#eph cooks

I feel like I’ve been in a cooking rut. Between my weird allergy diagnosis a few weeks ago and a clingy 7 month old that solely wants to be held by mama at dinnertime, it’s been difficult for me to pull anything out of my kitchen that even closely resembles a meal. But, I got excited when my coworker shared some of her favorite recipes with me last week so here we are.

Two of my recent cooking finds, both from the genius Deb Perelman at Smitten Kitchen.

First is this sausage and tomato risotto (and the above image is very clearly not mine -- full credit to Deb). I used 1 lb of sausage instead of 3/4 of a pound (because it’s sold by the lb in my grocery store) and obviously refused to measure any of the cheese as I dumped in half a container of pre-grated Parm. Because if 1/2 a cup is good, 1 1/2 cups are better. I currently am not eating beef (see aforementioned weird allergy) or gluten and I have a feeling this dish will serve as my spaghetti stand in during the cooler winter months that are coming. It’s a stick to your bones sort of dinner. I’m here for that.

And second is this beautiful street cart style chicken (from the Smitten Kitchen Every Day cookbook). I really didn’t deviate at all from this recipe because why mess with greatness but I did double the marinade and include both chicken thighs (for Blake) and breasts (for the girls + me). It was a LOT of food. What can I say- I like leftovers. Next time I would drizzle the dressing all over the salad, chicken, and rice because it’s tangy and yogurt-y and so delicious. The girls and Blake had their with pita. 

It’s been a really long time since I’ve had the desire to spend much time in the kitchen. Apparently this past weekend was a different story. Either that or I REALLY wanted to make this dish. It was a rainy, cold afternoon and nothing (and I mean nothing) sounded better to me than stew. 

Cousin Jane sent me The Kitchen Decoded cookbook last year and, honestly given my inability to spend any time with a spatula in hand, I’m just now cracking the spine and digging my teeth into some of the delicious offerings. Up next: roasted chicken. 

This would be a delicious meal to serve for a holiday party. Throw in a green salad and fresh biscuits and you have a warm winter’s meal perfect for a crowd. I obviously need to perfect my biscuits because, well, those weren’t wonderful. Rookie mistake with the whole wheat flour. #lame

Mediterranean Beef Stew*

The Players: 

4 pounds of beef chuck cut into 1 1/4 inch cubes

salt and pepper to season beef

3 tablespoons EVOO

3 yellow onions, cut into 1/4 inch half-rounds

1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon brown sugar (packed)

zest from 1/2 an orange

2 teaspoons Herbes de Provence

2 dried bay leaves

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3 cups red wine (tip: use a wine you would drink for this dish as the flavor will concentrate) 

1 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into chunks

1 can (14.5 ozs) diced tomatoes, drained

The play-by-play: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Season the beef with salt and pepper and set aside. In a stockpot over medium heat, add the EVOO and the onions and sweat out until they begin to soften -- about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the tomato paste, garlic, brown sugar, orange zest, Herbes de Provence, bay leaves, and flour to the pot. Cook mixture for 1 minute over medium heat. Then add the stock, the wine, and the soy sauce and cook until the mixture starts to combine (about 5 minutes). 

Add the carrots and the drained tomatoes. Place the seasoned beef on top of the sauce in the pan so it can brown. Transfer the pot, uncovered, to the oven. Cook for 2 1/2- 3 1/2 hours until beef is tender, stirring every 45 minutes or so. 

I’m new (and slow) to the game on this one as I have just discovered my love for acai bowls. These cereal-bowl-sized-meals are packed with vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids and they make for a great and healthy start to your day! The perfect summertime breakfast in my opinion...

For what it’s worth, I like for the frozen/smoothie part to be a little bit of a thinner constancy as my teeth can’t handle super cold foods (I’m such a wuss). And pile on the goodies-- the more fruit and coconut, the better. 

