Shepherd’s Pie – for the anglophile in all of us

Tags

casserole, ground beef, mashed, potatoes, Shepherd's Pie

I discovered this great dish of ground beef stew topped with mashed potatoes in high school when I had a close friend who was English.  Spending time in an English household led me to appreciate some of the finer things in life: sweet and milky black tea, Manchester United, dipping ‘chips’ (french fries) into a fried egg’s yolk and my friend’s Dad’s excellent Shepherd’s Pies!  At this time, I also developed a healthy fear of daleks…

Shepherd’s Pie is delicious and reasonably healthy, depending on how much butter and cream you like to use in your mashed potatoes.  You can throw in whatever vegetables that you have in the fridge that need using up, that’s why this recipe has broccoli!   You could easily chop up the veggies very finely in a food processor to fool any picky eaters you might happen to be cooking for.  Another great thing is that you can make it a ‘One Pot Wonder’ if you have a nice big dutch oven to make the ground beef stew in.  Also, you can tailor the dish to how much mashed potatoes you have to use up; if you have just a few cups of mashed potatoes, put it in a deeper casserole dish or dutch oven but if you have a lot of potatoes, spread it out in a 9″x13″ casserole dish for more potato-y surface area.

This is a great, full meal in one dish that is packed with veggies, easy on the budget, and usually is a big hit with the manly, ‘meat and potatoes,’ men in my life.  So far, every man I’ve served my Shepherd’s Pie to has loved it; both my fireman and my college buddy, Sasha, who is a substantial and impressively mustachioed man, really like this one.

[*Side Note*  Seriously folks, please check out Movember, support the mustache bearing men you come across, and maybe donate to testicular and prostate cancer research and awareness? http://us.movember.com/mospace/5293829%5D

Another fan of this dish was a former gentleman caller, who is a great big, bearded, Scottish lad, so I think I’m on the right track as far as getting some authentic flavors in my Shepherd’s Pie.

Shepherd’s Pie

Serves 4 – cost approx $.84 per serving

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef ($1.99)
• 1 small onion, small dice ($.06)
• 3 ribs celery, small dice ($.11)
• 2 carrots, small dice ($.12)
• 1 small broccoli, stem peeled and small diced, florets cut into bite size pieces ($.33)
• salt and black pepper, to taste
• 3 oz or 1/2 small can of tomato paste ($.25)
• 1/4 cup A.P. flour
• 3 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cups stock, any kind, I used vegetable stock
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1/4 cup parsley, minced
• 2 tbs fresh thyme, minced
• 3-5 cups mashed potatoes
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese ($.25)

Preheat your oven to 375 F and grease a 9″x13″ baking dish (only if you’re not going to use a dutch oven or cast iron pot)

Begin by browning the meat in a oven proof pot or large saute pan if you’re planning to transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish.  When the meat is mostly cooked and the fat has rendered out, add in the onion, celery, carrot and broccoli stems.  Season with salt and black pepper and cook with the beef for 5-8 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to cook.  Add in the tomato paste and flour and cook for 5 minutes while stirring frequently to brown the paste and cook out the raw taste in the flour.  Next, add in the Worcestershire sauce then the stock.  Bring the mixture up to a simmer and be sure to scrape the browned goodies off the bottom.

When the beefy goodness is happily simmering, add in the parsley, thyme, broccoli florets and frozen peas.  Continue to simmer for 5-10 minutes to thicken the mixture and cook the vegetables.  Adjust the seasonings and transfer all the goodies to your prepared baking dish.  Top with an even layer of mashed potatoes then sprinkle the parmesan over potatoes.  Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes then broil for 5 minutes to brown the cheese and potatoes on top.  Now here’s the hard part, wait till it cools!  It’s really hot! 🙂

A piping-hot pan of goodness!

Leeky Sausage Casserole – Thanksgiving Wind-down

Tags

casserole, leeks, sausage, southern

I took a bloggy-break for Thanksgiving, as I was hosting my first big holiday in our new house.  I have done several holiday meals, both as a private chef and for my family, but never in my own home with lots of relatives visiting.  It went fantastically, with guests ranging from 5 to 75 years old, including some bonus firemen who couldn’t go home for the holidays, there were about 15 of us by the time we all sat down to the feast.  All the food barely fit on the tables and nobody left their seats hungry.

