Turkey Chili and Cheddar Cornbread.

Cornbread and chili is like peanut butter and jelly... kind of the best thing since the sliced bread that you put it on. I have made chili seven thousand times, but this is honestly the first time that I didn't turn to google (.....or SmittenKitchen) to shed a little light on "secret ingredients" and how much of them to add. I think there comes a time in every girl's life when she should set the cookbooks aside, raise the bar, and rely solely on her taste buds.(***However, this should be done with caution, please see note below.) I may not have re-invented the culinary wheel, or the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but I made some awesome chili that I can totally toot my own horn over, which is obviously one of my favorite things to do. 


***Note: Recipes can be helpful....really helpful. 
Example: Yesterday I decided to really go balls to the walls and whip up a little freestyle pad thai. I've made it before and it was delicious (see here)..... I made it this time and made the worst pad thai in the history of pad thai.... if you could even call it that. I did not just fall short of that bar I so pridefully spoke of, but I came nowhere close. Richard said it was too horrible to feed to the dogs. I agreed with him (through my tears) and sulked for the remainder of the afternoon. Ugh.

Ingredients:

Chili-

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 1/2 pounds ground turkey meat, I get dark meat.... more flavor

2 28 oz cans diced tomatoes, plus juice

2 15 oz cans kidney beans, drained

1 15 oz can black beans, drained

1 4 oz can diced green chilies

1 cup green bell pepper, chopped

2 cups onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 1/2 tablespoons cumin

3 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Salt and pepper to taste (I used 2 teaspoons of salt and a few grinds of peppercorns)

*This chili is mild, if you want it spicier.... add spice. Duh. 

To garnish-

Sour cream

Cheddar cheese

Green onion

For cornbread-

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 cups cornflour, stone ground

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cups corn ( I used canned.... you can use frozen, also)

1 1/4 cups buttermilk, well shaken

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, grated

1 jalapeno (optional)

Method:

In a large dutch oven heat oil and sauté onions and bell pepper until transparent and beginning to caramelize. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomato paste and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.... this is what makes chili delicious. Add the ground turkey, chili powder, chipotle power, cumin, and cinnamon. Stir the meat to break up any lumps and cook it until it is no longer pink, about 15 minutes. Add diced tomatoes, diced chilies, beans, cocoa powder and brown sugar. Bring the chili to a simmer and then cook over medium/ low heat for at least an hour. I let mine cook for about 2 and a half. I am a firm believer in the longer things like this cook, the better they taste. 

While the chili is cooking, prepare the cornbread. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 

Line a muffin sheet with muffin cups. In a medium bowl, combine cornflour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together melted butter, buttermilk, corn, and egg. Stir in the flour mixture and mix together until just combined. If you over-stir cornbread it will become very dense. Fold in 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese. Dived the batter into the prepared muffin cups and sprinkle remaining cheese on top. I also thinly sliced a jalapeno and added a slice to each muffin. 

Bake about 20 minutes until golden. 

Garnish chili with sour cream, green onion, and cheddar cheese. Mmmm. 

PS- This chili= super healthy. This cornbread= not so much.... the perfect marriage of foods in my opinion, which should also be your opinion. 

White Bean Bruschetta with Prosciutto

Bruschetta is one of my absolute favorite foods. 

I want to eat it three times a day, bathe in it, and wake up next to it in the morning. 

I throw Italian themed dinner parties so that I have an excuse to make mountains of it. I make it for taco night to remind people how good I am at making it and I throw it at my boyfriend every time he stops smelling like garlic in between.

Obsessed. 

I need to live in Italy.

Ingredients:

6 slices of rustic italian bread

4 roma tomatoes, small dice

1 small clove of garlic, plus 2 whole cloves to rub on toasted bread

5 leaves of fresh basil, cut into thin strips

1 tbsp olive oil, plus some for rubbing on bread

1/2 tsp salt

Thinly sliced prosciutto

White Bean Paste

1 cup of great northern white beans, cooked and drained

1/8 cup white onion, chopped

1 small clove garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt, more or less to taste and depending on if you use canned beans of dried. 

