Sweet Potato Bites

Posted on November 2, 2009 by Kristin

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Truth is we’re still strung out on a high-fructose corn syrup high.  You can imagine the mother load of candy four Littles rack up on Halloween.  I’ve heard some mother’s offer to pay their children a coin or two for each piece of candy in an attempt to rid the burden.  Friends, I’m not that rich.  Coins or not, we don’t have enough to make a dent in the mound of well, Mounds we’ve got going on over here.

In a rare occurrence, I am alone in the house this morning.  I’ve circled the loot several times, hovering just long enough to consider dumping every last piece of candy in the garbage.  But the Littles would never forgive me. I really should give them a warning I’m going to dump every last piece of their candy in the garbage.

I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time figuring out healthy snacks for the Littles.  Oh I know! I’ll offer carrots or celery.  Or  ruta-frickin-baga! That’ll work.  Just about as well as the perennial fruit basket on the counter that goes untouched every.single.day.  Nope, I need to give some serious thought to after school snacks.  It’s just so easy to grab those goldfishy things and go…

The deluge of candy this weekend and the never-ending quest for healthy snacks the Littles will actually eat preoccupies much of my food thoughts lately. So I thought I’d kick the week off with a snack I know the Littles like.  Will the Littles actually choose sweet potato bites over a Snickers? Um, no.  That’s why I get paid the big bucks. To offer encouragement in their choices.  Or force them. Either way.

If you need a healthy alternative to the butterfingerextravaganza, try these sweet potato bites.  They are cheap, easy, and healthy.  Which is at least a step in the right direction.  Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Bites

2-3 sweet potatoes

olive oil

cinnamon

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Peel and cube sweet potatoes.  I make small cubes for little fingers.

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Place the cubed sweet potatoes in a large plastic bag.

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Add a glug of olive oil and as much cinnamon as you like.  Seal the plastic bag and shake to evenly coat each sweet potato cube with oil and cinnamon.

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Spread on baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are fork tender.

Sweet potato bites are also delicious blended in a smoothie with vanilla yogurt!

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Steak with Mixed Peppercorns & Pomegranate Glaze

Posted on October 23, 2009 by Kristin

The November 2009 issue of Bon Appetit presents Steak with Mixed Peppercorns & Pomegranate Glaze (on page 56 if you want to follow along) as Fast, Easy & Fresh.  As a side bar the magazine hints that it’s a quick dinner party dish too.  I can tell you it’s true.  Delish. And deceptively easy.

I don’t usually gravitate to steak recipes.  I mean, how hard can fixin’ steak be, right? And when you have the world’s best Cowboy Steak rub, there tends to be little reason to stray.  But, I was intrigued by the pepper and pomegranate, so I gave Bon Appetit’s recipe a whirl.

The trick to pulling this recipe off is to NOT make the blunder I did.

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If you buy really expensive, organic mixed peppercorns with a special grinder, please don’t let the bottle slip out of your hand and spill half its contents all over the floor.  It’s just not a good way to kick off your cooking.

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If you were my children this is when I would say something pithy like, “Do as I say, not as I do”.

Let’s start over, shall we? Here’s Bon Appetit’s recipe:

Steak with Mixed Peppercorns & Pomegranate Glaze

1 (1/4 lb) sirloin steak

Peppercorn mix, coarsely ground

1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

2 1/2 tsp olive oil, divided

1 cup pomegranate juice

4 tsp (packed) brown sugar

2 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar, divided

4 cups arugula

And here’s how I followed:

I poured a glass of red wine which helped restore that peaceful, easy feeling I had before I lost my peppercorns. I also cranked up iTunes (the Eagles must have been playing).

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I love rosemary so I’m sure I used more than called for in the recipe.

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I seasoned a slightly larger steak (1 1/2 lb) with peppercorns, rosemary, and salt.  In a hot skillet with olive oil, I seared the seasoned steak.

