Sunday, April 17, 2011

April Eats

Only a few more weeks until our first CSA delivery! Can't wait. Until then, I'm trying to entertain myself with some new recipes and some old favorites.

Pulled Pork with Apple Slaw

Loved the pulled pork and loved the apple slaw. Mike and I added extra Tabasco on our sandwich. What put this meal over the top was eating it the next day on a homemade baguette. Delicious!

Pulled Pork with Apple Slaw on Homemade Baguette

Pulled Pork
from A Year of Slow Cooking

4 pounds boneless pork shoulder
1 onion, sliced in rings
2 cups ketchup (a 24oz bottle seems to be exactly 2 cups. weird.)
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Use a 6 quart crockpot. Trim meat, and place into your crockpot. Add sliced onion. Squeeze in 2 cups of ketchup, and then pour 1/2 cup warm water into the ketchup bottle and shake. Pour the ketchup-y water into your crock. Add vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire, Tabasco and salt. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until meat shreds easily with a fork.

Apple Slaw
from All Recipes

3 cups chopped cabbage
1 unpeeled red apple, cored and chopped
1 unpeeled Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped
1 carrot, grated
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
2 green onions, finely chopped
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice, or to taste

In a large bowl, combine cabbage, red apple, green apple, carrot, red bell pepper, and green onions. In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, brown sugar, and lemon juice. Pour dressing over salad.


Peanut Butter Snickers Cookies

Do you like peanut butter? Chocolate Chips? Caramel? Cookies? GO MAKE THESE NOW. And if you have a little helper like I do, bring them along but don't let them eat all the snickers.

Snickers Cookies

Mom's Little Helper


Recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chopped Snickers Peanut Butter Squared candy bars
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix until combined. Add the milk and the vanilla extract and mix again.

Add the flour mixture and beat until flour disappears. Stir in the chopped Snickers and chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets. Gently flatten each cookie ball with the palm of your hand. Bake for 10-11 minutes, or until cookies are slightly brown on the edges.

Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies


Friday Night Pizza

This week's pizza was made with spinach, goat cheese, roasted red peppers and leftover homemade marinara (Mario Batali Simple Marinara). Yum!

Pizza with Spinach, Goat Cheese, Red Peppers and Homemade Marinara


Cinnamon Rolls

I've been wanting to make these for a long time. Why did I wait so long?! Pure heaven. They were quite easy to make, too. Time consuming but simple. I wanted to eat the entire pan but I found strength and froze most of the pan for later indulgence. The recipe is from one of my very favorite baking books - The Weekend Baker. The author gives great directions and always provides make-ahead directions.

Cinnamon Rolls with Icing


Cumin Roasted Cauliflower Soup
from Serious Eats

We've been meaning to try out some of the recipes from the Eat for Eight Bucks series on Serious Eats and finally got around to trying this soup. The verdict? Easy, delicious and cheap! Perfect!

Cumin Roasted Cauliflower Soup


1 medium head cauliflower
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon salt
1 large onion, diced
1 garlic clove
3-4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
Cayenne Pepper
¼ cup heavy cream
Cilantro for garnish (optional)

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 400°F.

Cut cauliflower into 2-inch florets. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, toss cauliflower with 1 tablespoon of oil, salt, and cumin to coat. Roast in the oven until the cauliflower is just beginning to turn golden brown, but still has a little bite to it, about 20 minutes.

In a medium Dutch oven or lidded saucepan, heat the remaining oil over a medium flame. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for an addition minute. Add the cauliflower, stock, and a dash of cayenne, and bring to a boil. Partially cover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until the cauliflower is very tender, about 10 minutes.

Puree the soup using an immersion blender, or a standing blender. Return to the pot and add the cream. Thin the soup as necessary with additional stock until you reach your desired consistency. Taste for seasoning, and add more salt and cayenne to taste. Serve.


Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpea Pasta

I loved the simple flavors of this pasta. I can't locate the recipe for this one but all I did was roast some cauliflower and chickpeas (with olive oil) until the chickpeas begin to have a crunch to them. Toss that with the cooked pasta. Throw on some croutons (bake some chopped crusty bread for about 10 minutes while the other stuff is roasting) and top with a dollop of ricotta. And don't forget to salt the pasta water! Easy peasy!

Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpea Pasta with Ricotta


Hot German Slaw

What do you do with some leftover cabbage? Make hot german slaw! Good for your soul but not for your arteries.

Hot German Slaw


Baked Ziti

This recipe is from March 2009 Cooks Illustrated (psst...). I will continue to make this recipe my entire life. It's absolutely perfect.

Baked Ziti

Sunday, April 3, 2011

End of Winter Doldrums

I can barely stand the wait until our first box of fresh veggies from the farm. We're going with Harmony Valley again this year and can't wait for spring's bounty of radishes, ramps, arugula, asparagus, etc.

In the meantime, I've been experimenting with slow cooker recipes and bread baking.

Sweet & Sour Chicken (from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook)

This was okay. Not great and I wouldn't make it again. Bummer.

Sweet & Sour Chicken


St. Patrick's Day

Ever since I can remember, my family has celebrated St. Patrick's Day with a corned beef dinner. The funny thing is that I don't think we're Irish. Scottish, maybe, but not Irish. The last 5 or so years, I've been using the same soda bread recipe. Perhaps soda bread should be dry but I like mine moist. This makes phenomenal french toast the next day.

Soda Bread


Wild Rice Soup

Sometimes you just need some creamy wild rice soup that will stick to your ribs. Well, at least I do. Love the recipe from A Good Appetite.

Wild Rice Soup


Ebelskivers

Mike received an Ebelskiver pan for Christmas two years ago and has made some tasty creations. They usually contain something sweet inside - raspberry jam, nutella, etc. This time we decided to go savory with the Reuben Ebelskiver. Delicious.

Reuben Ebelskivers - cooking

Reuben Ebelskivers


Sugar Crusted Popovers

This recipe had been circulating on my facebook feed and I needed to give it a try. It was pretty much like eating a donut. Yum! I need to make popovers more often. They're so easy!

Sugar-Crusted Popovers


Bread Baking

It was a long week. Mike worked 7 days in a row and my little man had been sick for four days. We were stuck at home and I was getting bored. So, what do I do? Try my hand at artisan bread! Mike usually does the bread baking but I decided to give it a shot, too. I made a simple batard for my first loaf. It turned out quite well! I have dough in the refrigerator for another loaf. Maybe I'll make a baguette and practice my shaping skills some more.

My first artisan loaf - simple batard

















I have a fun menu lined up for this week - stay tuned!