Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burritos

I love sweet potatoes. Growing up we only had sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving and Christmas when we would candy them, but now I have sweet potatoes during spring, fall and winter. Sweet potatoes are wonderfully because you can make them savory or sweet, and they are very filling. When I saw Branny’s sweet potato and black bean burritos on her blog, I knew that my daughter would love these sweet potato and black bean burritos because she is a sweet potato fanatic like her mama.


I changed up the seasoning to add different spices for a more complex flavor in the sweet potato and black bean burritos since my kids love spices in their food especially mace. The result was a very aromatic burrito that was the perfect lunch. My kids each eat two burritos for lunch. The mace gives the burritos a very strong slightly orange smell and the coriander and cumin give it an unexpected twist that you don’t fully enjoy until you take your first bite into the burrito.

The first time I made the burritos I followed Branny’s instructions and puréed the sweet potatoes and beans together with my immersion blender, but I thought it was a lot of work considering that I had just steamed the beans and sweet potatoes, so now I just take the hot cooked beans and sweet potato out of my steamer and mix them together along with the spices. It is the perfect fast lunch.

Ingredients (makes 8 burritos) modified from Branny Boils Over

2 large sweet potatoes, fully cooked and warm (either roasted, boiled, or steamed)
2 cups black beans, fully cooked and warm
½ tsp mace
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp cilantro, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
8 flour tortillas, warm

Directions

1. Mix all the ingredients together except for the tortillas. Spoon the sweet potato mixture on to warm tortillas and serve.

Posted on Friday Flair, I'm Lovin It, Frugal Friday, Grocery Cart Challenge, Fun with Food Fridays, Flaunt it Friday, Foodie Friday, Frugal Friday, Fight Back Friday, Meatless Monday, Your Recipe My Kitchen, Homemaker Monday, E-food Monday,

Pretzel Bowls with Maple Syrup Mousse

This month Evelyne from Cheap Ethnic Eatz challenged us to make maple syrup mousse and put the maple syrup mousse inside an edible container. Like other Daring Bakers, I decided to play off the idea of sweet and salty for this challenge. I have always wanted to make a pretzel crust, but I have never gotten around to it, so I decided to make a pretzel bowl for this challenge using a basic pretzel crust recipe that I found on all recipes.


I used a regular muffin tin to shape the bowl. However, if I owned a mini muffin pan, then I would have made my pretzel bowls in a mini muffin pan because the mini muffin pan would have made perfect bite sized desserts that would be awesome at a dessert buffet. The pretzel bowl is a little crumbly, so a small size where people would not have to bite into it would have made for a less messy dessert. The salty pretzels paired well with the very sweet maple syrup mousse. The maple syrup mousse also makes an amazing fruit dip. I dipped my mousse in strawberries, and it was the perfect combination. Or you could hull some strawberries and fill them with the maple syrup mousse for another edible container that I did not think of as I was preparing these mini desserts. Either way the mousse is great as a dip or inside an edible container. My pretzel bowls were fun, and I am glad that I finally tried to make a pretzel bowl along with the maple syrup mousse.

Pretzel Bowl modified from all recipes (makes 24 medium sized bowls)

Cupcake liners
3/4 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 1/2 cups crushed hard pretzels

Directions

1.Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2.In a medium bowl, mix together margarine, sugar and pretzels. Press the mixture into the muffin compartments of the muffin pan. Bake in oven for 8 minutes. Let the bowls completely cool before removing them from the muffin pan. Gently peel off the cupcake liners. Fill with the maple syrup mousse.

Maple Syrup Mousse from Evelyne

1 cup (240 ml/ 8 fluid oz.) pure maple syrup (not maple-flavoured syrup)
4 large egg yolks
1 package (7g/1 tbsp.) unflavoured gelatine
1 1/2 cups (360 ml. g/12 fluid oz) whipping cream (35% fat content)

Directions:

1. Bring maple syrup to a boil then remove from heat.

2. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and pour a little bit of the maple syrup in while whisking (this is to temper your egg yolks so they don’t curdle).

3. Add warmed egg yolks to hot maple syrup until well mixed.

4. Measure 1/4 cup of whipping cream in a bowl and sprinkle it with the gelatine. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Place the bowl in a microwave for 45 seconds (microwave for 10 seconds at a time and check it in between) or place the bowl in a pan of barely simmering water, stir to ensure the gelatine has completely dissolved.