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We like steak medium-well around the Cafe, so I seared the meat about 6 minutes per side.

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While the meat was resting (after all that hard work), I made the quick and easy glaze. I used a Pomegranate-Blueberry Juice because it was 1/2 the cost as pure pom.  Plus, I love blueberries. This actually proved to be a really good call and the flavor of the blueberry was a distinct bonus.

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I added the juice, brown sugar, 2 tsp of balsamic vinegar to the skillet and stirred the mixture into the juices from the steak.

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Boil the juice, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is reduced to a thick glaze, about 5 minutes.

In a bowl, toss remaining 1 tsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp of balsamic vinegar and salad.  I think straight up arugula is too strong, so I used a mix of baby spinach and arugula.

Slice the steak and arrange on mixed salad. Enjoy!

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Do Not Try This

Posted on October 19, 2009 by Kristin

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I really hate to share this Halloween concoction with you.  Go ahead, try it if you dare…

A dear friend updated her Facebook status last week extolling the virtues of candy corn mixed with peanuts.  Ha! I’ll escape that one. I don’t even like candy corn!

Unless they are mixed with peanuts apparently.

I’m sorry.

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Cheese Straws

Posted on October 15, 2009 by Kristin

One of the most shocking entries on my calendar occurred on August 8th.  The entry at the top of the day read: make cheese straws/freeze for Christmas.

I’m not sure what moonshine I was sippin’ when I added this event to my calendar, but rest assured August 8th came and went sans cheese straws.

In my defense, I actually remember adding this task to my calendar last year. I was in the throws of the holidays and wished I had planned better by freezing things like cornbread for the dressing, gingerbread dough for cookie decorating, and appetizer essentials like cheese straws. So I planned ahead and scheduled cheese straw production for the dog days of summer.

To further my own defense, I also remember laughing out loud on August 8th.  Cheese straws did not get made that hot, summer day.

But, since I find myself quarantined home again this month, week, morning I thought I’d make use of my time and make cheese straws for Christmas. My sick Little seems to have shaken the swine, but not ready to return to school.

Cheese straws have been in my family longer than I have.  The simple recipe comes from Mia’s mother’s best friend Ellen.  I’ve always called them Nana’s cheese straws after my grandmother, but apparently her neighbor should get the credit.  I’m sure Mia could share more history of these must-have holiday bites. Maybe she can also fill us in on why they are called cheese straws as they are really tiny wafers.

Truly nothing could be more simple to make than these savory bites.  Since I was blessed with two additional hands this morning, we doubled the batch and made plenty to freeze.

Nana’s Cheese Straws

2 cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated

1 cup flour (it’s spelled flower on the original recipe! Don’t you love that?)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp red pepper (I use a bit more for extra heat)

1 stick margarine (do not use butter)

Sift flour (or flower), salt and pepper.  Combine with cheese and margarine.  Form into long rolls, wrap in wax paper and chill over night.  Slice. Bake 10 minutes at 410 degrees.

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I know it seems archaic, but please grate the cheese for this recipe.  And be sure to use sharp cheddar.

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This recipe dates itself by calling for margarine.  But substituting butter is a no no!  Don’t be tempted, your cheese wafers will spread.  Use room temperature margarine.

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Sift the salt, red pepper and flour. Then mix in the cheese and margarine.  Mix well with your hands until combined and mixture forms a ball.

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Divide dough and roll into long, skinny logs.  Roll each cheese log in wax paper.

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We are saving ours for the holidays, so I packaged them in a freezer bag.  When needed I can pull out one or more logs, slice and bake.  Make sure you slice and bake when the dough is still very, very chilled.  Allowing the wafers to come to room temp will cause them to spread.

Watch your oven carefully.  I usually take a good peek at 8 minutes as the wafers can burn in a matter of seconds.  You want them golden just around the bottom edges.

Make some this weekend! You’ll be thrilled to have these on hand during the holidays.