When the dust settled, we found out that we A LOT of leftovers.  So, I portioned up the turkey pickin’s, mashed potatoes and ham bits for the freezer to use up when I start feeling the pinch of Christmas expenses.

I figure that, by now, everyone is tired of turkey sandwiches and Thanksgiving leftovers by now, so this turkey-free recipe is based the ‘Sausage and Leek Buffet Casserole’ recipe from the cookbook ‘PIG: King of the Southern Table’ by Villas.  I had got a bunch of breakfast sausage for free with my coupons and whenever I need to find a Southern, pork based recipe, this book is always my secret weapon.  However delicious it was, even my fireman, who could eat a stick of butter straight, said it was very, very rich.

I could tell from the start that this recipe had great flavors but needed some tweaking to turn it into a healthy(er) week-night meal.  I toned down the richness of this casserole by substituting condensed soup for the heavy cream in the original.  I toned down the cost by combing onions with the leeks and putting the mixture over a base of egg noodles.  And, of course, everything is better with a nice gratin topping.  So good.

Leeky Sausage Casserole –served with garlic bread

Serves 4-5 – cost approx $.99 per serving

Ingredients

• 12 oz package egg noodles ($.89)
• 8 oz breakfast sausage ($0 with coupons!)
• 2 large onions, thinly sliced ($.14)
• 3 leeks, whites thinly sliced – save the green parts for stock! ($1.67)
• salt and black pepper – to taste
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp dry sage
• 2 Tbs minced parsley
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper – optional if you don’t like spicyness
• 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup ($.50)
• 3/4 cup / 1 can milk ($.24)
• 3/4 cup / 1 can vegetable stock
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan ($.25)
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs

Can you tell that I love my new blue plate? 🙂

Preheat the oven to 375 F.  Prepare a 9″x13″ baking pan with some sort of grease of your choosing, spray oil, bacon fat, butter…

Put on a pot of water to boil.  When the water comes to a boil, salt it liberally and par cook the egg noodles, then drain them.

Brown the breakfast sausage in a large saute pan, breaking it into small pieces, then remove, keeping the sausage fat in the pan.  Saute the onions and leeks in the sausage fat, season with the salt and pepper.  When the vegetables are cooked, add in the nutmeg, sage, parsley and crushed red pepper.  Saute one minute more.  Stir in the cream of mushroom soup, then add in one can’s worth of milk and vegetable stock, swishing the can to get out any soup sticking to the sides.  Mix the vegetables and liquids together and simmer for 5 minutes.  Taste it and adjust the seasonings, if necessary.

To assemble the casserole: lay the egg noodles in the prepared pan, cover the noodles with the veggie and soup mixture, then the browned sausage crumbles.  Mix the bread crumbs and the parmesan cheese to make the gratin topping, spread over the casserole for the final layer.  Bake at 375F for 15-20 minute, or until the top is golden brown and delicious.

Three Sisters Hash – everything is better with a fried egg on it…

Tags

beans, corn, hash, Mexican, squash, vegetarian

As we all know, the Native Americans were much more clever about working with their environment than their Imperialist conquers, especially when it comes to agriculture.  Indigenous groups from what is now the United States to what is now Central America planted the Three Sisters: corn, beans and squash.

These ingredients are the perfect partners.  The corn stalks provide a structure for the climbing beans to grow on and the prickly squash leaves served as a deterrent to pests and predators.  Companion planting something, like corn, which depletes the soil with a nitrogen fixing plant, like beans, to replenish the soil’s nutrients preserves the fertility of the land.  Nutritionally speaking, the Three Sisters are also a great team.  The corn provides a filling source of starch, the beans provide hearty protein and the squash is packed with great vegetable vitamins and minerals.  The Three Sisters are great for us humans and great for the earth we all depend on.

