Blogs That Make Us Hungry

Rachel here: When my mom directed my attention towards Kate and her blog Savour Fare and I went to check the blog out and was greeted by a recipe for mashed potatoes with broccoli, I knew this was a woman I could get behind. Mashed potatoes are one of my comfort foods and I appreciate any person who spends time experimenting with this pillowy pile of goodness outside of major holidays. As I perused further, my respect only grew. Kate has an interest and determination to cook and enjoy good food that I can relate to as a busy partner and mom-to-be. She has cooked throughout her life, undeterred by law school or motherhood and, through this, the possibility for all of us to eat well seems just a little bit more attainable. Plus, her blog features recipes from pork to plum pie; Kate makes jam and she makes risotto. Her site is a concise little cookbook in its own right and I highly recommend checking it out for inspiration, both psychical and culinary. We'd be sharing a few tempting pictures and a sample recipe (most likely the mashed potatoes I mentioned above), but alas we weren't on our game this weekend and didn't contact Kate in time to go about sharing stuff from her site in all of the right and respectful ways (you know, with her permission). We apologize and suggest just taking a leap of faith and clicking the link over to her site. We're pretty sure you'll be glad you did.

Enjoy!

Slurp! Soup!

Rachel here: The recipe I'm sharing this week is from my grandma on my dad's side (my grandma on my mom's side is/was my grandy). The last time that I had it with her was a few years ago when I brought John to Connecticut for the first time to meet my family. We went to my grandparents' for lunch and this was on the menu. I had started gathering recipes from my grandma a little bit earlier and so, after lunch, I followed her into the kitchen and asked her for this one. Chicken soup is one of the great simple foods, I think, when it's done well. So often, though, it's a mediocre product. My grandma's recipe (which she would want me to reveal she learned from her brother's former wife because she was humble like that), however, gives chicken soup all of the tlc it needs to turn around and give that tlc right back to the person eating it. It is at once complex and familiar, hearty and basic. When my kitchen began to smell like my grandma's house, I was transported back to that afternoon copying her recipe while she chattered about how nice John seemed while putting the lunch dishes away. I could see the sunlit snow through her windows and hear the quiet calm that always hugged her home. My house smelled like my grandma's house last night and, frankly, as I come close to the one-year anniversary of her death, it is nice to know that she is a part of my home and my new family, that something as simple as chicken soup--and with it, my grandma--can be carried and woven and traced throughout my life.

Grandma's Belgian Chicken Soup
Ingredients
1 roasting chicken (3 1/2 to 4 1/2 pounds)
1 large onion, sliced
2 medium leaks, cleaned and chopped
4 stalks of celery, chopped
3 small carrots, sliced
1 parsnip, sliced
4 c. water
1 1/2 c. dry white wine
4 sprigs of parsley (plus extra to garnish)
2 tspn. fresh thyme (I used lemon thyme)
1 bay leaf
2 whole cloves (I used 1 tspn. ground cloves instead)
1 T. instant chicken bouillon
2 tspn. salt
1/4 tspn. pepper
1/4 tspn. nutmeg
1/4 tspn. cayenne
2 egg yolks
1/2 c. half-and-half
1/2 lemon (or, one small lemon) thinly sliced

Method
Combine the first eight ingredients (my grandma's recipes always give instructions this way and I find it nice and concise), from the chicken through the wine in a large pot. Make a bouquet garni with the parsley, thyme, bay leaf and cloves (or don't...I didn't, but if you are not going to then definitely go with ground cloves and don't forget to fish out your bay leaf when the soup is done cooking). Add to soup pot along with bouillon and spices (by spices I am referring to the ingredients from the salt through the cayenne). Bring this all to a boil, then reduce the heat and cover, letting simmer for an hour or more until the chicken is tender.

About halfway through, rotate the chicken if it is not entirely covered by the liquid. When chicken is tender, remove from pot. At this time, if you have used one, you should also remove the bouquet garni. If you didn't go the garni route, this would be a good time to find that bay leaf and pull it out. Remove skin from the chicken and cut the meat from the bones into bite-sized pieces. Skim the fat from the chicken broth before returning the now bite-sized chicken to the pot (if your chicken is on the larger side you may not need to add all of the chicken back into the pot which means you will have some very yummy meat for sandwiches...in fact, it's so delicious that I would recommend erring on the larger side for your chicken in the name of having leftover meat).