Have an early Merry Christmas!

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Chobani Cheers!

Posted on October 14, 2009 by Kristin

Sometimes lunch requires a recipe.  And sometimes, like today, lunch just makes itself.

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Sorry friends, no recipe today.  But, I am sharing one of my fav O rite treats.  You’ve probably eaten Chobani for years, secretly keeping it from me just for fun, right?

First, I must offer some kind of a disclaimer.  There has been much ado throughout the blogosphere and social networking land about blogging and disclaimers. The FTC is enacting guidelines for blog writers and companies who offer products for bloggers to review.  Yackity. Yack.

I do not offer product reviews. No one (but you) knows I’m here. And if it weren’t for my PR agent mother, you probably wouldn’t have found me either. Seriously, there are many bloggers who choose to review products either for monetary compensation or for the gift of the product they endorse, or toss.  The FTC has decided that since bloggers have a major influence in the market place, rules should apply in the form of disclaimers.  You know, so everyone is crystal clear about who’s getting paid by whom for what. Only no one is clear about anything yet. The trend among leading bloggers in the sphere is to add a personal disclaimer policy to their site. Policies drafted by lawyers.  My disclaimer? I hope I never have to eat my words.

For the record (argh that harkens back to my former PR days), Chobani did not send me, my daughters, or any other representative of The Schell Cafe the yogurt we just enjoyed for lunch. I was not paid in yogurt, private school tuition, or anything in between for this post.  It just sorta came to me while I was enjoying a simple lunch with two of my Littles.

Now, let’s get back to the moment shall we?

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This Little is home sick.  Despite her ear to ear grin, she’s got the swine flu. But losing a tooth last night pretty much trumped any H1N1 negativity.

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Littlest has not  yet joined Piggypolooza! (Shout out to KimmieFTW for coining that phrase) Here she is minutes home from pre-school enjoying her logurt. Dabedy logurt, to be exact.

In a rare and very unexpected moment, I enjoyed lunch with half of the Littles.  We laughed, made logurt mustaches, and coined the phrase Chobani Cheers! This is when you find  yourself surrounded by those you love eating Chobani and you raise a spoon to cheer.

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So cheers to Chobani! While I didn’t get paid for this lunch, I didn’t have to make it either.

P.S. I do think if there were ever  to be The Cheeks of Chobani ad campaign, I’d have at least one contender.

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Corn Soup

Posted on October 12, 2009 by Kristin

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We woke up yesterday to the first chill of the season.  Oh rest assured it’s not  cold cold, but for Texas there’s definitely a chill in the air.  When the view out my kitchen door looks like this, it’s time for Corn Soup to make it’s annual debut.

If you have an aversion to making cold weather comfort food with ingredients that come from containers and cans, well then this here ain’t yer soup.  But I encourage you, if you can, to over look the parts because the sum = one darn good soup.

Corn Soup has been around our family for longer than I can remember.  Maybe Mia knows its origins? I can date my own first attempts of making the soup by the tattered and aged paper I scrawled the recipe on.

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I remember calling Mia from work (once upon a time I was gainfully employed) desperate for the Corn Soup recipe.  The GSD&M note paper I wrote on puts this conversation in the 1997 time frame. Before Husband. Before Littles.  Before The Schell Cafe was even a twinkle in my eye.

Tried and true.  It’s the perfect soup for the first chill of fall.  The Littles adore it. I mean what’s not to love….

Corn Soup

(recipe may be doubled easy for a crowd)

4 cans chicken broth (I use (1) 32 oz box Swanson’s Organic Chicken Broth)

2 cans Cream Style Corn

2 cups Pace Mild Picante Sauce

2 cups sour cream

2 cups cheddar cheese, grated

Fritos

Combine broth, corn, and picante sauce in a large sauce pan.  Heat over medium flame.