I used the Three Sisters in a yummy and savory hash that would be great for any meal of the day.  I stretched out my ingredients with some potatoes and onions to make a big ol’ pan of hash then topped it off with a fried egg.  Eggs are one of the few protein sources that contain all of the amino acids we need, all packaged up in a tidy little shell!  What a lovely, healthy, vegetarian meal this turned out to be, well, except for my undying affection for bacon grease.

Three Sisters Hash

Serves 4 – cost approx $.82 per serving

Ingredients

• 2 Tbs bacon grease or vegetable oil
• 1 onion, medium dice ($.06)
• 2-3 cups butternut squash, medium dice ($.63)
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 4 russet potatoes, baked, medium dice ($.30)
• 1 cup frozen corn ($.25)
• 2-3 cups pinto beans, cooked – from 1 cup dried beans ($.50)
• 2 scallions, minced ($.20)
• 1/4 cup parsley, minced
• 1 Tbs chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• salt and pepper – to taste
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 3 oz cheddar cheese, shredded or sliced ($.69)
• 4 eggs ($.40)

Preheat the oven to 375 F and grease a 9″x13″ pan.  Heat the bacon grease or vegetable oil in a large saute pan and cook the onion and butternut squash for 10 minutes.  Next, add the garlic and saute another 5 minutes.  Mix the sauteed veggies with the potatoes, corn, beans, scallions, parsley and spices.  Pour these goodies into the prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes.  Top with the cheese and bake another 10 minutes.  While the cheese is getting all melty and delicious, fry the eggs in a non stick pan and viola!

I ❤ over easy eggs!

Smoked Chicken and Andouille Gumbo – Sunday Soup-day de nouveau!

Tags

andouille, cajun, gumbo, sausage, smoked chicken, southern

Before I moved up to the mountains, I helped a friend from culinary school with his ‘pop-up restaurant’ events.  It was so much fun, we spent the whole day making up a five course meal with wine pairings and served anywhere between 50 and 100 people.  My favorite event was, by far, his Mardi Gras menu!  We jammed out to blues all day to get into the mood and served up King Cakes, blackened catfish and, the pièce de résistance: smoked chicken gumbo with yellow rice, with a ‘lilly-pad’ of a sweet potato chip and a fried frog’s leg with a little scallion ‘cat-tail.’  Amazing taste and a ridiculously fun presentation.  Needless to say, we had a lot of fun with our food.

Unfortunately, I don’t own a smoker yet.  (‘Yet’ being the operative word.)  This doesn’t mean that you can’t achieve that delicious, smoky flavor in your food though!  I used the smoke-roasting technique in my grill to smoke some chicken thighs.  I simply fired up my gas grill and made the nice little cross hatch marks on the chicken to par cook it, then moved the chicken thighs to the top rack and put some soaked cedar kindling on the bottom rack of the grill, closed the lid and let her go for 10 minutes.  Easy peasy!  After that, I kept the chicken in a warm oven for a few minutes to finish cooking it through.

Cast-iron cornbread!

In addition to this Smoked Chicken and Andouille Gumbo, I served some cornbread (from Alice Waters’ ‘The Art of Simple Food’) and yellow rice pilaf.  As I didn’t want to use the most expensive spice in the world, saffron, to make my rice yellow, I added a pinch of turmeric to my basic rice pilaf.

Bright, yellow rice, without breaking the bank!

Smoked Chicken and Andouille Gumbo– served with yellow rice and cornbread

serves 4 – cost approx $.73 per serving, cost approx $1.01 per serving including sides

Ingredients

• 6 oz andouille sausage, 1/4 inch slice ($.75)
• 2 Tbs bacon drippings (you could use all butter if you don’t have bacon fat like this crazy Southerner does…)
• 2 Tbs butter ($.06)
• 4-5 Tbs All Purpose flour
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 onion, medium dice ($.09)
• 1 green bell pepper, medium dice ($.99)
• 3 ribs celery, medium dice ($.21)
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dry thyme
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1-2 cups smoked chicken, shredded – rotisserie chicken would be an excellent substitution ($.56)
• salt – to taste
• cayenne pepper – to taste
• 1-2 tsp file powder
• 2 Tbs parsley, minced

Heat a large pot to medium and brown up the sausage slices then remove them.  Next, add in the bacon grease and butter to melt and reduce the heat to medium low.  Add in the flour to make a roux.  For gumbo you want a rich brown roux, so stir frequently (you don’t have to stir constantly, but keep a watchful eye on it) for 10-15 minutes.  As you make your roux, you might scrape up little dark bits from the sausage, so don’t worry if there are little black specks in your roux.  However, if it looks and smells like the roux is burned, toss it out and try again.

