Breakfast at Tiffany's

Don't let the chicken get all dried out. (its a Hunt thing)

2011-08-17T23:33:00.000-07:00

Mary, remember our trip to New York like 12 years ago? "Would you like some plastic chicken?"

Tiff, today I learned something about chicken in the crockpot. The hard way. Well, sort of. It was still good, and edible, just...dry instead of juicy...and didn't absorb the flavors I wanted it to.

I've done chicken in the crockpot many many times, and never had an issue. But apparently, white meat with little fat (such as the boneless, skinless chicken breasts I was cooking with) won't hold its juice when you cook it that long. Next time, I need to either a) do the same recipe but in the oven, b) sear the chicken first to seal in the juices, or c) drown it in liquid. or d) use dark meat.

This is for those of you who think my food always tastes great- it doesn't. Its just that I don't usually share it until I get it right :P. But looks like my family will be my guinea pigs! (with my mom's expertise to help me troubleshoot why certain recipes don't turn out how they should :) )

What happened to the 5x5x5 challenge?

2011-08-16T23:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Tiffany,

(And anyone else reading this)

In case you were wondering what happened to the 5x5x5 challenge, here it is: I moved twice in two months. That's a lot of work! And now I'm living at home, where I am not the boss of the kitchen or the meal plan, nor do I need to cook every night (because there are 4 adults living here to split the cooking duties, yay!) Will I still be food-blogging? Yes. And once I'm settled in, I'll try to get up at least 2-3 posts per week, but they might be scarce until I finish unpacking. So this challenge will be more like a 5x3x8 challenge (if I get 3 in per week). But 5x5x5 was so much cooler...now I think it needs a new name. Any suggestions?

Talk to you soon!

love,
Joy

#25: Slow-Cooker Scalloped Potatoes

2011-08-05T11:12:00.000-07:00

Dear Tiffany,

I used to have another recipe for scalloped potatoes that I always used, and it was bookmarked on my old laptop...which is no longer working. Since I couldn't find the other one, I decided to come up with a (sort of) new one! This is partway adapted from this recipe, but I changed some things around- had some ingredients I wanted to use.

This recipe is easy to double.

The Basics:
Prep time: About 20 minutes, then in the crockpot all day.
Good for leftovers: yes!
cost: About $5-$10
servings: 10

The ingredients:
4-5 cups potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tbsp butter
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 -1/2 tsp black pepper
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
1/2 cup buttermilk (or even a little more if you need to finish off the container).

Grease your crockpot with butter, oil, or nonstick spray. This recipe will work in a 4 quart slow cooker, or doubled in a 5-6 quart cooker.

Place about 1/2 the potatoes in the bottom of the slow cooker. Cover them with half the onion slices, half the flour, half the salt and pepper, half the basil. Cut half the butter into chunks and scatter them over the top, and then spoon about a fourth of the mushroom soup over the top. Add the rest of the potatoes, and repeat with the rest of the onion, salt and pepper, flour, basil, and butter. Spoon the rest of the mushroom soup over the top, and then pour the buttermilk all over. Cover and cook for 4-5 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low. About 30 minutes before serving, you can sprinkle some cheese of your choice over the top if you so desire.

Serve and enjoy- but careful! It will be hot!

I forgot to take pictures again...but maybe there will be a good one from dinner last night. If so, I'll add it here later.

-Joy

Basil Cornbread!

2011-08-04T14:28:00.000-07:00

My last cornbread post was a little confusing, so this one is specific to my "famous" (anita's words) basil cornbread.

This may in fact be the best cornbread you've ever tasted. Don't get intimidated by the recipe, its actually pretty easy. And honestly, if you need to work off stress, stirring stuff is the best.

You can bake this in a 10 inch round cake pan, 9 by 13-inch baking pan or a 12-inch square pan. OR, you can do what I do, and split it into 2 8-inch square pans or 9 inch pie pans, and it will go further. Below you'll see differences between the two options.

The Basics:
Prep time: About 30 minutes + 30 to bake
Good for leftovers: yes!
cost: about $10-$15
servings: 10-20 (depending on the size pan you use)

The ingredients:
1 cup cornmeal
1 3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups buttermilk
6-8 tbsp butter, divided
1-2 cups diced onions
8 ounce log of goat cheese- let it sit out so its nice and soft.
2 tbsp honey
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
3 eggs
3/4-1 cup finely chopped fresh basil.

The Process:
Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet, and start it heating on the stove. Chop your onions and add them to the skillet. Continue to let them cook while you do the rest of the prep, stirring occasionally. (Use 2 onions if you like them a lot or if you are splitting this recipe into 2 pans).

Let the onions cook. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together cornmeal, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set to the side, and stir your onions.

Turn on the oven to 350 degrees F.

Put your goat cheese in a large mixing bowl. If the cheese is not yet soft, microwave it for about 30 seconds. Whisk your cheese until fluffy. Then add the eggs one at a time, whisking the mixture and scraping the sides of the bowl after adding each egg. Put 2 tbsp butter in a small, microwaveable bowl and microwave for 1 minute to melt. Add melted butter, honey, sugar, and buttermilk to the egg mixture and stir until well blended. Stir your onions.

Add 1/3 of the dry mixture to the wets and mix well, then continue to add 1/3 at a time and mix until everything is wet. A little lumpy at this point is ok.

Remove onions from heat, salt and stir and set them to the side. They should be well caramelized by now.

Place 2 tbsp butter in your baking pan and place it in the oven. If you are using 2 pans, each pan should have 2 tbsp butter.

Wash and chop your basil. Try to get basil as small as possible. Mix basil into your batter.

With good oven mitts, remove your pan(s) from the oven, and swirl the now melted butter around in the pans to cover the bottom. Don't splash yourself!

Pour batter into the hot, buttered pan(s). Sprinkle caramelized onions over the top, place the pan(s) back in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. While mine was baking, I prepared my meat for the day and cleaned the kitchen :).

Remove from the oven and let stand for at least 15 minutes before cutting to serve.

Enjoy!

-joy

(This was inspired by/adapted from a recipe I found at smittenkitchen.com.)

#24: Slow-Cooker Ribs 2

2011-07-05T21:07:00.000-07:00

Hi Tiffany!

This recipe will be first of my 5 ingredient recipes- for the 5x5x5 challenge. I've already shared one way to do ribs in the crock pot (your basic barbecue ribs), but here's another. Today I did most of the moving out of my old apartment. I wanted to make dinner for my helping hands, and since it was going to be a crazy, tiring, long day, a simple crock pot recipe sounded perfect. It helped that country style pork ribs were $1.99/lb at Safeway.

The Basics:
Prep time: About 5 minutes, then in the crockpot all day.
Good for leftovers: yes!
cost: depends on what kind of meat and how much. Slow cooking makes even the cheap cuts of meat tender, so go ahead and go for the cheap on this one.
servings: 4-8

The ingredients:

beef or pork ribs- as much as you want. just make sure it will fit in your crockpot

1 onion, chopped

1 can beer (a regular sized can if you're doing about 4 servings, or one of the big pint cans for a larger crowd

dried thyme

salt

The Process: Oh, by the way. While today's recipe has 5 ingredients including salt, I've decided that since you are always going to have salt/pepper in your house, salt/black pepper won't count toward the 5 ingredient limit.