Basil oil

handful of fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup olive oil

salt, to taste

cheesecloth/ fine mesh strainer

Method:

In a bowl, combine diced tomatoes (remove the seeds), basil, olive oil, and salt. 

Finely chop the garlic and use the side of your knife to grind it into a smooth paste. Add the garlic paste to the tomato mixture and gently stir. Set aside to let the flavors marinate. 

For the bean paste I used dried beans. Please learn from my mistake and do something better with your time than wait for 45 minutes for  your beans to cook..... use canned beans and drain them well. If you are crazy and want to use dried beans, soak them overnight and then simmer them in a large pot of water for 45 minutes to an hour until they are soft. 

Combine beans, chopped onion, small clove of garlic, olive oil, and salt in a food processor and blend until almost smooth. I like my food to have a rustic feel to it, so I left my beans a little bit chunky. 

Brush both sides of sliced bread with olive oil. Rub the bread with garlic. I smash my garlic cloves and then rub them on the bread for more flavor. Place bread on a baking sheet and toast in a 400 degree oven for 5 minutes or until the bread is golden brown and crispy. Keep an eye on the bread- I have to really emphasize these things because I am pretty much a professional at burning things instead of toasting them. 

To Assemble:

Spread the bean paste on each piece of toasted bread. 

Place a heaping spoonful of tomatoes and basil on top of the bean paste and then top it all off with a pile of prosciutto. 

If you want to garnish the dish with basil oil, pour olive oil and basil into a blender. 

Can someone please buy me a Vita-Mix Blender? Thanks.

Blend until smooth and then strain the mixture through a cheesecloth and add salt to taste. 

Happy Birthday, Lucy-fur.

Today is Lucy's 2nd birthday!

Actually, it was brought to my attention that the 26th of last month was actually Lucy's birthday, but since I am a human and she is a dog and I am the one baking a cake and making her wear a ridiculous puppy birthday hat.... I am changing it to today.... July 26th- Happy Birthday, Lucy-fur.

So, start judging now, but I am indeed in the middle of baking pupcakes for all of the mutts that call this charming apartment home and me.... mom? master? There is no way to make that sound cool.....

4 dogs, 1 dog bone b-day cake, 6 pupcakes, and 1 birthday pup.... who will probably steal all of the previously mentions treats from the other three, sit on them, show her teeth, and growl. She really is a gem.

PB&C pupcakes (that's peanut butter and carrots... duh)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 Tbsp peanut butter
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup shredded carrots+ some for decoration
3 Tbsp honey
1 egg white + 1/2 yolk
Cream cheese, room temperature

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix.
Place in a greased mold (I used a bone shaped cookie cutter) or mini cupcake liners and bake for 30 minutes.

Frost with room temperature cream cheese and use grated carrots as sprinkles. I found that the carrots grated easiest with a microplane.

Thursday is Hendrix's 6th birthday and I should really be dedicating a super lame blog to him since he is less of an asshole. 

Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta Topped with Buratta Cheese.

 "Buratta" in Italian means butter.
I give you one guess as to why it is so unbelievably delicious.

I have developed a seriously unhealthy obsession with buratta cheese. Unhealthy as in "this has 90 grams of fat and close to 3480 calories" and in the "why can't I eat this 4 times a day?" kind of way.... It's bad, but so so so SO good

Now, I love bruschetta even when it's not topped with an extra 700 calories (do not hold me accountable to that number, I tend to be a little hyperbolic....please see above nutrition "facts" ) So, obviously add some creamy cheese and we are seriously in business.