Look for this rich brown color in your roux.

Add in the diced ‘trinity’ veggies to the roux with a pinch of salt.  Saute the vegetables in the roux for 10-15 minutes, stirring often.

Next, add in the chicken stock, bay leaves, thyme and Worcestershire sauce, and stir so that there are no roux lumps.  Let simmer for 20 minutes on low.  Add in the shredded chicken and sausage that you browned in the beginning and simmer another 15 minutes.  Check the seasonings and add salt and cayenne pepper to your liking.  Turn off the heat and let the gumbo sit for 5 minutes, then mix in the file powder and parsley and let sit another 5 minutes.  Now you’re ready to laissez les bons temps rouler!

Halibut Cakes with Dijonaise dipping sauce

Tags

cakes, fish, fried, halibut

I might have mentioned this before, but my Daddy is an awesome fisherman.  He has so much fun planning fishing trips to Alaska and seems to be able to pull trout out of every lake we’ve been to in the Sierras.  Some of my fondest memories are about fishing with my Daddy, from learning how to cast in the front yard with my pink fishing pole when I was six to taking my first trout off the hook completely on my own this past summer.

My Daddy’s prize catch is definitely the 180 lb halibut he caught a few years back in Alaska.  (The picture is still hanging on my fridge, the fish is bigger than him!)  There were also a few more, rather large halibut he caught this summer too.  The fishing group he goes with filets and flash freezes all their fish for them and sends it back home, so needless to say, my family is always looking for good halibut recipes.  I hope this one works for my folks as well as it did for me!

This is a great template recipe for any type of seafood cake; you could substitute any sort of cooked mild white fish (read: what’s on sale), crab or even imitation crab if you’re a vegetarian.  The texture is firm but moist, so nice!  These halibut cakes would be excellent as an appetizer or as a main course with some side dishes.  I served these yummy little fried patties with a simple pasta salad, making my total dinner cost only about $2 for two very hungry people.

Halibut Cakes

Serves 2-3 – cost approx $.41 per serving

Ingredients

• 8 oz cooked halibut, flaked ($0 if you befriend a fisherman!)
• 2 ribs celery, very small dice ($.21)
• 2 scallions, minced ($.10)
• 1/4 cup parsley, minced
• 4 Tbs mayonnaise
• 2 eggs ($.25)
• salt and black pepper – to taste
• pinch paprika
• pinch onion powder

• 1 cup bread crumbs, divided use
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil ($.17)

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Mix all ingredients in the first section.  Add half a cup of bread crumbs to thicken the mixture, it should just hold together.  Heat the oil over medium high heat in a heavy saute pan.  Place the remaining half a cup of bread crumbs on a plate.  Form a ball of the halibut mixture about the size of a tangerine or racket ball (I find fruit and sports balls are easy points of reference for sizes in the kitchen…) and roll in the bread crumbs.  Shape the breaded ball into a patty shape.

Gently fry the patties until they are golden on both sides.  Work in small batches as to not crowd the pan and decrease the oil temperature too much.  For me this recipe made 7 halibut cakes.  After frying, remove the patties to a sheet tray and keep warm in the oven while you finish frying the rest of the halibut cakes.  Keep in the oven for about 5 minutes, which is incidentally about how long it will take to put together the dipping sauce.  🙂

Dijonaise Dipping Sauce

Makes approx 1/4 cup – cost $.45

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise ($.25)
• 1 lemon, divided use ($.20)
• garlic salt – to taste
• 1 tsp dijon mustard (or whatever mustard you like!!!)

Halve the lemon, cut up half into slices or wedges for garnishing the halibut cakes and juice the other half.  Mix the mayo, lemon juice, garlic salt and mustard to make the dipping sauce.  Done!

