Something New

   Every Sunday I make a traditional breakfast of bacon or sausage, fried eggs and toast. This week I decided to try something different. I was also craving something a little sweet. We had pears and apples from the co-op basket so I decided to make some sort of compote to go on top of a Dutch baby pancake.  Dutch baby pancakes [also know as a German pancake] have been popping up on Food Network and so I decided to try them out. They look deceivingly difficult and are one of easiest things I've made. 
  The batter is very basic; eggs, flour, milk, sugar, vanilla and a pinch of salt. The key to getting it puffy is having your pan be hot when you pour in the batter. Then it bakes in the oven for about 25 min and gets all brown and beautiful.

   For the compote I diced up pears and apples in to bite size pieces. I then sautéed them in butter and brown sugar with nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla until they were slightly caramelized. I'm usually not the biggest fruit eater but I loved this and will be experimenting with some more fruits this way. 

   The end result was a more elegant start to our day than the normal breakfast fair and something I'll pull out whenever we have guests for breakfast.

Dinner, Dinner, Dinner...

   I got a little under the weather and neglected the blog last week so this is my catch up post! There are four great dinners here, 3 of my creations and one from my friend Jamie,  who claims she can't cook "gourmet."  I'll let all of you decide for yourselves since Jamie's meal looks delicious and might be something I'll have to try!

Balsamic Chicken with Orzo

  My first creation is maple mustard glazed salmon with grilled sweet potatoes and a quick salad. I glazed the salmon and sweet potatoes with a simple mixture of maple syrup and Dijon mustard. It was insanely good and something I have to give credit to Mr. Bobby Flay for. The salad had romaine lettuce, dried cranberries, candied almond slivers and my favorite homemade poppyseed dressing.

   Our second dinner was inspired by some of the Mexican ingredients that I have on hand Chipolte-lime glazed shrimp over Mexican rice. [I think I might be going through a "glaze" phase] I used chipotle peppers, lime, cilantro and brown sugar in the glaze and will probably use the glaze on lots of others things because Doug LOVED this dish. There wasn't a single grain of rice left.

    I've got a hint to get your shrimp to get a pretty sear like the restaurants do... Sprinkle a little bit of sugar on them right before you put them in the pan... You'll be surprised the difference it makes. [It works on the grill too!]

   The final part to my trio of dinners was tonight's Smoked Sausage Hash. I added some chipolte peppers and smoked paprika to it [can't imagine why...lol] I made the hash with a smoked chicken sausage [trying to be healthy where I can] red potatoes, green peppers and onions. The fried egg on top is integral to the dish because the yolk adds moisture and flavor. Doug didn't believe me at first but I converted him.

Co-op Basket with a Mexican twist

   We tried out a new option with the food co-op this week and as a result I think our meals will have a Mexican flair to them for a little bit... Every so often the co-op offers a "Cuisine Pack," it's basically an add on to the normal basket that consists of ingredients used in specific cuisines [i.e. Asian, Italian, Mexican]. This week was a Mexican pack.

 The Mexican pack included avocados, cilantro, green onions, jalapeños, grey squash, pasilla peppers, tomatillos, garlic, yellow onions and key limes. All for $7.50! I'm going to venture into some uncharted territory and attempt to make Chili Verde... I was watching DDD [Diners, Drive Ins and Dives] and saw a recipe that looked awesome and was available online. The original recipe makes a gallon so I'll be trimming it down a bit.

   This week's basic picture is not complete because I gave away 2 tomatoes and another honeydew melon to my parents... We got the following in this week's basket; bananas, gala apples, cucumbers, broccoli, concord grapes, romaine lettuce, mushrooms, honeydew melon, green grapes, acorn squash and beurre bosc pears.