Layer the meat in the crock pot. On top of each layer, sprinkle salt and thyme. Add chopped onion and beer. Cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4. Remove from liquid to serve.

Each person will want to salt to taste. I hadn't unpacked the salt yet when we ate, so ours was a little less salty than I would have preferred, but the meat was very tender and had a good flavor. It would be great to add garlic to this one too.

Enjoy! There are leftovers if you want some tomorrow.

love,
Joy

5 Ingredient Recipes!

2011-06-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

Dear Tiffany,

Hi! As I go through my 5x5x5 recipe challenge, I'll be listing the recipe links here as well so they'll all be in one place.

Right now, before the challenge, I'll list the ones that are already up (these won't count towards the challenge).

Honey -Baked Beans
Minister's Delight (dessert)
Crockpot BBQ Ribs (technically this is 6, but I just didn't count the pepper, ahha!)
Easy Shrimp
Slow Cooker Apple Cider
One-dish-wonder Slow Cooker Roast Chicken and Baked Potatoes
Spinach Egg Salad
15 Bean Soup
Slow Cooker Ribs 2

More to come as we go through the challenge!

-Joy

5 x 5x 5 for July

2011-06-28T16:01:00.000-07:00

Dear Tiffany,

When were talking last week, you said you were going to actually try to make the baked beans because you thought it was simple enough for you. Now, I know for a fact that you can make every recipe on my blog, BUT I could see that some of them could be a little intimidating for you, which is how you continue to resort to the frozen dinner section of Target.

Since this blog is for you, I'm going to try something new: For July (and, ok, it goes into the beginning of August), I'm going to do a 5 x 5 x 5 recipe challenge. (Hopefully I don't go too nuts between this and my regular challenge blog!) The Challenge: 5 weeks, 5 recipes per week, and...5 ingredients per recipe. I'll cook through them and share with you!

I knew you'd like that one. I'm not going to re-post any recipes I've already done on here, so today I'll just make a list of all the recipes that are already up that have 5 or less ingredients, and then I'll add to that list as we go through the challenge. You can expect the new recipes to start coming up early next week or maybe even this weekend.

My challenge to you: will you commit to trying out at least one of these recipes per week? Or more if you like? I think you'll have fun with it! (will anyone else commit? Let me know on the Breakfast at Tiffany's forum here) Let me know on my forum if there are any recipes you'd like me to cover in the next month!

I'm excited!

-Joy

#23: Honey Baked Beans! (Vegetarian and diabetic friendly, but still super yummy!)

2011-06-19T01:17:00.001-07:00

Dear Tiffany,

Tonight we celebrated my birthday which is coming up on Monday (I missed you, by the way!) by having a potluck. I was looking for a way to use the epic amounts of beans I have in my kitchen, to not have to go to the grocery store, and also make something that my vegetarian friend AND my borderline diabetic friend could enjoy. I came up with these yummy baked beans!

The Basics:
Prep time: About 5 minutes, then in the crockpot all day or the oven for about 6 hours.
Good for leftovers: yes!
cost: about $5 or less
servings: 8 to 10

The ingredients:

1lb beans (I used small white beans, but lima beans, great northern, or really any kind of beans would work great)

1 onion, chopped

1 cup honey

1-2 cups chopped pineapple (optional)

The Process:

Soak the beans overnight, then drain and rinse them. Place half of the chopped onion in the bottom of a crock pot or dutch oven (or even just a deep baking dish). Add the beans, then the rest of the onion, and pour the honey over the top. Add enough water to cover an inch or two above the beans. Then bake at 375 degrees F for 6 hours (if using the oven), or cook in the crockpot for 4-6 hours on high, or 8-10 hours on low. Check on it every few hours and add a little water if the beans on top are starting to get dry. Towards the end, add the pineapple.

This recipe is great because...

1) its super yummy

2) super simple

3) no salt added...and in my opinion it didn't need any on serving either.

4) honey is a healthier sweetener, and a much better option for diabetics (for some interesting thoughts on honey, see here).

5) the absence of bacon or ham fat means that this recipe is overall very low fat.

6) oh. and its really really yummy too!

If you want a less healthy, non-vegetarian version, you can take add bacon with the onions. There's a similar recipe here that uses bacon.

Enjoy!

#22: thinking "pink" oatmeal cookies

2011-05-06T00:08:00.000-07:00

So I know that breast cancer awareness month isn't till October, but I figured, why not start experimenting now?

Ok. In reality, finals are fast approaching which means late night studying and being home more hours. And I'm doing a 1 month spending freeze challenge, so if I want semi healthy study snacks while writing my papers, I have to make them myself. And do so without buying ingredients that I'm missing or running low on. That means oatmeal cookies...but I'm low on brown sugar, and I wanted to save it for my breakfasts (i like it on my oatmeal), so I'm using honey instead. and then...i remembered the bottle of boysenberry syrup that stephanie brought over awhile back. I've become something of a pancake snob since learning how to make buttermilk pancakes, and since I don't have any buttermilk left I won't be making pancakes until after may 16, so I thought it might be fun to put that syrup to use a different way. here's to experiments!

A word to the wise on baking experiments: start from known territory. Baking involves chemical interactions and this gives you a familiar launching ground. This recipe was adapted (by which I mean drastically altered) from this Food.com honey oatmeal cookie recipe,

The Basics:
Prep time: About 25 minutes.
Good for leftovers: cookies, left over? no way!
cost: about $5
servings: varies depending on the size of your cookie. and how much dough you snack on.

The ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter or margerine, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup boysenberry syrup
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, pecans, or other nuts (optional)

The Process:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine wet ingredients (egg, water, honey, syrup) in a large bowl. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. One third at a time, add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and stir well.

Grease a baking sheet with non-stick spray or butter. Form whatever size cookies you prefer, and place them on the baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes; if you do smaller cookies, check after 10 minutes to make sure they don't overcook.

Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before removing from the pan.

Ok, so these aren't pink. They start out that way, but the pink doesn't show after they cooked- I wonder if it would look any pinker with white flour instead of cornmeal? They're also quite crumbly because I forgot to add the water, but the boysenberry is a nice touch. Next time I will try adding more boysenberry and less honey.

But now I have an idea. I think I should hold a "pink recipe" contest for breast cancer awareness month. any thoughts?

#20: Minister's Delight! (dessert)

2011-04-04T22:49:00.000-07:00

Dear Tiffany,
Sorry I haven't been posted in awhile- you've been almost as busy as I have. But when I went over and found you shopping the freezer section again, I got a little worried!

Though I will say, I was very proud to see you show up with your crock pots at church sunday. Your group's food was amazing!

This is the easiest dessert you will ever make. Its also amazing, and super sugary. I found it on allrecipes.com and adapted it a bit. It uses canned pie filling, but the next time I make it I want to see if I can do it cheaper/healthier with fresh fruit, or regular canned fruit.

