I had to share this:  my husband was reading a local weekly paper this afternoon, and spotted an ad for an outreach supper at a local Catholic church.  The ad promises “brats and sauerkraut, featuring Our Savior’s very own special recipe for sauerkraut.”

If you’d asked me to guess Jesus’ kitchen speciality, I NEVER woulda guessed sauerkraut! 

Laura

Last week my husband brought home seven varieties of apples. They’ve been sitting around my kitchen, EVERYWHERE, looking beautiful. So today we decided that we’re going to try some new apple recipe each evening. Last night we had apples baked in Cointreau, a recipe I’ll post later this afternoon.

Stay tuned!

Several months ago I wrote about our new favorite potato salad, Fully Loaded Potato Salad. Well, yesterday I accidentally discovered a serious contender for favorite when I was trying to use leftovers in my fridge and freezer. This new potato salad is so completely different from either the Fully Loaded Potato Salad or a more traditional potato salad that it warrants a post of its own.

Pesto Potato Salad with Sausage

• 2 pounds of new potatoes or fingerling potatoes, cooked and cubed
• 1 pound ground sausage, browned and crumbled
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 bunch of green onions, chopped
• 2 roma tomatoes, diced
• 8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
• 3/4  c. pesto
• 3 c. sour cream (I used fat free sour cream because it was in my fridge)
• salt and pepper to taste

Stir pesto into sour cream. Mix all the other ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in sour cream mixture while the potatoes and sausage are still warm (but not hot). Serve in bowls.

This dish would also be extra tasty with bratwurst or Italian sausage instead of ground sausage.

Laura and I frequently write about our happy accidents in the kitchen, usually involving leftovers and random ingredients in our refrigerators and pantries. There are several reasons why we share these accidents with you.

First, it allows us to record some of our more successful experiments in case we want to repeat an “accident.” Sometimes, we upgrade a “happy accident” to an intentional new favorite. We often encourage our readers to “use what you have” and not run out to the store to purchase ingredients specifically for many of our more creative dishes. It’s only fair, though, to mention that some dishes become such favorites that I DO make sure I buy all the necessary ingredients. This potato salad is one of those dishes. I will intentionally shop for all the ingredients next time I want to make it.

One of the other reasons that Laura and I write up our experiements is because it illustrates in practical terms HOW we cook, how we stretch a food budget, how we live as responsibly as we can when food prices keep going up and up and up. It’s a huge bonus when we hit on a dish that our families really want to see over and over again.

This dish can become vegetarian easily enough by simply leaving out the ground sausage.

Barb

Okay, those fabulously tasty roasted vegetables from yesterday’s post morphed into something that looked really unusual but tasted great for dinner tonight.

The dilemma: there weren’t enough roasted vegetables for everyone to have some as leftovers.

The solution: SOUP! PINK soup, in fact.

This was a fast, easy use of leftovers. The only dodgy thing is how it looked! The beets in the roasted vegetables gave the soup a distinct red color. The mixed veggies I added looked like confetti! It looked like circus soup or party soup.

Here’s the simple instructions on the how-to:

Puree the roasted vegetables in the food processor until smooth. (If you don’t use beets in the original dish, the color will be much more boring!)

Put the puree into a large stock pot with about a quart of water and 16 ounces of vegetable, chicken or turkey stock. Add premade meatballs (or whatever leftover meat you have in the fridge) and a pound of frozen mixed vegetables. Let simmer for about ten minutes.

To thicken, you can stir in a cup of instant mashed potato flakes. This soup doesn’t have to be thickened but my family loved it that way.

Everyone can salt and pepper the soup to their own individual tastes.

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that Laura and I are always looking for ways to use leftovers creatively. This was a hit at my house and the pot was licked clean by the end of the meal. Fortunately, my kids have learned to let little things like bright pink soup not bother them. they loved the the flavors and textures; it was a hit!

Barb

Last week my friend, Michelle, offered to let me take her weekly CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) allotment of veggies. To my delight, I came home with two heads of fennel! I love fennel and immediately resolved to use it for dinner. After a lot of googling, I decided to add it to my roasted vegetables.