It's all Greek to me

1 week without a post... Bad, bad Jessie! I've got to get some stuff knocked out up here or I'm going to have the world's longest post... [Utah State Fair is Saturday, fried food heaven!]
   Last Saturday Doug and I attended the 35th Annual Salt Lake Greek Festival [http://www.saltlakegreekfestival.com/].  I'd been a couple times in the past but hadn't been for about 6 or so years and Doug had never attended. The last time I went the only things I was open to trying were rice and chicken souvlakia. I wouldn't even eat baklava [which I now love!] Since I've grown more open to the culinary world I went in with the intention of trying just about everything; well not everything but I certainly stepped out of my comfort zone... 
  My absolute favorite thing at the Greek Festival are called Loukoumathes. They are these delicious fried balls of dough [almost doughnut like but not quite] that are drenched in honey and cinnamon. They are automatic diet killers because there is no way you can eat just one and about 24 come in an order. The four of us [Tamra and Chase came with us] devoured all but 4 waiting in line for food...I might have to find a place that sells them year round but that could be dangerous

I thought about "forgetting" to take a picture so we'd have to buy more...

There were 13 items available to purchase in the main food line and Doug and I purchased 8 to try which was about $25 dollars. I wanted to try the lamb too but alas it was $13.00 and we wouldn't have eaten it after all of this and the desserts. Here are the definitions of what we tried:
Keftethes: Basically a Greek meatball with oregano and mint in a tomato sauce. I'm not a huge meatball fan and Doug's not a fan of red sauce but overall they were good. 
Pork Souvlakia: Pork marinated in oil, salt, pepper, oregano and lemon cooked on a skewer. The pork was super tender, moist and full of flavor. It's also the good old stand by of Greek cuisine.
Fried Calamari: Squid [yes squid] rings and arms battered and deep fried. Traditionally when I've order calamari it's always been just the rings so the arms [tentacles] were something different.

Keftethes, Pork Souvlakia and fried Calamari

Pastitsio, Dolmathes, Pilafi and Chicken Souvlakia

Pastitsio: Often described as the Greek Lasagna [but with white sauce]. It's baked pasta with a layer of meat and topped off with a bechamel sauce. The flavor was not what I expected but very good.
Dolmathes: This is Penni's favorite and probably my least favorite... It's a mixture of meat, rice and spices wrapped in grape leaves. The stuffing was alright but I wasn't a fan of the briny grape leaves.
Pilafi: Fluffy rice that has been cooked with lemon and chicken stock. Quite refreshing and not overly lemony.
Chicken Souvlakia: Same preparation as the Pork. Super juicy and really yummy!


   And then came the desserts... There were 10 to choose from and I settled on 4 to try this year. Next year I'll try some different ones except for the fact that I've always got to get Baklava!

The U shaped cookie is called Amigdalota and according to the lady I bought it from a new addition to the Greek Festival this year. It's a soft almond flavored cookie that my dad devoured... The white ball looking cookie is called Kourambiedes. Penni said they are typically served at weddings. It's a very dry and dense butter cookie covered in powdered sugar. The triangle it BAKLAVA! This is what most people think of when they think of Greek desserts. It's layers of phyllo dough filled with a mixture of chopped nuts, syrup and honey. They usually have some clove in there too and are one of Doug and I's new favorites! Lastly is Melomakarona. This is a cookie that has been soaked in honey and topped with chopped nuts. It was fairly dry but had a sweet punch.

Cold weather cravings

 Fall has officially come. The weather has been on the cold side recently and as a result certain cravings have been building. I've been longing for some chicken pot pie and was waiting on pins and needles for a really cold/stormy day to make it. Today was cold, wet and a bit dreary, perfect for eating a comforting pot pie.
   I started messing around with making my own pot pies last fall/winter. The development process resulted in Doug and I having pot pie about once a week until I got things the way I wanted. There were several successes and a couple of failures [like the time I used WAY too much sage...blech] My opinion on pot pie differs from  the traditional and changed over the course of recipe building. I'm not a fan of runny/soupy pot pies and wanted more stuff than sauce in the pie itself. Traditionally pot pies have a bottom and top crust but the bottom crust usually ended up soggy or turned to mush. For that reason and simplicity in making the pot pie I eliminated the bottom crust in my recipe. Tonight's pot pie was a slight variation from my normal version since I had baby yams to use up. Normally I would of used russet potatoes but after tonight's experimentation I'll be switching back and forth.
   I start off with good old bacon grease in a deep pot and sauté shallots and garlic to start developing flavors. [Did I mention that this is NOT a low fat or calorie counting recipe]. Next up are diced up veggies; usually a combination of carrots, celery and potatoes [swapped for baby yams]. I let these cook covered until they are tender stirring occasionally. By covering them while cooking they steam and cook much faster.

