Jan 24 2013

Chana Masala with Roasted Veggie Couscous

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It’s been pretty quiet here on this blog these past couple of weeks, for a couple of reasons.  The first is that two Sundays ago, we had our good friends Jesse and Elizabeth over for a Sunday afternoon smokeout.  That is, Elizabeth had a grand plan to smoke a giant, delicious ham for her man for Christmas (what a generous vegetarian!), with the help of our trusty smoker.

I actually got the best end of this deal, because I was working all day and then teaching until 7, while the three of them were at our house, dutifully monitoring the carefully formulated smoking times of all the following: two gigantic hams, which had been brined, marinated, injected, and basted for over a day; fillets of salmon and trout, tin foil patches of eggplant and teriyaki onions, a rack of ribs, and chicken drumsticks.  I just got to come home, pour myself a glass of wine, and reap the rewards!

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And subsequently, did not cook a single thing for the rest of the week — just ate leftover smoked meats in infinite forms: smoked ham and gorganzola tacos, brown rice with thin-sliced smoked eggplant and flakes of smoked salmon with a fried egg on top, smoked drumsticks with fresh salad for lunch…it was a luxuriously delicious week with absolutely no effort on my part.

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Then, directly after that, I got to go on my annual trip out east, to visit some of my oldest friends, in Brooklyn and D.C.

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So, needless to say, this past week was not a big week for cooking, either.  Instead, I got treated to a delicious Shabbat stir fry by Jamie and Elon, Saturday afternoon lunch of split pea fritters with Sriracha yogurt and cabbage salad at Dory’s house, and a delicious dinner out with the whole gang in Brooklyn on Saturday night.

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Then in D.C., Emily and I got to steal some time away from her kiddos and indulge in some meals together and catch up.  And then in our grand tradition, I made her and her family dinner Monday night, whipping up a yummy meal of chana masala and roasted veggie couscous while she and her husband juggled nighttime routines with their adorable three-year-old son, and now three-month-old daughter!

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So yes, I’ve been a bit spoiled these past couple of weeks!

This Week’s Groceries

Safeway 1/11

  • Quinoa spaghetti: $2.79
  • Vanilla creamer: $2.99
  • Half and half: $2.69
  • Cucumbers: $0.89
  • Mushrooms: $3.44
  • Lettuce: $1.99
  • Baby spinach: $1.99
  • Alfalfa sprouts: $1.59
  • Olives: $3.87

TOTAL: $22.24

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $141.36

 

Safeway 1/12

  • 1 large ham: $36.73

TOTAL: $36.73

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $104.63

 

New Seasons 1/13

  • Canned pineapple: $1.99
  • Tinfoil: $1.99
  • Orange juice: $3.99
  • Bosc pears: $6.27
  • Yellow onions: $1.64
  • Eggplant: $2.21
  • Trout fillet: $12.64
  • Gorgonzola crumbles: $3.60

TOTAL: $34.33

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $70.30

 

Fubonn 1/6

  • Baby bok choy: $2.04
  • Green peppers: $1.34
  • Miso soup mix: $2.39
  • Cilantro: $0.50
  • Soy sauce: $3.98
  • Rice stick: $1.38
  • Sweet rice 5 lb. bag: $5.50
  • Brown basmati rice: $5.99
  • Oyster mushrooms: $4.01
  • Tapioca stick: $1.49
  • Sweet chili sauce: $2.69
  • Coconut milk: $3.58
  • Green eggplant: $1.97
  • Kholrabi: $1.23
  • Zucchini: $0.66
  • Instant hot & sour soup paste: $1.99
  • Sesame candy: $1.59
  • Limes: $0.59
  • Yellow bell peppers: $1.94
  • Stir fry sauce: $3.68
  • Rice noodles: $2.99
  • Sweet potato noodles: $1.99

TOTAL: $52.52

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $17.78

Jan 11 2013

Tofu Stir-Fry with Baby Bok Choy, Bell Peppers, and Korean Noodles

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I finally made it to Fubonn this week, and got a few things that have been lingering on my shopping list for months now (brown basmati rice, Tom Kah soup paste, rice vinegar), and of course a bunch of other things that I can’t help but throw in the cart when I’m there.  I can’t attest to their quantity or organic status at all, but Fubon has the absolute cheapest veggies I’ve ever seen — actual good quality Asian veggies like baby bok choy, not the sad looking tufts of greens that call themselves bok choy at regular grocery stores.  Nope, at Fubonn you can get a gigantic bag of about 12 of them for $1.64, and a package of oyster mushrooms that looks like this, for less than five bucks:

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So last night when Jesse texted me on my bike ride home, already 7:15 and saying he was just getting home from work as well and can we do something easy for dinner, I knew it was a stir fry kinda night.

I had a package of tofu sitting in the fridge, which was just the ticket because it’s been a very meat-heavy week, between leftover pork shoulder roast, and barbecued chicken drumsticks.  So right when I got home, while I gathered and assembled all the veggies I’d be using, I quickly cubed up the brick of tofu, melted some coconut oil and black bean paste in the skillet, and started frying it up.