A big pan of roasting vegetables can fill the house with simply amazing aromas and this particular batch did not disappoint. In fact, it was so delicious that I am compelled to share this method with you. Roasted vegetables can be the quintessential comfort food!

This really is a method–I don’t think we can call it a recipe. I love roasting vegetables because I can take the flavors in so many directions.

The things I put into my roasted vegetables this time were:

• 1 pound new potatoes, washed
• 1 pound carrots, peeled
• 1 pound fresh beets, peeled
• 1 red onion
• 1 vidalia (sweet) onion
• 12 whole cloves of garlic
• 2 heads of fennel, washed, cored, and chopped
• 1/3 c. olive oil
• 2 t. coarsely ground sea salt
• 2 t. coarsely ground pepper
• 1/3 c. fresh rosemary
• 1/3 c. fresh fennel fronds, chopped

I gathered all the vegetables that I planned to use and started chopping. I cut everything but the garlic cloves into cubes that were approximately 1 inch square and put them in a bowl.

Before I chopped up the fennel heads, I washed them thoroughly and trimmed off the fronds. There’s a tough core in the center that needs to be removed as well. Remove the toughest outer leaves. Chop coarsely. Next time I probably will chop it up a little finer than what you see in the photos.

I mixed all the vegetables together and tossed them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and fresh rosemary and fennel frond. (Adjust the quantites on the oil and pepper to suit your family’s tastes.)

I spread the vegetable mix out in two deep pans. If you don’t have a roaster pan and lid to use for this, a couple of large baking dishes (like cake pans) will work too.

This simple chili was borne out of my husband Dave’s need to return to our southwestern roots as we live our lives as transplants to the southeast. The prep time is relatively short yet it still yields complex flavors and depth that is rarely found in quick chili recipes. Pursuing the right balance allowed Dave to bring a little bit of Central California to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Roasted Garlic & Pepper Black Stout Tenderloin Chili

Preparation time: 90  minutes                        Serves: 16 hearty 12 oz servings

Ingredients:

1 large head garlic
2 medium yellow onions
Fresh chilies:

• 3 Jalapeno peppers
• 2 Anaheim peppers
• 3 Poblano peppers
• 1 Pasilla pepper

1 large can (40.5 oz) kidney beans
2 sm. cans (15 oz) Great Northern beans
2 sm. cans (15 oz) pinto beans
1 12 oz tomato sauce (paste)
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock
1 bottle Guinness (extra stout)
Ground sausage or meat – 2 lbs
Beef tenderloin – 1.5 lbs
2 T. minced garlic
Spices:

• ½ tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 T. cumin
• 2 t. allspice
• ¼ c. brown sugar
• 1 T. dried oregano

1 tsp liquid smoke
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
Sour cream
Scallions

Cheddar cheese

Tortilla chips

Directions:

1. Roast 1 large head garlic (or grill cloves) and 1 large onion in 400 degree oven in small covered casserole until done; peel; dice onion; mince garlic
2. Roast peppers in oven at 400 on cookie sheet; peel, remove stem and seeds; chop fine
3. Combine beans (drained), tomato sauce, stock, and Guinness in large stock pot; simmer on low heat
4. Cook sausage in skillet and drain
5. Cube and brown beef in olive oil
6. Brown 2 T. minced garlic and second onion (chopped fine) in olive oil
7. Brown salt, pepper, cumin, allspice in dry frying pan
8. Add meat, spices, garlic, onion, chilies, & tomatoes  to pot; simmer on medium heat until beef is done; do not over cook
9. Serve hot in large bowl on a ‘chili day’; garnish with sliced scallions, grated cheddar,  sour cream, and tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Notes:

1. Alternatives:
   1. Prepare dried beans ahead instead of using canned beans.
   2. Grill whole garlic cloves instead of roasting
   3. Substitute venison, sirloin, chicken, lean ground beef, etc…
   4. Use fresh tomatoes rather than canned tomatoes
   5. Substitute pepper varieties and quantity to taste
2. Recommended: Use homemade chicken stock if available as a healthier alternative
3. Freeze leftovers for the next ‘chili day’!

