Strawberries

What's not to love about strawberries? They're delicious as a part of breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert. Pictured here (courtesy of Maasen Photography, if I'm not mistaken) is a platter of dipped strawberries. I had great success with the chocolates I used, which included milk chocolate discs specifically for dipping, dark chocolate baking squares, and dark chocolate morsels.  Some recipes tell you to mix your morsels with shortening, but I didn't find that necessary (or desirable, given what shortening is).

I tried the traditional dipped strawberries for this platter, but I also branched out with some new flavors - dark chocolate with toasted coconut and cream cheese frosting with crushed graham cracker.  Both new flavors had fans, and they were as easy as they sound. You don't need a recipe, but sometimes it helps to see it spelled out.

Dark Chocolate Strawberries with Toasted Coconut

Fresh strawberries, washed and thoroughly dried
Dark chocolate for dipping (morsels, squares, whatever you have)
Shredded coconut

1. Lightly toast the coconut in a small pan.  The coconut bag should have directions for toasting. (This was my favorite part, because the coconut was like candy.)
2. Make sure the strawberries are ready and completely dry. Set out some cookie sheets with wax or parchment paper.
3. Melt the chocolate to a good dippping consistency, which means pretty runny.
4. Dip about half of the strawberry in the chocolate, pull out, dip the strawberry in the coconut, and place on the cookie sheet. Repeat.
5. Place the cookie sheets in the refrigerator to harden the chocolate and keep the strawberries until you're ready to serve.

Strawberries with Cream Cheese Frosting and Crushed Graham Cracker (using Betty Crocker's Cream Cheese Frosting recipe, halved)

Fresh strawberries, washed and thoroughly dried
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 tsp. rice milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
Graham crackers

1. With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, butter, rice milke, and vanilla on low until smooth.
2. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until smooth and spreadable.
3. Place several graham crackers in a sealable bag and crush with a rolling pin.  Place in a bowl for easy dipping.
4. Make sure the strawberries are ready and completely dry. Set out some cookie sheets with wax or parchment paper.
5. Dip the strawberry in the frosting.  Since the frosting is a different consistency than melted chocolate, these might not look as pretty.  Don't worry, the graham crackers covers imperfections and the taste is worth it.  Now dip the strawberry in the crushed graham crackers and place on the cookie sheet.  Repeat.
6. Place the cookie sheets in the refrigerator to harden the frosting and keep the strawberries until you're ready to serve.

2 for 1: Homemade Stock & Tortilla Soup

I don't know what it is about taking the long route in life that intrigues me. Where my overachieving roots came from, I'll never know. However, I find it particularly satisfying to make something from scratch- old school style.

Homemade breads, pizza doughs, sauces, dressings, and anything else most people buy pre-packaged can be much easier to make from scratch than you think. Chances are, you'll prefer the taste too; not to mention the absence of unpronounceable ingredients. You save money, and if that still doesn't appeal to you, consider the principal philosophy of the Arts & Crafts movement...... the act of creating something changes the creator.

Chicken Stock

Ingredients:

Whole 4 lb. Chicken

2 Yellow Onions, quartered

2 small leeks, white & pale green parts: halved, rinsed, & chopped

4 Carrots, quartered

4 Celery stalks, quartered

6 Sprigs of fresh Parlsey

6 Sprigs of Thyme

10 Peppercorns

Kosher salt

*note: Do NOT finely chop vegetables; cut them into quarters so

they stay in large chunks.

Instructions:

• After removing the chicken from the packaging and rinsing it under cold running water, place the bird in a large stockpot. Add water to cover the bird by about 1-1/2". Bring the water to a simmer (i.e. a light boil) over medium-high heat. Skim any foam that forms at the surface with a large spoon and discard.
• Add the rest of the ingredients with 2 teaspoons of salt. Return to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer gently, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through; about 1 hour.
• Transfer the chicken to a platter and let cool for a few minutes. Remove the meat from the, reserving the skin and bones. Reserve the meat for another recipe (See Tortilla Soup below)
• return the skin and bones to the pot and continue to summer for 1 more hour.

• Pour the contents through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl.
• Press down on all the solids to extract all the liquid, using a large spoon, or hand held potato masher. Discard the solids.

Choose a large bowl that has a pouring edge and is made of plastic or glass. Metal bowls get too hot to handle easily.