Here’s a recipe for you to try:

Acai Bowl

(recipe via The Food Network)

the players:

Two 4-ounce packets unsweetened frozen acai puree

1 medium banana

1/2 cup blueberries

1 tablespoon honey + more for drizzling over the bowl

3 tablespoons granola

2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut flakes

the play-by-play:  Break the frozen acai up a little by slapping the sealed packets on the countertop or hitting them with a meat mallet. Blend the frozen berries with 1/2 the banana, 1/4 cup of the blueberries, and the honey in the blender, stopping to stir and break up the mixture as needed. Blend until it's the consistency of a smoothie; transfer to a cereal bowl. 

Add toppings (I like banana, blueberries, granola, and coconut) and drizzle with honey. You can also add chia seeds if you so desire for added protein + fiber. 

I’ve been on a bit of a cooking hiatus lately. Along with not having any time, we have also started using Blue Apron for food delivery. I’m still undecided on if BA actually makes life EASIER on me or not (plus- no food planning, minus- so much chopping) but that’s sort of beside the point. 

A couple of weeks ago, I felt adventurous (read: bored with my food) and downloaded Gwyneth Paltow’s new cookbook “It’s All Easy” on the way to the beach. Because apparently a 3 hour car ride is about the only time I have to read these days. I’ve only made one thing thus far but it was SO delicious that I couldn’t resist sharing with y’all. 

Chicken Chow Mein

the players: 

14 ounces of udon noodles (the recipe calls for 9 but I liked with more noodles)

6 tablespoons peanut oil

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast (cut into 3/4 x 2 inch strips)

salt

1 bunch broccoli cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 large onion thinly sliced

1/3 cup tamari

the play-by-play: 

Prepare the udon noodles according to package directions. For mine, this just meant that I heated in the pan and set aside. If you have to boil, drain and rinse with cold water. 

Heat a wok/ large nonstick saute pan over high heat. Add 3 tablespoons of peanut oil and arrange chicken strips in a single layer in pan. Season with salt. 

Sear the chicken until brown on one side (2-5 minutes) and then turn and sear on the second side. Transfer to a large bowl. **NOTE: I covered my saute pan with aluminium foil while I browned the chicken. Keeps the oil from splattering all over my kitchen and it helps steam the chicken to cook faster.** 

Add the broccolini to the wok and saute, stirring frequently, for 3-5 minutes. Use a spoon to transfer broccolini to a bowl with the chicken. Try to leave as much oil in the saute pan/ wok as you can. 

(I had to add a tiny bit of oil to the pan here-- original recipe didn’t call for it) 

Add the onion to the pan and cook 5-7 minutes until beginning to soften and caramelize. Then add the remaining 3 tablespoons peanut oil and the cooked udon noodles. Stir the noodles and arrange them so that as many as possible are in direct contact with the pan (you want them to sear as much as possible) and cook for 1 minute. Return the chicken and the broccolini to the pan, stir to combine, and cook for 3 minutes or so. Add the tamari, turn off heat, and serve. 

I don't know what's gotten into me the last 2 weeks. I usually despise baking -- so much so that I went to my favorite deli to purchase Holiday cookies for my OB nurses -- but lately all I've wanted to do is bake. And eat the raw dough but that's another story for anther day. 

Last weekend I made Peppermint Fudge + and my favorite Almond Crescent Cookies (photo circa 2013). On Wednesday Blake came into the kitchen while I was making heating up dinner and asked where the cookies had gone. Oops. I ate the entire batch myself. 

So yesterday, I decided MORE COOKIES! This time the same Almond Crescents + Martha Stewart's S'mores cookies. Spoiler alert: the s'mores cookies suck. I cooked them correctly and followed the recipe to a T. They are just grainy and mealy and they suck. I have a feeling they will be sitting on my counter until New Years especially now that B knows there are oats in them (he has a strange relationship with oats). 

I should have just made some damn sugar cookies. Can't go wrong with iced sugar cookies you know... 