The Basics:
Prep time: About 5 minutes, then 2-3 hours in the crock pot.
Good for leftovers: if there are any.
servings: 10-15
cost: about $10-$15

Ingredients:
2 cans fruit pie filling (such as apple or cherry, maybe even blueberry. You will find these with the cake mixes, not with the regular canned goods). You could stretch it further and do even 3 or 4 cans.
1 box cake mix
1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1/2 cup butter, melted

The Process:
Dump the pie filling into the crockpot. In a medium sized mixing bowl, mix the melted butter into the cake mix. It will be crumbly. Pour the cake mix- butter-mixture evenly over the pie filling in the pot, but don't worry if it doesn't look too even or pretty. Its not going to look pretty but it will taste fantastic. Sprinkle your nuts over the top, put the lid on, and cook on low for 2-3 hours.

This is really great with ice cream on top too. It will look like mush. It will smell wonderful. And it will taste even better. Just ask all the kids that came to basketball/tae kwon do camp. or MattyK. I told them they couldn't have seconds because if I gave them too much sugar I'd get in trouble with Teacher Matt. There were definitely no leftovers.

We will have another sister-date soon!
Love,
Joy

#19: Make Your Own Frozen Burritos!

2011-02-07T14:37:00.000-08:00

Hi Tiff!

So what do you do with all that leftover chili? You make your own burritos! These are really easy to make, and then you have an easy go-to meal for when you don't want to spend a lot of time or effort cooking.

There are 2 ways to do this. First, my mom's method to cook for a group, and second, my method for individual servings (that you could microwave in a rush or take in your lunch). I'll list both here.

The Basics:
Prep time: About a minute per burrito, plus cook time (see below as the 2 methods have different cook times)
Good for leftovers: hmm. haha. they ARE leftovers. so yes.
servings: however many you have extra beans for.
cost: about 25-50 cents per burrito or less.

Ingredients:
"large" burrito size tortillas. You can also use extra large but this size burrito is easier to store I think.
leftover chili or pinto beans, even black beans
grated cheese (optional)
salsa or your favorite hot sauce or taco sauce (optional)
nonstick spray

The Process:
Place 1-2 scoop of beans on your tortilla, closer to one side rather than in the middle. Add salsa and cheese if desired. Roll your burrito- if you have trouble with this like I do, check out this video I found which was really helpful. I'm no expert burrito-roller, so it took me a few tries to get the right amount of beans so it wouldn't explode, and to get the folding process down right. Thus, my first few are a little sloppy-looking, but once I got it figured out they worked out fine. Repeat to make as many burritos as you want.

Mom's multiple serving method:

you can fit more burritos in a larger
casserole dish...but I can't, since it
wouldn't fit in my toaster oven!

Spray a casserole dish with non stick spray, line up those babies, even 2 deep (I spray the top line of burritos with the nonstick spray too). Cover tight with aluminum foil, and put in a plastic bag, and freeze it. The next time you need a carefree hot meal that stays hot for a really long time, cook them in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour or more depending on how many and if they are still frozen. You can wrap the casserole dish with a thick towel, place it in a cardboard box, and 1/2 hour from then they are still too hot to eat. Serve plain, or with salsa and tomatoes, sour cream. They are complete hand warmers for an out door event.

I have a mini fridge (not much freezer space!) and no oven (just my toaster oven). Plus, I like to have some burritos wrapped in smaller portions to microwave instead. So here's the way I do them:

My individual serving method:
Spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray, line up your burritos, and cook them at 300 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Let them cool a bit, then place in freezer bags. I found 3 burritos to fit one quart size bag just perfectly if they were rolled will; for my ones that didn't roll so perfectly I fit 2 burritos to a bag. Freeze them, and next time you need a meal, pop one of those in the microwave for 3 minutes or so. OR if you have a toaster oven, defrost in the microwave for about 2 minutes, and then cook in the toaster oven for another 2-3 minutes so it comes out crispy :).

Enjoy!

-joy

#18: Mom's Chili

2011-02-07T13:57:00.000-08:00

Dear Tiffany,
Whenever there's something I've eaten at home but don't remember how to make (or what combination of spices, or how much space a cup of beans will take up when cooked...), I ask my mom. As much as I love to find recipes online, I trust Mom's first because I know they are solid. They're usually healthier too.

Such was the case when I wanted to make chili: first, email mom. She's the one who tells me that "6 cups of dry beans make 5 1/2 quarts of cooked beans.   that is a full (6 qt) crock pot with no room for meat or onions. (I have to leave a little room so it doesn't boil over.)"
My rule of thumb: a cup for every quart, minus 1 so you have room for the goodies. So, for my 6 quart pot I used 5 cups of beans. If you want your chili a little more beany and a little less soupy, add an extra half cup or so.

This is Mom's recipe: the chili we had at church this week.

The Basics:
Prep time: About 10 minutes prep time and then in the slow cooker all day...or longer.
Good for leftovers: yes! You can even freeze them, or make your own frozen burritos!
servings:  24 (for a 6 qt pot)
cost: about $10

Ingredients:
5-5 1/2 cups dry pinto beans
2-3 lbs of whatever beef or pork is the best price (I used ground beef) Ground turkey is good too but not as cheap. If its not ground, cut into small chunks.
1 onion, chopped
fresh garlic (I used 2 tablespoons minced) (If you use garlic powder, make sure it doesn't have salt!)
1 tsp New Mexico chili powder
1 tsp california chili powder (If you can't find these chili powders, your basic chili powder will do fine)
lots of cumin, 3 or 4 tablespoons, Cumin is that bold spice without the 'heat'. the chili powders give the burn...
1/2 tsp black pepper
3-4 tbsp Italian seasoning. crumble it with your fingers.
salt to taste

The Process:
Soak the beans overnight in a large (very large!) bowl or tupperware of water. They will expand as they absorb the water, so you may need to add more water partway through. While you can technically cook them without soaking, they're better this way and it reduces the "gas factor."

Drain the bean water, rinse, and quickly pick through to make sure there are no rocks or icky pieces (don't spend too much time on this). Add the beans to the crockpot, along with your garlic, onion, meat, and spices...but do NOT add the salt. If you add the salt, the beans won't soften. Trust me.
  Fill to near the top with water- make sure to cover your beans completely with an extra 2-3 inches of water. Cook on low all day (at least 8-10 hours), or longer- the chili we had at church had cooked for about 24 hours, believe it or not! With beans, as long as you make sure its covered with water, you're safe for quite awhile. If you're going to cook for more than 8-10 hours, you might want to stir every once in awhile and just check that there's still enough water. (If the water is absorbed while its cooking, the beans on top get dry and burn) A longer cook time means softer beans and more thoroughly absorbed flavors.

Once the beans are cooked, and about an hour before serving, add salt and extra chili powder (if needed) to taste, depending on how spicy you like your chili. You may wish to add some more cumin as well. Stir well and serve as a soup or with tacos or nachos.

Notes
Worried about your electric bill? Don't be. The crockpot lady found this nifty chart from First Energy Corp. Ohio, which states that a crock pot costs about 2 cents per hour to run.
Spice it Up! The best place to get your spices is at a Mexican market, or in the little plastic bags they have in the Mexican aisle of the grocery store. These are much cheaper than the little glass containers in the spice aisle. If you can't find "New Mexico" or "California" chili powders, just go with regular chili powder; this is what I used.
Leftovers are great to freeze, but I used mine to make my own frozen burritos!
Where's the Beef?! If you're using ground beef, you may want to cook it on the stove top separately and add to your crockpot at any point in the cooking process. Why? Well, when you cook ground beef, you know all that fat that cooks out of it and ends up in the pan? Do you really want all of that in your soup?
Vegetarians can eat great chili too! Just leave out the meat in this recipe.