I think we have about 8 gallons of chili in our freezer at this point. I’ve been amazed at how quickly this has become our favorite meal!

This meal is really easy to adapt to a vegetarian version. Simply leave out the meat; most of the incredible flavors remain intact!

Barb

This cake is even SHAPED like a pumpkin!

I have a very fun fall dessert to share with you today that goes a little bit against the grain of how I cook.

This cake runs contrary to my typical everything-homemade standard for desserts, but it’s so tasty and moist that I can’t resist adding it to my bag of dessert tricks for this autumn season. This is a great cake to bring to a potluck or for a special occasion. Because it uses a cake mix, it also is very quick and easy to put together.

Pumpkin Spice Cake

• 1 Duncan Hines Spice Cake Mix
• 6 eggs
• ¼ cup oil
• 1 large can pumpkin pie filling

Blend the ingredients until smooth.

Place in a greased and floured bundt pan – bake at 350 degrees for 35 – 40 minutes (or until touch back). Drizzled warm cream cheese frosting over the cake after it cools.

It’s really simple!

You can also bake the cake in a large sheet pan (or small cupcake size specially shaped pans for individual servings).  And, for an extra crunch, top with chopped walnuts.

Now for the fun part. If you want to make a beautiful fall-themed dessert, bake this batter in two half-sized bundt pans. (If you only have one pan, you can do this sequentially.) After they’ve cooled, place one cake, rounded side down and invert the second cake on top of that one. This will make a cake roughly the shape of a pumpkin. If you only have a full-sized bundt pan, you can double the recipe and do the same thing. You’ll end up with an enormous cake that will feed a crowd.

Use 2 cans of cream cheese icing (or about 2 ½ cups). Hold the two cakes together with about 1/2 c. of icing. Then pop the plastic can in the microwave for 30 seconds  and  pour the remainder over the cake.

Use ½ bag of Kraft caramels (softened-lay them out on a cookie sheet and set it on the oven door while taking the cakes out of the pan) – unwrap and use them as though they were clay to mold the stem and leaves (one caramel will make one leaf) – use a table knife to sculpt and mark the stem and leaves to look more realistic. Put the “stem” on top hole of the upper cake. Decorate with the caramel “leaves.” This is a real show-off cake. It’s easiest to cut slices off the upper cake first and then the lower cake when serving.

Want a little variety – substitute applesauce, raisins, and walnuts for the pumpkin pie filling and bake in a smooth mixing bowl – top with caramel icing to do an apple instead.

Many thanks to my friend, Ellen, who introduced me to this great recipe.

Barb

As I mentioned yesterday, quinoa is my new favorite food. This dish can be used as a side dish/salad or it can be a stand-alone for a light dinner. The flavors in this salad are particularly fabulous because the herbs and veggies are fresh. The quinoa showcases the lingering taste of summer.

I must admit that this particular recipe came to be because I was trying to use up leftover chicken and some other fresh ingredients that needed to be used before they went bad. It was a happy success of great flavors.

Balsamic Chicken Quinoa

• quinoa (cook 1.5 c. of quinoa)*
• 1 pound grill chicken, cut into bite-sized chunks
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch strips
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 3/4 c. coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh dill
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley
• 2 T. fresh oregano
• 2 T. olive oil
• 3 T. balsamic vinegar (or to taste)
• salt and pepper to taste
• freshly grated Asiago cheese

Mix all the ingredients together except for the Asiago cheese. Adjust vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Let sit for 30 minutes before serving.

Serve with freshly grated Asiago cheese sprinkled over the top of the salad and crusty sourdough bread on the side.

*If you missed the instructions how to cook quinoa, here are the simple instructions: Put 1 part quinoa and two parts water into a heavy saucepan. For instance, for my family of six, including 4 grown sons, I use 3 c. of quinoa and 6 c. water.) Bring the quinoa and water to a boil. After it boils, turn down and simmer just under boiling point for 15 minutes. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and remove from heat. Let the cooked quinoa sit for five minutes. Fluff with a fork and then figure out what you’re going to do with it!

If you missed yesterday’s recipe for Lime Cilantro Shrimp, be sure to check it out!

