sore hands, cold beef

Dear Kristin,

Yes - you are absolutely right. I've been very remiss in posting to our blog and I sincerely apologize. What have I been doing that prevents me from posting? Ah nothing, really, just:

shifting/weeding our collection of 45,000 journals
looking for a new house
getting our house ready to put on the market (cleaning down to the tooth-brush level!)
trying to get in at least a couple of runs every week
and, yes - watching funny dog videos on You Tube

So have pity on your poor mom - either that, or get a plane ticket & come up here to help me shift & weed 45,000 volumes! Between shifting & cleaning, I'm definitely beginning to feel my age. You would think that my back and arms would suffer the most, which they did at first. What really hurts now though, are my hands. I come home at night with the sorest, most battered hands you can imagine. I'm having trouble opening the cap on my Geritol, I can't grasp the remote control for the tv, and pretty soon I'm going to have to ask dad to start cutting up my meat for me at dinner!

One thing that does ease my pain is applying cold compresses to my hands. That is why this recipe is actually therapeutic - it requires that you slice a piece of steak while it is partially frozen - so there you go - what a great segue from pain to cooking, don't you think?

So, not only is this recipe therapeutic for sore hands, but it's super quick, so that you can get dinner on the table in no time. Just add a side of rice and maybe some spring rolls and you are good to go, (Or in my case, good to park yourself in front of the tv & watch reruns of Poirot!)

quick beef & broccoli (loosely based on a recipe found in Cooking Light October, 2012)

1/2 c. lower sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
12 oz. boneless sirloin steak, thinly sliced*
4 tsp. canola oil
3 c. broccoli florets
1 red onion, sliced
4 large carrots, sliced diagonally about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick
1 c. water
1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. dark sesame oil

Combine soy sauce, cornstarch, and hoisin in a medium bowl. Add beef and toss, making sure all beef is coated in sauce.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over high heat. Add oil to pan. Remove beef from marinade. Reserve the marinade. Add beef to heated oil in pan. Stir fry about 2 minutes or until browned. (Do no over crowd the pan - brown beef in two batches if necessary). Remove beef from pan and keep warm.

Add broccoli, onion, carrots and water to pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes or until broccoli is crisp-tender. Add reserved marinade to pan and bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until sauce begins to thicken. Add beef back into the pan and continue to cook for about 2 minutes more, or until mixture is heated through and sauce has thickened.

* Partially freezing the steak before slicing will allow you to slice the meat more thinly, and will enhance tenderness.

breakfast bourbon

Dear Mom,

Well, hang on, I must first address any possible readers we have out there:

Dear Readers,

Never fear my mother is safe, she has been absolutely fine in fact, and I certainly will not sit here an apologize for her! 

OH SNAP!

Dear Mom,

Well I miss your posts, I don't know how other people feel out there, but I'm let down.  I know you've been busy (busy watching YouTube videos of funny dogs!), but come on...  Have you not been eating?  Did you get involved with the librarian mafia again and they broke your fingers?  They're silent but deadly you know...  Alright, enough with the chastising, I have a recipe to share! 

Actually I have two recipes, because its been so long!!!

The hubs and I just got back from a little mini vacation to Louisville, Kentucky.  Yes, that's right, Louisville.  Believe it or not its a fun little town with lots of good food and good booze.  There are pretty city parks, cute neighborhoods, great restaurants and pubs, friendly folk, and bourbon.  Bourbon, bourbon, bourbon.  I'm not a big bourbon fan, but the hubs likes it quite a bit.  And while we were down there we did a couple distillery tours (basically think a boozier winery tour).  I tried a few and it is still far from my drink of choice, but one great little restaurant we found made an awesome bourbon cocktail.

The restaurant is called Rye.  Its a great place with a nice interior and some really quality stuff coming out of the kitchen.  We tried a bunch of small plates, they change up the menu seasonally so one of the stand outs was a sauteed asparagus kimchi-type dish that had that addicting salty, sweet, umami, spicy combo that kept us going back for more.  To quench the heat I tried one of the cocktails that sounded refreshing after the warm spring day that we were there.  And it had bourbon in it, which even though as said I'm not a natural born bourbon lover, I figured, when in Rome...

