It never fails to amaze me that you can take the most minimal, simple and bland ingredients put them together and get major yum.  Scalloped potatoes is one of those dishes.  Take some milk and potatoes and a little bit of spice and you achieve comfort food nirvana.  It’s a freakin’ miracle I tell ya!

Ingredients:

5 TBSP flour
5 TBSP butter
1 small onion, chopped
4 C milk (I use regular and my ass is really fat to prove it.  Use 1% or 2% if you’d prefer to have only one chin.)
6 large potatoes
1 packet G. Washington Gold
1/4 C parmesan (optional)

To taste:  salt, parsley, chives, pepper

Directions:

Peel and slice potatoes 1/4” thick.  Rinse and dry thoroughly.  Layer into a 2 qt casserole.  Sprinkle with parmesan.

In a 3 qt saucepan saute onion in butter.  Add flour and G. Washington all at once, stir and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Slowly add milk, whisking constantly.  Add spices.  Cook until thickened.

Pour sauce over potatoes moving them slightly with a fork so the sauce flows through.  It will seem like there’s a lot of sauce (see picture at left).  That’s ok, it gets all soaked up by the potatoes as they cook.  Bake at 350° for 1 to 1-1/2 hours until potatoes are fork-tender and sauce is thick.  Let cool on the counter for 15 minutes or so because this will be like molten lava...way to hot to eat.  Serves 4-ish people.

Many moons ago when blogs were still young, I frequented the blog of a nice guy from Pennsylvania, btezra. His blog has gone the way of the dinosaurs (so don't bother clicking) but this recipe, which he originally posted there and graciously permitted me to copy, has survived. I've done a couple of things differently but only in the prep. The ingredients are the same.


This lasagne is whatchacall a special occasion dish. It's labour intensive and makes for lots of dirty dishes. I make this maybe once or twice a year but trust me, once you've tried it, you'll find it's worth the trouble. If you're especially industrious, double the recipe and freeze the second pan for a quick heat-and-eat meal when you're busy. It will take a good 3 months worth of freezing with no problem. And seriously? This is damned good. Really good. Really, really good. It's also very rich and very filling. Be prepared to need a nap after dinner. You can, of course, substitute all that low-fat ricotta, milk, etc., but why would you want to? I mean, it's not like you'd eat this everyday.

Ingredients:

1/2 C butter + 2 TBSP
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 C flour
2 C milk
2 C chicken broth
2 C (8 oz bag) shredded mozzarella - divided
1/2 C parmesan cheese
1/2 C onion, diced
1-2 tsp Italian seasoning, to taste
1 packet G. Washington Golden
1 tsp Nature's Seasons
1 C cottage cheese
1 C ricotta
1 egg
2 boneless chicken breast
1 pkg fresh or frozen spinach **Important - see footnote
9 lasagne noodles


Directions:

Cook lasagne noodles, dry and lay on waxed paper until ready to use. Slice chicken breast (easier if partially frozen) from the short side about 1/4" thick. Cutting from the short side creates little medallions. In a non-stick frying pan, melt 2 TBSP butter. Add sliced chicken and cook through, letting it brown a little. Remove to a plate and set aside. To the same pan, add your washed and dryed spinach. Slap a cover on it, let it cook for 2 minutes then turn off the heat leaving the lid on.

In a 3 or 4 qt saucepan, melt the butter. Add garlic and onion and cook until translucent. Whisk in flour and all the seasonings. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Whisk in milk and broth and bring to a boil. If the sauce is too thick, add more broth. Remove from heat, sauce will thicken as it sits so you might have to add a bit more broth. It should be thick and spreadable.

Combine cottage cheese, ricotta, 1 C mozzarella and egg. Mix well.
Spread about 1/3 of the sauce in 13 x 9 pan, top with noodles. Spread 1/2 of the cheese mixture over noodles. Repeat sauce/noodle/cheese mixture. Top with chicken, then spinach. Add last layer of noodles and then remaining sauce. Cook covered @ 350° for 1 hour. Uncover and sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella cheese on top. Bake until cheese is melted and bubbly.

**After the spinach has wilted in the pan and cooled, put it in a triple layer of papertowels and squeeze out all of the excess moisture. You do not want the spinach to be wet. If you use frozen spinach, thawed it out first then squeeze out the excess moisture. Even though the original recipe calls for 1 bag, I always use two. I like the extra spinach.

