Double Aix

I’m on my own this week; my heathen is on a business trip. That means I have to either a) cook normally, and eat the same thing for days (like roast chicken); or b) make single person meals. As anyone who has cooked for one can attest—it’s not always that easy to eat healthfully. To compound things, I’ve a cold. That means all I want is to have comforting classics made magically, that I didn’t have to cook or work hard at. Normally that means Matzo ball, Udon, Chicken Noodle, or Miso soups. For my Mom, it would mean tomato soup. From the can. Made only with water. Um yeah, I’m wanting more than that.

Aix-en- Provence duo

My Mom went to Aix recently (yes, I’m jealous). It is with her in mind that I made this meal—perfect for sicky me or anyone who wants a yummy soup/sammich combo. First, take

1 can of your favorite condensed tomato soup (it doesn’t really matter what brand)

1 can of your favorite chicken broth

1 tomato

Dump the soup and half the can of broth into a saucepan, over medium-low heat. Chop the tomato and toss it in. While this is working on the stove, rummage through your really messy spice cabinet (that you wish you could re-organize) and find

Saffron (a hefty pinch)

Basil (1/2- 1 tsp, depending on how much you like basil)

Oregano (1/4-1/2 tsp) OPTIONAL

Black Pepper and kosher salt (to taste)

Toss it all in the pot, stir, and turn your attention to your sandwich. Locate

Camembert or Brie

Dijon (or you favorite Deli style mustard)

Tomato

Your favorite deli style thin-cut turkey (or if you like ham, get a mandrange or Bayonne)

Sourdough bread

Stir the soup, and taste. Correct seasonings as necessary. Take the sliced sourdough and spread the mustard on one side (both if you’re really a mustard fan). Add a wad of your turkey. On the other bread slice, place a couple slices of cheese and 2-3 sliced of thinly cut tomato. In a skillet, warm over medium-high heat

½ tsp (or slightly less) olive oil

Place the cheese covered slice on the olive oil and turn it in the pan once to thoroughly coat the bottom of the slice.  Stir the soup, and find a plate and bowl. When the cheese looks slightly melty, add the turkey covered slice.  Go find a clean spoon in the dishwasher, since there’s none in the drawer. Sigh as you realize that you need to do some dishes, even if all you want to do is curl into a ball with a blanket, some tea, and the remote control. Using a spatula, or spoon, or whatever, lift the sandwich and pour in another

½ tsp olive oil

Flip the sandwich so that the turkey covered slice is on the bottom, and cook another 1-2 minutes (depending on heat), until both sides are lovely, grilled, brown yumminess. Stir the soup again, and cut the heat. Find your tray (you’re eating this on the couch with that tea and remote, right?) Pour the soup into a bowl, pull apart the grilled sandwich and tuck in some lettuce or cabbage leaf (to pretend you’re getting veggies), plate, and enjoy.

This dish has 3 Weight Watchers points for the soup, and 12 for the sandwich. It’s a little high for a meal, but it includes your healthy fat. And you’re sick, so you’re not eating much else anyway.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The heathen and I went out for breakfast with friends Saint Patrick's morning at a local pub. We had a lovely time; free food, good drinks, lots of laughs, and best of all, cupcakes. A dear friend of mine created these delicious little monsters. We're thankful they're minis, they're bursting with big flavor.

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Prep Time: 40 minutes | Bake Time: 17 minutes

For the Cupcakes:
1 cup Guinness stout
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoons salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

For the Whiskey Ganache Filling:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons Irish whiskey

For the Baileys Frosting:
2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream

1. To Make the Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring the Guinness and butter to a simmer in a heavy, medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

2. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl to combine. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sour cream on medium speed until combined. Add the Guinness-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat just to combine. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour mixture and beat briefly.

Using a rubber spatula, fold the batter until completely combined. Divide the batter among the cupcake liners. Bake until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool the cupcakes on a rack.

3. To Make the Whiskey Ganache Filling: Finely chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then, using a rubber spatula, stir it from the center outward until smooth. Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined. Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped.

4. To Fill the Cupcakes: Using a 1-inch round cookie cutter (or the bottom of a large decorating tip), cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes, going about two-thirds of the way down. Transfer the ganache to a piping back with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.

5. To Make the Baileys Frosting: Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Reduce the speed to medium-low and gradually add the powdered sugar until all of it is incorporated. Add the Baileys, increase the speed to medium-high and whip for another 2 to 3 minutes, until it is light and fluffy.

6. Using your favorite decorating tip, or an offset spatula, frost the cupcakes and decorate with (green ) sprinkles. Store the cupcakes in an airtight container.