5. Whisk the gelatine/whipping cream mixture into the maple syrup mixture and set aside.

6. Whisk occasionally for approximately an hour to three hours (mine took three hours) or until the mixture has the consistency of an unbeaten raw egg white.

7. Whip the remaining cream. Stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into the maple syrup mixture. Fold in the remaining cream and refrigerate for at least an hour.

8. Remove from the fridge and divide equally among your edible containers.

Posted on Full Plate Thursday, Strut Your Stuff, Recipe Swap 35, A Glimse Inside, It's a Keeper, Delightfully Inspiring, Frugal Food Thursday, Try New Adventures Thursday, Eat at Home

3 Salt Rising Breads: Plain, Cheese, and Dandelion

From left to right: Dandelion bread, Cheese bread, and Plain Salt Loaf

I was excited to read the unique challenge this month for Bread Baking Day; this month we were to make salt rising bread. Down Home Desserts has this to says that salt rising breads are difficult to produce. They are fickle and difficult to make. The bread is not sour like sour dough bread. Instead the bacteria that grow when potatoes, cornmeal, and milk are allowed to ferment will leaven the bread.

I have never made salt rising bread before, so I was really excited about this challenge. Since this is supposed to be a fickle bread, I decided to make the basic recipe and just add some flavorings to the bread instead of playing with the recipe right away. Down Home Desserts comments that making this bread is a smelly process, but I did not think it was that smelly, but I also make sauerkraut and yogurt in my kitchen, so maybe I am just used to smelly foods in my kitchen. To make sure that the starter has worked after the 24 hour ferment make sure that the starter is full of bubbles. If there are no bubbles, then the bacteria did not grow. At this point I would try to move your starter to a warmer location to see if you can get the stubborn bacteria to grow. Again, the sponge should also bubble. The bread comes out really moist. It is a bit denser than store bought bread, but I was still able to use the plain bread as a sandwich loaf. The flavor was indeed very salty, but then again I am very salt sensitive and no one else in my family complained about the salt. I also chose to make a cheese loaf using cheddar, parmesan, and Asiago cheese mixed into the dough which was fantastic. The salt did a wonderful job of bring out the flavors of the cheeses. The cheese bread was my favorite bread. The last loaf I made was a dandelion bread. Right now there is a plethora of dandelions in our back yard, so I decided to add dandelion petals to the bread. The dandelion petals did a good job of balancing out the saltiness of the bread with a hint of sweetness giving it a nice sweet and salty kind of taste.

The plain bread can be used as a sandwich bread. I used the cheese bread with an Italian meal. The dandelion bread can be used as a breakfast bread with bar le duc on top or jelly. This unique bread is a must try for anyone who wants to explore yeast free bread making and or anyone who likes to make challenging recipes.

Ingredients from Down Home Desserts whom modified it from The Fannie Farmer Baking Books (makes 3 8” x 4” x 2” loafs: 1 plain, 1 cheese, and 1 dandelion loaf)

Starter

2 medium potatoes-peeled and sliced thin (i forgot to peel mine!)
1 quart boiling water
1/4 cup stone ground cornmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Place the potatoes in a bowl and add the water. Stir in the remaining ingredients and cover. Place the mixture in a warm draft free area for 24 hours. Remove the potatoes and discard them.

Sponge

1 1/2 cups milk, 100⁰F
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
All of the starter

Add the milk, baking soda and the flour to the starter and mix until smooth. Cover the mixture and set it in the same warm spot until it doubles in size,-about 2-3 hours. The mixture will appear creamy and light. Do not over ferment this mixture because the flavor will shift from salty to sour.

Dough

4-6 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons butter, chopped finely
All of the sponge

For the cheese loaf:

½ cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
½ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
½ cup, Asiago cheese, shredded

For the dandelion loaf:

½ cup dandelion petals, well washed and removed from the rest of the flower

Place 4 cups of the flour and the salt in a mixing bowl and rub in the butter thoroughly. Add the flour mixture to the sponge and mix it until combined. Using the remaining flour, knead it into the dough as required to form smooth and slightly heavy dough, about 10 minutes. Divide into 3 pieces. For the plain loaf, shape and place in a greased loaf pan. For the cheese bread, knead in the cheese and shape into a loaf. For the dandelion bread, knead in the dandelion petals and shape and place in a greased loaf pan. Allow the loaves to rise until about 1/3 larger, about 3 hours. Bake each loaf at 350⁰F until golden brown, 45-55 minutes. Turn out of the pans and cool on a rack.