This is my go-to chili.  Prep time is minimal, it doesn’t have too many ingredients (and it’s very forgiving of adding others), it cooks up fast and it’s pretty darn tasty. Back in the day there was a recipe that I used for it but after deleting and substituting ingredients in the name of simplicity, it really doesn’t bear any relationship to this.  Since there are so few ingredients, make sure that they’re the freshest and best quality you can snag.

Sausage and Pepper Chili

Ingredients:

1/4 cup oil
6 cloves minced garlic (I use more)
3 bell peppers, (any color) cut into 1/2” squares
3 Tbs chili powder
1 Tbs ground cayenne
2 lbs sausage(s) of your choice*, casings removed if applicable
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 cup red wine
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 Tbs oregano
1 Tbs sugar
1/2 Tbs salt

Directions:

Measure out the cup of wine for the chili.  Pour yourself a glass from what’s left over in the bottle. Now you’re ready to start.

Heat the oil over medium heat in a big pot.  Add the onions, garlic and bell peppers; saute for 2-3 minutes or until onions are translucent.  Add the cayenne and chili powder and saute another minute or so.  Add the sausage and saute until browned. Yeah I know. With all the chili in there, it’s hard to tell visually, so you have to go by texture. Generally this’ll take about 10 minutes or so.

Stir in the rest of the ingredients and simmer uncovered about 20 minutes for a thick chili. If you like your chili a little thinner so that the gravy can soak into rice, cover it for the simmering time.

*The only kind of sausages I wouldn’t use are sage breakfast sausage and bratwurst.

I got this recipe off the back of a can of cocoa several years ago.  I have never made this recipe as a layer cake or a sheet cake.  I always make them in some form of cupcake pan...preferably a mini fluted cake pan and I always cover them in a glaze or whipped cream or ice cream rather than frosting.  You can try this batter in other forms if you want but I can’t tell you baking times so you’ll have to figure that out for yourself.

This cake starts with a VERY thin batter.  When I say “thin” I mean watery.  That’s ok.  It also bakes up with a wet-looking top.  When you touch it, however, it will be springy and a tester will come out clean even though the tops will look not quite done.  The tops also fall nearly flat after they cool which to me is fine because I always make them in mini bundt type pans so they require no slicing of the tops to lay flat on the plate.  See what I mean about baking them in other types of pans?

Ingredients:

2C sugar
1-3/4C flour
3/4 C cocoa
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1C milk
1/2C oil
2 tsp vanilla
1C boiling water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together all dry ingredients.  Add eggs and milk.  Drizzle in oil.  Add vanilla.  Beat until well combined.  Slowly add boiling water being careful not to splash.  Once incorporated, beat for a minute or so.  Batter will be extremely thin.

Spray two 6-cup mini fluted cake pans with PAM.  Fill cups 2/3 full.

Bake for about 25 minutes until top springs back when touched even though it might look wet and a tester comes out clean.  (Sometimes as they’re baking, the tops will look like little volcanos in which you can see the batter bubbling.) Cool in pans 10 minutes.  Remove from pans and turn fluted side up to finish cooling.  Cakes will feel somewhat sticky.

Prepare icing drizzle:

Melt 1/3 cup butter in a medium bowl.
Add 2C confectioner’s sugar
Add 1-1/2 tsp vanilla
Add 2-4 TBSP hot water

Mix until smooth.  Using a round bottom measuring tablespoon, pour 2 tablespoons into center and use the back of the spoon to swirl the icing over the edges.

These little cakes are perfect for snacks but they also look really pretty served at the table for dessert.

I was looking through the kitchen to figure out what to eat last night and it was pretty grim. A few staples, a humiliatingly complete collection of condiments, some sausage that I got on sale, tortillas and some ready-made pie crusts leftover from Thanksgiving. The pie crusts reminded me of Mr P’s savory pie, so I kinda riffed on what he did. There weren’t enough eggs and cheese to call it a quiche, but they did give it a quichey (as opposed to kitschy) feel and added some moisture and richness.  It got me wondering about other combinations though.  Maybe a german version with bratwurst and sauerkraut is in the future?

Sausage and spinach pie

Ingredients:

1 lb sausage (I used Italian)
1 large onion, chopped
5-6 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup ricotta cheese *
1/2 tsp anchovy paste
3 eggs
1 Tbs milk, half & half or cream
1 cup shredded cheese (again, your choice)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs**
1 Tbs herbs (whatever you have on hand)
1/2 tsp pepper

2 roll-out pie crusts (feel free to make a crust from scratch but me?  Not so much)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375.

