I am always on the prowl for easy chicken dishes. My husband considers chicken breast bland and tasteless and masking the white meat with enough sauce to make him forget what he’s eating is always a challenge.
A few months ago I discovered a recipe for rabbit braised in pepper and herb sauce in “Spanish Home Cooking” by Miriam Kelen.
The recipe called for 3 lb of rabbit, but noted that chicken could be used instead. The rabbit became a quick success among my friends. I cooked the rabbit for a couple in early December. The two cornered me on New Year’s Eve to tell me they were ready to eat rabbit again anytime.
I was curious to try the dish with chicken, but didn’t want to make the sauce from scratch. Instead I decided to make a “Castillian Casserole” using sauce I had frozen after the last time I made rabbit. (Note, the sauce is really easy to make. I just wanted to see if it could be frozen and still taste good when thawed).
Tonight I made the casserole. It included peas, chicken, cheese, matzo and the pepper and herb sauce. I have no pictures to share from this meal because my husband, the Chief Tasting Officer, ate it too fast.
“Since you like it so much we should take a picture for my blog,” I said at one point.
“But there’s barely any left and I am going to finish this,” he said as he scrambled for the kitchen.
You’d think the camera was going to steal the food!
Check out the full recipe for the casserole on Momentous Occasions by Natasha.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
Entertainment book on sale
The 2009 Entertainment Book is now on sale. You can buy it by visiting http://www.entertainment.com/discount/?linkName=060802_FEL_EMAIL_75&subid=CD14. The Minnesota Entertainment Book is $22.75.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Sun-dried tomato and parmesan bread
I recently purchased a copy of "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" and gotten a chance to experiment with some of the recipes in the book. My CTO (Chief Tasting Officer) has been quite happy as I pulled baguettes, prosciutto bread, green olive bread and roasted red pepper bread out of the oven.
My latest baking obsession is sun-dried tomato and Parmesan bread. It goes well with rice dishes, tomato based soups and sandwiches. I estimate each loaf cost me $2.50. I bought a can of sun-dried tomatoes for $4.99 and that will yield roughly 4-5 loaves. I also bought a wedge of Parmesan cheese on sale for $2.99. The cheese will probably last for 6 loaves, if not more. I already had the ingredients for the dough.
I will say it takes longer than 5 minutes to make the breads that require a filling because you need to chop the ingredients. I'd estimate it takes 15 minutes to prepare the bread.
I am not going to post the recipe here because it is too complicated and you need to read the book to understand the cooking methods. You can check out http://www.zoebakes.com/ for some of Zoe Francois' recipes and information about the book.
Adding fresh bread to the table is a great way to spruce up a meal, just ask my CTO.
Poor man's paella
On a recent trip to Barcelona my husband and I marveled at the incredible flavor of paella. Meat, seafood and spices blended together with rice form this savory dish.
We couldn't get enough of it. Although I have the recipe for making this meal in America, it can be very costly to buy the special rice, seafood and meats needed to make this dish worth the effort.
I thought there has to be an easier and cheaper way to make this meal. I created "Poor Man's Paella" after experimenting with various ingredients at home. This doesn't taste like paella, but it is a satisfying rice dish great for cold Minnesota nights. Check out the recipe at Momentous Occasions.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Bake-free pineapple flambe
I have no problems cooking enchiladas, turkey or lamb from scratch, but if you ask me to bake chocolate chip cookies I start to panic.
I was never much of a baker. At my first job out of college the women organized a cookie exchange every year. I purchased cranberries, flour and baking powder with the intentions of making delicious oatmeal cranberry cookies.
Unfortunately they were so hard you could barely bite through them and the bottoms were burned.
If I recall correctly, my cookies were almost untouched at the party.
Oh well.
That's why I am always on the prowl for desserts that involve little or no baking.
I was recently introduced to a wonderful dessert called Postre de Pina y Chile (spicy pineapple-rum flambe). Chef Amalia Damgaard (www.cookparty.com) presented it during a class entitled Latin Holiday Entertaining. She served it with fried cheese, which I don't do because I find that by the time guests get to the dessert they don't want to eat hunks of fried cheese. But if you plan to serve this dessert tapas style, then I suggest including the cheese. I'll post both recipes on Momentous Occasions.
I was never much of a baker. At my first job out of college the women organized a cookie exchange every year. I purchased cranberries, flour and baking powder with the intentions of making delicious oatmeal cranberry cookies.
Unfortunately they were so hard you could barely bite through them and the bottoms were burned.
If I recall correctly, my cookies were almost untouched at the party.
Oh well.
That's why I am always on the prowl for desserts that involve little or no baking.
I was recently introduced to a wonderful dessert called Postre de Pina y Chile (spicy pineapple-rum flambe). Chef Amalia Damgaard (www.cookparty.com) presented it during a class entitled Latin Holiday Entertaining. She served it with fried cheese, which I don't do because I find that by the time guests get to the dessert they don't want to eat hunks of fried cheese. But if you plan to serve this dessert tapas style, then I suggest including the cheese. I'll post both recipes on Momentous Occasions.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
$3 macaroons
If you shop at Lunds or Byerly's you've probably noticed prices of their baked goods have almost doubled while the packaging shrunk.
I used to treat myself and my husband, the Chief Tasting Officer, to a package of the coconut macaroons for dessert. But once the price of the macaroons surpassed $4 and the packages became smaller, I stopped buying the dessert.
Haven't bought them in months. What I have done is learned to make macaroons at home. It is quite easy and much cheaper. A 7 oz bag of macaroons is $1.50 at Cub. You can find my macaroons recipe at Momentous Occasions by Natasha.
Happy baking.