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I like to cook my tofu for a long time over medium heat, kind of like caramelizing onions.  It drives me crazy when tofu is all soft and crumbly and falling apart — I want it firm and crispy and tough on the outside, but without having to deep fry it.  The key is cooking it in a reasonable amount of oil, with a little bit of salt sprinkled on top to draw out the water, for nearly half an hour, but on a low enough heat so that it doesn’t burn.  Canola oil works better than olive oil for making it nice and crispy, but coconut oil is way healthier and works just as well.

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Meanwhile, I took each little bundle of bok choy and separated it — sliced off the closed end so that the leaves would all separate, and then sliced between the stalk and the leaves.  The stalk takes about as long to cook as cabbage, so I wanted to give it a good ten minutes by itself in the wok before the softer ingredients got added, whereas the leaves go in at the very end, so that they wilt and cook just a little bit.

Here’s everybody waiting for the wok to heat up.

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I got a pot of water boiling, and cooked a third of a bag of these Korean noodles (they only take about five minutes), setting them aside to cool.  Why Korean noodles you ask?  Well first of all, I love their texture — they are thin and super stretchy, like nearly unbreakably stretchy, and get all glassy once they’re cooked, absorbing the sauce better than rice noodles, in my opinion.  And the best part?  They’re made from sweet potato starch rather than wheat, so they’re totally gluten free!

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This may be a thing for the next little while…I’ve been trying to be gluten-avoidant for the past six months or so, but really only half-heartedly.  I decided this week that I’m going to give it a more serious go — not in any sort of Celiac or nit-picky way…I’ll probably still use regular flour to thicken sauces and all that, but I’m going to forego the obvious culprits like straight up wheat pasta.

So, back to the wok.  I started stir-frying the mushrooms and bok choy stalks until they were soft, then added the bell peppers.

As for sauce, we had picked this up earlier this week during a Trader Joe’s frenzy.

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I dipped a finger in to try it and wasn’t crazy about it — it was super sweet and smelled more like barbecue sauce than an Asian stir-fry, so I just started with a few tablespoons as a base, then doctored everything up with soy sauce and a bit of fish sauce.  I should have added chili paste in at the point, too, but I overlooked it and ended up stirring it in to my own personal plate, which still worked.

At the very end, I added the noodles that had been cooling until they had been coated with the sauce, chopped up some cilantro for garnish, and served it up!

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This Week’s Groceries

Safeway 1/2

  • Apple cider: $3.39
  • Pork shoulder roast: $9.11
  • Chicken breast tenders: $7.52
  • Gala apples: $2.74
  • White onions: $0.62
  • Collard greens: $1.99

TOTAL: $25.37

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $274.63

 

Trader Joe’s 1/6

  • Half and half: $1.89
  • Hummus: $3.99
  • Olive tapenade: $2.99
  • Sumatra coffee: $5.99
  • French roast coffee: $5.99
  • Asiago cheese: $3.65
  • Crumbled feta: $2.79
  • Gingerbread coffee: $7.99
  • Horseradish: $1.99
  • Pizza dough: $1.29
  • Dynamo juice: $3.99
  • Olive oil: $5.49
  • Pizza sauce: $1.99
  • General Tsao’s cooking sauce: $2.79
  • Seaweed salad: $2.99
  • Biryani rice stir fry: $2.29
  • Frozen cauliflower & romanesco: $2.99
  • Maui beef ribs: $7.61
  • Lemongrass chicken Thai sticks: $3.29
  • Fish nuggets: $3.99
  • Peanut butter pretzels: $3.79
  • Chicken shu mai: $2.99
  • Tricolor radiatore pasta: $1.99
  • Mushroom ravioli with truffle sauce: $3.49
  • Malabari paratha bread: $1.69

TOTAL: $89.93

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $184.70

 

Safeway 1/9

  • Corn tortillas: $2.39
  • Eggs: $2.59
  • Chicken drumsticks: $7.85 — which we smothered in an amazing rub/marinade during an impromptu grilling party at our house for a friend’s birthday on Wednesday night
  • Ninkasi oatmeal stout: $8.27

 

TOTAL: $21.10

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $163.60

Dec 28 2012

Lazy Days

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Well, to be totally honest, you’re probably not going to get a cooking post from me this week.  Jesse and I have been whipping up simple little meals here and there — a tofu broccoli stir fry before going out in our neighborhood last Friday, a pasta dinner to eat while we packed for Christmas last Saturday…but we just got back last night from four days out in the Ashland woods with 6 of our friends, and while we ate like kings and queens the whole time, not a single picture was taken, aside from this table, eagerly awaiting breakfast on Christmas morning.

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Which was, in case you’re curious, chive-cheddar-cracked-pepper biscuits with homemade veggie gravy, sauteed sausage and mushrooms on the side, and a giant bowl of scrambled eggs; mimosas, and endless rounds of coffee.

What else did we eat?  Oh man.

