A simple fall feast

I had some strange computer virus and we have not been able to blog.  Also in the past few weeks I have been serving some quick trader joe's stuff and have not had time to do any real cooking.  But last week I was watching Rachael Ray,  I have to say when I was learning to cook I made a lot of her 30 minute meals ( although I call them 45 minute meals). The other day she was making something that looked so easy and good I had to try it.  It was really good and really easy, it was great for company because all the work is done ahead and I just popped it in the oven. It was autumn roasted chicken and sausage with balsamic glaze: http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/autumn-roasted-chicken-and-sausages-balsamic-drizzle/
It came out great, you could easily make many combos from this one technique. I just served it with a green salad and it was a complete meal.
I was also really wanted dessert. I love the desserts on the Poineer Women Blog.  She had this bread pudding recipe and I thought I did not like bread pudding, this was to die for. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/bread_pudding_f/
 It was so easy.  I got it together before everyone arrived, keeping the wet and dry mixture seperate.  When I took the chicken out of the oven I put the wet mixture on the bread and through it in the oven. I made the sauce right before serving.  I had to give the leftovers away, it was so good.
The next time you have another couple over for dinner, this is a great, easy, menu. I actually had time to relax and visit.

Warm Spinich and Bacon Salad (make this!)

Since creating this blog, it has opened up a world to all kinds of cooking blogs. Thank you to Stephanie for introducing my to The Poineer Women.  Last night I made her Spinich Salad. It really was the best spinich salad ever! It is a spinich salad with a warm bacon dressing.  We had it for dinner last night and we were very happy.  While making it I was a little uncomfortable using the rendered bacon fat as the base of the dressing, usually I would try to make it lighter, but I really wanted to see how the recipe tasted as written.  It may not be super healthy, but I will take a moment to justify it.  I figured the raw spinich, mushrooms and onions gave me at least 3 servings of veggies and we felt full, but it was not heavy or greasy. I also would prefer to give my family something homemade than something full of preservatives. I am trying to introduce vegetarian night at least once a week (sorry T, its for your own good!), so we will have a nice healthy lentil soup tonight.  This salad is so good and is an easy weeknight meal, it was 2-3 large servings.  Enjoy!
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/06/the-best-spinach-salad-ever/

Veggie Chicken Slow Cooker chili

I tryed Chicken Chili again in the slow cooker, this time I created my own recipe.  Overall I was happy with the results, although if you like it spicier add some cayanne pepper. (Complete recipe following the pictures)

I chopped a medium zucchini, 1 onion,  2 tomatos, 1 red pepper and 2 Jalapeños and add them to the crockpot with 2 cans of raised white bean and veggie stock.

I took the skin off of 2 bone in chicken breasts and seasoned with salt and pepper.

I placed the chicken breast inside the veggie mixtured and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Before serving I remove the chicken from the bone and shreded it and added it back to the slow cooker.

Here is the finished product with cheese and sour cream!

We all enjoyed it and I would make it again, it was very easy for a weeknight dinner.  All the work could be done in the morning or the day before. It also was very healthy, which is good after last weeks short ribs.

Veggie Chicken Slow Cooker Chili

1 chopped onion

1 med. chopped zucchini

1 chopped red bell pepper

2 Jalapeños chopped, ribs and seed removed

2 tomatos chopped

2 cans white beans(any type will do) rinsed

2 cups veggie or chicken stock

2 tbs. chili powder

1 tbs. cumin

2 bone in chicken breasts

Salt and pepper

1. Put all chopped veggies in the slow, along with beans and spices.

2. Season chicken with salt and pepper and put in the slow cooker.

3. Cover and set for 6-8 hours.

4. When chicken is finished remove it from slow cooker. Use 2 forks to remove it from the bone and shred.

5. Add chicken back to chili and stir. Serve with grated chees and sour cream.

A tasty disaster

A few times a week I try a few experiments in the hopes to be clever, this one was a big mess. I thought it would be fun, easy and economical to use my waffle maker as a Panini press. I have done it before and it worked, so I imagined a delicious sandwich with melted cheese, fresh tomato and a great whole grain bread. It did not quite turn out the way I planned. But part of doing this blog was to show, although this is hard to believe (ha, ha),  that I am not perfect in the kitchen. In fact I am far from it, but I always try to have fun and make something it at least edible. Below are the scary results.