Place sour cream in a medium bowl.  Gradually add small amounts of hot soup to the bowl of sour cream. Transfer back in to pot on stove.  Continue to heat over low flame, add cheese.

Serve with Fritos.

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Here’s a visual for you.  It’s very important not to dump the sour cream right into your hot soup. I’m sure most of you already know that you’ll end up with a curdled mess if you do.  I learned the hard way.  So, learn from my own mistake, take the time to slowly add the hot soup to the sour cream. Keep adding by the ladleful until the sour cream is dissolved and hot enough to pour back into the soup!

If we are trying to be fancy or add a little green to an otherwise very yellow dinner (face it folks, it’s cheese, corn & Fritos), I add chopped green onions and/or avocados.  Sometimes Husband doctors his up with chopped onions and fresh jalapeno. But this is all very high brow and completely unnecessary.

The ingredients speak for themselves.  Enjoy!!!

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1974

Posted on October 8, 2009 by Kristin

No. It’s not the date of my last post. But, thanks for missing me!

It’s the year Bon Appetit published the Mexican Shrimp Salad.

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Here is the recipe as Bon Appetit published it.

Mexican Shrimp Salad

2/3 cup peanut oil

2 TBS white vinegar

2 TBS orange juice

2 TBS chutney, finely chopped (I use Stonewall Kitchen Old Farmhouse Chutney)

1 clove garlic, crushed (I use 2)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp curry powder

1/4 tsp liquid hot pepper sauce (I use Tabasco or Cholula)

5 small heads of Bibb lettuce cleaned and quartered

1 1/2 lbs small shrimp, cooked (I buy whatever is the freshest regardless of size. I’ve grilled and boiled — both are amazing)

3 large oranges, peeled and sectioned (I’ve also use mandarin oranges, canned!)

2 medium red onion, thinly sliced

1 green pepper, thinly sliced

2/3 cup peanuts (raw, fresh peanuts are best)

Combine peanut oil, white vinegar, orange juice, chutney, garlic, salt, curry powder and liquid hot pepper sauce in a jar; cover and shake well.

Toss Bibb lettuce, shrimp, orange sections, onions, green pepper and peanuts.  Shake dressing and pour over salad mixture; toss lightly.  Serve immediately. Makes 6 servings.

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I’ve made this yummy salad so many times now it’s taken on a life of it’s own. In fact, I almost always have the dressing mixed and ready in the fridge.  It’s usually just Husband & I that enjoy the salad, so I find one head of Bibb lettuce works fine.  I used drained, rinsed, canned mandarin oranges.  And, I generally skip the green peppers and toss in yummy avocado instead.

Enjoy!

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First things first…

Posted on August 18, 2009 by Kristin

First, I’m going to drink this.

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Then I’m going to tell you all about this….

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But I need coffee first.

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Shrimp Salad

Posted on August 3, 2009 by Kristin

We’ve been home a week and still at the top of my to-do list is to read Mark Bittman’s 101 Salads. While I haven’t found time (yet) to devour each of his 100 + 1 suggestions, I have had time to make my own favorite summer salad. Twice.

A while back, Mia’s BFF gave me the most amazing gift: a binder full of her favorite recipes.  Truly there are no words to express my glee for this treasure of tried and true recipes. And at the top of the list of favorites (hers & mine): Mexican Shrimp Salad.

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Don’t you just love the splatter stains? And the hand-written side note bestowing the honor of Favorite All Time Recipe? Even more dear to me is the date in which this recipe appeared in Bon Appetit Magazine.  Can you guess? I’m not going to tell you….leave me your best guess in the comments!  If you guess the date (just the year will do), I’ll send you a copy (of the copy) of the recipe Mia’s BFF gave me.  You know, just to share the love.

I was going to finish the post with photos of my own version of Mexican Shrimp Salad, but the Littles have descended upon me in rare and grumpy form this Monday morning.  So, I’ll leave you hanging on the edge of your seat with the guessing game.  I promise to post the actual recipe with priceless photos of how my salad started in the kitchen and ended at (not in) the lake this week!  Cliff hanger? I think not.  But, come back tomorrow just so you’ll have the full story….