Christmas Eve Dinner:

  • Wine and cheese appetizers while Kate and Zack gracefully prepared an amazing meal
  • Veggie lasagna
  • Pineapple glazed ham
  • Roasted yams
  • Homemade bread
  • Gingerbread pumpkin cheesecake
  • Regular cheesecake with raspberries

Christmas Dinner (which a bunch of us collaborated on)

  • Channa masala
  • Lemon couscous with roasted veggies
  • Greek salad
  • Curried chicken
  • Warm pita bread
  • Homemaide raita
  • Bars of dark chocolate and a 33-year-old bottle of port for dessert

Other than that, it was a whole lot of hanging out, playing board games, trekking around Zack’s property with snowshoes, making fancy cocktails, opening presents, hanging out by the big wood-burning stove in the middle of the house, and knitting.  It was also a weekend of a lot of firsts for me: first time sledding, first time watching Christmas movies, and I even shot a rifle!  As Zack put it, “Well, we wouldn’t send you out for food, but that wasn’t half bad.”

This Week’s Groceries

Safeway 12/16

  • Orange juice: $3.00
  • 3 cheese blend: $2.99
  • Crimini mushrooms: $2.18
  • Brussels sprouts: $2.49

TOTAL: $10.66

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $196.83

 

Fred Meyer 12/22 — Mixers for Christmas cocktails, and fixings for Jesse’s yummy sausage pasta!

  • Worcestershire Sauce
  • Bacon
  • Canned chili
  • Diced tomatoes
  • Italian sausage
  • Crimini mushrooms
  • Yellow onion
  • Jalapeno pepper
  • Navel orange
  • Pear juice
  • Grapefruit juice
  • V8 Splash
  • Hazelnut creamer
  • Apple blueberry juice
  • Shell pasta
  • Marinara sauce
  • Half and half

TOTAL: $54.38

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $142.45

 

New Seasons 12/21 

  • 2 dark chocolate bars: $7.58
  • Zante currants: $1.74
  • Tofu: $2.59
  • Lemons: $2.17
  • Olive: $3.80

TOTAL: 17.88

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $124.57

 

Grocery Outlet 12/18

  • Whole milk: $1.99
  • Cottage cheese: $2.39
  • Butter: $2.59

TOTAL: $6.97

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $117.60

 

Portland Fruit Company 12/18

  • Yellow onions
  • Zucchini
  • Collard greens
  • Turnip
  • Rutabaga
  • Parsnip
  • Red peppers
  • Oranges
  • Roma tomatoes
  • Butternut squash
  • Green cabbage

TOTAL: $17.04

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $100.56

Dec 20 2012

Angelhair Pasta with Parmesan Zucchini, Sauteed Bell Peppers, and Blackened Salmon

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Sometimes it’s those nights where I’m cooking by myself, thinking I’m going to just whip up something quick and easy, when nobody else is around to witness it, that I wind up eating masterpieces for dinner.  I guess that’s how this blog originally started, but now that I live with Jesse those nights feel more rare.  Not that he won’t eat anything that’s put in front of him, and probably seconds and thirds as well, but when we’re cooking together, or even just when I’m cooking for both of us, I find myself sticking to the tried and true, even using recipes more.

So Monday night, while Jesse was out bowling with the boys, I found myself out running errands until just before dinner, and en route home totally ravenous.  I so rarely do this — stop at the grocery for like a single item — but I was craving some sort of fish.  The Johnson Creek Freddy’s actually has a pretty decent seafood department, so I pulled over totally impulsively and bought a piece of salmon.  This was no big splurge — it was less than $7 for the whole piece, which I only used half of and froze the rest (and wound up with leftovers for lunch, still!), but it still felt nice to treat myself to exactly what I wanted, and make a delicious meal, just for myself.  Like I always used to do!

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This was partially inspired by a super simple Ina Garten recipe (I’m currently reading through the Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook), urging me to cook my zucchini slices in small batches so they brown and crisp instead of steam and get mushy, and then cover them in parmesan, for good measure.  She’s right, I realized, this is the reason I always forego the zucchini, because it always gets mushy and overcooked, no matter what I do.  And the pasta?  Angelhair pasta was undoubtedly the carb-y texture that I was craving that night, and we just happened to have a partial package of it in the pantry.  Bingo.

First I sauteed up half an onion in some super delicious olive oil.

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I’d made some homemade feta a few weeks back, which you can store at room temperature, as long as it’s submerged in oil.  I had added some rosemary in there for good luck, and now that all the cheese is gone, I’m left with this wonderfully dank olive oil to cook with!

Then, the zucchini.

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Like I said, I cut the salmon steak in half, and stuck the rest in the freezer.  This part, I stuck straight into the skillet, (which I had now cleared of the zucchini, keeping them warm in a covered bowl), skin side down.  After about five minutes I flipped it, and now the skin peels easily off, as if it were never even attached.

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I covered it again and let it blacken with all the residual salt, pepper, and cheese flakes that were in there from the zucchini, and then added a sliced red pepper in there along with it.

