serve the soup and pass parsley and cheese for each person to add as desired.

Notes
We have had neither potato soup nor broccoli soup, so we had nothing to compare this to.  That being said, we loved it!  Some at the table skipped the cheese altogether while others were a bit heavy handed with it.  It is a very satisfying soup without tasting heavy.  Perfect for a chilly winter night!

Popovers

Ingredients (to make 12)
* 4 eggs
* 2 cups milk
* 2 cups flour
* 1 tsp salt

Directions
1. Heat the oven to 450.  Grease the popover pans.
2. Beat the eggs slightly by hand, then add the milk, flour and salt.  Beat the batter just until smooth.  Do not overbeat.
3. Fill the cups 1/2 to 3/4 full.  Bake for 25 minutes, and then lower the oven temperature to 350.  Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.
4. When you take them out of the oven, immediately pierce the top of the popover with a sharp knife.  This slice allows the steam to escape and helps prevent the popover from sinking down into itself as it cools.

Notes
I grew up on these with Sunday pot roast dinners, and was thrilled to receive 2 popover pans for my birthday this week.  These are amazing fresh from the oven.  The recipe is so easy, and you probably have every ingredient on hand!  While popovers are best made in a popover pan, you can make these in a muffin tin, but they won't have the traditional shape.  You do want these to be quite dark, and when you take them out of the oven you might think that you have overcooked them.  But soldier on - slit the tops with the knife, and when you serve them they will have softened just enough and will be perfect!

This recipe is to make 12, but you can divide this to make 3, 6 or 9, simply make the appropriate adjustments to the ingredient amounts.  My kids loved these and now wonder why I haven't been making these for them for years.  Also - while obviously still bread, these do have higher protein and lower carbohydrates then most breads or biscuits.