**Please note: I did not really measure the Jamesons & the Bailey's. I used more of um... a "free pour" method until I thought it tasted right. 

 

Thanks again to my friend for these yummy flavor bombs =)

Sighing and Wining

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a recipe. I could bore you with a myriad of reasons; but the only one you’ll care about is that I’m on a diet. Weight Watcher Online, to be precise. So far, I’m down around 8 pounds (I started not quite 3 weeks ago). It’s a great diet for a foodie. You can eat anything you like—you just have to balance it and use moderation. That’s refreshing for a diet, and seems a sustainable way to live. Most diets outlaw foods (foods that you then WANT), this one doesn’t. But you’re not here to listen to a testimonial. You’re here for a recipe, right?

It’s a dark, dank, foggy, blech-y day and I’m feeling lazy. I know I’ll be hungry later today, but I don’t want to cook, and the heathen makes dinner with his phone (not conducive to weight loss). So here’s a lovely, warm, meaty stew to make me smile.

 

Crock Au Vin Blanc

Go to the kitchen to make some tea. You may be on a diet, but you can still have tea time—you just need to not eat with it. Get the tea goin’ and realize that you should make dinner. Go to the living room and get your laptop, you’re gonna have to track all the foods in this. Realize that it’s easier to use the recipe builder application online than it would be to figure out exactly how many pieces of carrots and celery you’re gonna eat. Put the laptop on the counter and get out 

2 carrots

2 celery stalks

1 kohlrabi (or other random root veggie languishing in the fridge that needs to be cooked…parsnips anyone?)

6 garlic cloves (yep, 6. They get sweet when they’re cooked enough)

1 jar cocktail onions (leftover from a bachelor party, the boys wanted olives instead)

               -or-

2/3 cup pearl onions (frozen ones are great, peeling fresh ones suck)

Wash your hands, then start scrubbing veggies. Open the cocktail onions, and pray the vinegar they’re in won’t really throw the recipe off. Taste one. It’s not bad; ok, on with the show.

Put all the veggies on the cutting board, listen to you oldest dog come tearing into the kitchen because she hears you put veggies on the cutting board.  LOL Get back into the fridge and emancipate

               1 pound chicken thighs (4 thighs)

               Turkey bacon (you’re using 5 strips)

Search for a decent wine to dump into your gullet, OOPS! I mean crock pot. Sigh when you realize that you’re out of Sauvignon Blanc or Pino Gris and go for the

Bottle of Riesling you have in the wine holder(It’ll work—it’s just more Alsace rather than Provence, or sometin’)

Call your heathen at work, and ask when he comes home. Sigh when he gives you an ETA you didn’t want. When he asks why you sighed, explain that you need Sauvignon Blanc, not Riesling, and you’re not sure it this is gonna be edible. Yeah, he’s used to you not explaining things fully and not making apparent sense. Stop trying to chop veg and talk on the phone, put the knife down, and explain yourself more fully while you root around in the spice cabinet for

               Black pepper (fresh cracked is best)

               Kosher salt

   Herbes de Provence (the homemade mix you made a couple of months ago—wait! You didn’t make that mix? Here’s a link to some spice mixes you can make at home and will use a lot)

Finish your conversation, get sidetracked and search the pantry for

               4 ounces canned button mushrooms (or use fresh, if you’ve got them in your fridge)

Get back to work chopping  veggies. They don’t chop themselves, ya know. Look down to see both of your dogs join forces to con you out of some of the carrots.

 

With their powers combined, they are Captains of Cute!

Cover the bottom of your crock pot with the carrots, kohlrabi, and celery.  There, now the cutting board is cleared off to smash and quarter the garlic cloves.

 

My good knives are dirty.

Stop everything you’re doing to plug all of your ingredients into the Weight Watchers recipe builder. Ok, now that’s done. Go wash yo hands again. Sigh that the new soap pump isn’t working, stupid pump. Dry your hands and open the chicken package. Yank off all the skin and large fat lumps off of each of the thighs. Place the thighs on top of the veg in the crock pot. Go wash your hands again. 

Come back and sprinkle in

             1 teaspoon kosher salt (oh! Your tea! Crap, it’s cold and oversteeped by now)

              ½- 1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper (your choice, but I use 16 grinds of my pepper   

              grinder)

             1 ½ tablespoons herbes de provence

             Your squashed and quartered garlic

Drain your cocktail onions completely, then dump them in also. Ugh, why do they have to be so difficult to get out of the leeetle jar? Hit the base of the jar and watch one go flying across the counter. Retrieve it, wash it off, and toss it in with its brethren. Mwahaha, you can’t escape your fate, little onion. Look for the can opener and wonder again why the heathen won’t let ya install the under-counter electric opener while you drain the mushrooms. Dump them in the crock pot too.