Enjoy!
<3 joy

#17: Stir-Fry is crock-pot-able!

2011-02-07T06:33:00.000-08:00

Sorry, this picture is kind of dark!

Dear Tiffany,

Stir-fry is one of the first things I learned how to make as a kid, other than macaroni and cheese and scrambled eggs. My mom grew up in Japan, so a lot of what we ate was Japanese (or other Asian)- influenced. This week I wanted to make stir fry, but I was going to be where there wasn't a stove to use, so...yay for the crock pot! I will list both methods below. This kind of thing is so easy, its pretty tough to ruin! The nice thing about using your crockpot (other than the convenience factor) is that the meat absorbs all the sauce flavors...yum! You can also do without the oil (though I used a little) when you use your slow cooker.

I used yakisoba noodles (Japanese style "fried noodles") this time, but you can also use rice, or another asian frying-type noodle (such as chow mein or lo mein noodles- cooked soft, not crunchy). In a pinch, angel hair spaghetti is an ok substitute as well.

The Basics:
Prep time: About 10 minutes to chop your meat and veggies, then about 10-15 minutes laboring over the stove or all day in the crockpot
Good for leftovers: yes.
servings: 8-10
cost: $10-$15

Ingredients:
1 package Yakisoba noodles (sometimes available at Safeway, but Berkeley Bowl Marketplace always carries them, as well as Koreana Plaza and other Asian markets). Or you can substitute rice or another noodle (see above).
1-2 lbs chicken, beef, or pork, cut into small strips or chunks
tofu, cut into small 1-2 inch chunks (optional)
splash of vegetable oil
soy sauce
4-6 carrots, cut longways into 3 inch strips
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic (optional)
1 teaspoon minced ginger (optional)
stir-fry sauce, teriyaki sauce, or other asian sauce such as Yoshida's - they carry it at Costco
1 can baby corn (available at Safeway or asian markets)
1 can water chestnuts (available at Safeway or asian markets)
12 oz bag of broccoli (or just chop it yourself)
handful of chinese peas
OR you can just get a bag of the frozen stir fry mix in place of the veggies above, and add your own onions and whatever else the bag is missing

The Process:
Stovetop method:
Saute meat, onions, garlic and oil in a wok or large (Very large!) skillet until the meat is mostly done. If you have them, use a long pair of cooking chopsticks to stir. It makes you feel special. Remove the meat, and add the rest of the veggies, tofu, and sauce, and saute until veggies are almost crisp-tender, then add back the meat, add soy sauce to taste and cook a few more minutes. Prepare noodles according to package directions, and enjoy!

Slow-cooker method:
Place meat, onion, garlic, ginger, and carrot in slow cooker; cover with stir-fry sauce. Cook on low for about 6-7 hours, or on high for 3. Add other veggies, and more stir-fry sauce or soy sauce if you need more liquid. Stir together and cook for another hour or 2. Prepare noodles according to package directions, and serve. Add soy sauce as needed to taste.

Noodle notes: You can stir your noodles into your meat and veggies before serving, but my family has always found it easier to divide portions if you serve the noodles separately (this way, one person doesn't take all the noodles! Or end up with only veggies.) and then each person stirs their own noodles into their stir-fry.

Make it Vegetarian: just use tofu instead of meat! If you do this, make sure you get a "harder" variety of Japanese-style tofu, the softer ones will fall apart on you.

#16: Buttermilk Cornbread with a Twist

2011-01-19T09:12:00.000-08:00

Dear Tiffany,
In Sunday School this week we made those buttermilk pancakes that I posted last week, and so I had some extra buttermilk that I wanted to use up, so I decided to make cornbread! Now, the cornbread recipe on the back of the box is not too bad, I used it last week and it turned out ok. But just like with the pancakes, buttermilk makes your cornbread come out light and fluffy. (I didn't use all of mine still, though, so look out for more recipes using buttermilk in the next week!) Cornbread without the buttermilk can easily turn out dense and dry, but mine was moist and fluffy.
The recipe below is adapted from one I found at smittenkitchen.com, and there are a few variations at the bottom; some are mine, some are borrowed. For our Children's Ministry meeting last night I made this cornbread with goat cheese, fresh basil, and a caramelized onion topping. There weren't leftovers. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures before it was devoured, so the picture below is of the same recipe but with no onion topping, and its a lot "flatter" than the original because this one used less batter. The original was about twice as thick.

Basil & Goat Cheese Cornbread

The Basics:
Prep time: About 5-10 minutes to make the batter, then about 30 minutes in the oven.
Good for leftovers: yes. Cover it with foil to keep it moist, and you may want to reheat in the microwave (without the foil!) to serve, but it was good cold too.
servings: 10-20 depending on how small you cut them
cost: less than $5 for basic cornbread; variations should still be under $10

Ingredients:
1 cup cornmeal
2 cups buttermilk
1 3/4 cups (8 ounces) unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons (.75 ounce) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon (.05 ounce) baking soda
1 teaspoon (.25 ounce) salt
3 large (5 ounces) eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) bacon fat, vegetable oil or butter

The Process:
If you are using coarse/polenta-style cornmeal, you may want to stir your cornmeal and buttermilk together, cover, and let the mixture soak overnight to soften your cornmeal a bit. (I used regular cornmeal so I skipped this step)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add the buttermilk and cornmeal, melted butter, and any extras you're including (see below for variations) and stir until blended.

Place the bacon fat, vegetable oil, or butter in a 10inch square or round baking dish and place it in the oven.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Gradually pour your dry ingredients into the wet mixture, 1/3 at a time. Mix well until the lumps are gone but stop there.

Carefully remove the pan from the oven with a potholder, and swirl the hot butter around until the bottom of the pan is coated. Pour your batter into the pan, place in the oven, and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool at least 15 minutes in the pan before cutting or removing the bread. Serve hot.

Variations on a Theme:
Simplest: you can skip the hot-grease-in-the-pan thing by just spraying your pan with non-stick spray, but you won't get the crispy outer edge or the buttery (or bacon-y) flavor that goes with it.
Sweet Thang! Make your cornbread just a bit sweeter by adding 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons honey to your wet mixture.
Basilicious: For a delicious accent to both flavor and color, add 1/3-1/2 cup chopped fresh basil to the wet mixture.
So Corny! add 2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels to your wet mixture.
Say Cheese! Goat Cheese brings a nice subtle tang to your cornbread. Let a 6 oz log of goat cheese sit on the counter for awhile so its nice and soft, then, before putting together your wet mixture, whisk your goat cheese in your large mixing bowl until fluffy. Then add your eggs one at a time, whisking and scraping the sides after adding each egg. Then continue adding your wet mixture per the recipe above.
Top it Off: Before you start mixing, saute 1 onion, chopped, in 2 tablespoons of butter, bacon fat, or vegetable oil, until they are well caramelized and brown on the edges. Once you've made your batter and poured it into the pan, pour the onions evenly over the top to create the topping, and bake as usual.