Jamaican Chicken Divan Casserole – culture clash in my oven…

Tags

casserole, cauliflower, chicken, divan, jamaican, jerk

This week, I had on hand both some of that de-lish jerk chicken and a few cans of condensed soup (very cheap, thank you to my coupons!) and of it this casserole was born.  I wanted to make an ethnic twist on a classic, American casserole and I think this one is a definite a success.  I chose to swap the broccoli that is traditional in a Divan Casserole for cauliflower because I know, from enjoying a healthy amount of Indian food, that it pairs nicely with curry and spices.  It helps that cauliflower was also on sale this week at my local discount grocery store.  This casserole is full of vegetables and fairly healthy, as far as casserole is concerned.

I served this flavorful casserole with some yummy cilantro lime rice, much like the rice I like so much from Chipotle.  I prepared brown, long-grain rice in a rice cooker with the juice and zest of one lime added.  After the rice was cooked, I tossed it with a handful of minced cilantro and some salt.  Easy-peasy!

Jamaican Chicken Divan Casserole –served with cilantro lime rice

Serves 4 – cost approx $.87 per serving, cost per $1.11 serving including rice

• 2 Tbs bacon grease or vegetable oil
• 1 onion, medium dice ($.09)
• 1/4 head of cauliflower, cut into small florets and the stalk cut to medium dice ($.46)
• 2 carrots, medium dice ($.22)
• 4 cloves garlic
• salt and pepper – to taste
• 2 scallions ($.17)
• 9 oz cooked chicken, cubed or shredded ($.56)
• 1 cup frozen corn ($.25)
• 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup ($.79)
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1/4 cup mayonaise ($.25)
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 cup shredded cheddar ($.42)
• 1 cup bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 375 F and grease a 9″ x 13″ baking pan; I usually use either spray oil or the wrappers from sticks of butter to grease pans.  Heat the bacon grease or veg oil in a large saute pan.  Cook the onion, cauliflower and carrots for 5 minutes; add in the garlic and saute another 2 minutes.  Season lightly with salt and pepper.  Remove from the heat and stir in the scallions, chicken and corn.  Spread the chicken and vegetable mix into the prepared pan.

In a separate bowl, stir together the condensed soup, curry powder, mayo, dijon and soy sauce.  Spread this mix evenly over the chicken mixture in the prepared pan.  Lastly, mix the shredded cheddar and bread crumbs and spread over the top of the goodies.  I find that mixing an equal mix of shredded cheese and bread crumbs and then topping my casserole and gratin makes for a really nice and crispy topping.  Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

G.B.D. = Golden Brown and Delicious!

Chicken Tortilla Soup – the revenge of Sunday Soup-Day!

Tags

chicken, one pot wonder, soup, toppings, tortilla

Recently, I did a large catering gig and ended up with a few pounds of jerk rubbed chicken left over.  I froze up what I didn’t think I would use in the next few days cubed up, in single dinner portions (about 12 oz) and kept a bit in the fridge for this awesome soup.  So, you all can expect to see a few dishes using these extra bits of chicken over the next few weeks.  🙂

This soup completely fulfilled my snowy-day soup-tastic fantasy!  It is based off of a wildly popular soup from work.  Whenever our Sous Chef makes this one, the staff gobbles down a trash can-sized bucket of it in just a few days.  It’s spicy, filling, warm and comes with a smattering of fun toppings.  What more could a girl ask for?

This soup is quite versatile, depending on whether you’re going for convenience or low cost.  If you want to just whip this soup together in an hour, use canned beans and leftover or rotisserie chicken.   If you’re looking to save a buck, cook your beans from scratch. (Make sure to cook your beans separately!  I learned the hard way that beans will not cook through if they’re in a tomato sauce.  The acid from the tomatoes keeps the beans from getting soft in the middle.)  Also, you can start from raw chicken and poach it to make both the cooked chicken and the stock in one step.  Another budget tip that I use, mostly just for the blog, is to write the prices on the packages of dry goods, so that I’ll know the cost of my dishes when I use the ingredients later; writing something down also helps me to remember a good price point for my pantry staples.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Serves 4-6 – cost approx $1.11 per serving