At this point, you can either freeze the stock for another day or you can use it for a homemade soup; (you will have plenty leftover to freeze even if you make it into a soup at this point).

To store, pour the chicken stock into plastic containers with really nice tight fitting lids after the stock has been allowed to cool to room temperature. It will keep for 2-3 days in the refrigerator and 2-3 months in the freezer

Tortilla Soup(from William Sonoma Weeknight Cook)

Most of the flavor in this soup comes from the stock, so I highly recommend making this recipe with homemade stock. As you can see, making this soup right after you make the stock, makes it super easy & efficient. The cooked chicken from the stock can be used immediately, and the stock is already hot and ready when you finish running it through the sieve. In a pinch, however, you can make this recipe with boxed chicken stock and a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket.

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1/2 white or yellow onion, finely chopped

2 teaspoons Chili Powder

6 cups Chicken Broth or Stock

2 cups cooked Chicken, shredded

Juice from 3-4 limes

Kosher Salt

Instructions:

• In a large saucepan or stock pot, warm oil over medium-high heat. When its hot, add the onion and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes.
• Add the chili powder and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil.
• Add the shredded chicken, reducing the heat to medium, and simmer until the chicken is heated through, about 3 minutes.
• Add the lime juice and salt to taste.
• Ladle into bowls and service with garnishes of broken tortilla chips, cubed avocado, fresh chopped cilantro, and shredded Monterey Jack cheese.

The garnishes really make this soup special. Not to mention the fact that the leftovers can be used on nachos or tacos later in the week. To make the soup a heartier meal, serve with cornbread (from a box) and honey butter.

Time Saving Tip: Seasonings & Marinades Part 1

I prefer to buy all my meat for the month at once. I do this for a couple reasons. First of all, it allows me to take advantage of sales on certain cuts of meat. Second, it minimizes trips to the store throughout the course of the month. I absolutely refuse to spend my child's naptime (when that actually happens) and bedtime hours running errands or doing household chores. Those precious hours when I'm not watching a child are spent doing the things I absolutely can not do when he is awake.

When you buy meat ahead of time, this means you are most likely going to be freezing most of it. In order to expedite this process of thawing and preparation when mealtime arrives. I've devised a system (I use that word 'system' very loosely). I pre-season or marinade my meat when I freeze it so that all I have to do is put it in the oven or on the grill when its thawed out... instead of thawing it out and then having to let it marinade for 30-60 min. That is one less step I have to think about and less ingredients I have to think about having on hand the day I decide to make that particular entree.

It may not seem like a large savings of time at first glance, but think of all the time you take measuring ingredients, removing meat from packaging, and not to mention the additional cleanup involved. In other words, 15 extra minutes really adds up when you have 25 minutes to get dinner on the table before the whole house goes into flames. (Okay, that was really dramatic, but seriously, it feels like that some days)

Here are some examples to give you the idea...

Whole Chicken:

These are usually priced very well at Costco. They come in packages of (2) 4 lb. birds. We usually will make one right away and then I freeze the second one for later. Before freezing, you will want to remove the bird from the packaging and rinse it under cold running water. Then pat it dry with a paper towel.

**Note: You really want to follow this procedure whenever dealing with any meat or poultry, regardless of when you plan on cooking it. Patting it dry with a paper towel ensures that the bird will brown nicely, especially when on the stove top (e.g. stirfry, pan seared chicken, ect.)

Next you will go ahead and season it as if you were going to cook it that night. I rubbed Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, and fresh rosemary all over this one. (You could use whatever fresh herbs you have on hand for a variation.)

Citrus Variation: Stuff with lime, lemon, and/or orange segments. Rub salt & pepper over the body. Brush with honey and juice from the fruits you put inside

Lastly, place it *gentley* into a very high quality plastic freezer bag. (don't get the store brand for something like this. Trust me, its not worth the savings..)

Defrost in the refrigerator for 2 days for best results.

To cook:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place the bird breast side up onto a rack in a large roasting pan. Roast for 20 minutes. Reduce oven to 400 degrees and roast for an additional 40 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh (away from the bone) reads 170 degrees. If you have glazed the chicken with honey or something of that nature, it will begin to brown before it is done inside. Simply cover it with aluminum foil once it starts to do this and return it to the oven until its done cooking. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Serving Suggestions:

• green salad and wild rice
• carrots with almonds and roasted new potatoes
• grilled vegetables and sweet potatoes.