All the veggies melding together 

   While the veggies were cooking away I diced up 2 chicken breasts and coated them with a packet of Lipton Golden Onion Soup mix. The soup mix adds flavor and acts as a thickener. I cooked the chicken in a skillet with some extra virgin olive oil and then mixed them in with the cooked veggies. The baby yams had started to mush up a bit and were binding everything together really well. Next came heavy cream, grated Parmesan cheese and mixing until everything is warm and gooey [yum!]. 

The completed filling mixture

I spread the filling out in a glass baking dish and top it with rolled out crescent rolls. I have found that crescent rolls are the easiest and best tasting option for my pot pie. I really struggled with making pie dough and discovered this option out of necessity. Oh! I forgot to mention that it is key to salt and pepper right after you add anything to the pan [it all helps to develop the best possible flavors from the ingredients]. I bake the pot pie at 350 degrees for 30 min or until the rolls are brown on top. You'll want to let everything cool down for about 10 min so the thick sauce can form.

Tonight's pot pie was probably my all time best. The baby yams added so much to the texture and flavor of the dish. For once I have nothing that I would change about my dish! Usually I have about 3 things that I would change.  I have reached what I consider recipe perfection with one of my made from scratch creations. Happy Day!!!

I've got some catching up to do!

   Holy Cow! Time really can get away from you... New goal [posting every night is impossible at the moment] I'm going to try and post every other night, that seems a little more achievable. First item of business, the "sun" roasted tomatoes project. Note that sun is in parentheses as my husband said that oven and sun are not interchangeable... I did some research and it looks like the ones in the grocery stores aren't exactly sun dried either so if they can use the term then so can I! 
   The tomatoes took about 16 hours at 200 degrees. Next time I'll be quartering them instead of halving to see if it speeds up the process. I haven't used them yet as I'm still researching what I want to do with them. Pasta sauce, rub on roasted meat, baked in bread; there are too many possibilities but I'll be making a decision soon. In the meantime here is a picture of how they turned out after 16 hours in the oven. 

   College football has started up and is seeming to take up a lot more of my time than usual. I promised my baby brother [who is on a LDS mission in Puerto Rico] that I would stay up on sports for him so I took in 3 games over the course of 4 days. Thursday night was the U of U vs Pitt and sadly I passed out during the 3rd quarter. I was later woken by my husband to learn that the U won in overtime [Yippee!] Saturday was BYU vs Washington [BYU won, Woot!] and Monday night was Boise State vs Virgina Tech. Boise State won and added more fuel to the BCS busting fire! The past two Monday night's dinners have been pork nachos. I guess it's our game night meal plus nachos are one of Doug's favorites.

   Tuesday was my first attempt at using the cabbage! I chose to try out the recipe for fried cabbage that Grandma Rose gave me. Anything that is fried in bacon grease should be edible...She said to just fry up some bacon and toss in some onions and then put in the sliced cabbage. She mentioned that adding some caraway would be good if I had it. I didn't have caraway so I made do without it but will be picking some up next time I'm at the grocery store. It was about the time that I got everything in the pan that I realized I had no idea at what point the cabbage would be done... Was it just a quick saute or should the cabbage be slightly wilted or all the way to mush. I called Grandma only to find that she was out at a baby shower. Uncle Korey came to my rescue as he had cooked the recipe and said it needed to cook till the cabbage was slightly caramelized. I could hear Grandpa Doyle in the background questioning my willingness to take Korey at his word. So I asked a few more questions and felt confident that Korey knew what he was talking about [Grandpa did get me to think twice about it though, lol]
  Now, looking at the pictures it's pretty obvious I wasn't completely committed to the full cabbage experience. There is just as much bacon as there is cabbage. I'm shaking my own finger at myself since I ended up really enjoying the cabbage and wished there was more of it and less of the bacon. I 'll be doing this recipe again with a few adjustments; 1. I will use thin sliced bacon instead of think sliced. The pieces were cumbersome and hard to chew.  2. I will use more cabbage! I was completely surprised by how sweet it was. 3. I'll throw in the caraway that Grandma suggested.