Barb

I’ve discovered the coolest grain: quinoa. Quinoa, pronounced KEEN-WAH and originating in the South American Andes, is actually related to beets, spinach, and tumbleweeds! Quinoa looks like little seeds…because it actually IS little seeds. These little seeds are quite amazing–very high in protein for a seed and completely gluten-free. Quinoa has some interesting nutritional value that has made it a staple food in the Andes for millennia.

The quinoa that I’ve found is either dark maroon or tan. If I find other interesting colors, I’ll let you know. I buy my quinoa at local health food store from their bulk bins. Most stores in this country process the quinoa to remove the waxy coating called saponin. If, for some odd reason you end up with quinoa that still has the saponin on it, please google how to clean the quinoa. The saponins are very bitter and will ruin the quinoa.

Assuming that you have already-cleaned quinoa on your hands, it’s time to cook the quinoa. This is really easy and takes about as long as it takes to cook white rice. In fact, cooking quinoa is very similar to cooking white rice.

Put one part quinoa and two parts water into a heavy saucepan. (For example, for my family, I used 3 cups of quinoa and 9 cups of water….and my saucepan was LARGE.)

Bring the quinoa and water to a boil. After it boils, turn down and simmer just under boiling point for 15 minutes. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and remove from heat. Let the cooked quinoa sit for five minutes. Fluff with a fork and then figure out what you’re going to do with it!

I was very pleased with the two different variations that I ended up with. The first dish used the maroon quinoa.

Cilantro Lime Shrimp Quinoa Salad

• red quinoa (cook  1.5 c. quinoa)
• the juice of 3 limes
• 2 T. olive oil
• 1 T. sesame oil
• 1 T. lime zest
• 1 pound of shrimp, cooked and peeled
• 1.5 c. chopped cilantro
• 1/4 c. chopped mint leaves
• 3 chopped green onions
• 1/2 cucumber, cut into 3/4″ cubes
• Salt to taste

Stir all the ingredients together and let stand for about 30 minutes before serving.

I served this with a cup of seafood chowder and it was delicious. The mint leaves give your tastebuds a little jolt of surprise. If you can’t find mint you can leave this ingredient out. I liked it because it was unexpected and WOW!

The quinoa has a mild, nutty flavor that lends itself nicely to salads and sidedishes. It tends to take on the personality of whichever ingredients it hangs around with.

For another version of quinoa salad, check out Balsamic Chicken Quinoa. (This link will go live on Thursday morning, 10/1.)

If you’ve ever used quinoa and have ideas to share, I’d love to hear about them. Quinoa is my new favorite food!

Barb

The last week here in the High Country has been one of unrelenting rain. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much rain! I have the gloomy feeling that we’ll not be seeing summer temps any time before next spring. The good news, however, is that we are definitely in the middle of soup weather! My husband has been puttering in the kitchen a lot the last few weeks and he’s perfected a fabulous fish chowder recipe. This is the most delicious soup I’ve had in years! It’s also pretty straightforward and doesn’t take all that long to put together.

Dave’s Fish Chowder

Ingredients:

• 4 cups seafood stock (you can substitute chicken stock and clam juice, but the seafood stock is the best)
• 2-3 lbs Fish, cubed (tilapia or cod)
• 1 cup diced celery
• 2 large onions, diced
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 8 oz sliced mushrooms (baby portabello)
• 8 potatoes peeled and diced
• 2 slices bacon, fried crispy and crumbled
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 2 cans evaporated milk
• 2+ Tbsp white flour

Directions:

1.       Melt butter in large stock pot

2.       Sautee onions garlic, celery, mushrooms in  pot

3.       Add stock and potatoes, simmer until potatoes are mostly cooked

4.       In a separate skillet, sautee minced garlic in olive oil; add fish; brown lightly

5.       Add fish and garlic to chowder; add condensed milk; simmer until fish is cooked

6.       Thicken if needed by pulling out one cup of broth and whisking flour into it; add back to chowder. Season with salt and pepper and crumbled bacon.

7.       Serve with oyster crackers or thick slices of Sour Dough Bread or both.

Barb