Ingredients:
6 slices of good quality rustic ciabatta bread (I am already hungry)
2-4 ripe heirloom tomatoes (I used 3... mine were medium sized)
1 garlic clove, whole
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil, plus some for rubbing bread
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar (this is not traditional, but it brings out the flavor of the tomatoes, so I say "why not?")
Several leaves of fresh basil cut into thin slices
Sea Salt
Ground Pepper
Buratta Cheese

Method:
Rub olive oil onto each slice of bread and then rub with the whole garlic clove. Toast in the oven for a few minutes until golden brown. You can also pan fry each slice of bread in a sauté pan on the stove, but I like it better in the oven. It's quicker and you use less oil. In a medium bowl, dice heirloom tomatoes. Add minced garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and basil leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon tomato mixture onto each slice of bread. Slice buratta cheese....well, divide the buratta into messy, gooey pieces..... Place a piece of buratta on top of each piece of bruschetta.

Dear Gwenyth, You're Fabulous.

The idea of becoming a chef in today’s pop-culture based, internet driven society is more intimidating then ever before. Begin with the fact that a great recipe can spread around the globe in less time than it takes to cook it; then add to that the fact that the best way to sell a cookbook is to already be famous and it would be easy to quit before you’ve even started cooking. But just when it’s easy to want to curl up into a bowl of store bought “cheese-n-macaroni,” that’s when a refreshing surprise comes along, from the most unlikely of places.

Actress-tuned-wife-turned-mother-turned-chef, Gwenyth Paltrow. Not the person you’d expect someone to mention in an impromptu rant on cooking inspiration, but like a recipe you happen upon by accident, that is why she is so wonderfully refreshing.

After being truly inspired by her recent profile in Bon Appetit Magazine, I’m willing to forgo my one aforementioned proclivity, the fact that she’s already famous. Sure it got her where she is (in a magazine that I’m reading) but that’s not what makes her exactly who I want to be. It’s not just that she’s a chef whose inspiration comes from every day life, but also the fact that she combines a desire to be healthy with an acceptance that sometimes you need a couple of ingredients that are anything but. She achieves this by using farm fresh ingredients whenever possible.

She’s the first to admit her recipes aren’t necessarily unique, saying “I’m not going to be doing molecular gastronomy. I’m a wife, a mother, and a home cook.” Adding, “If I need to use a little butter will that really upset my hippie sensibility?”

Her recipes stem from being a wife, a daughter, and a mother… which let’s be honest is where most of modern cooking also began. But that doesn’t stop them from being fun, functional, and fresh... not to mention delicious.

Beyond all of that, what I appreciate most in her recipes and methodology is that she takes something beloved and finds a way to add something new to it, because she loves it, loves cooking, and loves whom she’s cooking for.

And in a world where recipes circulate like wild-fire, and nothing feels new or unique, often times the only fresh ingredient you have… is love.

Perogies.

My teacher said my perogies were some of the best he had ever eaten.
Not to brag but.....
Who am I kidding-- Totally to brag- I even did a dance after he cared for my ego so tenderly.

They were so good that I made them again at my dinner party that evening so that I could brag again and people could stroke my ego...again.
I kept a plate for myself in the kitchen..... my name is Sarah and I am kind of a *huge asshole.

*huge as in: very much, not very large.....unless I keep eating perogies instead of socializing.

Perogies

Ingredients:

Dough-

4 cups flour plus some for dusting

3 large eggs

2 tbsp sour cream

1 cup water, more as needed

Salt

Filling-

3 russet potatoes

2 tbsp butter, plus more to sauté at the end.

1 onion, finely chopped

1/2 cabbage, thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp thyme,  minced

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

1 tbsp fresh parsley, minced

Salt and Pepper.... a lot of salt. 

Method:

For the dough-

Mix the ingredients in a large bowl until just combined. 

Move the dough to the table and knead until the dough has a smooth surface and is not sticky. 

Let the dough rest for 30 minutes. 

For the filling-

Boil the potatoes until soft, peel, and cut into medium dice. 