Combine the egg yolks with the half-and-half and stir this mixture into the soup. Heat until hot, but do not boil. Stir in your lemon slices. Sprinkle each serving with chopped parsley, put some hearty fresh bread on the table and dig in.

Seriously? I think this soup is perfection. What do you think? I also think the stock would be a great base for other soups, though I've never tried it because this recipe is so good that I never want to not make it.



Janet here: As the older of this duo, I love reading how much cooking with her grandmother means to Rachel. It makes me feel so heartened to see the story continues even after the death of the cook.

Making soup always makes me feel so cozy. The process is so relaxing — cutting up the vegetables and other ingredients — and like baking cookies on a cold rainy or snowy day, it just makes me feel so safe and warm. This roasted vegetable soup is my adaptation of a recipe I first made from one of the Barefoot Contessa's cookbooks. I hope you like it. As with most of what I do, there's room for variations and individual ideas. Enjoy!

Roasted Root Vegetable Soup
makes at least 10 servings

Ingredients
20 ounces of turnips, peeled and cut into cubes
5 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
3 large carrots, peeled and diced
3 large potatoes, skin on and cut into cubes
64 ounces of chicken or vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

Method
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Put the vegetables into a large bowl. Dribble with olive oil and salt and pepper. Mix well.Put onto a roasting pan. Cook for about 40 minutes until the vegetables are done. Turn at least once in the middle to make sure all sides get roasted well.

After the vegetables are cooled, add to a blender a little at a time with some of the broth and puree. I happen to like my soup just one or two steps above mashed potatoes, but if you like it soupier, then you'll want to perhaps use more broth in general.
Heat and serve when you're ready. This is soup with substance, so all you need is some bread and maybe a salad to have a complete winter meal.

Ice Cream and More (Galore!)

Janet here: We are not a family of cake eaters. Did that start because I'm not a cake eater and never made them, the same way we never had soda in our house growing up so I never developed a taste for soda? Who knows, but whatever the reason, we have homemade ice cream cakes for birthdays... and they barely last a day.

I'm not sure where I got the idea to make an ice cream cake (or perhaps more accurately, an ice cream pie) but once I did, the path was set. The way it works, each birthday person can pick the kind of ice cream and whatever mix-in they want smushed in. Depending on the birthday child, it's been anything from M&Ms to Reeses Peanut Butter Cups to Heathbars (and sometimes all of them). This recipe is absurdly easy (and fun to lick the bowl afterwards). Hope you enjoy!

Homemade Ice Cream Cake

Ingredients
20 oreo cookies, smashed
20 (give or take) small Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, smashed (or whatever you choose)
2 pints of ice cream (coffee is a favorite at our house but again the choice is up to you)

Method
Put the ice cream out to soften.
While it softens, mash the oreo cookies in a bowl. I use a pestle but a covered hammer could work too.
Place the cookie "crust" in an 8 or 9 inch pie pan, making it level. Make sure there is enough for the sides. (You can always add more mashed cookies if you need more.
Mash the smush-in of choice in the same bowl. When you've got enough, add the softened ice cream and mix up some more. Spread into the pie pan and put it in the freezer for at least an hour. (It will be hard to wait but worth it.) Serve it up!


Rachel here: So, as evidenced by my mom's cake, ice cream was the theme for this post and, as evidenced by the fact that the picture right above these words is a picture of sorbet, I strayed. Oops! I'm pretty sure my mom's used to my, shall we say, interpretations of guidelines at this point. But anyway...

The reason I made sorbet was that, well, I wanted to. I keep getting really excited at the grocery store when I see California berries at a reasonable price in the middle of winter and, though I could have made ice cream with them, sorbet seemed to honor their magnificence just a bit better since the fruit stands on its own more (don't get me wrong, though, I adore ice cream). For the last few weeks I've noticed gold raspberries and I've been meaning to try them and so I picked some up (along with some red raspberries and some strawberries...I wasn't kidding when I said I keep getting really excited at the grocery store) and embarked on my very first sorbet making adventure. You can follow me along this delicious path using the recipe below and substituting whatever is local and fresh in your produce department.

Ingredients
1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. water
juice from one small lime
3 c. gold raspberries
3/4 c. red raspberries
1/4 c. sliced strawberries

Method
Make a simple syrup with the sugar, water and lime juice. Don't know what simple syrup is? It's a syrup that is quite simply made by heating the sugar and water (and, in this case, the lime juice) over the stove until the sugar dissolves. Mmmm...
Place in fridge or freezer until quite cold (but not frozen).