Open the turkey bacon. Opt to skip the step of cooking it (this time) and cut it into ½” pieces. You’re really feeling lazy today. Toss it into the crock. 

Go wash your hands (again). Try to open the screw top lid to the wine. OW! Why does it have to closed so tightly? Sigh, and look for your trusty rubber band to help your grip. There! Open! HA, take that Riesling! Get out a white wine glass, and pour in the wine.

One for the pot, one for me.

Pour in the glass of wine, put on the lid, plug it in and set it on high for three hours, or low for 6 or so. Dump out your ruined tea, and sit down with your glass of wine (4 Weight Watchers points, and worth every one). When everything’s done, drain out the juices from the crock into a sauce pan (as best as you can) and dump in 1 tablespoon of Wondra flour (have you met Wondra? It’s even better than cornstarch!) and boil for about 5 minutes to thicken the sauce. 

Spoon it over your veggies and chicken on the plate. Serve the stewy mess over whole wheat pasta (4 points for 1 cup cooked), or mashed potatoes (2-3 points for ½ cup) , a baked potato (4-5 points) or with a hunk of warm, crusty bread (2-4 points). And sprinkle on some fresh chopped Italian parsley or finely diced scallions. Serves 4 with the chicken on the bone, or 6 with the chicken stripped off the bone and shredded (11-7 points).

It’s not Pronounced Kegel!

It’s December, and I’m reflecting on the past year. I’m needing to butter up my heathen so I can get awesome presents  for Hannukah (no ulterior motive here, move along, nothing to see).  So I’m making one of his favorite comfort foods

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbhofgsH1kM

Kick Ass Kugel

Get out a large pot and fill it with water and enough salt to make it taste like the ocean. Then boil

1 lb egg noodles ( I used whole wheat flat ones, but cheapo wide egg noodles work even better)

When they’re al dente, drain them and chuck it back in the pan for later. Search for your favorite bowl and notice you have neither cottage cheese or enough sour cream. And call your heathen at work to bring them when he comes home. Meanwhile, in a bowl combine

 

1 ½ c heavy cream

¾ c milk (any type, I used skim)

2 ½ tsp vanilla (you can use less, but I like vanilla)

1 half of 1 lemon zested (optional, but I’ve a leftover lemon from making Alton Brown’s smoked trout avocado sandwich today)

¾ cup turbinado sugar (cuz it’s yummy, and I have only a little bit taking up space in the pantry, you can use any sugar you like)

5 tbs melted butter

Curse under your breath as you search for the phone to call heathen a second time and ask him to buy eggs, because you only have 4 right now and need

5  large  eggs

Stick the bowl in the fridge, until you have the rest of the ingredients. Note to self: next time, make you you have the ingredients before you start making the blinking recipe. Put together the crunchy topping in a microwave safe bowl:

Melt 1 ½ Tbs butter in the microwave. Discover that it’s not melted after 20 seconds, and put it in for 10 more. Notice how much you really need to clean your microwave, ew.

Dump in:

1 Tbs cinnamon (you heard me, I know it’s more cinnamon than what’s traditional, but the next ingredient ain’t traditional either)

1 cup crushed corn flakes

Crush them in your hands, you’ll get a lovely heterogeneous texture. 

 

And it’s gratifying to say die! Die, little corn flakes!—oh wait, that’s just me. 

Toss around the idea of including

1 very thinly sliced medium apple

Decide you really don’t feel like cleaning the cutting board and omit it instead. Realize you told your heathen “Apple Kugel” on the phone. Oh well, Maybe next time. Set everything in the fridge and trot off to play Bubble With on Facebook. Get your

LAST EGG! (yay! Finally!)

And beat the mixture while you puree in the food processor

1 ½ c Cottage cheese (I use low fat, not that it matters in this recipe)

1 c  Sour cream (also low fat, yes, I realize the futility)

It doesn’t have to be perfect puree.  Actually my heathen likes it a little chunky. Dump in

½ cup your favorite raisins (I love sultanas)

 

This is what happens when you ask for help from the heathen. Poor raisin bag.

Cooked noodles from earlier

 

Slop! Wonderful slop!

And mix thoroughly. Pour the slop into a prepared 9”x13” baking pan, or your favorite casserole pan (it is a lot, use a big dish that’s really well greased)

 

Tasty looking, no?

and sprinkle with the cornflake mixture. 

 

Bake at 350 for at least 40 minutes (some days you need to bake longer to get the custard to set up correctly) Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting, elsewise you’ve no hope of getting it out of the pan in one piece. 

 

It’s even better cold for breakfast the next day.