Ingredients

• 2 Tbs bacon grease or vegetable oil
• 2 onions, medium dice ($.17)
• 2 carrots, 1/4 inch sliced – spoon size pieces ($.23)
• 3 ribs celery, 1/4 inch sliced – spoon size pieces ($.21)
• 6 cloves garlic, thinly slicced
• 2 Jalapenos, minced
• salt – to taste
• 3 oz tomato paste – that’s half of a small can ($.25)
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• cayenne – to taste
• 8 cups chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dry  oregano
• 1 lb cooked chicken, cubed or shredded ($1)
• 1 1/2 cups black beans, cooked ($.40)
• 1 cup kidney beans, cooked – one small can ($.79)
• 1 10 oz can Rotel stewed tomatoes and chiles ($.79)
• 1/4 cup minced parsley ($.25)

Heat the bacon grease or vegetable oil in a large pot.  Saute all the vegetables for about 5 minutes, add a generous pinch of salt.  Next, add in the tomato paste, garlic salt, chili powder, paprika, cumin and cayenne and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add in the chicken stock and bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.  Add in the bay leaves, oregano and chicken and simmer for 30 minutes.  Last, add in the two types of beans, tomatoes and parsley and simmer for 10 minutes.  So simple, so good.

My fireman loves to take soup for lunch in his thermos!

Garnishes

• 1 cup shredded cheese ($.56)
• 2 cups tortilla strips – I tossed sliced corn tortillas in veg oil and baked at 375 F until crispy then sprinkled with salt ($.20)
• 1/2 avocado, sliced ($.25)
• 1/4 cup scallions, sliced ($.20)

Riso con Zucca, Salsicia e Spinaci – and a food-geek diatribe…

Tags

butternut, risotto, sausage, squash

Lately, I’ve been on a crazy butternut squash kick, mostly due to the fact that my local discount grocery store has been selling great big ones for only $1.50.  Perhaps my favorite squash dish is this rice dish that my Nonna in Tuscany makes.  It’s amazing and the very embodiment of fall time.  I love the combination of rosemary and butternut squash.  I have added some things to her recipe, namely Italian sausage and spinach, to this dish to make it more of a full, week-night, meal to feed my hungry fireman.  If you leave out the sausage, its a great primo (Italian first course) or vegetarian dish.

Now, let me clarify a bit on the term ‘risotto.’  It’s my huge pet peeve when a celebrity chef or ‘Italian’ restaurant uses incorrect terms to describe their food.  For goodness-sake, if I were on TV or making a restaurant menu, I would make darn sure what I was saying was correct!

Now I’m going to indulge my love of languages and culinary etymology for a little bit.  ‘Risotto’ is a dish and/or cooking method, it is not an ingredient or type of rice.  If you break down the Italian word into its two parts, ‘ris-otto,’ it means, roughly, ‘rice-preparation’ or ‘rice-method;’ it really doesn’t translate well, but the first bit means ‘rice’ and the second bit refers to a process or cooking method.  You can use this ‘risotto’ cooking method on any number of grains, from the traditional arborio rice or canaroli rice to other grains like farro or barley; but if you were to use a different grain, like farro, for example, the dish’s name would become ‘farrotto’ instead of ‘risotto.’

The ‘risotto’ cooking method involves sauteing some aromatics, adding a short grain Italian rice too, and then slowly adding in hot stock a little bit at at time and finishing it with a generous bit of hard cheese.  This method results in the grains releasing their starches and yielding a creamy texture without any need for gratuitous heavy cream use.  Quite delicious, no?  I was quite happy when my unofficial Mother-in-Law requested to cook some risotto together, as it’s one of my favorite dishes to make.  In a few weeks, I’m planning a post-Thanksgiving meal of Leftover Turkey Risotto, made in the official ‘risotto’ method for when the whole family comes to visit.  The holidays are here, yay!

Italians prepare short grain rices in a variety of different and amazing ways other than in the ‘risotto’ method but the resulting dishes are called ‘riso’.  Today’s recipe certainly falls in this category: it uses a grain of rice commonly used for ‘risotto’, but because it doesn’t follow the ‘risotto’ procedure it is simply called rice or ‘riso.’