In a food processor, break down your berries until smooth. I've heard that some people like to then strain the seeds out of this berry concoction, but I like evidence of the fresh fruit I've used so I left them in. If you don't have a food processor, I am going to post a little alternate recipe below that should turn out just fine. Back to this version, though...
Place the berries in the fridge and chill until quite cold.

Combine berries and syrup in a pourable container. Set up your ice cream maker/attachment (don't have one? No big deal with sorbet. Just put your well mixed berries and syrup in the freezer, checking on it every 15 minutes or so and fluffing it up so you don't get ice crystals until it's a good texture for you) and let it work its magic. Put your sorbet in an airtight container and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving.

Alternate version
So, you don't have a food processor. It's ok, I didn't always. I got one this summer when John and I got officially hitched. It's awesome and sort of like having a kitchen b*tch, but I'm sure I don't need to rub your face in its wonders. So, what you should do instead is take half of your simple syrup and combine it with 1/2 c. lemon juice. This should taste like sweet lemonade. Now just mash or chop up your berries and mix them into this. Everything else you need to know from here it posted in the main recipe above. Enjoy!

Food for Thought Thursdays: Ice Cream

Janet here: Ice cream has figured large in my life since I was a child, so it's no surprise it's the stuff behind a lot of memories in the family my husband, Peter, and I have created. The question is where to begin talking. With the memories I have of Sunday Sundaes in my childhood? With homemade ice cream trips with the neighborhood kids when we picked my father up at the train in New Jersey? The list goes on.

After a lot of discussion, Rachel and I decided to kick off what will likely be the first of many ice cream posts (stay tuned for tomorrow's on homemade sorbet and homemade ice cream cakes for instance) with a place that has a special spot in our family's collective hearts: Donnelly's Ice Cream in Saranac Lake, NY. They don't have a website but you can click here for a posting and photo on this Adirondack blog about this special spot.

My husband and I came together over two things: Pride and Prejudice and the Adirondacks. I'll leave Mr. Darcy for another day, but our time in the Adirondacks has been a repeated treasure year after year. We began with our honeymoon in Long Lake and continued soon after with annual summer vacations with our growing family. It was during one of our first summer visits there that Peter and I discovered we also shared a Donnelly's love. He had gone there for years as a child and I first discovered Donnelly's while making the long drive to and from New Jersey to St. Lawrence University. Donnelly's was also a wonderful way to end a long day of hiking. With the exception of a cold Michelob, licking a soft-serve cone and staring at the mountains across the road after hiking is really as good as it gets.

The allure of Donnelly's is in part its simplicity. A small shed on a dairy farm, they serve up one flavor and one flavor only each day. They also only make soft-serve. I like that no-nonsense approach. It's about eating the ice cream, not some frou-frou experience. And it's about slowing down and savoring the moment, one of many such moments that make family vacations so great. Yes, the big trips are memorable, but these small moments, a cool lick of chocolate and vanilla swirl, are really the best.

Rachel here: Oh, Donnelly's. Just the mention of the name makes me struggle not to buy a plane ticket and fly east. Nestled amongst the beautiful Adirondack mountains (the place where we spent nearly every summer of my childhood) the mere thought of Donnelly's conjures feelings of relaxation, silliness and fresh air. No matter how old we were, my brothers and I were always able to get along in the name of a trip to Donnelly's (admittedly, we generally got along better as kiddies when we were in the Adirondacks...the mountains gave us perspective even then), always willing to spend a little bit longer in the car if it meant a pitstop at the yummiest, creamiest, freshest soft-serve ice cream stand we've ever known. With only one flavor served a day (a conviction which has always impressed me), when G and S were little we could only go on certain days because they weren't up for the "nut surprise" day or whatever. This led to a few smug private trips to Donnelly's by me and a parent to which I can vividly remember returning to the cabin by the lake and gloating, "I had Donnelly's and you didn't" only to pause melodramatically before revealing that I had had pistachio and vanilla swirled together, something that for reasons that remain mind-bloggling to me, didn't appeal to my brothers.