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I make popcorn, like, almost every night.  Pretty much, yeah.  Someday I’ll show you how the pros do it, but for now all you need to know is that I make a little mixture to sprinkle on, that involves nutritional yeast (fine grain), Lawry’s salt, pepper, and oregano.  After each batch of popcorn, there is a thick layer of detritus at the bottom of the bowl from where these seasonings missed the kernels and sifted through.  I save this in a little bowl and sprinkle it on just about everything, because it is unbeatably delicious.  So if you ever hear me referring to just general “herbs,” this is probably what I’m talking about.

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Watch out for the kernels.

Meanwhile, I’m boiling some water and cooking some angel hair pasta — just enough for a single serving.  Jesse and I had big plans to cook risotto on Tuesday night, so I’m not looking for leftovers here.

Once the pasta was done I strained it, threw it right back into the pot, and added some butter, a few shakes of nutritional yeast, a splash of cream, a few squirts of lemon juice, and some cracked pepper.

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I mixed that all up and poured it onto a big plate, serving as the “bed,” and then on top of this added the zucchini, peppers, and salmon.  They had all been waiting for this moment.

Don’t tell Jesse, but sometimes salmon tastes best when you’re eating alone.

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Dec 14 2012

Curried Coconut Carrot Soup

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Well, I totally forgot to take any pictures leading up to the completion of last night’s dinner, but that’s probably okay, since this is one of the easiest soups you’ll ever make.  I’ve made many variations of carrot soup before, but this one had a few new elements to it — inspired by the Esalen cookbook which I’ve been slowly working my way through all the bookmarked pages of, I also added an apple to the mix, and roasted this along with the carrots instead of simply throwing them in to the pot to boil.  I don’t know how much of a difference that really made, but this soup was delicious so let’s just go with it.

The first thing I did was chop my carrots into thirds — nothing too labor-intensive here — along with a cored apple.  These got coated with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roasted in the oven for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, I did the usual soup-prep thing: chopped up an onion and a few cloves of garlic, and this some some ginger, too.  I sauteed these all in some olive oil, along with a few spoonfuls of my Indian curry powder.  Once the onions were translucent, I filled the pot with broth (using Better Than Bullion these days, since until last night, we haven’t roasted a chicken in ages!), and let that simmer until the veggies were done.

Once they were soft, I took them out of the oven, added them to the broth, and brought this to a boil.  I was too lazy to get out the blender, so I mashed the carrot and apple pieces directly in the pot with our potato masher (an immersion blender is #1 on our list when we go to Kitchen Kaboodle to spend the Hanukkah/Christmas gift cards we received from Dad and Kathy this week!), and added half a can of coconut to give the soup some creaminess.  And because coconut milk is delicious in just about anything.

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For the rest of this meal, I have Jesse and Hollis to thank — Hollis, who brought over some kale which I quickly sauteed in the skillet in a bit of coconut oil, slat, some Balti seasoning from Penzey’s, and a few squirts of my favorite lemon juice — a perfect green side dish to accompany this meal; and Jesse, who swung by New Seasons on his way home from work and already had the chicken roasting in the oven by the time I got home in time for a nice Thursday night dinner with two of my favorite people.

Oh, but this wasn’t just any chicken roasting.  It was a chicken slathered with this.

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He also injected this directly into the breast of the chicken with a syringe, if you want to really know how this went down.  This rub is courtesy of one of my vendors at the Urban Craft Uprising, and it is amazing.  I mean, I even though it was amazing when I sampled it off of a wooden stick at the show, as well as smeared onto a crust of some leftover baguette and topped with brie while impatiently waiting for the carrots to finish roasting for the soup.  But hot damn, rub it all over a chicken and pop it in the oven at 400 degrees for an hour, and you will never be able to eat a regular roasted chicken again.

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This is but one of half a dozen different flavors that we acquired from One Screw Loose at last weekend’s show, and be warned: this may be appearing on most meat we consume for the next few months.

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This Week’s Groceries

Portland Fruit Company 10/4

  • Garlic
  • Milk
  • Eggs
  • Chard
  • Red onion
  • Globe grapes
  • Orange bell pepper
  • Asparagus
  • Cilantro
  • Broccoli

TOTAL: $23.74

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $276.26

 

An Dong Market 12/6 — Jesse’s World-Famous Curry!

  • Sorry, folks.  Every item on this receipt just says “grocery.”  I’ll have to get him to blog about this sometime.  It’s outta this world.

TOTAL: $41.23

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $235.03

 

New Seasons 12/13

  • 5 lb. bag of carrots
  • 1 apple
  • Bulk popcorn
  • Dozen eggs
  • A whole chicken
  • Whatever else Jesse decided to buy…?  We’ve got to have a talk about saving those receipts!

TOTAL: $27.54

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $207.49

Dec 6 2012

Hodgepodge Minestrone Soup

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Whew!  The busiest two weeks of my year are officially over.  With the Urban Craft Uprising Winter Show officially under my belt, my regular dynamic well-rounded life can resume!  Jesse and I pulled into the driveway of our new, much-missed home late Sunday night, driving straight back to town after tearing down from the show.  We both passed out on the couch without making it through even a single episode of Parks & Rec.

My “weekend” Monday/Tuesday after UCU is all about unpacking, deconstructing, and reorganizing…basically getting the shop back to looking like nothing ever happened.  Ha!