Pumpkin Polenta Stuffed Apples

This month Renata of Testado, Provado & Aprovado challenged us to make a savory edible container. There were no rules just our imaginations to guide us. I originally wanted to make head cheese bowls (head cheese is made from the head of a pig or other animal; when you boil the pig you get a gelatinous substance that tastes good), but my butcher called and my pig will not be ready until next week and he already threw away the head, so my original idea was a bust.

After contemplating what I wanted to make for several days I finally decided to use an apple as my container. This month I am working on cleaning out my pantry, fridge, and freezer to make room for all the wonderful food that is going to come into season soon, so that means no grocery shopping. I had to use items that I already had in the house which was a challenge since we are running low on a lot of things. I also wanted to make a healthy recipe. Apples lend themselves towards sweet dishes, but I wanted to ensure that I made a savory dish the apples.

I made apple containers filled with pumpkin polenta seasoned with garlic, onion, thyme and ginger. I also added sautéed spinach as a surprise deep inside the apples. The apple with its contents has been baked at 350 degrees F in the oven for 10 minutes to heat and soften the apple a little.

The apples came out fantastic. I loved the filling. The filling tasted clean, spicy, and aromatic. The only downside was that I could not get Miss Bubbles to understand that she was supposed to eat the apple as well as the polenta filling. I guess the apples served as too good of a container because she did not understand that she could actually eat her bowl this time.

Ingredients (serves 2) from my kitchen

2 apples (I used Michighan sweet)
2 tbsp dried polenta
4 tbsp water
2 tbsp pumpkin puree (I used puree from a Lumina pumpkin)
2 tbsp onion, finely chopped
2 sprigs of thyme, stem removed
2 tbsp of fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 cup baby spinach
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp pumpkin seeds, shelled

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the tops off of the apples and spoon out the core and most of the apple flesh. I left about 1/16" of apple flesh around the sides.

2. In a small saucepan, add the polenta, water, pumpkin, onion, thyme, 1 clove of garlic, 1 tbsp of pumpkin seeds, and ginger. Heat the polenta over medium heat until all the water is absorbed into the polenta, about 3 minutes.

3. In another pan, sauté the spinach with 1 clove of garlic in the olive oil.

4. To assemble the apples, put the spinach in the bottom of the apple and add the polenta on top. Bake the apples for 10 minutes to warm all the way through.

5. To serve, sprinkle the rest of the pumpkin seeds on top of the polenta and sprinkle on a plate.

Posted on Full Plate Thursday, Life as Mom: Company Meals, Strut your stuff, Simple Lives Thursday, Catch a Glimse, It's a keeper, Try New Adventures, Frugal Food Thursday, Delightfully Inspiring, Thrilling Thursday, Hodge Podge Friday, Grocery Cart Challenge, Foodie Friday, I'm Loving It, Food on Fridays, Foodie Friday, Saturday Swap, Gooseberry Patch, Gooseberry Patch, Perfectly Pumpkin Contest

Marshmallow Easter Candy

The one hick up that I did not think about when I challenged myself to not go grocery shopping this month was that Easter is in the month of April, and I love Peeps®. Every year as a kid I would forward to Easter for Cadbury Eggs® and Peeps®. This year it looks like I am going to have to improvise my obsession for Peeps® by trying my hand at making my own.


Originally, I sought out to recreate the cute little Peep® chick shape using a copycat recipe from all recipes, but it turns out that I lack the coordination to make a marshmallow Peep® chick shape. My chicks looked like mounds of snow piled up along the side of the road which is not the effect that I was trying to achieve. Instead I ended up tracing some cookie cutters to use as patterns. I placed my patterns underneath some wax paper and traced the shapes with the marshmallow goo. I did manage to free hand the bunny face which is my favorite shape that I made. After I made the marshmallow shapes, I sprinkled the shapes with sugar to cut down on the tackiness, and I took some tempered chocolate and added some chocolate patterns to make my marshmallow Easter creations come alive (this is the recipe for tempered chocolate that I used). The only down side to my creations is that they are very tacky on the bottom and stick to everything, so I cut the wax paper around the shapes, and I do not remove the wax paper until we are ready to eat the marshmallows.