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and thyme. Cook until the onions are translucent. Add the cabbage and cook until soft. Lower the heat and continue cooking the mixture until the cabbage and onions are caramelized. Add the potato to the pan and cook until it is mashed together and the flavors are combined, about 10 minutes. Remove the mixture from heat, mix in the parmesan cheese and the parsley. Set aside to cool. 

To assemble-.

Roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch thick... like ravioli... and using a cookie cutter, cut small circles.

Fill each circle of dough with a spoonful of the filling. 

Fold the sides together and crimp with a fork for presentation and to keep them from coming apart in the water. Dust the filled perogies with flour and set aside. 

 

Boil in heavily salted water for about 5 minutes until the pasta is cooked. Drain. 

Heat butter in a heavy sauté pan. Sauté the perogies until golden brown on both sides. 

Serve with sour cream and relish in being the hit of the party (as usual.)

Pickled Green Beans

We have picked about 300 green beans in the last two weeks.
Well, that is before Rich killed our green bean plant (he will be in a cranky mood in 5...4...3...2.... he takes murdering our plants extremely seriously.)
I take eating our plants seriously, but even I cannot eat 70 pounds of green beans.

So.... what the hell does one incredibly smart and attractive girl do with three bushels of green beans?

trendy.

Well, that (pretty and brilliant) girl jumps on this odd trend of pickling. 

Pickling is trendy?

......I guess so. 

I mean, when mason jars and canning pots have their own display at every snooty home and kitchen store, I am going to go out on a whim and say that I just may be jumping on the bandwagon with this whole thing. 

I am not a trailblazer. 

It just so happens that you can pickle just about anything..... and the majority of those things will taste really good in a bloody mary which is right up my ally. 

Ingredients:

1/2 pound of green beans, trimmed (BS. I clearly did not weigh our harvest.... so stuff as many as will fit into a quart sized Mason Ball Jar)

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup water

1/4 onion, thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, smashed

1/2 jalapeno, sliced

2 tsp yellow mustard seeds

1 tbsp white granulated sugar

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp salt

3-5 sprigs of fresh dill (fresh dill is so yummy.... you can sub for dried, but you shouldn't)

Method:

These are refrigerator pickles. You do not need to sanitize the jar. You don't need to boil it. You don't need any equipment. 

Begin by filling the mason jar with green beans, sliced onions, jalapenos, garlic, and dill. Make it look nice for God's sake..... nobody wants to eat/ look at ugly food.

In a small saucepan, bring the vinegar, water, sugar, and spices to a boil. 

Pour the hot mixture into the mason jar leaving about 1/2 an inch at the top. If there is still room at the top just add a little vinegar and water. Screw the lid on, set aside to cool and then refrigerate. The beans should be ready in a day or two and will last for a month in the fridge..... if you can muster up the will power to not devour them all in 3 days. 

Pick your veggies.... and eat them, too.

I have a garden.
If you know me, you know this.

If you know me, you also know that I share my garden with this sweet boy who... let's be honest.... does 90% of the work because he thinks I am the bee's knees. (I think he is more, but don't tell him.)

Annnnnd if you know Rich and I and have been to our humble abode anytime in the last 6 months, you know that our garden is blooming.
A lot.

How do you know this?
Because if you have come over anytime in the last 6 months you have been taken (forced) to go on one of Richard's  GARDEN TOURS....  of the deck, the front yard, the side yard.....


Not to brag, but.....

freshly picked garden salad.

Yep. All hand picked this morning from the garden. 

Well, except the chicken. 

Katie will not let me get anymore animals..... can dogs be taught to lay eggs?

PS. I'm pretty preachy about making your own salad dressing..... but I must admit my obsession with Stevie's Vinaigrette. It is well worth having it shipped from North Carolina (thank you Bruce and Cindy)

Delicious. 

Baked Beet Chips

Yes, that's right. Beets.

baked beet chips

Ingredients:

Beets

Olive oil

Sea Salt

Pepper

Yep, that's it. 

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Slice the beets VERY thin. Like potato chip thin. 