You can also just remove all the meat from the bird and use it for a number of other recipes. I typically have something like this in the refrigerator at all times. The tender meat from this chicken is great in salads, quesadillas, panini sandwiches, and soups (e.g. chicken noodle). Pictured right is the meat I removed from the

chicken and hand shredded (which is the best meat for a panini, by the way)

I tried to think of something witty or insightful to add to this post instead of a bunch of instructions... and the best I could do is: remember to put your oven mitt on before you pull the pan out. oh yeah, and keep it real.

quiche, pronounced keesh

if the recipe is good and i made it and it wasn't one of my mother's recipes, i got it from betty. betty crocker. in the pies/pastry section there is a recipe for a generic pie crust and this has served me well for quiches. without further ado, here is the recipe for the homemade quiche, with adjusted instructions for the fillings.

Quiche: noun

a pielike dish consisting of an unsweetened pastry shell filled with a custard and usually containing cheese and other ingredients, as vegetables, seafood, or ham: spinach quiche.

Pie Crust                                                      Quiche Filling
1 cup all purpose flour                                    4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt                                           1 cup whipping cream
6 1/3 tablespoons butter, softened              1 cup rice milk
2-3 tablespoons cold water                          freshly ground salt & pepper
                                                                         red pepper flakes

mix the flour and salt in a medium bowl. cut in butter. my interpretation of this is to use my hands to mix it all together until it turns into pea sized clumps. or thereabouts. sprinkle cold water 1 tablespoon at a time and toss until it is moist and pastry almost leaves the sides of the bowl. what does this mean? "almost leaves the sides"? should i ask it when it would like to leave and then stop adding water two minutes before that time? anyway, this is probably why i have trouble getting the dough to roll out nicely in step 2 really but more on that later...(i realize i should have taken a picture of the dough in its "pea size" state, but i'll be honest, it very rarely gets pitcuresque. it's more clumpy than pea sized.) gather the pastry into a ball. shape into a flattened round and wrap in plastic wrap. put it in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm it up.

while your dough is getting firm gather all the filling ingredients you want to put in the quiche(s).  i chose: turkey breakfast sausage (honeysuckle white has a good one), an italian cheese blend, green onions, turkey bacon (oscar mayer), cheddar and monterey jack cheeses, and feta cheese.

remove the dough from the fridge and let it warm up a bit before rolling it out onto a lightly floured surface. supposedly you can roll this into a nice flat, cohesive piece of pastry, however i have not had quite that much success. sometimes it rolls out ok and i can pinch a few pieces together to make a pastry large enough to cover a 9 inch pan. typically i end up flattening the pastry in the pan and pressing it out to cover the bottom and up the sides a bit. thankfully this does not lead to sticking to the pan since there is so much butter involved. if it comes to this, no worries, it's still a delicious crust.

from here on out it's cake (or pie). add the ingredients to the crust that you previously laid out. i made three different quiches: sausage (1/2 pound) and italian cheeses (1 cup), green onion (4) and feta (1 cup), and bacon (8 pieces) with cheddar/monterey jack cheeses (1 cup).

now beat 4 large eggs in a large bowl. beat in 1 cup whipping cream and 1 cup rice milk (you can do 2 cups whipping cream if you like but i have found the 1/1 allows for a great consistency without being too rich). add a bit of freshly ground salt and pepper and a dash of red pepper flakes. pour this into the pie dish.

bake at 425' for 15 minutes. then lower to temperature to 300' and bake for an additional 35-45 minutes, until it is firm and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. this becomes a little tricky as the cheese sometimes makes you think it's not done. rest assured it is after 45 minutes.

one of the best things about this recipe is that you can make and bake it a day ahead and stick it in the fridge overnight. in the morning (or whenever you plan to serve it) put the quiche in a cold oven and let it warm up to 325'. check the quiche until it's warmed through. how long is that? i'd say about 15-25 minutes, but you be the judge.

Ingredient in Focus: Cultured Buttermilk

Whenever I run across an ingredient that seems to make

my life easier I feel compelled to share it. I know what you are thinking, 'It's a can of cultured buttermilk... that makes your life easier?!' yeah it does.

Its always good to have a nice repertoire of recipes. By 'repertoire', I mean recipes you can almost make without looking at the actual recipe.... a recipe you can make at the last minute because you have the ingredients on hand nearly all the time...., and its a recipe you KNOW that everybody loves!