Don't feel limited to one of these variations; mine last night was sweetened, flavored with basil and goat cheese, and topped with onions. (the picture above is the same but without the toppings)

#15 Tomato Basil Bisque

2011-01-16T22:37:00.000-08:00

Tomato Basil Bisque!

Dear Tiffany,
You know those premade soups they have at Safeway? You know, in the little tupperware, or you can serve it yourself hot? Someone brought a few of them to Phyllis's birthday dinner the other night, and the tomato basil bisque was amazing. Everyone kept commenting on it, until there wasn't any left, and I went home determined to find out how to make it myself. After scouring google, I found this recipe for a lightened up version. The surprise ingredient? Butternut squash.

Wait! Don't run away. Or switch over to facebook and ignore this post. Butternut squash is actually very simple to work with. It doesn't have the super tough skin like other winter squashes, and it was easier than I expected to include in this soup.

What is a "bisque?" (Or "beeeeesk" as someone called it the other night) A bisque is simply a soup with milk or cream. Not nearly so complicated as it sounds. I mostly followed Carol's recipe, but I adapted it for my slow cooker, and went the less healthy route since I had cream from a previous adventure that I needed to use up. I'll list both the high fat and low fat versions below.

The Basics:
Prep time: About 30 minutes, plus several hours in the crock pot, OR a little over an hour (stove method)
Good for leftovers: yes. If there is any left.
servings: 12 1-cup servings
cost: under $10

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter or extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced (1.5 tsp)
2 (24.5-ounce) can whole tomatoes, with liquid
1 can (6 oz) roasted garlic tomato paste
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
2-2 1/2 cups butternut squash, peeled and diced
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 to 1 1/4 cups cream OR nonfat half-and-half or nonfat yogurt OR milk
Several dashes of Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce

Several shakes of red pepper flakes

The Process (Slow-cooker version)

Saute butter or oil, onions, and garlic until the onions and garlic are golden. Add the butter first and let it warm up while you chop the onions, then add the onions and garlic (if you add the garlic without the onions, its really easy to burn your garlic! yikes! For some reason the garlic does better at not burning when its not lonely). Make sure to stir once in awhile!

While the onions and garlic are cooking, prepare your butternut squash. Cut off the ends, slice it down the middle (if its really long you may want to cut it in half short-ways before slicing down the middle). Remove the peel with a vegetable peeler, and dice the squash as you would any other veggie. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, broth, basil, thyme, butternut squash, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to the crock pot, and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high for 4-6.

Puree the soup in a blender (or use an immersion blender). Return soup to the crock pot, stir in cream or milk, and add Tabasco sauce to taste. Cover and let it cook until soup is hot. Serve with Parmesan or fresh basil or parsley as a garnish.

Stove-top Version

Same as above, but saute the garlic and onions in a large saucepan instead of a skillet, and just add the remaining ingredients to the saucepan once the onions are done. Cover partly and cook for 30-35 minutes until the squash is fork-tender. Puree the soup, add cream or milk and hot sauce, and return to heat and bring just to a boil before serving.

Notes

In the Crock When I doubled this recipe, it filled my 6 quart crock pot. Make sure your crock is big enough to fit the amount you want to make, before you start!

Freeze! If you made your own chicken broth and froze it, don't worry about thawing it before adding it to the slow cooker. Just run the bag under warm water to loosen it up a bit, cut it open with scissors or a knife, and drop the entire ice cube in the crock. It'll be ok, I promise.

To make it vegetarian: just use veggie broth instead of chicken broth.
Don't want to get a skillet dirty? Its probably ok to just dump your butter, onions, and garlic in the pot. It won't taste quite as good (though still pretty yummy!), and you have to take the time to cut the squash anyways so to me it made more sense to get the skillet dirty. But that's just me.

You might think this recipe has a lot of prep time, but think about how much you would spend for one of those little containers at Safeway. You can make a whole bunch, and freeze or refrigerate the containers.

-joy

#14: BBQ Ribs (slow cooker)

2011-01-12T21:00:00.000-08:00

Dear Tiffany,
In case you didn't know, barbecue still tastes good in January. Its just...its cold outside. And me, I'd rather come home to my house smelling wonderful and barbecuey and dinner ready to eat, than coming home and having to babysit the barbecue in the cold.
I put these ribs in the crock pot before work today, and then I was thinking about them all afternoon. Mouthwatering. Imagining the smell that would fill up my nose as I walked in the door. Ahhh...
Of course, then I got home and reality hit, right after that smell. See, my newest attempt at creating a good habit is "no Bible, no dinner." You know, "man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD." (Deuteronomy 8:3). Spiritual food is more important than physical food, right? The idea is that if I do my Bible reading earlier in the day, I'll be more alert for it and actually be able to absorb what I'm reading. So today I got home, realized I hadn't done my Bible reading, and spent my time in God's word with my tummy rumbling. And then, thanked God for providing me with some great food, and sat down to eat my ribs.

I got this idea from Stephanie O'Dea's blog, and I made it her way the first few times, but I like mine with a little more zip so I added more pepper and the chipotle chili pepper to spice it up. Of course, she has kids so that wouldn't work so well for her! (when you have a bunch of little Sams and Tiffanys someday you may want to set the pepper to the side and have
Sam add his own). The chipotle pepper really gives it a flavor boost, not just a spicy boost.

The Basics:
Prep time: About 5 minutes, then several hours in the crock pot.
Good for leftovers: yes
servings: 4-6
cost: under $10

Ingredients:
1 bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce
2 lbs beef or pork ribs
1 tsp chipotle chili pepper (or more if you like it spicier!)
1 medium-small onion
2 heaping spoonfuls minced garlic
dash of black pepper (I actually use more like a 1/8 of a teaspoon or something, but I didn't measure it)

The Process:

Arrange your ribs in the crock pot. Its ok if you haven't thawed them yet. Chop your onion and add it, along with the garlic, pepper, and chipotle pepper. Drown everything in Barbecue sauce. Put the lid on and cook for 5-6 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low. Mix it up really well so all the ribs are coated with sauce before serving- you may want to mix in some salt as well, or just let each person add salt to taste. It will need it, but I'm kind of a salt-it-yourself person. Your ribs will be falling off the bone; unless, like mine, they were boneless, in which case they'll just be falling apart. This goes really great with corn on the cob, baked potatoes, or a yummy bread.

These are so good, its just kind of ridiculous how easy they are. You can do the same thing with barbecue chicken; it just absorbs the sauce so well after cooking all day.

Enjoy!
-Joy

#13: Buttermilk Pancakes!

2011-01-12T13:58:00.000-08:00

Dear Tiffany,

I'm back from vacation! (Well you already know this, I saw you at church Sunday. But I'm now back to the blogging world too!) I figured since this blog is titled "Breakfast at Tiffany's" I should probably eventually post a breakfast recipe, so here you are! Except, I've rarely made this for actual breakfast time, because I'm kind of silly about breakfast foods. I don't believe they should be restricted to the AM hours, so these were lunch for Stephanie and I on Monday!

There's nothing wrong with pancakes from a mix...but the thing is, the mix actually doesn't really save you any time, since you still have to mix everything up. And these just taste better. I borrowed this recipe from somewhere on the web a few years ago...and scribbled it onto a piece of paper that's been stuck to my fridge since then. But unfortunately, I can't remember where I found it. So if the owner of this recipe ever reads this blog, please let me know so I can give you credit!