If you bought your sausage in links, take them out of the casings and throw into a big ass skillet over medium heat. Once some of the fat begins to render out of the sausage add the onions and garlic.  If your sausage is unconscionably lean like mine, you may have to add some oil.  Once the sausage is no longer pink, drain the sausage and vegetables and return to the skillet. Add the ricotta cheese to the sausage mixture and stir until melted and combined.  When it begins to look like cat-sick, take it off the heat and let it cool a bit.

Meanwhile, beat two of the eggs and the milk in a big mixing bowl. Toss in the herbs, spinach, pepper, grated cheese and bread crumbs. Stir to combine.  If it’s a little bit dry, add a bit more milk.  Pour in the sausage mixture and fold it all together, making sure that everything’s mixed well.

place one pie crust in the bottom of a deep pie pan and pour in the filling, spreading it out evenly. Roll out the top crust and crimp together. Beat the remaining egg and brush on the top crust, then toss into the oven. Bake for 45-minutes to an hour, covering the edges of hte crust with foil to prevent them from burning.

Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

* I thought this would be needed to help bind the ingredients together along with the eggs and breadcrumbs.  You could probably accomplish the same thing by omitting the ricotta and adding another egg and more shredded cheese.
** or, if you’re like me, you can throw a couple slices of stale bread in a bag and crush ‘em.

Presentation details:
Background-my three ring binder of recipes I like
China-Iris on Grey Chinastone by Lenox

As far as I’m concerned, these are absolutely THE BEST blueberry muffins you will ever eat.  I always use fresh blueberries.  You can use frozen but frozen berries are more likely to sink to the bottom and turn your batter blue.

INGREDIENTS:

Mix together in a large bowl:

3C flour
1-1/2 C sugar
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder

In a 2 C measure combine:

2/3 C oil
2 eggs
and enough milk to fill to the 2 cup mark.  (about 2/3 C milk)

Add wet ingredients to dry and stir by hand until batter resembles a thick glue.  Gently stir in the blueberries.  Poor batter into extra large muffin pans that have been sprayed liberally with PAM, including the top of the pan.  Top with streusel.

Streusel topping:

1/2 C sugar
1/3 C flour
1/4 C butter, softened
1 tsp cinnamon

Combine with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse, pea sized crumbs.  Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons on each muffin.

Be sure to fill your muffin cups all the way to the top.  Don’t use paper liners.  Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes.  A cake tester should come out clean.  Let them cool completely before removing them from the pan since the tops are heavy and the bottoms might not be able to support the weight while they’re warm.  If you’ve sprayed your pans well, they’ll pop right out with no problems.  Makes about 8-10 extra large muffins. 

If you don’t have jumbo muffin tins, follow the same instructions but bake for 20-25 minutes.  Makes about 24 small muffins.

I normally use these jumbo muffin pans but this time I decided to try the mini fluted pans that I bitched about in this post.  They worked out pretty well and were a little more decorative but you really don’t need decorative muffins.  Oh and as an aside, Baker’s Secret is apparently peopled by a bunch of morons.  When I called to complain about that whole glue issue, rather than actually let anyone know who could maybe do something about the problem, they just sent me another pan...which I also had to use Oops Solvent to get the glue off of that one too.  (Goo-Gone doesn’t have enough oomph to get that horrible glue off.) So yeah.  Way to ignore what your customer is trying to tell you, Baker’s Secret.  Good job!

Anyway, you have got to try these muffins.  I’m telling ya, they don’t get much better than this.

Given the sorry state of my bank account as it waits for a badly needed infusion of tax refund, I’ve started to dust off recipes that are let us say… not too expensive to make and that will reheat well . This means casseroles and crock pot dishes which are actually kinda nice for the winter.  This was a kinda bland pork casserole that I found in a churchlady cookbook and doctored up so that you don’t feel like you’re in the Fellowship Hall.

Pork and Chile Casserole

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb pork, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1 small onion, diced
1 candiced tomatoes (14 oz)
2 canschopped green chiles
1 can black beans, drained
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup quick cooking rice
4 Tbs Salsa
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup shredded cheese (cheddar, co-jack, taco, whatever)
1-2 Tbs oil for cooking (as needed)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Heat the oil in a largish saucepan and saute the chicken and onion in two batches; placing in a colander to drain off fat.