I think what felt so fun, besides sort of being at Donnelly's whim in terms of what kind of ice cream we had, was that my parents were just as enthusiastic about Donnelly's as we were. When you're little it's the rare event that generates equal enthusiasm amongst all of your family's ranks and yet when we'd pile in the car, or take the detour, towards Donnelly's there was an effervescence that could be felt emanating from each one of us. This kid-in-a-candy-store delight continues to this day. We all laugh when it's too hot and our ice cream slides off the cone (only, of course, because it means we get to go in and get another, thereby ensuring just a little extra ice cream consumption), we stand around and lick and giggle and reminisce and look at the mountains around us. These are timeless moments, moments in which I feel connected to every summer past standing in the same spot with my family, like some sort of constellation or connect-the-dots. I am both 10 and 20 as we sit on the bench in front of the tiny store, and I couldn't be happier. Thank you, Donnelly's, for giving my family a place to pause year after year (oh, and sometimes day after day when we're in the Adirondacks) and, of course, for making such fantastic ice cream.

Do you have a favorite ice cream memory? Or maybe you've been to Donnelly's. We'd love to hear.

It's Ch-Ch-Chili

Janet here: In the winter in the Northeast, I turn to chili when I want an easy dinner that will satisfy. First, I can make it ahead. Second it's easy. Oh and then there's the nutrition factor. It's made of all kinds of stuff that are good for you (which also meant that it was a dish that I used to sneak good food into my kids when they were younger without them realizing it. I have one son, for instance, who will not eat beans or onions in pieces ... except he does in chili so haha.)

But I digress.

Anyway, I make a lot of different kinds of chili, including a very tasty white one that I just discovered this past year. I decided for this post, however, to do the vegetarian one since my carniverous daughter was going to be including some kind of meat. So on to the dish, which of course is also just a great way to have a lot of melted cheese too. :) This batch will serve 6-8.

Ingredients
1 large yellow onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, diced
1 19 ounce can red kidney beans
1 15 ounce can black beans
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes with jalapeno
about 1/2 cup rice
chili powder, hot sauce, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste


Method
In a large cooking pot, put in the oil and saute the onions and garlic until translucent. Then add the beans, tomatoes, rice and seasonings. Cook, covered, on low heat until the rice is done. Serve with grated cheese and sour cream.


Rachel here: Chili is awesome. I really think this. First, it's a vehicle for cheese and sour cream. Second, it's warm. Third, it's hearty. Fourth, it's easy. Really, it's like a wonder-food. For this batch I used a combination of leftover items in my fridge along with umm...non-leftover items (there must be a better way to say that). And, in the end, I now have new leftovers, but now they are of the chili variety (yeah!) and some will be frozen in portions for a future evening and the rest will be eaten for lunches and whatnot this week. It's a happy day here in Oakland (oh, and it's a bit chilly, too...ha ha ha).

Ingredients
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium sweet potato, chopped
28 oz. whole peeled tomatoes (I use the organic variety and, I dare say, you should, too)
28 oz. ground peeled tomatoes
2/3 lb. flank steak, cubed
1 large bone-in, skin-on chicken breast
1 c. chicken stock (or more if you have it...just use that instead of the water)
2 c. water
4 c. beans (NOT dried...I used the leftover black beans I posted about last week)
6 large fresh basil leaves
2-3 T. fresh lemon thyme
2 c. couscous (already cooked)
2 c. fresh chopped spinach
fennel
dried oregano
paprika
cayenne
orange peel
chili powder
worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper

Method
In a large pot, saute the onion, garlic and sweet potato in butter. Add tomatoes, steak, chicken stock, water, beans, chicken breast (I like to put it in whole and then pull it out after it's cooked, chop it up and throw it back in), couscous, spinach, basil (I just tear these up as I throw them in) and thyme. Let simmer until starts to cook down and chicken is cooked. Add spices listed above to taste. This recipe makes a big old pot of chili so I don't cook it down quite as far as I would if I were serving it all at once so that in future re-heatings I won't have to water it down. Sprinkle cheese on top and add a dollop of sour cream and go get cozy.

Blogs That Make Us Hungry

If you ever wondered if the adage about every picture telling a story has the ring of truth to it, look no further than the fabulous photos by Tami Hardeman on her wonderful food blog, Running with Tweezers, this week's Blogs That Make Us Hungry feature. She knows how to make even leftovers look so sumptuous you just want to reach into the screen and take the last delicious bite. Of course, it shouldn't be that surprising: Tami is a food stylist and by her own description one part Carrie Bradshaw, one part Nigella Lawson (which seems like a pretty darn perfect combo if you ask us).

But the photos are just the beginning. Tami offers up terrific but doable recipes and talks about food and its importance in life in a way that seems so honest and straight-forward that I just immediately want to be her friend. (Full disclosure: we've never met.) This recipe she got from her mother's Gourmet cookbook is just one of the many examples. Check her out! You won't be sorry.