Rub both sides of each beet slice with olive oil and place them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the beets with salt and pepper and bake for about an hour until they are crispy. Keep an eye on them because they will start to burn quickly. 

Serve with sour cream or eat alone. They are DELICIOUS. 

You can also break them up and toss them in a salad.

In about a month our garden beets will be ready..... if the dogs quit picking them. 

Pad Thai

Today was Asian noodle day at school so I made sure to team up with the Japanese girl. My.... our.... noodles were, well, perfect (duh.) I think it's due to our collective Asian heritage.

Pad Thai.

Ingredients:
Thai rice stick noodles (Bonh Pho)
1/4 cup peanut oil
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup tamarind paste, diluted in water
1/4 cup thai fish sauce
1 chicken breast cut into small strips
Tofu..... I think tofu is gross and would personally leave it out, but go ahead.....
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 thai chili pepper, minced (serrano will work fine if you cannot find thai)
1/2 cup bean sprouts
2 Tbsp palm sugar
Juice of 1-2 limes
Cilantro, chopped
Thai basil, chopped
1/4 cup toasted peanuts

**LA has plenty of great Asian markets. I suggest you find one. If you start substituting palm sugar for brown sugar and fish sauce for soy sauce, you will end up with a feeling of defeat.... not pad thai. 


Plus, you can stock up on hello kitty chopsticks and other things that every kitchen NEEDS..... 

Method:
Soak rice stick noodles in warm water until soft according to package directions.

Have everything chopped, prepped, and ready to go before you start cooking. This dish cooks very quickly.

Heat peanut oil in a medium skillet until it is VERY hot. Sauté tofu until golden brown and set aside.
Make sure that there is nothing left over in the pan from the tofu. Add a little peanut oil and again, get the pan VERY hot. Pour in beaten egg, remove the pan from the heat, and swirl the egg around the pan to get a thin omelet. Once cooked through, turn the pan upside down to get the egg out. Set aside.
Add oil and heat pan again, yes, again...... then sauté chicken. When the chicken is about 90% cooked, add the garlic and cook until fragrant- about 20 seconds. Turn heat down to medium/low. Add tamarind paste. Cook for about 1 minute and then add the fish sauce. Cook for 1 minute and add lime juice and chili pepper. Add bean sprouts and palm sugar. Add the softened noodles and toss with the sauce to coat.

To plate:
Chop cooked egg and toasted peanuts.
Place pad thai noodles on a warm plate and garnish with cooked tofu, chopped egg, toasted peanuts, chopped cilantro, chopped basil, green onion, and lime wedges.

Delete the Thai food number from your phone and enjoy. Or if this didn't go so well, call the number, place order, and also enjoy.

A confession:
As happy as I am to be able to make my own pad thai.... the likeliness of me running to the Asian market and spending an hour shopping and prepping ingredients when I am hungover and in need of Thai food for mere survival...... absolutely not. In this instance, note the final instruction above.

More noodles.....

and more noodles......

and dumplings.....

the end.

Vegetable Soup.

Once upon a time I got the flu and this really sweet boy that I had just started dating made this soup for me so that I would get better and he could continue kissing me.

Yes, this is the same boy that I now live with.... I kept him around for his amazing apartment and really yummy soup recipe.

So, here's the thing.... not only does this soup take about 15 minutes to make, but it also keeps for days, can feed you for a week, and costs under $20.00 to make. Seriously....

vegetable soup for your soul... and your super cute wallet.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 28oz can of chopped tomatoes and juices
2 15oz cans sliced potatoes
2 15oz cans corn
2 15oz cans green beans and juices
2 15oz cans sliced carrots and juices
1 15oz can black beans
32oz beef broth or beef stock
1 tbsp "Better than Bouillon" beef bouillon
Salt and Pepper to taste

*note: I buy all low sodium ingredients.