Return the pork to the saucepan and add all remaining ingredients but the cheese. Bring to a boil and then carefully (cos that shit is hot) pour into a rectangular baking dish.  Toss in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Pull out of the oven, top with the cheese and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 6-8

Notes: This works well with chicken too.  I didn’t have enough pork or chicken, so I cut up 2 pork chops and 2 chicken thighs.  Use whatever diced tomatoes you have -Ro-Tel would be good, but keep in mind that it’s a smaller can so you’ll pprobably have to use extra salsa to get the liquid ratio right.

So I saw this in one of Giada’s cookbooks and immediately thought, “Ewww.  Gross,” when I read what the word ‘tonnato’ meant. Roast turkey breast with Tuna sauce?  As one of my friends said after reading the ingredients “Sounds like cat vomit.” Gut it’s Giada and I’d probably eat dog food if she recommended it. Turns out that it’s damn tasty though.  The sauce gives bland-assed turkey a much needed flavor boost and would probably just as tasty on the lean, bland pork we’re forced by the health police to buy.  Be sure to have plenty of bread or rolls around to help soak it up.

Turkey Tonnato

Ingredients
* 2 lb turkey breast, skinless and boneless
* 1 Tbs oregano
* 1 Tbs thyme
* 1 Tbs basil
* 2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 cup chicken stock
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Tuna Sauce:
* 6 oz canned white meat tuna, packed in olive oil – do not drain
* 1 tsp anchovy paste or 1 anchovy fillet, drained
* 1 TBS fresh lemon juice
* 1 Tbs capers
* 1/3 cup mayonnaise
* Chopped parsley leaves, for garnish

Directions
Preheat oven 375.

Season the turkey with salt, pepper and herbs. Coat with olive oil, place in a baking pan and pour the chicken broth around the turkey. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in the baking pan for 10 minutes. Slice into 1/2-inch slices, on an angle. Allow to sit in baking pan with juices as you make sauce.

Toss the tuna, anchovy, lemon juice, mayo and capers in the food processor. Puree until creamy, about 1 minute. Pour the tuna mixture into a bowl.

Place the slices of turkey on a platter with some of the pan juices and pour the tuna sauce on top. Garnish with chopped parsley.

China: Lenox Tosca. crazy ornate, eh? 

So now that arctic temperatures have arrived it’s definitely chili weather.  This is based on a recipe that I found in a back issue of Eating Well or Cooking Light or something like that.  It’s rich, but not too spicy.  Also, if you reduce the liquid a bit more, it’d be awesome as a baked potato topping.  I also made coleslaw to go along with it.

Beef and red bean chili

Ingredients
2 cups dry red beans (1 pound)
10 cloves garlic; 3 left whole, 7 minced
4 dried ancho chiles
2 dried chipotle chiles
3 Tbs oil
2 lb stew beef cut into 1/2” chunks*
salt & pepper
1 large onion, chopped
1 can crushed tomatoes (28 oz)
1 can tomato paste (6 oz)
3 Tbs cumin
1 Tbs crushed red pepper
1 Tbs brown sugar
5 cups corn (or 1 lb frozen)

Directions:
Throw dry beans in a medium pot. Add the three whole garlic cloves and 6 cups water.  Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and let sit for about an hour.

Soak the Ancho and Chipotle chiles in 4 cups water for about 20 minutes, or until softened.  Weight down the chiles with a bread plate or saucer if necessary.  Pour off the soaking water and reserve.  You should have about 2 cups. Stem and seed the chiles and toss in the blender or food processor along with 1/2 cup of the soaking water.  Puree until smooth, adding up to 1/2 cup more chili water if needed.

Heat the oil in a large dutch oven. Season the beef with salt and pepper and brown in shifts, transferring to a plate as needed.

Add onion and garlic.  Cook over medium heat until onion gets translucent.

Return the meat and any accumulated juices to the pot.  Add the remaining chili soaking liquid plus 2 cups water, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, cumin, crushed red pepper flakes, 1 Tbs salt and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 2 hours or until the meat is tender. 

Meanwhile, drain the beans.  Put back in their pot.  Add 6 more cups of water and bring to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer until beans are tender--about 1 1/2 hours. 

When beans and meat are both done, drain the beans and discard the cloves of garlic. Stir the beans and corn into the chili and simmer until corn is warmed through. 