So Monday morning I slept in for the first time in weeks, and didn’t leave the house at all, except to go for a long run just before it got dark out.  I had the house to myself all day, and got to do exactly what I was craving: catching upon emails, drinking coffee, unpacking my suitcase, stowing show supplies until the next one (next July!), counting my money, running loads of dishes and laundry, and wearing yoga pants all day long.

I knew I wasn’t even going to pretend to make it to the grocery too, and we had fled the house last Thursday morning with an unsettling amount of produce still left in the fridge, which by Monday night, was looking woefully unperky.  Time for some minestrone soup.  With the house now clean and my slate ready to start December fresh, I wanted those veggie drawers empty, ready to be restocked with new and exciting ingredients for some hunker-down winter meals.  We’ve been eating catered sandwiches and takeout all weekend, and I’m stoked to turn on the stove again.

Here’s what I had at my disposal.


That’s a lot of root veggies.  Lucky for me, I keep New Seasons’ dried 12-bean mix in my pantry.  So while I poured my second cup of coffee in the morning, I also set a cup of these in a pot of water to soak for the rest of the day.  And when it came time to make dinner tonight, I cooked those for about 30 minutes until all the beans were soft enough — even those gigantic ones.

What’s the basis of all veggie soups?  A mirepoix, of course.


I started sauteeing this mix directly in the soup pot, in some olive oil, along with a few bay leaves.  Meanwhile, I skinned and diced those other root veggies (rutabega and parsnip).

 


Into the pot those went, as I filled it up just a couple inches below the brim with some water and bullion to make a nice broth — cranked the heat until it boiled, then let this all simmer on medium-high until the veggies were just done.  There was also a package of sliced mushrooms that I threw in there, which didn’t make it into the photo shoot.

Then, I added about 2 cups of V8 veggie juice, to give the broth a nice rich tomato flavor, added some salt, the beans which were now cooked and drained, and half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper.  A winter soup needs some kick!

 

Oh, and the rest of those root veggies that didn’t make it into the soup for fear of overwhelming it, I chopped up and roasted in the oven with a simple mix of olive oil, nutritional yeast, Lawry’s salt, pepper, and oregano, just to have a yummy, crispy side dish to have in the fridge for the week.  Here they are pre-roasting.


What about the beets?  I’m a pretty big beet separatist because…well…you know what happens when beets touch anything.  And in my world, beets don’t go in soup, not even borscht.  I’m one of the lucky ones who loves beets for what they are, so I just wrapped those up in foil, roasted them in the oven at 400 degrees for an hour.

Then I slid off the skin and sliced them up, stuck a wedge of blue-brie cheese in between the hot slices so it got all melty, and drizzled some balsamic over it all.

Now this is just sheer luck of the draw, but I happened to snag some leftover swag from one of our awesome vendors, Honest Biscuits, as we were closing down the Ex Hall at the end of the show.

 

Heated up in the toaster, this made the most delicious accompaniment to a winter minestrone soup anyone could dream up.

Jesse was out for the night, so I got to enjoy my dinner in one of my favorite ways: while reading through a new cookbook and bookmarking pages.


This Week’s Groceries

None!  Iron Chef-ing it with what’s left in the fridge, baby!  Plus, when we’re up in Seattle on official business, UCU treats us to all our meals, so we were indulging in the rare dining-out vacation.

Nov 29 2012

Leftover Turkey Pot Pie

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All right, I have a new favorite way to use up leftover smoked turkey…and leftover pretty much anything now, I imagine.  Jesse had smoked a big breast of turkey for my family Thanksgiving last weekend, and for days we danced around its leftovers, reheating only the side dishes, until we finally found an evening where we were both free, and in a delicious feat of teamwork, came up with this.

It was so incredible that I actually got angry when I discovered that he ate the last slice in the middle of the night (after real Thanksgiving, no less!  This man’s appetite is insane!), the one I was planning to bring for lunch on Black Friday…a very long day for me.  But it was so awesomely easy to make, he promised me we’d make more.

I used a lazy version of this pie crust recipe, and I say lazy because I don’t spend too much energy trying to keep the butter in pea-size chunks, I don’t refrigerate it for as long as I’m supposed to, and I don’t even own Saran Wrap.  But it always works out anyway, which deters me from ever trying any harder than that.  Basically, I took her ingredient ratios, mixed everything together, tried not to overwork it, and stuck it in the fridge for about half an hour while Jesse finished making the filling.

It still rolled out easily, molded to the pie pan perfectly, sealed tight around the filling and never broke, and sliced through easily when it was time to serve.  And it was even still pretty flaky!  Maybe not croissant-flaky, but flaky enough for me.

So then for the filling, we referenced this recipe from another one of my fave food blogs, but of course we
 were starting with some pretty incredible home-smoked turkey which I think helped the cause.  It starts with a mirepoix — sauteeing diced carrots, onions, and celery in a healthy dose of butter, then after a few minutes, adding the turkey, which we had also chopped up pretty fine.