What I liked so much about the cocktail is it was basically like you gave a mimosa a kick in the pants, hence the name "manosa" (not what the restaurant called it, but what I'm calling it).  It was grapefruit juice, orange bitters, prosecco, and bourbon.  The bourbon adds a complex slightly smokey, vanilla, spicey flavor that helps tame the sweet/sour/tart of the prosecco and grapefruit.  So, to go with the amped up mimosa, I'm also going to give you all my recipe for chocolate chip pancakes.  I found this recipe for pancakes a while ago, and its been my go to as of late.  All of the baking powder that goes into it makes them super fluffy and able to hold up to any additives such as chocolate chips or fruit if your feeling like being healthy.  They also have very little sugar in them, so you can focus on the more yummy complex sugars of the maple syrup or chocolate chips.  I've never tried making them normal sized, I always go for the silver dollar size, that way you can always easily pop them into the toaster to warm the leftovers up.

manosa

1 oz. bourbon
2 oz. grapefruit juice
3 dashes orange bitters
the juice from one slice of orange
ice cubes
3-4 oz. chilled prosecco
orange peel, for garnish
1 mint leaf, for garnish

In a standard shaker, add bourbon, grapefruit juice, orange bitters, the juice of the orange slice, and ice.  Shake until ice cold and frothy.  Pour into a collins glass.  Top with prosecco, 1 ice cube, orange peel and mint.

chocolate chip pancakes

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3-1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar
1-1/4 cups milk
1 egg
3 tbsp. butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup chocolate chips
canola or veggie oil

In a large bowl whisk all dry ingredients (flour through sugar).  In a measuring cup stir together milk, egg and butter.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk mixture.  Stir together until smooth.  Fold in chocolate chips.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat.  Add the oil and when the skillet is piping hot,  pour 1/4 cup measurements of the batter onto the skillet.  Cook 1-2 minutes per side, until golden.

veggie veggie

Dear Mom,

Well, thank God its over!  What's over, you ask?  My two week stint as a vegetarian.  Quite a stupid endeavor I'll have to admit.  Not to say that going vegetarian is stupid, its just totally dumb to do it for two weeks.  I was convinced by my husband and a documentary that he made me watch that animal protein was bad for you.  That is probably correct, but you know what?  I don't care.  I like meat and cheese and eggs and I'm proud of it!  So I tried to give up meat and eggs (not cheese, I just could not give up cheese) for two weeks, with the end goal of, "if I feel better, I might just stick with it."  Well, newsflash, two weeks is probably not enough, and lets be honest the end goal did not involve becoming a veg for the rest of my life.  So what did I learn?  Well, I learned a couple of new veggie friendly recipes and I'm going to cut back on my meat consumption.  That's about it.  Not exactly worth giving up meat for two weeks, but this is a very tasty recipe so some good did come of the attempt.

roasted red pepper and cauliflower pasta

1 head of cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized pieces

4 cloves of garlic, minced

4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

salt & pepper

2 large shallots, sliced

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup white wine (Pinot Grigio works great)

1 tbsp. tomato paste

1 oz. jar roasted red peppers, drained (in water, or if in oil, drain and rinse them in cold water)

chopped fresh basil

pasta, cooked and drained, reserve some pasta water (really any kind you like, I used a lemon-pepper pappardelle) 

Preheat oven to 400.  On a sheet pan toss the cauliflower, minced garlic, 4 tbsp. EVOO and salt & pepper to taste.  Spread in a single layer and roast in the oven for 25 minutes, stirring & flipping at the halfway point.  The cauliflower should be lightly browned and toasty when done.

Cook pasta according to package directions, reserve some of the pasta water.  

Meanwhile, in a saucepan or deep saute pan heat 1 tbsp. EVOO and add shallots.  Saute the shallots until they begin turning golden.  Add tomato paste and let brown a little, then add white wine and scrape up the brown bits.  Puree the roasted red peppers in a blender or food processor and add to the shallot-wine mixture.  Bring to a light simmer.

Add to the saucepan the roasted cauliflower and bits of minced garlic from the sheet pan.  Stir to combine.  Add the pasta and toss over medium-low heat, add some of the reserved pasta water if the sauce is too thick or not adhering to the pasta.

butternut squash redux

Dear Kristin,

Your bacon and squash galette looks wonderful. I've just recently started using butternut squash - I was always an acorn girl up until now. I'm learning that squash is the "Sybil" of the vegetable world - able to take on multiple personalities with the addition of just a few basic ingredients. I know you and your mate are trying to curtail the amount of animal protein in your diets - so I'm offering a side dish that you can make without any animal-related products whatsoever.