Serve over rice.

*Having worked in the Meat Department at the Grocery Ranch™ I’m leery of generic meat products like stew meat, cubed steaks and ground beef because I’ve seen what goes into it.  Some of it is made with beef that you’d be happy to eat otherwise, but most of the time it’s made with the leathery, gristle-riddled trimmings that, to be honest, I wouldn’t feed to my dog.  I recommend picking up a nice chuck roast or if you want to cut out fat, a London Broil.  That being said, this could probably be made with chicken, turkey or even extra-firm tofu and still be damn tasty.

Presentation details: Chili bowl-Maddoxware for Cunard Steamship Line, Coleslaw bowl-Ming by Lenox, B.C. comic glass-a premium from some no-doubt defunct gas station

Here are a few things that can help you out in the kitchen either as a convenience, substitution or money saving shortcut.

Buy a bunch of lemons.  Squeeze and strain the juice.  Freeze in ice cube trays then put the cubes in a ziplock.  Each cube is about 2 TBSP.  Zest the lemons with a microplane grater.  Freeze the zest.

Don’t throw away your orange peels.  Zest the orange before you peel it and freeze the zest.  It only takes a minute and the zest from citrus fruit adds just the thing to your baked goods.

When you cook a chicken or turkey, simmer the bones for stock.  Cover with water and cook down for 2 hours or so.  Cool, strain and freeze in ice cube trays.  Add a few cubes to soup, gravy, carbonara, etc.  You won’t believe how much flavour this will add to your food.

Save and freeze beef bones from steaks and such.  When you get a bunch, throw them in a pot, cover with water and simmer for a couple of hours.  Strain and freeze in ice cube trays.  Use in any beef based dish.

When you boil cabbage, save the cabbage water.  It makes a phenomenal base for vegetable soup and beef based soups.

Buy butter on sale and freeze it.

When you cook bacon, pour the grease off into a jar.  Use it in place of butter when you’re sauteeing onions, frying steak, etc.

If your blueberries are starting to shrivel, freeze them.  Use them in baked goods.

If your bananas are starting to get too brown, freeze them right in the skin.  Use them to make banana bread.

When you have a ham or large ham steak, cube some of it.  Put it in a baggie in the freezer and use it in potato or cheese soup.

Save the ends of your bread and freeze them even if the bread is stale.  Use them to make bread crumbs.  Put them in your food processor with some parsley, chives, italian seasoning, garlic salt, what have you. It’s a lot cheaper than buying them.

Make your own vanilla.  Buy 8 beans.  (I get them here.) Split them lengthwise and put 4 each in two ball jars and cover with one half pint of decent vodka.  Put it in a dark cupboard and shake the jar once in a while.  You’ll have two jars; one ”making” while you use the other.  It takes about 3 months until you can use it but all you have to do is add more vodka to the beans when it gets to about half full and use the other.  You can switch jar-to-jar like that and you will never have to buy expensive vanilla again. It gets better the older it becomes.  If you don’t want vanilla specks in your baked goods, strain what you’re using through a fine mesh sieve.  Don’t strain the whole jar though!

Put a vanilla bean or two in a cannister of sugar and use it in your coffee instead of that french vanilla cremora stuff.  It’s cheaper and tastes better.

For the above vanilla and vanilla sugar, you can use the beans after you’ve scraped out the good stuff for another purpose.  It will still flavour the vodka or sugar.  Also, if you buy beans from that site, save the pouch it comes in and stick it in your underwear drawer.  You’ll have vanilla scented undies...good enough to eat!  (Did I say that?)

Keep evaporated mile and instant potato flakes around.  You can use the milk in place of milk or cream in a pinch and the potato flakes make a good thickener for stew or any other roux based sauce that isn’t thick enough.

If you run out of buttermilk, add 2 TBSP of white vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk.  Let stand for 10 minutes.  You won’t notice the difference.

If you run out of confectioner’s sugar, make your own.  Add 1-1/2 TBSP cornstarch to one cup regular sugar and whirl in the food processor or blender.

The Aroma brand Electric Water Kettle.

When I used to see these things on British television shows like “as Time Goes By,” and “At Home With The Braithwaites” I would think “Poncey Gits… Why cant you just boil it on the stove or in the microwave like normal people.” Then I saw my Food Network hero AB use one and I began to reconsider.  It took a long time for such kitchen gadgets to make their way to the backward-assed wastelands of Indiana.  No big surprise there though Parachute pants just went out of style a few days ago; mullets and muffin tops are still the fashion of the day.