The Basics:
Prep time: About 5-10 minutes to make the batter, then about 5 minutes-ish for each batch you cook.
Good for leftovers: of course! This recipe makes a LOT, so I'll list some suggestions for how to use the extra at the end of this post.
servings: supposedly 12
cost: less than $5.

Ingredients:
5 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 cups milk
5 eggs
6 TBL butter or margarine (one stick)
5 cups flour
5 tsp sugar
5 tsp baking soda
5 tsp baking powder
pinch salt

The Process:
Melt the butter. For me, the easiest way to do this is to unwrap the stick of butter and put in a bowl in the microwave for a minute or so. Two warnings: make sure to cover the bowl with plastic wrap so you don't get butter splatters all over your microwave, and be CAREFUL taking that bowl out of the microwave. It will be very hot.

While the butter is melting, crack your eggs and dump them into a very large mixing bowl, and whisk until lightly beaten. Add milk, buttermilk, and butter and stir.

Mix the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder) in a separate mixing bowl. Add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients in thirds (by pouring in one third at a time and mixing before adding the next third). I learned this tip from my friend Jennifer when she was at culinary school, and it makes it much easier to get everything mixed well, without clumps or dry spots. Stir until just blended, but no more- over-stirring will make your pancakes come out flat instead of fluffy.

Can you see the bubbles?

Spray a griddle or flat skillet with non-stick spray and heat it up (If you're using a griddle, set it for about 350 degrees). Ladle your pancake batter onto the hot surface, each pancake a few inches apart because they will expand. You can make them as big or as small as you want. In a few minutes, you'll notice the top of each pancake getting bubbly- this means its about time to flip them over. Cook on the other side until it turns a nice golden-brown color, then remove to a separate plate. (If it looks like you turned it over too soon, you can flip it back at the end to brown the other side)

Top it off with your favorite syrup, or go IHOP style: whipped cream, fresh fruit, and maybe chocolate syrup!

Leftover Notes:
This recipe serves 12! That's a lot, and if you noticed, its not in measurements that are easy to cut in half. If you're not feeding an army (or the whole worship team), you have 3 choices.
1. If you're going to have a chance to make pancakes again in the next few days, just refridgerate your extra batter. It will keep for 2-3 days at least; when you pull it out you'll need to stir it again.

My cooking buddy, Stephanie T.

2. You can freeze your batter until your next pancake venture, and it will keep for a few months.
3. (My favorite) Go ahead and make the rest of the pancakes, and freeze them in ziplock bags. Then, next time you need an easy breakfast, pop a few pancakes in the toaster! My aunt likes to put hers in the microwave.

Variations on a Theme:
Blueberries, sliced bananas, sliced strawberries, or chocolate chips go great mixed in with this pancake batter. Since the recipe makes so much, separate a smaller bowl full to add extras to, so you have some of the plain stuff just in case.

Enjoy! (we did.)
-Joy

#12: Quick & Easy Sauteed Shrimp

2010-12-22T23:28:00.000-08:00

Dear Tiff,
You won't find me writing about seafood that often, because as much as I love it, my paycheck tends to go away too fast when I buy seafood. But last week, I was blessed with shrimp by the amazing, wonderful, sometimes outrageous Joey Le, and he bought too much for his shrimp cocktail, so he gave me the rest. (I think he just didn't want to peel any more). Well I had taken them out to thaw yesterday before my dinner plans changed, and I realized today I needed to eat them quick! Not in the mood for anything too laborious, so here's what I did.

1. Peel your shrimp, devein them if you want to (I'm usually too lazy too since its just an aesthetic thing, you don't have to).
2. Heat some olive oil in a skillet. throw in some garlic (mine was minced but if yours is whole that's fine), shake in some salt, and stir in your shrimp.
3. cook until the shrimp are pink, turning them over once. This should only take about 3 minutes.

I made the mistake of adding the garlic at the beginning and then taking too long to peel my shrimp, and as a result, I burned some of the garlic. You, however, will wait to add the garlic until you're adding your shrimp, and then you won't have burnt-garlic-scented-kitchen. The shrimp and the pasta I served it over came out great...minus the burned garlic, of course. Yum. It feels like fancy food. So if you ever get blessed with shrimp, you'll know what to do with it! :)

Love,
Joy

PS we need to hang out after the holidays. Its been too long!

201!

2010-12-21T14:10:00.000-08:00

Woohoo! Today, I crossed three milestones with this blog, so I'll be celebrating with some more Martinelli's! (It will go nicely with some of yesterday's Banana Oat Bread.)

1) I broke 200 pageviews! (Its 201 as I'm writing this)
2) Someone that I've never met left a comment for me today. That's a first. Its really exciting to see this is reaching more than just my family and my church.
3) that someone I mentioned above? It was the Crockpot Lady (Stephanie O'Dea) that I love and talk about nearly every time I do a slow cooker recipe. It was kind of like getting an email from your hero. Or a celebrity. And knowing that it wasn't spam. Thank you, Steph! I know I told you this already, but you totally made my day!

500, here we come!
Now, to figure out what to do for lunch since Plan A turned into today's kitchen fail.

Kitchen Failblog 12/21/2010

2010-12-21T13:44:00.000-08:00

Dear Tiffany,
Here's my fail/lesson learned for the day.
I wanted to try out this recipe for Cuban Black Beans and Rice, since I had most of the ingredients on hand and it looks pretty healthy and yummy. I followed all the directions, except I saved the salt for the end because I know that keeps the beans from softening. I soaked my beans all day yesterday, and put this in the crockpot last night right before I went to bed. It should've been cooked in plenty of time for lunch today. I even remembered to turn the crock pot on, and I woke up to a house smelling of yummy peppers and black beans. But when I went to eat them....tough and crunchy, not done. Ick.
I decided to ask Google a few questions to find the cause of my undercooked beans, and I discovered the answer in several comments on several other recipes and blogs about beans...
Apparently acidic foods such as the tomatoes I put in my crock pot last night have the same effect as salt. The beans don't soften :(. Lesson learned: crock pot beans are very easy, I've done them plenty of times before. But don't add salt or tomatoes/anything acidic until after the beans have already cooked and softened!
Looks like leftover meatballs for dinner tonight.
-Joy

#11: Banana Oat Bread (oven or slow-cooker)

2010-12-20T17:58:00.000-08:00

Banana-Oat Bread

Hi Tiffany,
I had a few bananas left that were getting mushy, and I needed to use them soon, so I made Banana Bread today. Apparently you can bake in a crock pot! Who would've known? I got the idea from the crock pot lady.

Now, why would someone want to bake in a slow cooker, you might ask? You might want to bake in your slow cooker if:
1) you don't have an oven
2) your oven is broken
3) your oven is already full of other goodies for holiday dinners
4) you don't want to stay near your kitchen while your appliances are at work
5) its too hot to run your oven.
6) you think slow cookers are the bomb.

#1 applies to me. and #6.
Anyways...I adapted a recipe from cooks.com. I wanted to try some with orange marmalade, but didn't have orange juice as most of those recipes call for, so I just added a little orange marmalade to this one, along with some chopped walnuts.