Here, instead of making a roux the traditional way, by melting butter, stirring in flour, and then thinning it with milk, you just sprinkle the flour right over this whole deal, which feels relievingly simple, and still left no clumps.  We mixed up some veggie bullion in a glass cup of hot water to make a quick-and-easy broth (I haven’t roasted a chicken in weeks so I didn’t have any homemade on hand), added that with a little wine, and then the 3/4 cup of half and half.  (Both being coffee drinkers, we always have a gigantic carton of this in the fridge, so I tend to use it in the place of whipping cream in most recipes.  It’s rich enough, believe me.)

We added some frozen peas for that traditional pot pie look, and fresh sage that we had in the fridge, let it all come to a boil, and sure enough, it thickened up just like it was supposed to.  And tasted so amazing, we could have hovered right there over the stove, eating it all with a wooden spoon.

But we restrained ourselves, and instead poured it into the pie pan, where I had already rolled out half the crust and pressed it into the bottom.  I rolled out the second half, laid it on top of the filling, and sealed all around the edges, making cute little pie ruffles (my glass pie pan has these imprints built in, so all you gotta do is press).  This baked for almost an hour at 400 degrees before the crust was brown enough for Jesse’s discerning eye, and barely lasted 24 hours before it was gone entirely.

This Week’s Groceries

* None!  Thanksgiving leftovers aaaaall weeeeek looooong.

Nov 23 2012

Thai Pork Sausage Stuffing

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I’ve made this dish twice this week now.  The first time was last weekend, when my family came down to Portland and Jesse and I got to host our first Thanksgiving in the new house.

And the second was yesterday, one of the three true days off that I take off from work each year, when I got to wake up with my favorite person in the world, and spend a beautiful, crisp Thursday morning each cooking our own respective contributions to our gigantic Thanksgiving feast.  And I mean gigantic.  Seriously, look at this roster:

Appetizers
Dee: Veggie Pizza
Brush: Pickle chips
Caleb: Cheese Board
Andrew: Fondue?
Erika: Stuff Mushroom

The Culinary Explosion
Teran: Turkey, traditional stuffing, brown butter mashed potatoes
Tyler and Jesse: Ham
Dee: Field Roast
Crystal Valley: Squash ravioli
Lindsey: Thai pork sausage stuffing
Kate: Squash rice pilaf
Zack: Fresh Baked Bread Rolls
Andrew: Green Chili Cheese Corn Bake
Jesse Wilson: Green Chili Cheese Mashed Potatoes who aspires to be reincarnated as a turkey
Erika: Mac and Cheese
Carolyn: Roasted Root Veggie
Josh: Cranberry Sauce Salad
Biff: Brussel Sprouts in Cream Sauce
Claire: Sweet Potato Casserole
Kelly: Baked Leeks in Cream Sauce
Andrea: Green Bean Casserole

Yo, Sweetness is my weakness
Kate: Pumpkin Pie
Elizabeth Haus: Holiday Cheesecake
Andrea: Pecan Pie
Cloud: Sweet Potato Pie
Erika: ?

So yes, we were both pretty serious about cooking.  Jesse hopped out of bed at 8:00 a.m. to fire up the smoker, where he smoked a pineapple-clove-orange-whiskey glazed ham.

And I went to work on my Thai Pork Sausage Stuffing, round two.

This recipe was adapted from a recent issue of Sunset magazine, and it’s a nice, spicy spin on the regular traditional Thanksgiving stuffing.  It was disappointingly bland the first go-round, so here I’ve kicked it up a notch by tweaking a lot of the spices and adding stronger flavors.

It uses starchy, sticky rice in place of half the bread, and mixes flavors of ginger, cilantro, and lemongrass for a tangy kick.  The very first step is to soak 1 cup of this sticky rice in hot water for about an hour; get this going at the beginning, and it can soak while you prep everything else.

Meanwhile, into the food processor goes:

  • 2 tbsp minced ginger
  • 2 tbsp minced garlic
  • 2 stalks of lemongrass (inner stems only)
  • stems from 1/2 bunch cilantro
  • 3 serrano chilis

Puree these ingredients together, then add 1 lb. pork sausage (I used some apple pork sausage from New Seasons), and 1 tsp salt.

Now you’ll want to chop up:

  • 1 tbsp ginger
  • 1 tbsp garlic
  • 1 medium onion

Melt 2 tbsp butter in  a skillet, and sautee the above three ingredients until the onions are translucent.  Then add in the pork mixture from the food processor, and cook until it has a nice, sausage-y texture.

At the same time, cook the rice by steaming it over a pot of boiling water for about 15 minutes.  A smallish strainer like this one is perfect for the job: drain the soaking rice by pouring it into this strainer, then heat up a few inches of water in the pot that the rice had been soaking in, letting it come to a full boil.  Rest the strainer full of rice on top of the pot, and place a bowl over top to keep the steam in.