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Roasted Vegetable Galette

Posted on July 29, 2009 by Kristin

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Sadly, our last produce basket of the season from Tecolote Farms arrived on Monday. I will so miss our weekly abundance, especially the challenge of identifying and using much of the bounty.  Luckily, this week was a no-brainer.  The basket was filled with favorites.  Eggplant, zucchini, basil, tomatoes, peppers, melons, edamame, garlic…

One of the Littles asked if she could help me make dinner today.  Be still my heart.  She’s become quite the little chef and I love watching her discover and create on her own. And, this soon-to-be eight year old can hands down make the best guacamole. Ever.  ‘It’s all in the limes and seasoning,’ she says.

First, we assessed the produce in the basket this week and determined we had everything we needed.  We didn’t follow a specific recipe, but I’ll give you approximate measures and ingredients so you can make your own.  Or follow the meathod, but experiment with your own favorite veggies and flavors!

We had an abundance of eggplants, onions and zucchini.  So, that’s what we used.

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Slice up the veggies lengthwise.  They will arrange better in the tart, if the slices are long and skinny.  We used these darling little white eggplants, but if you are shopping a medium sized purple one will work too.  We sliced about 5 small zucchini, but 1-2 medium ones are fine.  And, two small purple onions.  We ended up roasting two pans full of vegetables.  But, I always roast more than I need. Roasted veggies are yummy on sandwiches, tossed in pastas, served with chicken or added to couscous….So, roast what you’ve got, err on the side of too much, and have fun eating up the extras.

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Toss your veggies in a little olive oil, sprinkle generously with coarse sea salt, and roast at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or so.  You want them to be browned, still firm, but not crispy.

While the veggies roasted we made our own pesto.  We have oodles of basil right now in our garden and from Tecolote, so I made a really big batch with all the usual suspects…basil, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, garlic and olive oil.  My little sous-chef grated the parmesan for me.

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When the veggies and pesto are finished it’s time to assemble your galette.  To quote my daughter this is the bestest part.  You’ll need about 8 – 10 sheets of phyllo dough.  I used Athens Fillo because I had it in the freezer.  Carefully, arrange the dough sheets making a cross-pattern as you line your pie pan.

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Next, paint the pesto onto the pastry.  Use a light hand as the dough is very thin and delicate.

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You are not seeing double.  We are making two galettes!  Feel free to make two, or three of your own.  It’s just as easy to make two as it is one.  Plus, we really had an abundance of veggies today. And as you recall, I have an abundance of mouths to feed.

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Next, fill the galette with the roasted veggies arranging them in a layered star pattern.  Or just toss them in.  Really it doesn’t matter.  For some punch and undeniably delicious flavor, we added a handful of pitted, sliced greek olives and a sprinkling of goat cheese to our galette.  I also topped the tart with a rosemary sprig.

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Fold up the sides of the pastry, rotating the dish as you crimp up the edges.  I brushed an egg wash (one egg beaten with a little bit of water) over the top of the pastry to give it a yummy golden glaze.

Bake the galette for about 25 minutes at 325 degrees.

We served our galette with cedar plank grilled salmon topped with extra pesto.  But the galette is perfect with anything, or even on it’s own.

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Roasted Vegetable Galette (list of ingredients)

1 -2 medium eggplant, sliced lengthwise

2 medium zucchini or squash, sliced lengthwise

2 purple onions, quartered and separated

olive oil

coarse sea salt

Pesto (home made or store bought)

Phyllo dough (about 8- 10 sheets)

5-6 greek olives, pitted & halved

2 -3 Tbs crumbled goat cheese

rosemary sprig, for garnish

1 egg + 1 Tbs water, lightly beaten for egg wash

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