These marshmallows taste like the store bought marshmallow fluff. The vanilla flavor is subtle unlike Martha Stewart’s vanilla marshmallows that have an overwhelming vanilla flavor. The marshmallows do use a little bit of corn syrup which I am not excited about, but I am all for moderation and letting my kids enjoy this fun Easter treat.

Ingredients from all recipes (makes about 20-40 marshmallows depending upon the size)

1 cup granulated sugar for dusting
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tbsp light corn syrup
1 ¼ cups water, divided
4 ounces of unflavored gelatin
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract

Special equipment: candy thermometer, electric mixer, pastry bag, wax paper

Directions
1. In a small saucepan, add the sugar, corn syrup, and ¾ cup of water. Heat the mixture on high heat until the temperature of the solution reaches 250-260⁰F. Use the thermometer to measure the temperature, but be careful to make sure the thermometer does not touch the bottom of the pan because this will cause an inaccurate reading.

2. In a separate saucepot while the sugar solution is heating, add ½ cup water and the gelatin together. Very gently on low heat, heat the gelatin solution to dissolve the gelatin. Keep the saucepan warm while the sugar solution is heating.

3. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. A soft peak is when you lift the beaters out of the bowl and the egg white lifts up the beater to form a little mound and quickly falls back down. You can complete this step while the sugar solution is heating.

4. Once the sugar solution is ready, remove the sugar solution from the heat and slowly add the gelatin solution the hot sugar solution. Then, slowly add the sugar solution to the fluffy egg whites while beating the egg whites. Continue to beat the marshmallows on high speed with the electric mixer until the marshmallows will not get any fluffier.

5. Add the marshmallow fluff to a pastry bag. Cut the end off the pastry bag and pipe marshmallow creations onto wax paper. Sprinkle the creations with sugar. After you sprinkle with sugar, you can add some tempered chocolate decorations to the marshmallow creations. Serve at room temperature. Store in an air tight container until you are ready to serve.

Posted on Whatever goes Wednesday, Easter Party Link Up, What's Cooking Wednesday, Penny Pinching Party, WFMW, Show and Tell Wednesday, What's on your plate, What's on the menue Wednesday, Sweet Tooth Friday, Show and Tell Saturday, Sweets for Saturday, This Week's Cravings

Teriyaki Chicken on the Grill

Grilling season is here, and I am excited! I decided to improvise a teriyaki marinade for chicken since I have lots of Japanese ingredients on hand, and I am still working towards eating out of the pantry and freezer this month. The teriyaki chicken came out picture perfect and tasted as good as it looked on the grill. It was slightly sweet with a distinctive piquant flavor that is screams teriyaki. The chicken paired beautifully with a bowl of basmati rice and a fresh green salad. We used bone in chicken breasts because bone in meat produces a juicier and tenderer chicken on the grill. The skin is my favorite part because it absorbs so much flavor of the teriyaki chicken marinade. I let the chicken marinate for 48 hours in the refrigerator to ensure a super flavorful chicken. You can trim the marinating time down to 3 hours if you are in a hurry, but you will lose a considerable amount of flavor.


When I first told Dr. Lazy Palate that we were having teriyaki chicken, he told me that he hates teriyaki chicken expect when it is served at a Japanese restaurant. It cannot be from a Thai restaurant either because teriyaki chicken for a Thai restaurant is not good. I told Dr. Lazy Palate to give the chicken a try. When he smelled the marinade he exclaimed, “It smells awful!” However, when he was grilling the chicken he kept saying, “This looks picture perfect!” When it came time to actually eat the chicken, Dr. Lazy Palate declared, “It is good.” The moral of the story is not to judge the chicken based upon the marinade. The hot grill really brings forth the wonderful flavor the teriyaki chicken for even the pickiest palates.

Ingredients (serves 2) recipe from my kitchen

¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin (rice wine)
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp ginger, finely chopped
1 green onion, finely chopped
2 bone in chicken breast

Directions

1. Place all of the ingredients in a food grade plastic bag. Release all the air from the bag and seal the bag. Place the bag in the refrigerator for 3 to 48 hours (we marinated our chicken for 48 hours).