Then, take a very large bowl and mix together the following:

  • Everything you were just cooking in the skillet
  • 3 cups chicken broth (I used Better Than Bullion, which has a very rich flavor)
  • 1 large sourdough baguette, cut into 1-inch cubes (if you can, try to remember to cut this up the night before so they’re a little stale)
  • 2 eggs, beaten together
  • leaves from 1/2 bunch cilantro
  • a few tablespoons of chopped basil
  • 4 green onions

Once everything has been thoroughly mixed, transfer it all to a 9×13 baking dish, and bake at 375 for 30 minutes, covered with foil.  After 30 minutes, uncover and bake for a final 30 minutes with the foil off.

This Week’s Groceries

Safeway 11/14

  • Can of green chilis: $1.49
  • Beef broth: $0.99
  • Tomato paste: $0.59
  • Tomato sauce: $1.39
  • Chili beans: $1.39 — Can you guess what Jesse was making for dinner?
  • Chicken broth: $2.60
  • Frozen pizza: $4.99
  • Yellow onions: $0.28
  • Jalapeno pepper: $0.12
  • Pork sausage: $3.29

TOTAL: $17.03

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $147.39

 

New Seasons 11/16

  • Coconut oil: $6.99
  • Table salt: $0.99
  • Sushi rice: $2.72
  • Dozen eggs: $2.99
  • Half and half: $2.99
  • Cream cheese: $1.99
  • Lemongrass: $0.69
  • Fresh herbs: $1.52
  • Jalapeno: $0.95
  • Ground chicken: $3.97 — The first go-round of this dish, for my family, I used chicken instead of pork
  • Sourdough baguette: $3.99

TOTAL: $29.79

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $117.60

 

Portland Fruit Company 11/16

  • Chestnuts
  • Yellow Onion
  • Gallon milk
  • Rutabega
  • Parsnips
  • Turnips

TOTAL: $27.30

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $90.30

 

Grocery Outlet 11/20

  • Pineapple rings: $1.29
  • Frozen peas: $0.99
  • Half and half: $2.39
  • Ginger root: $1.49
  • Butter: $2.59
  • White vinegar: $1.49
  • Yellow onions: $1.49

TOTAL: $11.73

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $78.57

 

New Seasons 11/20

  • Sushi rice: $1.44
  • Anaheim pepper: $0.42
  • Serrano pepper: $0.18
  • Lemongrass: $0.72
  • Apple pork sausage: $6.17
  • Sourdough baguette: $2.99

TOTAL: $11.92

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $66.65

 

Fred Meyer 11/21

  • Brown sugar: $1.79
  • Pickling salt: $2.09
  • Lawry seasoned salt: $2.37
  • Meat tenderizer: $3.69
  • Cloves: $0.35
  • Ginger root: $0.45
  • Shallots: $0.57
  • Turkey breasts: $19.08

TOTAL: $30.39

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $36.26 — Not too shabby, after two full Thanksgivings!

Nov 15 2012

Roasted Chicken with Grapes and Kalamata Olives

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Sorry guys, my bad.  I totally meant to post about this last week, and the week got away from me.  Between prepping for our big housewarming party last weekend, and wanting to clear my work schedule for a longtime friend who was coming to town, it never happened.  BUT, this meal was still delicious way back a week ago, and it will still be delicious when you try it out yourself.

Although probably 70% of the recipes on this blog are inspired by Deb’s Smitten Kitchen, this is the very first recipe I’ve tried out of her actual hard copy cookbook, which just came out, and which I got a signed copy of last Monday when Andrea and I stood in line for 2 hours after her talk at Powell’s.

It was about that time of the month for a roasted chicken anyway, and even though this made such fabulous leftovers that it prevented me from doing my usual rip-the-meat-of-the-bones-and-make-stock routine, we’re surviving on Better Than Bullion, and I’m sure we’ll have plenty of turkey bones left over after this weekend (yep, that’s right!  We’re hosting Early Faux Thanksgiving at the new house this year!), so I’m not sweating it.

It all starts with browning a variety of chicken pieces in a pan.  Well no, actually, it starts with me biking home from New Seasons with my hand rummaging behind me in my pannier, eating half a bag of “holiday grapes” (read: gigantic) before I even pulled in the driveway.  Then it continues with Jesse trying to show me how to butcher a raw chicken, using the best chef’s knife we have, which is so dull that it wouldn’t even cut through the skin.  For real.  Thank god for friends who listen, and who buy you the most awesome chef’s knife ever for a housewarming present.  The next time I make this meal, things will go differently.

Anyway, then you brown the chicken pieces in a pan.  I added some coconut oil first to get it going, but once they start cooking, there is more than enough chicken juices to keep things lubricated.

That looks gross.  This looks better.

So while you’re doing this, preheat the oven to 450.  I was working with a whole bird’s worth of chicken here, so it took me a few batches, but once it was all browned, I put them all back in the skillet, and dumped in 1 cup each of pitted kalamata olives and harvest grapes, and a whole sliced shallot.  I put the entire skillet in the oven and roasted for about 40 minutes.

Then comes the fun part.  I transferred all the goodies from inside the skillet to a serving platter with a slotted spoon, and then got to deglaze the pan.  I love deglazing the pan.  Basically, this is just adding half a cup of wine, some fresh rosemary, and a little bit of chicken broth to the cooking juices that remained, heating it up and letting it reduce and thicken, and then spooning it over the chicken and everything as a tasty sauce.  Oh, and on the side I made a pan of cornbread, and some sauteed brussels srpouts.  I’ve been eating it as leftovers ever since.