But I digress.

Shortly before christmas I saw this baby on sale for $25 at the local outpost of civilization Target and picked it up. I won’t say that I can’t live without it, but damn! are these things handy. It’s great if (like the Brits) use it to make a spot of tea, but it’s also a hell of a lot more convenient and faster than using a burner and pot to boil water and much safer than nuking a big bowl of water and trying to move it across the kitchen to the counter while simultaneously hoping the bowl doesn’t slip from between the potholders and trying to avoid tripping over the always-helpful dog.

Seriously.  This has to rank as one of the best quarters I ever dropped in ‘09.

This was originally a recipe for the grill but, well, it’s too damn cold out to grill so I adapted it for the oven. It actually turned out to be more sweet than spicy, but it was still pretty good. Next time I may add some cayenne pepper or chili powder.  Maybe some horseradish too.

Chili Sauce Chicken
Ingredients:
1 bottle chili sauce
1/3 cup chicken broth (plus a little more)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 tsp pepper
4 1/2 tsp basil
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
12 cloves minced garlic
8-10 skinless chicken thighs
1/2 Tbs unsalted butter
dash balsamic vinegar

Directions
Place the first seven ingredients in a large zip-lok bag and moosh around to mix. Remove 1/3 cup of the marinade to use for basting and add the chicken.  Put in the fridge and let marinate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350.  Place chicken in a baking dish.  Pour a little of hte marinade from the bag onto each thigh and add enough chicken broth to just cover the un-chickened areas of the pan and bake 40-50 minutes, basting with reserved marinade once.

When chicken is done, put the chicken in a platter and keep warm.  Pour juices in the baking pan into a saucepan along with a shot or two of balsamic vinegar and simmer until reduced and kind of thickened.  Add butter and whisk till melted.  Serve chicken over rice and top with a few spoonfuls of sauce.

I got tired of eating leftover christmas ham and didn’t really want to go the high fat ham salad route, so I raided the pantry and came up with this.  It’s healthy--low fat and high protein, but it tastes better than most healthy food. Lentils cook scary fast so you could probably also do this in about a half hour on the stove as well.  Serve with a salad and bread sticks.

Lentil Ham soup

Ingredients
3 cups vegetable or chicken broth
3 cups water
1 onion cut into thin wedges
1 1/2 cup sliced celery
1 1/2 cup thinly sliced carrots
1 cup dry lentils
1 1/2 cups diced ham
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp rosemary
1 cup frozen corn
3 cups shredded spinach
shaved parmesan cheese

Directions
Throw the first nine ingredients into a crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or 3 1/2-4 hours on high (estimated).

Stir in the corn about 1/2 hour before serving.  Immediately before serving, stir in the spinach.  Garnish with Parmesan if you have it. 

Having experienced the piss-poor driving habits of the Bubbastan-area natives after last week’s tiny snowfall, I opted to stay home after getting off of work at 6:00 am.  The only pizza delivery place in town is both overpriced and unparalleled in it’s its general suckitude and nastiness of taste so I foraged around the kitchen.  This is what I came up with.  I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a fan of citrus unless it’s with seafood, but this turned out pretty okay. The soy and ginger gives it a bit of an oriental flavor that you can emphasize further if you want, and you could use grapefruit juice if you prefer a sauce that is a bit less sweet.

Kinda Oriental Chicken

Ingredients
4-5 skinless chicken thighs*
1 1/2 cups orange juice
4 Tbs soy sauce
2 clove minced garlic
2 tsp grated ginger
4-5 Tbs soy sauce

Directions

Score the chicken pieces with a knife and place in a gallon-sized zip-top storage or freezer bag.

Add remaining ingredients to a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine. Add to the chicken in the bag and squeeze to remove all possible air before sealing. Throw the bag-o-bird parts into the fridge and allow to soak for 30-40 minutes up to all day, turning and squishing occasionally to make sure the liquid has circulated.

About 2 hours before you want to eat, pull out the chicken and allow to come to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 350.  place the chicken parts in a rectangular baking dish and pour the marinade over them.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until done (bone-in pieces will cook a bit faster than boneless).