2. Cook the chicken on a hot grill until done (when the juices of the chicken are clear when the chicken is cut open) about 5-7 minutes.

Posted on Your Recipe, My Kitchen, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, E-food Monday, Mangia Monday, Markey Yourslef Monday, Spill It, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday,  Tasty Tuesday,Real food Wednesday, Life as Mom  , Memorial Day Grilling Recipes

Dessert Apple Kebobs

I love grilling outside on a warm day, and if at all possible I like to make everything on the grill for a meal that I way I don’t have to go inside to prepare any part of dinner. I make these apple kebobs as a light dessert on the grill. They are very simple to make and taste good too.


For my family of 4, two apples are sufficient. I do not make a heavy crust on the apple; instead I just coat the apples just enough to add a little sweetness, but you can double the recipe if you want more sweetness. For the adult kebobs I add homemade maraschino cherries that contain alcohol, so I leave these cherries off of the kid’s kebobs, but you can use store bought cherries for an extra punch of sweetness.

Ingredients (makes 4 small desserts)

2 sweet apples, cubed (I used Gala)
Juice from 1 lemon
2 tbsp brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
10 maraschino cherries (optional)
4 wooden skewers, soaked for 30 minutes in hot water

Directions

1. Roll the apples in lemon juice to prevent browning.

2. In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Roll the apples in the sugar mixture (I do a very light coating).

3. Pierce an apple with a skewer. Then, add a cherry to the skewer. Continue adding apples and cherries to skewers until all the apples and cherries on skewers.

4. Cook over a hot grill for 5 minutes or until the apples are cooked all the way through.

Posted on Hodgepodge Friday, Grocery Cart Challenge, Fun With Food Friday, I'm Lovin' It, Friday Flair, Sweet Tooth Friday, Foodie Friday, Food on Fridays, Friday Potluck,  Foodie Friday, Food Rendegade, Sweets for Saturday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday

Baked Sesame Chicken

I am not a big a fan of Chinese takeout because it is so greasy, but every now and then I want a good sesame chicken. However, I don’t want to fry the chicken because frying is so messy and makes foods greasy, so I decided that I am going to try and make a baked sesame chicken. I found a recipe on allrecipes that had fabulous reviews and decided that I am going to give it a whirl and instead of frying the sesame chicken I am going to bake the sesame chicken. When I first tried the baked sesame chicken, I made the breading along with the sauce, but I found that the breading added an unnecessary step to the baked sesame chicken because it didn’t actually stay on the chicken. Instead it just floated to the top. I even tried baking the chicken for 10 minutes with the just the breading and then adding the sauce, but again the breading floated, so now I just leave the breading off for a healthier version of this sesame chicken. I also left off the chicken broth because I wanted a nice thick sauce covering my baked sesame chicken which worked wonderfully.

When you prepare the sauce it will be an ugly brown, but it does turn into a nice glossy amber colored sauce that does not look repulsive on the plate and tastes a little spicy and sweet. Since this is cleaning out the kitchen month in April, I did not buy any chili paste because I did not have any instead I used crushed red pepper flakes for my spiciness which I think worked just fine in the dish. I also changed around the spices in the dish. I added mirin to the sauce and substituted rice vinegar for distilled white vinegar in the sauce. Both kids liked the baked sesame chicken despite Dr. Lazy Palate proclaiming that the baked sesame chicken smelled awful. He has informed me that he prefers his chemical laden Chinese takeout. I liked the dish. The baked sesame chicken satisfied my craving for cheap Chinese takeout, and I didn’t have to go grocery shopping in order to make the dish.

Ingredients (serves 6) modified from allrecipes

3/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons low sodium dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tsp mirin (rice wine)
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup water
2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - cubed
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 375⁰F.

2. Mix the sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, mirin, pepper flakes and garlic together in a bowl.

3. In another bowl, mix the cornstarch and water together. While stirring the first mixture, slowly add the cornstarch solution to the first mixture.

4. Place the chicken in an oven safe baking dish and pour the sauce on top of the chicken.

5. Bake the chicken for 45-50 minutes or until the baked chicken is cooked all the way through. When the chicken is cut, the juices from the chicken should run clear.