The Basics:
Prep time: About 20 minutes, then 45-50 min. in the oven or about 4 hours in the slow cooker.
Good for leftovers: of course!
servings: about 10 slices
cost: less than $5. I didn't have to go to the store for this recipe.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup softened butter/margarine OR 1/2 cup shortening OR about 6 tablespoons of vegetable oil. But Butter will taste Better.
3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed, plus extra for sprinkling on top
2 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
2 to 3 medium very ripe bananas, mashed
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/3 cup old-fashioned oatmeal, uncooked, plus extra for sprinkling
2 tablespoons orange marmalade
1/3 cup chopped (but still chunky) walnuts, almonds, or pecans (optional)

The Process:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees OR get out your slow cooker. Grease a bread pan. If you are using the slow cooker method and don't have a bread pan that will fit inside your slow cooker, you can either use a different pan or just grease your slow-cooker and cook directly inside it, but the cook time will be less (about 2 hours)
Mash your bananas- I sliced mine in a bowl before mashing them with a fork until they were super mushy. Mix all wet ingredients (eggs, bananas, orange marmalade, milk, and butter/shortening/oil. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients a little bit at a time. If you have a mixer, use it and it will be better stirred and won't take so long. I don't have a mixer so I had to use my strong-woman-muscles to mix mine.
Spoon it all into your pan or crock pot. Sprinkle a little oatmeal and brown sugar on top. Cook in the oven for 45-50 minutes, or in the crockpot (pan method) for 4 hours on high, or 2 hours if you're cooking directly in the crock (don't open and check until its been at least 2 hours in the crockpot!). It's done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Carefully remove the pan and let it cool 10-20 minutes before taking the bread out of the pan.

Its not super sweet, but pretty yummy. It would have tasted better with real butter, but I didn't have any so I used margarine and vegetable oil instead. I think I like my mom's banana bread even more, so I will try to find out what recipe she's using and hopefully get that up here as well.

Notes:

With your Crock Pot: According to Stephanie the Crock pot lady, you're supposed to use something to prop the lid up a little to let the steam out when using a pan inside the crock. She (and I) used a chopstick. Others have suggested placing a stack of paper towels over the pan before putting the lid on, but I used the chopstick method and mine turned out fine.

Slow-cooker Apple Cider!

2010-12-15T00:30:00.000-08:00

Hi Tiff,
At tonight's dinner, you missed out on homemade hot apple cider! Wish you could have made it- we had fun making meatballs and shrimp cocktail, and laughed a lot. My house smells yummy.
This was really super simple, but Stephanie asked me to post it because after a few sips she decided she wanted to make it herself. I just filled the slow cooker (my small one is 3.5 quarts, but you could also just use your larger one and only fill with as much as you want to make) with apple juice, and dropped in about a teaspoon of whole cloves and two cinnamon sticks, and let it cook on high for 4 or 5 hours. You could do it on low all day; I just did it on high because at first I forgot to plug the slow cooker in (uh, oops?), and just keep cooking it until the spices have absorbed to your liking. If you don't want as much spice flavor, take them out after a couple of hours- I left mine in the whole time and it turned out great. Too bad the picture didn't turn out as good...

This is a great party drink! It feels kind of fancy to ladle your cider into a cup like you'd do with punch at a wedding. Plus you can set your crockpot on its "keep warm" setting and your cider will stay hot as long as you need it to. When mine finishes cooling, I'm going to pour what's left over back into the bottle and refrigerate it so I can have cider the rest of this week.

Enjoy! (we must work out a cooking date soon since you missed this one!)
-joy

Edible Christmas Critters

2010-12-14T23:32:00.000-08:00

Dear Tiffany,
Does this count as cooking? I didn't have to heat anything up, but I wanted to share with you the Christmas critters you would've gotten to make/eat if you'd been able to make it tonight. Although...we ended up too full from dinner to eat them, thanks to Joey's amazing Coctel de Camaron (Mexican Shrimp Cocktail) which I will have to make sometime. It was soooo good.

The reindeer (left) is made with a Nutter-Butter cookie, 2 stick pretzels, and mini m &m's, with peanut butter to glue it all together. You'll have to separate the cookies just a bit (without breaking them as I did!) to put the "antlers" in place, and then fill around with peanut butter to hold them in place. A small dot of peanut butter will hold the eyes and nose. I can't take credit for this one; I found it here.

Christmas Critters!

The snowman (right) is made of banana, carrot, pretzel sticks, and mini chocolate chips. You'll want to slice your banana kind of thick so that it doesn't break when you skewer it. A little sliver of carrot makes the nose, and chocolate chips stand in as eyes and buttons (the chocolate goes really well with the banana!). You can also put a triangle slice of apple on top as a hat if you so desire. I suggest you eat it sooner rather than later, because eventually the banana will start to turn brown (After several hours) and the pretzels will absorb moisture from the banana so they won't be as crunchy. I found this idea here.

The "Mr Grinch" in the center is a mean one! The face is a jalapeno pepper (though another green pepper would work also, this was what had enough space to make a face), and the hat is a sweet mini red pepper. I used Ricotta cheese for the eyes, frown, and the fluff for the santa hat, but any kind of cream cheese (or maybe even ranch dressing?) would work just as well. I can proudly say that I thought this one up all by myself! I haven't gotten brave enough to eat him yet though- I like jalapenos but usually in stuff, I've never eaten one straight up before haha. If you could find baby cucumbers, they would create a not-so-mean version of the Grinch that would be more palatable to those who aren't really into straight-up spicy.

I wouldn't recommend Mr Grinch for your first graders (though you can show them one!) as the jalapeno would be a bit much (just a bit? Its probably a bit much for you but its cute and Sam might try one...), but it might be fun to try one of the others in your class sometime. Beware, the skewers will become lightsabers and blasters and assorted other weapons with the boys! But otherwise, the snowmen especially are a relatively healthy option for a fun, edible activity.

-Joy

Aunt D'lorah's Tips for Confident Cooks: Part 1

2010-12-10T23:03:00.000-08:00

Dear Tiffany,
A few weeks ago I shared this blog with my Aunt D'lorah, who shares my love of cooking on a budget. I asked for any suggestions or tips she could give you as a new cook, and it resulted in a great procession of emails back and forth, with lots of recipes and suggestions for your kitchen. You'll like Aunt DD: she's good friends with her freezer and her microwave. I'll be posting the great material she's sending me as I am able to get through it (I have issues with posting recipes I haven't yet tried, so some of it may take me some time :) ), but I wanted to share with you an email I received from her tonight. (Thanks, Aunt DD!)

In this email, she talks about 3 tips for a new cook to become a confident cook:
1) One trait that makes you a comfortable, confident cook is seeing an ingredient and knowing the kinds of things it is used in.
2) Knowing the kinds of herbs and spices used in different categories of foods can be very liberating for a new cook.
3) The very best way to purchase herbs & spices is to find a co-op in your area that sells them in bulk; the second best way is in the ethnic grocery stores.