We were looking for a side dish to serve with lemon chicken and the thought of just another potato or rice dish was just not very exciting. I've been wanting to do something with quinoa for quite some time, and thought that it would do nicely as a starchy side dish. A friend recently served Wegman's recipe for squash & grain bake and I've also had quinoa with squash and craisins, and these dishes were my inspiration.

I've never made quinoa before, and when I brought it home & opened it up your dad gave me one of those "oh here we go" skeptical looks and retreated to his man-cave to await what he was sure was going to be a bland substitute for rice. Well, I've made a believer out of him with this recipe. I cooked the quinoa in a mixture of water and chicken stock to boost the flavor a bit (to make it vegetarian friendly you could use vegetable stock). I also added some red onions (because we love onions), and instead of using craisins, which tend to get lost easily, I used frozen cranberries instead. The cranberries were an inspired addition - they really add a nice tangy "pop" that makes this side dish stand out.

Just a warning - this dish makes a lot! Since it is just a side dish, I think I will cut it down to half the next time.

Red Quinoa with Squash and Cranberries

1 cup red quinoa
1 cup lower sodium chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
1 1/4 cup water
3 cups butternut squash, large dice
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, halved
1 medium red onion, large dice
1 clove garlic (or more to taste)
2 Tblsp. good quality maple syrup
Kosher salt
Extra virgin olive oil

Cook quinoa:

Place quinoa in large fine sieve and rinse with cold water. Drain and place in saucepan with chicken stock and water. Bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat and simmer for 17 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes.

Prepare vegetables:

Place squash, cranberries, onion and garlic on large baking sheet lined with non-stick foil. Drizzle with olive oil and maple syrup. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Toss mixture to coat. Spread mixture evenly in pan and roast in 400 F. oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until squash is tender.

Fluff quinoa with a fork and place in a large pre-warmed serving bowl. Add roasted vegetables and toss. Add salt to taste. Drizzle lightly with olive oil. Serve hot.

comfy's note: I imagine this would work as well with acorn squash. Stuffing a presoftened acorn squash shell with the quinoa mixture would make a nice presentation.

my little butternut

Dear Mom,

Well, Valentine's Day just flew by this year! But its still a perfect time to talk about love. The kind of love between a woman and her favorite ingredients. For me, that's butternut squash, bacon and blue cheese. Admittedly these are not my only favorites, the list truly could go on and on, but I would say these are towards the top of the list. For that matter so are caramelized onions and pie crust which are also featured in this dish. Although I'm sure those two are on a lot of people's list of favorites. My husband, on the other hand, is not a huge squash fan. If squash is to be served in my house, it better be really good, otherwise you simply can't win him over. But considering its one of my faves I must keep trying. The easiest way to win over anyone, my hubs included, is with bacon. Fortunately for me squash and bacon are a match made in heaven.

butternut squash, bacon and blue cheese galette

4 small onions sliced
1 tsp. sugar
extra virgin olive oil
2 cups sliced butternut squash (about 1/8-inch thick)
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
salt & pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp. your favorite mustard (preferably a sweeter one, with out whole grain)
1 unbaked pie crust
3 slices bacon, cooked to crispy and crumbled
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

Preheat oven to 400F.  Toss the onions, sugar, salt (to taste) and enough olive oil to lightly coat the onions in a non-stick saute pan over medium-low heat.  Allow to soften and carmelize over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes. 

In a large bowl toss the butternut squash, 2 tbsp olive oil, rosemary and salt and pepper to taste, until squash is well coated.

Unroll the pie crust on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Spread the mustard over the crust leaving a 1-inch border.  Top with the onions, covering evenly.  Starting in the center lay out the squash slices, overlapping them as you go working your way to the 1-inch border.  Working with the egg wash, gently fold the 1-inch border approximately 3-4 inches long over the squash.  Brush with egg white at one end of the fold and use that to help "glue" the next 3-4 inch fold over.  Keep working your way around until all edges are folded over.  Lightly brush all exposed crust with egg wash.

Bake in hot oven for 25 minutes, squash should start to brown lightly.  Remove from oven and top with crumble bacon and blue cheese.   Return to oven for 5-8 minutes until blue cheese is melted.