I used to treat myself and my husband, the Chief Tasting Officer, to a package of the coconut macaroons for dessert. But once the price of the macaroons surpassed $4 and the packages became smaller, I stopped buying the dessert.
Haven't bought them in months. What I have done is learned to make macaroons at home. It is quite easy and much cheaper. A 7 oz bag of macaroons is $1.50 at Cub. You can find my macaroons recipe at Momentous Occasions by Natasha.
Happy baking.
Monday, December 15, 2008
It's all in the bread
The smell of fresh bread is intoxicating in Europe.
It wafts through the narrow streets, enticing passersby to enter bakeries and purchase fresh bread in the morning and afternoon. Europeans, especially the French, are obsessed with fresh baguettes and with good reason.
A loaf of bread costs only $1.50 there, which makes it an affordable luxury for anyone.
When my husband and I were in Barcelona this fall I felt as if I’d entered a special heaven where it was mandatory to sell affordable cheese breakfast pastries, croissants and demi-baguettes (half-loaves).
So why is bread so expensive here? Sometimes I feel the urge to hurl flour at the makers of bread products as I browse a store’s selection just to remind these folks that bread should be cheap. Sara Lee bread runs around $4 a loaf at the grocery store. And fresh bread, well you’re probably more likely to see a Keebler dwarf sitting atop chocolate chip cookies then you are inexpensive bread. Cub charges $3.99 for a 14 oz package of Ciabatta bread.
I am sure there’d be a European Yeast Revolt if they were suddenly forced to pay 3 Euros for a mediocre loaf of bread.
Thankfully there is a way out of this rather battered situation. Put on an apron and bake your own bread.
Readers rest assured: the image you have of a woman kneading dough and monitoring the bread rising for hours was left behind with black and white television.
A quality bread maker is a great way for a beginner to learn about baking.
I purchased a “Breadman” bread maker from Bed, Bath and Beyond for $60 two years ago. It is not a cheap investment, but once you realize you can make bread for roughly $1 a loaf it is well worth the price.
This kitchen tool comes with a recipe book for yummy breads such as French, honey banana whole wheat, rye and cinnamon raisin. As an added bonus not discussed in the manual -- it makes your home smell like a bakery in the morning.
All you need to do is place water, yeast, salt, flour and any other required ingredients in the bread maker and press start.
I’ve graduated to the next level of baking bread now that I purchased a copy of “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.” For those not familiar with the book, authors Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois (both of Minnesota) developed a method for bread baking that requires no kneading.
You simply mix ingredients in a large container and let the dough rise for two hours. Once the process is done you simply refrigerate the container and use the flour whenever you want to bake bread. It keeps in the fridge for two weeks!
The authors also use the steaming method to help the bread cook. You simply place a broiling pan under your bread and throw a cup of water in there. Half an hour later you’ll have a delicious loaf of bread and the added bonus of a nicely smelling home. Their recipes include mouthwatering olive oil bread roasted red pepper, Vermont cheddar bread and olive fougasse.So don’t be intimidated by that image of grandma wrestling dough with a rolling pin. This is America, where you can get inexpensive fresh bread with the touch of a button.
It wafts through the narrow streets, enticing passersby to enter bakeries and purchase fresh bread in the morning and afternoon. Europeans, especially the French, are obsessed with fresh baguettes and with good reason.
A loaf of bread costs only $1.50 there, which makes it an affordable luxury for anyone.
When my husband and I were in Barcelona this fall I felt as if I’d entered a special heaven where it was mandatory to sell affordable cheese breakfast pastries, croissants and demi-baguettes (half-loaves).
So why is bread so expensive here? Sometimes I feel the urge to hurl flour at the makers of bread products as I browse a store’s selection just to remind these folks that bread should be cheap. Sara Lee bread runs around $4 a loaf at the grocery store. And fresh bread, well you’re probably more likely to see a Keebler dwarf sitting atop chocolate chip cookies then you are inexpensive bread. Cub charges $3.99 for a 14 oz package of Ciabatta bread.
I am sure there’d be a European Yeast Revolt if they were suddenly forced to pay 3 Euros for a mediocre loaf of bread.
Thankfully there is a way out of this rather battered situation. Put on an apron and bake your own bread.
Readers rest assured: the image you have of a woman kneading dough and monitoring the bread rising for hours was left behind with black and white television.
A quality bread maker is a great way for a beginner to learn about baking.
I purchased a “Breadman” bread maker from Bed, Bath and Beyond for $60 two years ago. It is not a cheap investment, but once you realize you can make bread for roughly $1 a loaf it is well worth the price.
This kitchen tool comes with a recipe book for yummy breads such as French, honey banana whole wheat, rye and cinnamon raisin. As an added bonus not discussed in the manual -- it makes your home smell like a bakery in the morning.
All you need to do is place water, yeast, salt, flour and any other required ingredients in the bread maker and press start.
I’ve graduated to the next level of baking bread now that I purchased a copy of “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.” For those not familiar with the book, authors Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois (both of Minnesota) developed a method for bread baking that requires no kneading.
You simply mix ingredients in a large container and let the dough rise for two hours. Once the process is done you simply refrigerate the container and use the flour whenever you want to bake bread. It keeps in the fridge for two weeks!
The authors also use the steaming method to help the bread cook. You simply place a broiling pan under your bread and throw a cup of water in there. Half an hour later you’ll have a delicious loaf of bread and the added bonus of a nicely smelling home. Their recipes include mouthwatering olive oil bread roasted red pepper, Vermont cheddar bread and olive fougasse.So don’t be intimidated by that image of grandma wrestling dough with a rolling pin. This is America, where you can get inexpensive fresh bread with the touch of a button.
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