This Week’s Groceries

New Seasons 11/7

  • Lentils: $6.46
  • Cashew pieces: $10.77
  • Black beans: $3.01
  • Whole wheat couscous: $7.00
  • Farro: $6.59
  • Hazelnuts: $6.49 — I was doing some serious bulk aisle stocking up today!
  • Leeks: $0.65
  • Holiday grapes: $6.61
  • Fresh herbs: $0.57
  • Shallot: $1.20
  • Free range roasting chicken: $11.26
  • Kalamata olives: $5.09

TOTAL: $65.65

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $234.35

 

Grocery Outlet 11/7

  • Oatmeal cookies: $0.99
  • Gamesa: $1.49 — WTF is this??  In case you haven’t noticed, I started having Jesse save his receipts…
  • Brussels sprouts: $3.49
  • Whole milk: $1.99

TOTAL: $7.96

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $226.39

 

Fred Meyer 11/10

  • Spearmint: $1.99
  • Butternut squash: $3.18
  • Penne pasta: $2.79
  • Limes: $4.25 — Yes, this is a lot of limes.  Our signature cocktail for the housewarming party revolved around a homemade key lime syrup
  • Avocado: $0.88 — for a veggie sandwich I made on Dave’s Killer Bread, to present to a famished friend when she got off the bus from Vancouver
  • Garlic: $0.34
  • Apple fritter: $0.69 — for Jesse, who was feverishly finishing the paint job in the dining room when I got home, with T minus five hours to go until the party started
  • Pears: $3.87
  • Panko breadcrumbs: $3.69
  • Sherry vinegar: $2.69
  • Red onion: $0.73

TOTAL: 31.96

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $194.43

 

Portland Fruit Company 11/12

  • Kale
  • Yellow onion
  • Fresh dill
  • Cucumbers
  • Brussels sprouts
  • Roma tomatoes
  • Red cabbage

TOTAL: $11.31

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $183.12

 

Grocery Outlet 11/13

  • Strawberry yogurt: $1.49
  • Half and half: $2.39
  • 2 cans artichoke hearts: $4.58
  • Cottage cheese: $2.39
  • Mozzarella/Parmesan cheese blend: $1.99
  • Goat cheese crumbles: $2.99 — to make Smitten Kitchen’s butternut squash salad, which was a huge hit at the party.
  • 2 blue brie wedges: $5.98
  • 2 bottles Santa Cruz sparkling orange juice: $3.58

TOTAL: $18.70

REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $164.42

 

Nov 2 2012

Greek Chicken & Vegetable Ragout

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First crock pot meal of the fall!  I spotted this recipe in a crock pot roundup awhile back and decided this week was the perfect time to give it a try.  Winningly simple, as a crock pot recipe needs to be to make it into my book, this was as easy as chopping up some veggies, throwing boneless skinless chicken thighs into the ceramic bowl, adding some spices, and leaving it to do its work.

First, some baby red potatoes.


These got thrown in the post with some sliced carrots and a tub of homemade chicken broth.


And almost two pounds of boneless skinless chicken.

What else goes in here?  Just half a cup of white wine, 4 cloves of pressed garlic, and a teaspoon of salt.


Our slow cooker is reeeeeally slow, so this actually cooked on our kitchen counter for a good seven hours on Wednesday while we were both at work, and was done just in time for me to come home to find Jesse putting the finishing touches on his Halloween costume (he was a shadow) and to pull off these final steps:

* Adding 1 can of artichoke hearts to the stew and giving it a stir

* Removing most of the chicken and veggies from the broth and thickening this broth up with a mixture of these ingredients, whisked together separately:

  • 1 egg and 2 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • dill
  • fresh ground pepper

* Letting this sauce thicken up for a few minutes in the bowl of the crock pot, and then pouring it over the chicken and veggies as a  rich lemony dressing.


I opted out of the Halloween festivities for a much-needed night at home in my pajamas, passing out candy to trick-or-treaters for the first time in my new house (and the first time in 5 years that I haven’t lived in a hidden basement apartment!), and catching up on a host of near-finished knitting projects that have been clamoring for attention.


This Week’s Groceries

Fred Meyer 10/31
  • Carrots: $0.97
  • Parsley: $0.99
  • Chicken thighs: $6.63
  • Ground pork: $1.97
  • Cottage cheese: $2.49
  • Yogurt: $2.55
  • Artichoke hearts: $2.75
  • Ricotta cheese: $2.69
  • Yellow onions: $1.29
  • Dave’s Killer Bread: $4.99 — As someone who baked her own bread for 3+ years, trust me, this does feel ridiculous.
  • Box of satsumas: $4.48
  • Pie crusts: $3.57
  • Large eggs: $4.19
  • Whole grain mustard: $2.29
  • 1% milk: $2.99
TOTAL: $45.93
REMAINING FOR THE MONTH: $64.86