6. Serve the baked chicken over a bed of rice and sprinkle with sesame seeds on top.

Posted on full plate Thursday, Easy Recipe on Life as Mom, Recipe Swap Thursday #32, Simple Lives Thursday, Catch and Glimse #32, It's a Keeper Thursday., Saturday Swap, Potluck Sunday

Chinese Tea Eggs

The first time I saw Chinese tea eggs was on the blog One Girl One Kitchen, and I knew that I had to make these Chinese tea eggs with Little BBQ. The crackle effect on the eggs was visually stunning and perfect to make around Easter. However, I was worried that the Chinese tea eggs were going to taste weird with ingredients like soy sauce and star of anise combined together in the same dish. Fortunately, I was wrong. The Chinese tea eggs tasted great! The flavor of the Chinese tea eggs were subtle after 2 hours of simmering in the broth. The Chinese tea eggs tasted earthy and spicy. The individual flavors of the broth meld together beautifully to make one unique tasting egg. My original plan was to use the eggs on top of a salad, but they did not last that long in our house. Both Little BBQ and Miss Bubbles ate all the eggs in one sitting at lunch time. I was shocked because Little BBQ does not normally eat the yolk of hard boiled eggs, but he said the yolk in these eggs was good. I could not have imagined that the Chinese tea eggs were going to be this big of a hit in our house. I think we are going to make more Chinese tea eggs in the future.

Ingredients for Chinese Tea Eggs (makes 6 eggs) from One Girl One Kitchen

6 eggs
½ cup soy sauce
2 tbsp black tea leaves
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 cinnamon stick
3 star anise
1 tbsp orange zest
1 tbsp fresh minced ginger

Directions

1. Fill a pot with hot water. Gently place the eggs in the hot water. Bring the water to a boil; boil the eggs for three minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and place the eggs in an ice water bath. Reserve the cooking liquid.

2. Crack the eggshell by tapping gently on a hard surface (I used the corner of my countertop). Gently fragment all over the shell. The more cracks there are in the egg the more complex the design on the egg will appear.

3. Add all other ingredients to the cooking liquid, stir well and place the eggs back in. Boil the mixture. Then turn down the heat to a simmer and cover the eggs. Simmer the eggs for 1 to 3 hours, adding more water if necessary to keep the eggs always covered (I added more water 1 time). A longer simmering time will allow for a darker crackling color and more intense flavor. I simmered my eggs for 2 hours, and I thought the flavor was still pretty subtle.

4. Serve the eggs peeled and at room temperature.

Posted on Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Get Your Craft On,Tutorial Tuesday , What's Cooking Wednesday What's Cooking Wednesday, Show and Tell Saturday, Hungry?, Sunday Showcase, Not Baaad Sundays, Just Another Meatless Monday, This Weeks Craving: Eggs, Midnight Maniac Meatless Mondays, Easter link up party, Easter Blog Hop

Julia Child’s Chicken Waterzooi Soup

The first time I came across waterzooi was on a message board where people post their menu for the week. I thought that the soup had the coolest name. It sounded so exotic and exciting. Little did I know that waterzooi soup was traditionally a very basic fish soup from Belgium that has become a basic chicken soup over the years. The soup is creamy with a beautiful opaque yellow color. The soup has a bittersweet flavor from the tarragon that complemented well with the complex flavors of the French vermouth and a nice creamy finish. It is a filling soup that can stand alone as a lunch or can serve as a starter to a larger meal.


I liked the chicken waterzooi soup because it used items that I already had kitchen making it perfect for my personal challenge to clean out the kitchen during the month of April. Both of the kids really liked the chicken waterzooi soup. Miss Bubbles ate two bowls of the chicken waterzooi soup while Little BBQ ate one and half bowls of the chicken waterzooi soup. However, Dr. Lazy Palate said that the waterzooi soup was not his cup of tea. Dr. Lazy Palate did not like the flavor of the wine in the waterzooi soup, and he did not like the cream in the soup which is shocking because he loves cream.

I did make a few changes from Julia Child’s waterzooi soup. In the original recipe, she calls for 2 large carrots. I used 4 medium carrots instead. She also calls for parsley as a garnish, but I left that off because I did not have any parsley in the house. For the French vermouth, you can substitute another dry vermouth and still get a great tasting waterzooi soup. If you vere away from vermouth which is wine infused with herbs and spices, then you will lose some complex flavors in the soup, so it is best to try and find a vermouth for this waterzooi recipe.