These will help you to gradually let go of your tight grip on the recipe book, because you will know things that you can substitute, what flavors go together, etc. You can see a recipe for which you don't have all the right ingredients, and you can find something that works from the contents of your kitchen cabinet. Better yet, you'll eventually feel confident looking through your fridge and figuring out dinner without any recipe at all! See her email below for the details:

Hi Joy,

As I was in the kitchen making brown sugar I figured I should share it with you and Tiffany....that is, brown sugar is just white sugar with molasses added....then I realized that a person who doesn't feel comfortable with their cooking skills probably doesn't have a jar of molasses in the back of their cupboard....then I realized a whole bunch of other things that add up to being a cook, comfortable with one's skills, able to improvise on a daily basis.

Let's start with the molasses. Like honey, it doesn't go bad. The jar I used was one I brought with me to California from Detroit...purchased somewhere around '93-'94. I keep mine in the fridge, other great cooks just keep it in the back of the cupboard. Admittedly, after almost 20 years there were some crystals in the jar....easy enough to deal with, with a minute in the microwave. (If you haven't noticed, the microwave is a recurring theme with me....I love the convenience...they were invented when I was in junior high and I got my first one when I was over 30 and I've never looked back. Well, before now that is.)

Looking at the molasses I realized that one trait that makes you a comfortable, confident cook is seeing an ingredient and knowing the kinds of things it is used in. Or at least a few of the standard usages....

Molasses: Barbecue Sauce, Boston Baked Beans, Gingerbread Cookies, Breads (sweet ones) and of course it's also good on top of oatmeal....

or,

Dry Mustard: Potato Salad, Deviled Eggs, some salad dressings

Then I started thinking about herbs and spices and how knowing the kinds of herbs and spices used in different categories of foods can be very liberating for a new cook.

Let's start with Italian: Oregano, Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Basil, Parsley, always onion and garlic of course, but I use them fresh, Marjoram, Black Pepper

hmmm, did I forget anything? In any case, you could even take an off-the-shelf, canned marinara sauce, add handfuls of the above herbs and have something truly special.

How about Chinese? Can you fill in the blanks? One way to gain confidence is to plug in the name of a Chinese dish into a search engine and read through all of the recipes to find the common herb/spice ingredients...and then take a look at the "unusual" ingredients as well.

You could use the same exercise with Mexican, Middle Eastern, Indian, or any other cuisine you might want to try your hand at....become familiar with the herbs and spices used by that culture and you will have an invaluable insight that will help you to experiment with the ingredients you have on hand.

It's nice to know that Salmon goes with Dill. When you decide to make a Salmon Pasta Salad, remembering the dill takes a so-so dish to extraordinary. It's nice to know the herb that gives Italian Sweet Sausage its name is Anise Seed. It's nice to know what herbs & spices go into a meatloaf, a tabbouleh salad, or pumpkin bread for that matter.

Since it's Christmas time, let's talk about Christmas baking spices: Cinnamon, Allspice, Nutmeg, Cloves, Mace, Ginger (also used in oriental cooking)

Hope this helps,

Your Aunt DD.

p.s. The very best way to purchase herbs & spices is to find a co-op in your area that sells them in bulk....That should be easy in the Bay Area, impossible in Long Beach....so the second best way I've found is in the ethnic grocery stores. The Mexican groceries sell herbs and spices in cellophane bags versus paying 10x more to get them in little glass jars at the grocery store.

#10: Fall-on-a-Spoon Sweet Potato Soup (slow-cooker)

2010-12-10T21:50:00.000-08:00

Dear Tiff,
I haven't posted for awhile, because I was eating through my leftovers to make more fridge space before I cooked anything that would create more leftovers. This is what happens when you live alone (less people to eat the food) and have a tiny fridge.

Anyways. I love sweet potatoes. Growing up, we pretty much only had them in the candied style, during the holidays. But I just adore them, and I've been trying them out in different less-desserty ways because I think they're just amazing, and pretty good for you too, and thus should not be relegated to the holidays. At some point I'll have to put up my sweet potato chili recipe that you've been asking for for awhile now, but today I made a delicious sweet potato soup.

Fall-on-a-Spoon Sweet Potato Soup

This was inspired by/adapted from a great post by Kristen Swensson Sturt (and she, of course, adapted it from another blogger). I like adaptable food. I like Kristen too, and I recommend you read her post because it was a very entertaining and informative read, and I'm likely to follow her for further inspiration. She made me smile :). It was actually Kristen who gave me the phrase "Fall on a Spoon" with which I decided to name this recipe. Credit where credit is due; that phrase perfectly describes this soup. Ahhh. Yum.

The Basics:
Prep time: About 10 minutes, then in the slow cooker all day
Good for leftovers: yes! You can even freeze some for a rainy day when you don't feel like cooking.
servings: At least 8 meal-sized servings. If you are using it as a side-dish, serve smaller portions to stretch it further
cost: less than $5

Ingredients:
2 medium or large sweet potatoes (yams will work fine as well), peeled and cut into small chunks
1 smallish onion or 1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 cup baby carrots or 2-3 small-medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1-2 tablespoons curry powder
a shake of red pepper flakes (optional for some extra zip)
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (optional)
4 cups (1 quart) chicken broth
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon maple syrup
brown sugar to taste

The Process:
Peel/chop your carrots, sweet potatoes, and onions. (Celery would be good too but I didn't have any). Add all ingredients except for milk, brown sugar, and maple syrup to the slow cooker. If you made your own chicken broth and its still frozen, that's fine! Just thaw it in the microwave a couple minutes while you're chopping so that you can cut the bag off, and dump the whole frozen chunk in your slow cooker. I store my chicken broth in quart size bags so I didn't even have to measure.

Cook on low all day. If you're around, you can stir it every once in awhile, but it won't be the end of the world. I put mine in around 9am this morning, came back after work around 6:30pm and it was great! What have I said before about soups? They are usually safe to just keep on cooking; in fact, they will often taste better the longer they cook!

Puree your mixture in the blender - usually doing 1-2 cups at a time works best. You could also use an immersion blender if you have one (I don't. But I did finally rectify my blender situation so I do have a blender now). Pour it back into the slow cooker; stir in the milk and syrup and let it cook on high for a few more minutes. (This last step isn't necessary, but your milk was likely cold, and you want your soup to be hot, so if you taste it and its lukewarm you should probably let it heat up for a few more minutes.) Test taste and add brown sugar to get it to your preferred level of sweetness. Serve hot with maple syrup drizzled over bowl. (I didn't do this to mine so you won't see it in the picture).

This was delicious, and filling enough to stand alone as a meal, but you could also serve it as a side dish. It has a very nice fall-winter-holiday feel that goes great with all this rain we've been getting.

Notes/Variations:
Not enough sweet potatoes? Today I used one smallish regular potato as well, and it worked out ok but I had to add more brown sugar to get the flavor balance right since regular potatoes...well they aren't sweet. Shocking, huh?
No blender? (Or don't feel like getting it out?) No problem. You can also serve it as a chunky type soup, and it will still taste great. On the chunky version I would nix the milk. Kristen's version had no milk, but did include brown rice. I didn't have brown rice on hand but this sounds really yummy too, I'll have to try it out next time.
Vegetarian version: just substitute veggie broth for the chicken broth.
Don't have all day? You can also do this on the stove; it should take about 40-60 minutes with only light babysitting (I've hopped in the shower while cooking my sweet potatoes and they were fine, but don't leave the house lest you burn it down!). But you know me: why would I want to babysit my food when I have a crock-pot to do that for me?

-Joy