Butternut Squash and Red Pepper Casserole
serves 6 as a side dish

* 3 1/2 pounds butternut squash
* 1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 2 large garlic cloves, minced
* 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
* 1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary leaves
* freshly ground black pepper to taste
* 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan (about 2 ounces)

- Preheat oven to 400°F.

- With a sharp knife cut squash crosswise into 2-inch-thick slices. Working with 1 slice at a time, cut side down, cut away peel and seeds and cut squash into 1-inch cubes (about 9 cups).

- In a large bowl stir together squash, bell pepper, oil, garlic, herbs, black pepper, and salt to taste. Transfer mixture to a 2- to 2 1/2-quart gratin dish or other shallow baking dish and sprinkle evenly with Parmesan.

- Bake casserole in middle of oven until squash is tender and top is golden, about 1 hour.

Rachel here: I can't wait to try the recipe posted above from Tami's blog. It seems so delicious and hearty and, frankly, I often struggle to figure out what to do with squash. Additionally, Tami has a lovely narrative woven through her blog, both enthusiastic and earnest, that I have loved following and I hope you will, too.

Glorious Granola

Rachel here: My mom suggested making scones for this post (stay tuned for a future post featuring these), but I desperately wanted to make granola and so here we are. I've been eating it on-and-off for breakfast for years and, for about the last month, combined with some plain yogurt and fresh fruit, it's been my breakfast of choice. Anyway, there's really not much to say about it except that it is significantly better when homemade. And speaking of homemade, though the specific recipe posted below is my own concoction, it is very closely related to the granola I learned to make while working at the Homemade Cafe (they don't have a website, but if you ever find yourself in the Bay Area make your way over to 2454 Sacramento Street in Berkeley for a breakfast that most certainly won't disappoint...if you're lucky, John will be cooking). Enjoy!

Ingredients
4 c. rolled oats
1/4 tspn. salt
1/4 tspn. cinnamon
1/4 tspn. all spice
1/8 tspn. cloves
1 c. walnuts (broken)
1/2 c. almonds
1/2 c. pumpkin seeds
1/2 c. whole ground flax seed meal
3/4 c. honey
1/4 c. canola oil
dried cranberries

Method
Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Heat honey and oil on the stove until combined and pourable. Pour over bowl of dry ingredients and combine well (this will get stuck in your rings, so definitely take them off if you care about them at all). Spread evenly over a cookie sheet (I put my silpat down first, which makes cleaning up a non-issue). Place in oven, removing and stirring to redistribute granola every 10 to 15 minutes. If granola starts to brown before it is dry, leave oven door ajar. Remove granola once dry feeling (it won't feel completely dry, but will finish this process as it cools). Let cool. Add dried cranberries (or any other fruit you like) to taste. Personally, I like a lot so I threw in several generous handfuls. Place in an airtight container. Yum!



Janet here: I have basically been eating granola just about every day for, oh, decades. I mix it with yogurt and I am ready to start the day. I had never made granola, however, until today. I just assumed it was very complicated — all those ingredients! — and figured it was just something hippy dippy people did. I was a little nervous about making this, too. Again, I just thought it was going to be complicated and a flop.
I was wrong.
Simply put, I may never eat store-bought granola again. This homemade version is so superior it's like I don't even know what I was eating all those years. I created this recipe after trolling around on the web. It's a conglomeration of things I read on Chowhound under Best Homemade Granola and my go-to cooking goddess, The Barefoot Contessa.

Homemade Granola

Ingredients
4 cups rolled oats
1 1/2-2 cups nuts (I used sliced almonds, pecans and walnuts)
about 1/4 cup flaxseed meal
a large handful or so of sunflower seeds
1/4 cup canola oil
about 1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup or so of dried fruit (( used blueberries, but I could see adding cherries, apricots, bananas, etc.)

Method
Heat oven to 300 degrees. Toss all the ingredients into a large bowl except the fruit. Heat the oil and honey in a pot and whisk together. Take it off the heat; add the vanilla, and then pour the liquid into the bowl and stir everything together. Place in two large roasting pans on one layer. Cook for about 40 minutes until golden brown, turning every 10 minutes or so. (I set the timer so I wouldn't burn it.)
After you take it out of the oven, mix in the dried fruit. Let cool. It will crisp up as it cools. Store in an airtight container. Delicious!