Ingredeints for Waterzooi soup (serves 4) from Julia Child

4 medium carrots, cut into match sticks
2 medium onions, diced
2 tender ribs of celery, cut into match sticks
2 medium-sized leeks, white and tender green parts only, cut into strips
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
2 1/2 pounds bone in chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups dry white French vermouth
1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
6 egg yolks
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley (I omitted this)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, toss the vegetables with tarragon, salt, and pepper.

2. Layer the bottom of the Dutch oven in the following pattern: a third of the vegetables, half the chicken, a third of the vegetables, half the chicken, and a third of the vegetables. Add the vermouth and the chicken broth. If the chicken is not fully covered, then add a little more chicken broth.

3. Bring the liquid to a simmer and cover. Simmer for 25 to 30 minutes or until the chicken is tender and the juice from the chicken is clear when pierced. Remove from the heat.

4. In a small bowl, mix the cream and cornstarch. In another small bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Slowly add the egg yolks to the cream mixture.

5. Add the egg and cream mixture to the warm soup. The soup should be warm but not simmering otherwise the eggs will curdle.

6. Garnish with parsley and serve with noodles or polenta.

Posted on Your Recipe, My Kitchen, Craft-O-Manic Monday, Mangia Monday's 4.

Cleaning out the Freezer, Refrigerator, and Cabinets in April and Grilled Hawaiian Kebobs

A new month is upon us and it is getting close to summer when lots of wonderful fruits and vegetables will be in season. This means that my canning jars and freezer will be restocked with new produce for the year. This month we have decided to eat solely out of the pantry, freezer, and refrigerator. This means no grocery shopping except for eggs and milk. The only other time that I might go food shopping is when I go to pick up the half of a pig that we have coming to us from a local farmer. The butcher is located 3 hours away and there is bulk food store and cheese factory close to the butcher, so I will probably stop in for some cheap prices and unique cheeses that would not normally be accessible. As for vegetables, our garden should produce some spinach, swiss chard, lettuce, and Asian greens this month, so we will still have access to some fresh vegetables.


To kick off the month and celebrate the nice spring weather, I will share a grilled Hawaiian kebob recipe with you. I love to grill outside, and it is finally getting warm enough outside to comfortably spend more than 30 minutes outside with Little BBQ and Miss Bubbles. I marinated some sirloin steak in pineapple juice, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, cumin, and coriander overnight. Then, I assembled the kebobs with pineapple, potatoes, onion, and bell pepper (I used bell peppers that I froze last summer.) The kebobs came out wonderful. The meat on the kebobs was tender and with some nice earthy flavors while pineapple added a nice sweetness. The potatoes were nice and soft and chewy while the vegetables had a nice crunch to them. I love kebobs; they are one of my favorite warm weather recipes. If this had been summer, then I would have added cherry tomatoes to the kebobs as well. Both kids loved the kebobs. Little BBQ has a fascination with eating things on a stick and Miss Bubbles could not get enough of the pineapple.

Ingredients for Grilled Hawaiian Kebobs (makes about 12 skewers or enough to serve 6) from my own kitchen

2 ½ pounds sirloin steak, cubed in large chunks
½ cup unsweetened pineapple juice
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
12 wooden skewers or reusable metal skewers
4 medium potatoes, sliced in thick chunks
1 quart pineapple chunks
½ onion, cut into big chunks
1 bell pepper, cut into big chunks
1 cup cherry tomatoes (optional)

Directions

1. Place the steak, pineapple juice, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, cumin, and coriander in a bowl or plastic bag. Mix well. Cover the bowl with plastic or seal the plastic bag. Place in the refrigerator overnight.

2. If you are using wooden skewers, soak the skewers in hot water for 30 minutes to prevent the skewers from catching on fire in the grill.

3. Assemble the kebobs by placing a potato, pineapple chunk, onion, bell pepper, and tomato on the skewer by piercing the food with the skewer. Continue adding food on the skewer with this pattern or any other desired pattern until all the skewers are full. I usually leave 1” free on one end to make holding the kebobs easier when serving. Serve the kebobs hot off the grill.

Posted on Lasted and Greatest, Craft-O-Manic Monday and This Week's Cravings.Penny Pinching Party