Riso con Zucca, Salsica e Spinaci– Rice with squash, sausage and Spinnach

Serves 3-4 – cost approx $1.48 per serving

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground Italian sausage – I got a sale on Jimmy Dean Italian Sausage, it had a really nice fennel seed flavor… ($1.99)
• 1 medium onion, small dice ($.08)
• 2 cups butternut, medium dice – about 1 lb ($.43)
• 4 cups chicken broth, divided use – if you were making a vegetarian dish, use vegetable stock
• 1 cup arborio rice – any short grain Italian rice would be great ($.94)
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 tsp rosemary, minced
• 5 oz baby spinnach ($1)
• ½ cup finely grated parmesan ($.50)

Heat a large pot over medium and brown the sausage, breaking it into bite size pieces.  Once the sausage is cooked, remove it from the pan, reserving any fat that was rendered.  Saute the onion and butternut squash in the sausage fat.  (If you’re making a vegetarian version, simply heat 2 Tbs of olive oil to sauté the onion and squash).  Add 2 cups of stock and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes.  Next, add in the rice and return to a simmer.  As the rice cooks in the stock it will soften and absorb the liquid.  When the liquid level is low, give the mixture a stir and add in the remaining stock and rosemary.  The rice will become tender with about 20 minutes of simmer time, when it’s almost there, give it a taste and adjust the seasonings.  When the rice is cooked to your taste (al dente or completely soft, it’s up to you!) add back the reserved sausage and mix in the baby spinach to quickly wilt it.  Garnish with the parmesan.  Buon Apettito!

Moroccan Lamb and Vegetable Stew – I <3 baby animals

As cruel as it sounds, there’s nothing in this world that tastes better than baby animals and lamb is certainly no exception!  (I’m not kidding, I ate and LOVED raw veal carpaccio when I was in Sienna, while my Mamma sat across from me, slightly horrified.)  I’m at the top of the food chain, and I’m okay with eating any sort of non-endangered animals we’ve got.

That being said, I stand by a mantra that a chef instructor in culinary school said:  “Every animal deserves a good life, a good death, a good butcher and a good chef.”  When I do go out of my way to purchase a nice cut of meat, I try to buy from a local producer or butcher that I know did right by this animal that died to give us sustenance.

I was happy to discover that a former roommate left behind a few lamb shoulder chops from the local butcher in the freezer and they just begged to become a Moroccan style stew.  Lamb’s strong flavor holds up really nicely to the spices in this stew, and it’s loaded with veggies too! I love how the sweetness from the squash and the carrots pair with the spicy lamb.

This dish can be a meal in itself or can be combined with some sides to make it go farther and feed a crowd.  For a simple side dish, I boiled some pearl barley and tossed the cooked and cooled grains and tossed it with the mint pesto I made a few weeks ago for a twist on the conventional lamb and mint pairing

(https://fullbellyfullwallet.wordpress.com/2012/10/10/mint-pesto-and-basil-oil-herb-overload/)

Moroccan Lamb and Vegetable Stew

Serves 4-6 – cost approx $.68 per serving

Ingredients

• 1 bone in lamb chop (or about 3/4 lb lamb stew meat), 1 inch cubes ($2)
• salt and pepper – to taste
• pinch cayenne
• pinch cumin
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 Tbs vegetable oil
• 3 cardamom pods
• 3 cloves
• 1″ cinnamon stick
• 1/2 star anise
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
• 2 dry red chiles
• 1 onion, small dice ($.10)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 2 bay leaves
• pinch nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp dry oregano
• 1-2 cups butternut squash, medium dice ($.38)
• 2 carrots, peeled, medium diced ($.13)
• 3-4 medium potatoes, scrubbed, medium dice ($.30)

Toss the lamb with the cayenne, cumin, turmeric and salt and pepper.  Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium high heat.  When the oil is quite hot add the lamb (and save the lamb bones and toss them in if you used a bone-in chop) and sear on all sides.  Remove the lamb, leaving any oil and lamb fat in the pan.