Tonight I was a slacker wife in the dinner department and made Doug a Totino's pizza.  I do have a good excuse though! I made my first batch of jam! Strawberry-Nectarine [using up stuff from the co-op basket] jam to be precise. I came right home and started on the jam thinking it would take an hour to complete, so a really good dinner would follow. Well, it would of been an hour if I hadn't of struggled with peeling and coring the nectarines... I'm going to do some research because I had to of been doing something wrong. I'm going to confess that it took me an hour to do 8 nectarines... I even did the trick of scoring the nectarines and putting them in boiling water and then moving them to ice water to make it easier peel.

Eventually I got the nectarines all peeled and torn into pieces [pretty segments were out of the question]. I'm not a fan of big chunks of fruit so despite the warning from the pectin package I put the nectarines and strawberries in the food processor for a few pulses. I'm a fan of the jam jelly hybrid with tiny pieces of fruit. This was freezer jam not cooked jam just in case anyone was wondering. I asked many family members and experienced canners and they all said it was the best way for me to start out. Now I have 8 pretty little jars of what will hopefully be delicious jam. I was a little concerned about the white foam that formed but my mom assured me that it was fine and if I really wanted to I could skim it off but she thought it was bothersome and not necessary. The jam is now sitting on the counter for 24 hours at room temperature [that's what the instructions said] and then it will head to freezers and refrigerators across the Wasatch Front [After a full panel taste test has been completed] ... The stuff I got on my fingers tasted good so I have high hopes.

Food Co-op Time!

   We participate in a food co-op called Bountiful Baskets. It's a great way to get fresh produce while paying at least half of what you would pay at the grocery store. The co-op operates in several states and is all run by volunteers. If you are interested just head over to www.bountifulbaskets.org. The baskets change every week which helps to expand my eating habits and keeps us from getting in the "what's for dinner" rut. Often times we get things that I'm not familiar with so it provides me an excuse to do some online research and ask people for recipes to try. This week's basket was no exception as we got a couple things I'd never bought before.

   The basket had baby yams [one of my favorites!], romaine lettuce, green bell peppers, cabbage, celery, strawberries, nectaries, plums, grapes, a melon called Piel De Sapo and tomatoes [which I forgot to put in the original picture]. There were also bananas that I just realized I put away before I took the picture. Every basket is only $15! We've been doing the food co-op for a few weeks and I've now developed a system for making sure that we use everything because no matter how cheap something is, if you end up throwing it a way it was an expensive purchase. I don't do my supplemental grocery shopping until after I pick up the basket and do my menu planning around what we got for the week. Another great thing is that they try to give you somethings that are not quite ripe yet so you can make it last a little longer and not feel that you have to gorge yourself on produce for 2 or 3 days.
   I had no idea what Piel De Sapo was so I hopped on my laptop and googled it. On my quest for information I discovered a new food website that I've since used about 4 times. It's called foodista.com and it basically can answer any questions you have about any ingredient. I've learned that the Piel De Sapo is a Spanish melon similar to a honeydew in texture. I took it over to my family's BBQ today and everyone liked it and compared the taste to something like a crenshaw. I've never had a crenshaw so my opinion on the melon is that it was slightly sweet and somewhere between a firm watermelon and honeydew in texture. 
  I'm not really experienced with cabbage so it will be the experimental item of the week. I asked several family member what they do with cabbage and think I'll be trying a fried cabbage recipe that my Grandma Rose gave me and maybe cabbage rolls [which were suggested by both Aunt Wendi and Penni]. We still had some Roma tomatoes left over from the last baskets so tonight I am making my own sun [oven] dried tomatoes. I did some research online and it seems fairly simple just time consuming. I put them in the oven tonight at 200 degrees and will set my alarm to check on them at 6 hours. Wish me luck!

In 6-12 hours these will hopefully be "sun" dried