I wanted White Chicken Chili last night for dinner but wasn’t impressed with any of the recipes I found online. So, I decided to do something I don’t normally do. Branch out and try my hand at my own creation. I must say that I’m pretty pleased with my dish. Blake (who isn’t normally a chicken chili fan) even went back for seconds. 👍

White Chicken Chili

The players: 1 tablespoon veg oil (could use butter) 1 small onion, chopped 1 pkg of McCormick white chicken chili seasoning 1 can green chilies 2 (15 oz) cans cannelini beans drained 1 1/2 cups chicken stock 1 1/2 cups water Shredded chicken (I used rotisserie chicken for this)

The play-by-play: Over low heat, sauté onion in the veg oil for about 3-4 minutes (or until softened). Stir in green chilis, beans, McCormick seasoning. Add chicken stock and water and then shredded chicken. Return to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15-20 minutes.

Apparently it’s food week on the blog. 

Dinner at my house (especially in the summer) is a repeat of several menu items. Every once and a while I venture out and try a new recipe or two— but you can typically count on seeing the same food on a 10 or 12 day rotation. Except for pork chops. They happen every week without fail.

One of our favorites is a super easy chicken taco recipe (below). I sometimes serve with homemade pico — or if I’m being lazy, with this salsa. We literally have to buy that stuff by the caseload. Thank God for Costco. 

Chicken Tacos

the players: 

chicken breasts (2-3)

1/2 red onion; diced

vegetable oil (about 1/2 to 1 cup)

handful of cilantro; rinsed and chopped

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

1-2 tsp. of cumin

dash of salt, pepper

cotija cheese

flour tortillas (small, taco sized) 

the play-by-play: 

Wash and clean the chicken breasts. Place in a plastic ziploc bag and cover with vegetable oil. Add chopped red onion, cilantro, red pepper flakes, cumin, a dash of salt and pepper. Seal bag and let the chicken marinate 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Fire up the grill. Grill the chicken until blackened. Shred with a fork. Place chicken, cheese, salsa in the flour tortilla. Chef’s note: you can also use corn tortillas— Blake just has a really odd aversion to corn tortillas for some reason so we use flour tortillas. 

We served with the Barefoot Contessa fresh corn salad (recipe found by my Momma). I could literally eat an entire bowl of that salad in one sitting. It’s that good. 

I'll tell you one thing: I'm not a baker by any stretch of the imagination. I would rather buy slice and bake sugar cookies than stand in my kitchen and roll out sticky dough. Just ask my Momma- she's witnessed that aftermath. I just on't have the patience (read: I'd rather take a nap).

Guess you could say that sifting flour just isn't my thing. 

Enter this carrot cake recipe. No shame in the fact that I used a boxed spice mix as the base. At least not in this house. You're more than welcome to beat yourself up over that- but I won't be. 

Simple Carrot Cake

The players:

1 box of spiced cake mix (and the ingredients it calls for- usually eggs, oil, and H2O)

2 cups of shredded carrots 

3/4 cup of crushed pineapple in juice (drained)

dash of cinnamon, nutmeg

3 sticks of butter

1 pound of cream cheese

1/2 tsp pure almond extract

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 1/2- 3 cups sifted powdered sugar

The play-by-play: 

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour 2 round cake pans and line the bottom of the pans with parchment. Mix the boxed cake according to directions. Add pineapple and carrot and fold in gently scraping down sides of the bowl as you go (add a dash or two of cinnamon and nutmeg if you think it's necessary). Pour batter into the 2 cake pans evenly. Bake for 28-32 minutes (or according to directions on box). I took out right at 28 minutes to be sure the cake didn't overcook. Place on wire rack to cool completely before icing. 

For the icing: whip together butter, cream cheese, and the extracts. Once blended and light, add the powdered sugar slowly 1 cup at a time. The original recipe I planned to use called for using 1 1/2 pounds of powdered sugar but I can't imagine how teeth shatteringly sweet that would be. Taste the icing as you go and stop adding sugar when it's to your liking (I used about 2 1/2 cups). 

Once cake is cooled completely, remove one cake from the round pan. Place rounded side down on a cake stand. Scoop 2 spatulas full of icing on top of the cake and spread out evenly. Remove the second cake from the round pan and place flat side down on top of the icing. Ice the entire cake (including the sides) evenly.

I love the rustic look of this cake. And the taste is pretty fandamntastic too. Hows that for an improvised box cake!