Gather up the whole spices: cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, anise, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and red chiles, and ‘wet toast’ them by briefly sauteing them until slightly browned.

Next add in the onions and garlic and saute over medium heat until translucent.  Return the lamb and bones to the pot.  Add in the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes, making a simple roux thickener.  Add the vegetable stock, bay leaves, nutmeg and oregano and bring the pot to a simmer for 1-3 hours (it’s very flexible).

When you’re starting to get hungry, about half an hour before you want to eat, add in the butternut squash, carrots and potatoes.  Check the seasonings and as soon as the veggies are cooked through you’re ready to eat!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup in bread bowls – Sunday Soup-day rides again!

This soup was inspired by a very similar soup that I saw at work, made by our resident soup master, Sous Chef Ceasar.  This man is a freaking magician of soups; his beef stew tastes just like my Daddy would make when I was a little girl and his chicken tortilla soup is worth of song.  The other day, we were all sitting around and waiting for Ceasar’s tortilla soup to be ready, tummies audibly grumbling in anticipation.  I think I’ll definitely to make something similar before winter is over.

In the mean time, please enjoy this fantastic Broccoli Cheddar soup with both a bacon lovers and a vegetarian variation.  (Can you guess which one I am?)

If you want to make my ciabatta bread bowls, remember to start the dough the night before.  I learned how to make ciabatta from this youtube video, it’s in Italian, but the visuals on the consistency of the dough should be very helpful.  Plus, little Italian children are always adorable!

Ciabatta

Makes one large loaf or 4 bread bowls – cost approx $.50 per loaf

Ingredients

• 1 lb All Purpose Flour – about 3 cups, but measuring is always better
• 1 Tbs salt
• 1 tsp active dry yeast
• 2 cups water

Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl, then mix in the water with a strong spoon.  You may need a little more or less water, keep slowly adding water until all the flour is moistened and the dough is a very sticky consistency.  Let the mixture sit in a warm place for 8 – 20 hours to rise.  In my experience anywhere in that time frame will make nice bread.

Use a spatula to punch down the dough.  Put the dough on a prepared pan: either on silicone mat, a liberally greased pan, or a heavily floured pan.  If you’re making bread bowls make four equal piles of dough, it will spread don’t worry, you can deal with it later.  If you’re making a loaf lay the dough on the prepared pan.  Let the dough sit and proof for 30 minutes to 2 hours.  Preheat the oven to 425 F.  When the dough is ready to go into the oven, use a spatula to form the dough into more of a compact loaf or bread bowl shape.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until the top is browned and hardened.  Yum!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup – instructions specific to the bacon-y version in bold and vegetarian version in italics

Serves 4-6 – cost approx $.66 per serving

Ingredients

• 4 oz bacon ($.50)
• 2 Tbs butter
• 1 1/2 onions, medium dice ($.13)
• 3 ribs celery, medium dice ($.26)
• 3 broccoli stems, medium dice, and a few florets, cut to spoon-size bits ($.88)
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 4 medium russet potatoes, peeled, and small diced, divided use ($.30)
• 2 cups milk ($.31)
• salt and black pepper – to taste
• 3 scallions ($.12)
• 4 oz shredded cheddar ($.56)

Render the bacon in a large pot, then remove the crispy bacon and reserve for later.  Melt the butter in a large pot.  When you’re cutting the vegetables, there’s no need to be precise, you’re going to blend them later.  Saute the onions, celery and broccoli stems for 5 minutes or so.  Add the stock and bring to a simmer.  Add in half of the potatoes and simmer until all of the vegetables are tender and cooked through, 15-30 minutes depending on how large the pieces are.  Add in the milk.  Add in a few pieces of bacon, and save some bacon for garnish.  Season to taste and blend until very smooth with an immersion blender.  Bring back to a simmer and add in the remaining potatoes and broccoli florets.  Cook until the potatoes are tender.

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the garnishes: crumble the bacon, slice the scallions and shred the cheese.  (I tossed the little nub of the cheese left over when you’re done grating into the pot.)  Now you’re ready to server yourself a steamy bowl of yum and garnish to your hearts content.