Place the chicken on a warmed plate and cover to keep warm.  Transfer the liquid in the baking dish to a saucepan.  Simmer over medium heat until reduced to the consistency you like and spoon the sauce over the chicken.  Serve with steamed or sauteed veggies. Noodles with butter and a bit of cheese would work too

* I prefer dark meat.  It’s got a lot more flavor and is boatloads more forgiving of overcooking as opposed to chicken breasts, which turn into chicken jerky if you don’t get ‘em out of the oven or frying pan exactly on time.

Recipe Twofer

My regular days off are Tuesday and Wednesday and are pretty much the only days I’m motivated to cook unless there’s a good reason.  Of course in my mind, ‘good reason’ can encompass anything from ‘holiday goodies to be neighborly,’ to ‘what can I do with these leftover bits,’ to ‘found a new recipe that looks intriguing,’ to ‘I just picked up this package of something in an ethnic grocery so what now?’ This week covered regular cooking plus a smattering of holiday goodies for the office holiday party.  That one will be for Friday.  Today I’m covering the dinner I made on Wednesday; marinated porkchops with pan gravy and a hash brown casserole.  As always, pour yourself a glass of vino, pop in some tunes and follow along.

For the porkchops:

Ingredients
(Makes enough for 4 chops)

4 porkchops, 1/2-1 inch thick.*

Marinade
1 1/4 cup olive oil
5-6 Tbs Balsamic vinegar
2 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
2 Tbs chopped cilantro
1-3 dashes lime or lemon juice

Gravy

2 Tbs unsalted butter
2 Tbs finely chopped onion
2 Tbs flour
1/2 cup liquid from rested chops plus chicken broth to make up the difference

Directions

Earlier in the day:  Toss the oil, vinegar, garlic, spices and juice into a bowl and whisk to combine.  Place the chops into a big freezer bag and pour the marinade in.  Squeeze out as much air as possible, seal and toss in the fridge for a minimum of 1/2 hour, though it won’t hurt anything if you did this in the morning and left them marinate all day.  About the same time you start baking the potatoes, pull the chops out of the fridge to allow them to come to room temperature (45 minutes to an hour before you want to cook them).

Wipe as much of the marinade off the chops as you can.  Place all four in a large skillet or split them up into two smaller skillets. I use the cold skillet method.  It seems to result in incredibly moist chops without the need for brining.

Once the chops are done, Turn off the burner. Remove the chops to a warmed plate and cover loosely for about 5 minutes.  If needed, turn heat to medium and simmer away remaining liquid, being careful not to burn or scorch.  Add butter and onion and saute for two minutes or so, scraping up any browned bits. Add Flour.  Whisk together and cook for another minute or so. Add juices and chicken broth and reduce to whatever consistency you like your gravy. 

Hash Brown Casserole

Pure comfort food here.  I kind of tried to make it a bit healthier as well as give it a bit of a kick in the pants taste-wise in order to combat the richness of it all.  I thend to like things a bit on the spicy side, so

Ingredients

2 lb hash brown potatoes (frozen works just fine here)
1 can cream of chicken soup (98% fat-free if possible)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
8 oz fat-free cheddar cheese
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 cup onion, chopped
3/4 tsp ground cayenne or…
several shakes hot pepper sauce (I like Marie Sharp’s if you can find it)
1 tsp ground nutmeg

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Dump the hash browns in a big-ass bowl.  Big enough to mix the spuds with the other ingredients.  Think really, really big.

Throw the remaining ingredients in a smaller bowl.  Whisk and/or stir together.  Take a little taste and see if you like the way it tastes and adjust accordingly.

Combine with the hash browns and mix as well as you can. Mine was kind of a gloppy, uneven mess, but it turned out pretty damn tasty anyway, so don’t worry if it’s not perfectly mixed.  Put the whole mess into a rectangular baking dish (no greasing necessary) and bake for about an hour (an hour and a half is okay if you’re using frozen browns).

Let rest 5 or so minutes before serving.

Suggested additions/modifications:  chopped bell peppers (whatever color you have handy), diced ham, Nacho cheese sauce as a substitute for the cream of chicken soup

*Donna and I both prefer bone in meat.  It’s almost always more flavorful and juicy; but hey… when boneless pork loin is on sale for $1.08 a pound, you don’t pass that shit up.

A good cook is not necessarily a good woman with an even temper. Some allowance should be made for artistic temperament.
~X. Marcel Boulestin

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