Tools:
Large stock pot, dutch oven, or something that will hold enough soup for an army
A really good can opener

Method:
In a very large stock pot.... very large, this makes A LOT of soup.... heat canola oil and sauté chopped onion until golden brown. Add garlic and cook until fragrant (cooking garlic any more than a minute or so will cause it to burn and alter the flavor of the soup.) Using the "really good can opener" that I conveniently listed above, open all the cans.... all 11 of them. Pour all contents, including juices, of the chopped tomatoes, carrots, green beans into the pot. Drain the potatoes, corn and black beans and add them to the pot. Stir everything together. Add beef stock and bouillon. Bring everything to a simmer, cover, and cook for at least 30 minutes. The longer you cook it, the more the flavors will combine. Season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy on the couch with your pups, or find a sick boy and serve piping hot with a good movie and a cuddle- he will think you are a goddess.

PS: This soup freezes well, too! Put one serving portions in tupperware in your freezer and you will be instantly ready to fight chilly nights and sore throats. 

Chicken Enchiladas

I am back to school, (pretty much) recovered from pneumonia, and recovered from the holiday weekend.... what is it about a pool and an "endless" supply of summery cocktails that makes me go weak in the knees?
I really love summer.  I also love that I have officially embarked on a journey called My Last Class at Le Cordon Bleu!!
Cuisines Across Cultures.
I feel like I started school a month ago- it's nuts.....another reminder that one day, probably a few decades from now,  I will get "old." Time goes by really fast. In a mere 6 weeks I will be contemplating what on earth to do with my new degree besides go up a dress size or so.

Last night I made Chicken Enchiladas.

**Please note my casual subject change from dress sizes to Mexican food. 

So, I stole this recipe from the lovely Adrianne Lentine who writes a wonderful blog called Dream Book Design. It's great.... read it. And she stole the recipe from another wonderful blog called The Pioneer Woman. I changed it up a bit, but kept it pretty close to the way I found it. Best enchiladas I have made in a long time! So flavorful!!

the worst picture of chicken enchiladas ever because all I could focus on was wanting to devour them.

Ingredients:
For the sauce-
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
45 ounces red enchilada sauce

For the meat-
2 pounds shredded chicken
1 yellow onion finely chopped
6 oz diced green chilies
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon oregano

4 cups shredded cheese.... I used 1/2 cheddar and 1/2 jack
1 cup chopped olives
1 cup chopped green onion
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
16 corn tortillas

Method:
In a large sauce pot, heat canola oil and then add flour. Cook about 2 minutes to get rid of the starchy flavor. Slowly whisk in enchilada sauce and chicken broth and bring to a slow boil to thicken.

In a separate pan, sauté onions until they begin to brown. Add cumin and oregano and mix together. Add the diced chilies and shredded chicken. I was lazy and bought rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods. I do that a lot- it's just as yummy and 1/2 the preparation (and dishes.) Season the meat with salt to taste and set aside to cool.

Chop olives and green onion. If I were you, I would put all of the ingredients (olives, green onion, cheese, and cilantro) into small separate bowls- things are going to get messy.

Traditionally, the corn tortillas are fried in canola oil until soft and then drenched in the enchilada sauce. I decided to skip the frying/heart attack step and opt for extra, EXTRA, cheese. I've made enchiladas both ways before and I can't tell the difference, but then again I would eat a shoe if it were baked with cheese and covered in sour cream. I am a piggy.

So, one at a time- dip each corn tortilla in enchilada sauce. Then add chicken, olives, green onion, and a little cilantro to each tortilla, gently roll, and place SEAM DOWN in a large baking dish. You need to place them seam down or they will all fall apart. Repeat this process until all of the ingredients are gone..... should be enough for 16-20 enchiladas. I told you things would get messy.

Ladle some enchilada sauce over the rolled tortillas, cover in cheese and sprinkle some olives and green onion on top. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is nice and bubbly.

Serve with sour cream and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Mmmmm. Enjoy.... and then enjoy cleaning the disaster in your kitchen.