Among my repertoire of desserts and baked goods to bring to parties or prepare for guests are a few recipes that include Buttermilk. It really does effect the taste considerably in things like buttermilk pancakes, banana bread, and cakes. This is an ingredient that goes bad quickly and I never use the whole carton, so I end up throwing the rest out. So...enter can of cultured buttermilk!!!

This bad boy has a shelf life of something like 2 years?! You keep it in the refrigerator and all you have to do is add water. You don't even have to premix the powder with water. Simply add the water and the powder with the rest of your ingredients and it all mixes together and somehow it tastes just like buttermilk when its all done.

So, In honor of this ingredient, I share with you one from my repertoire....

Ms. Lemons' Lemons Bars

(from William Sonoma's Weeknight Cookbook)

Crust:

6 Tablespoons of unsalted butter (at room temperature)

1/4 Cup Sugar

2/3 Cup Flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

To make the crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of an 8" square baking pan. In a standing electric mixer on medium speed, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the flour and salt, mixing on low, until blended. The dough will look crumbly.

Transfer the dough to the pan and press it down evenly into the bottom of the pan. bake until the crust is golden brown, about 15-18 minutes.

The Filling:

2 Eggs

2/3 Cup Sugar

2 Tablespoons Flour

1 Tablespoon finely grated Lemon Zest

1/3 Cup Lemon Juice

1/2 Cup Buttermilk

In the same standing mixer (no need to clean), using the whisk attachment, bead the eggs and sugar on medium speed until well blended. Add the flour, lemon zest,lemon juice, and buttermilk and beat until smooth. Pour filling over crust.

Bake bars until the filling is set and barely browned on edges, 20-25 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting and serving. Dust with powdered confectioner's sugar and serve.

And I would have a picture of the finished product..... but I brought them to Kingdom Living last night, and they were all gone by the time I thought to grab my camera..... so I guess I'll keep this one in my "Repertoire"....

plan to eat

this week: a new revelation! tom suggested that we start a tradition with food during the week. once he started talking i knew what he was referencing. you see, when he was a boy, maybe elementary/middle school aged, he had a close friend who would invite him over for dinner occassionally and friday night was taco night. i know tom loved this for several reasons and he talks about it frequently enough that i feel like i was there for "friday night taco night".

thus we have implemented "mexican mondays". that means i am not limited to just tacos, but any variety of mexican (let's be honest, it's americanized mexican) food. beef tacos, fish tacos, chicken fajitas, veggie chipotle burritos, enchilladas, and don't forget 7 layer bean deep (a household favorite). the possibilities go on and i might even pull out my kitchen bible to find some new, dare i say authentic, recipes.

maasen has already given it two thumbs up and expressed sadness that at the end of may she will miss a mexican monday. i am thrilled to know what i am making (more or less) every monday. this is such a relief that we've decided to implement another staple meal, pizza. i think i am going to try this out on wednesdays, since that's a busy day and one less decision is a blessing.

there is some peace of mind that goes along with a meal schedule. don't get me wrong, even though i have 31 "approved" recipes and i could make a different meal every day of the month, i don't plan things out that well. i like to have the freedom to make what my stomach wants. and if i don't make it to the store then i need to be able to make something out of refried beans, rice milk and apples. knowing that mondays are mexican nights helps me out immensely because when it comes to dinner i'm the one in charge. typically tom doesn't care what i make so i can't turn to him for suggestions, maas and cass will eat anything i put in front of them and if wyatt had his way we'd eat chili for every meal.

so there you have it, my tip of the day (or week, or month). pick a meal you can eat every week and designate a day for it.

i would have a picture for you but we were pretty excited to eat. like micah and those waffles. instead here's what the van-bs think about mexican mondays:

One of my favorite smells? Baked goods in the oven.

I don't have a picture of this recipe, so I'm including a picture of the woman who taught me that if you can do it ahead - do it.

Like dipping your food in chocolate. Why wait?

Okay, so here's the coffee cake recipe that we cut out of The Kansas City Star. Delicious for breakfast, but its true brilliance is that you make it the night before. No mess in the morning; just pop it in the oven and let the good smells roll.

Overnight Coffee Cake

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup butter, softened (10 2/3 Tbsp.)

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

Topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped pecans (more if you actually want to taste them)

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Set aside. Stir together topping ingredients and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately, mix in buttermilk and dry ingredients, stopping occasionally to scrape. Pour batter into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle topping evenly over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.