The bread was too soft and the ingredients were too wet, leading to this sloppy mess. It covered the waffle maker. I was so hungry I scrapped it off of the waffle maker and I still ate it at although a bit soggy, it was still kinda good. I made this hot mess with basil mayo, prosciutto, tomato and fresh mozzarella if you want to try it in a frying pan or Panini maker you may have better luck.

Baked Ziti

I was reading Mark Bittman's blog today and he featured his Baked Ziti recipe.  I made the recipe from his book "How to Cook Everything" cookbook.  The recipe in the book features mushrooms rather than sausage.  I made it before the Falmouth Roadrace.  It must have been good because I had one of my best races! It was easy and so good! I liked how you made your own simple sauce instead of using a jarred one.
http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/featured-recipe-baked-ziti/#more-4401

Family Dinner Party- Parents Anniversary and Welcome Home Auntie Mo-Mo

This was one of my favorate dinners. The menu is as follow and was pretty easy.
Apps.- Cheese cranberry spread (Trader Joe's) with grapes and crackers

Salad- Pear Salad with Maple Vinaigrette
Dinner- Short Ribs with Mushrooms and Winter Greens http://www.cookstr.com/recipes/short-ribs-with-mushrooms-and-winter-greens
Garlic Mashed Potatos
Dessert- Trader Joe's Fall Fruit Tart with Caramel Sauce and Spiced Whipped Cream ( I just added a pinch or cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg to homemade whipped cream)

Friday night I put together a dinner party, which I have not done in a while.  Before having my daughter I would have them pretty much weekly.  I always tend to make things more difficult then they need to be, but I think this time I got it down.  I looked for a recipe I could make in advance and it was so much easier.  I had it in my head that we had to have short ribs.  They just sounded appetizing on a cold fall night.  I was inspired by the cover of last month's Bon Appetite.  The recipe was Braiseed short ribs with Red Wine gravy and swiss chard :
 http://www.bonappetit.com/magazine/2009/10/braised_beef_short_ribs_with_red_wine_gravy_and_swiss_chard

 I read the recipe and the braising liquid was pretty much a vegetable stock.  I kept wanting to replace the vegetables, trunips etc. So I scratched that recipe and looked on Cookster for a new recipe. I made Short Ribs with Mushrooms and Winter Greens (see link at top of page). I cooked the short ribs in advance and they were great. A good thing about making them in advance is I could refridgerate them and skim the fat off the top.  Short ribs are not good for your diet because of thier high fat content, but that is what makes them pretty much foolproof for a special dinner.  They are very tender when cooked for a long time.  I had a hard time finding meaty ones in the meat sections of the grocery store, but I had a lot of success asking the butcher at Roche Brother.   Rather than serving it as a stew I took the short ribs out and tryed to make a gravy buy reducing the sauce.  It was not thick like a gravy, but was still very good and had a ton of flavor. I cooked the swiss chard seperatley and added a side of garlic mashed potatos.  It was great, but next time I think it would be just as good sticking with the recipe as written.  Trader Joe's also was a great way to make things easier.  I bought a Kale and Swiss Chard mix, that was cleaned and cut. I was going to make a dessert, but I did not want to add any stress to the day and wanted to enjoy the night.  I bought a fall fruit tart at Trader Joe's, made a caramel sauce and a spiced whipped cream.  I made a pool of sauce on the plate, put the tart on top and topped with whip cream.

Food Network slow cooker chicken chili

Same as last week my parents came over for dinner on Wednesday night, the slow cooker has made it very easy to have a family dinner.  Sometimes I am just at a loss if how to use it.  I was on the food network website and found this recipe for slow cooker chicken chili http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/slow-cooker-chicken-chili-recipe2/index.html. I was very happy with the results, but there are a few things I would change.  I used turkey instead of chicken because it was on sale.  The recipe had you add the chicken uncooked. If I were to make it again, I would have brown it.  When the chili was finished the turkey was mushy, but still tasted good, I think browning would have solved this.  I also found the recipe had a lot of ingrediants, so I left out the cloves (they were $8), subsituted caned tomatos for fire roasted and I had no chicken broth so I used water. The chili was still very flavorful.  When using the chipole pepper make sure they are chopped finely.  Mine were in too large of pieces and I got a very hot bowl.