Mexican Squash Soup

I sorta invented it as a variation on the other squash soup I posted last year, . .

2 small acorn squash
5 roasted hatch green chilies, stems removed
2 cups chicken broth
2 Tbs oil
1 large onion, diced
1 15oz can black beans
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp seasoning mix (*)
1 lbs chicken breast
1 cup sour cream
shredded cheese

1. Cut the squash in half, remove seeds and bake on a cookie sheet, face up at 350 for an hour or until tender.

2. Scoop squash flesh into food processor (let it cool a bit first or you'll burn your hands) Add green chilis to taste (hint, if you remove the seeds they are not as hot). Add as much of the chicken broth as you need to to puree the mixture

3. Put 1 Tbs oil in the bottom of a heavy bottomed pan. Saute onion until tender. Add the squash-chili puree and the rest of the chicken broth. Drain and rinse the black beans and add them too. Add water as needed for consistency.

4. Add spices and allow to cook over medium heat for 20+ minutes for flavors to meld.

5. Meanwhile, chop the chicken breast into 1/2" cubes. Add 1 Tbs oil to a frying pan and saute chicken (optional, add more spice blend) until done.

6. Just before serving, mix 1 cup sour cream into the soup (or mix individual dollops into each bowl), top the soup with chicken and a sprinkle of cheese.

* I really like this all purpose mix I got in Colorado it's from this place. Supposedly it's salt, toasted onion, black pepper, red bell peppers, garlic, French thyme and Greek oregano.

Blondie Christmas Brownies

12 Tbs butter (1.5 sticks)
1.5 cups dark brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/5 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup Christmas colored M&M's
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Brown the butter: In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Allow it to bubble and boil approx 1-2 minutes stirring constantly until it turns golden brown - it will turn all of a sudden, so don't ignore it! Add 1 tsp vanilla to the hot butter, and then Allow the butter to cool to lukewarm

2. To the melted butter, add the brown sugar and mix well. Add the eggs, salt and remaining tsp of vanilla and beat well to combine.

3. Add the flour and baking powder and fold in gently until flour is just moistened

4. Add the M&M's and nuts.

5. Place in a greased (spray oil) 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes until done.

love it.

Dutch Apple Pie

This is a true Dutch recipe. It came from my mother-in-law from a 4H exchange student who stayed with them. It is amazing with a sugar cookie crust and tart inside.

Crust:
1 stick butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
dash salt
2 eggs

Filling:
6 apples, cut in 10ths
juice of 1 lemon

3 tsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

1.Cream the butter and the sugar, add the eggs and beat well. Add the dry ingredients and mix to form a dough. You may need to add a bit of water to form a dough. It should be like a cookie dough. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.

2. Roll half the dough out with powdered sugar - it will get very sticky, so be careful not to make it stick, Place the dough in a 9in pie pan to form the bottom crust.

3. combine the apples and the lemon juice and put in the pie pan on the bottom crust. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top.

4. Roll out the other half of the dough with powdered sugar to make the top crust. Pinch well around the edges and cut a few vent holes in the top

5. Bake for 10 min at 400 to brown the crust, then turn down to 350 and cover the edges with tin foil and cook 40 min more.

6. enjoy the apple-filled cookie goodness.

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownies

Yep, you read it right. Peanut Butter cookie dough on a brownie. Exactally as amazing as you'd think it would be. Recipe from The Food Network

Ingredients
Brownie Layer:

* Nonstick cooking spray
* 1/2 cup unsalted butter
* 2 (1-ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 cup sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chunks

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Layer:

* 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
* 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
* 2 tablespoons milk
* 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
* 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt

Ganache Layer:

* 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
* 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
* 1/4 cup coarsely chopped salted peanuts

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray the bottom and sides of an 8 by 8-inch pan with cooking spray.

For the brownies, microwave the butter and unsweetened chocolate in a microwavable bowl at high power until the butter is melted, about 2 minutes. Stir until combined, then mix in the vanilla extract. Meanwhile, beat the sugar and eggs in a large bowl and add in the chocolate mixture. Stir in the flour, baking powder, salt and chocolate chunks. Spread the brownie mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Bake until the brownies are set and a toothpick inserted in the center of the brownies comes out clean, about 22 to 28 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 30 minutes.

For the peanut butter cookie dough: Add the butter and brown sugar to a large bowl and mix until creamy. Mix in the milk and the peanut butter, then stir in the flour and salt. Spread the peanut butter cookie dough evenly over the cooled brownies.

To make the ganache: In a small microwavable bowl, microwave the dark chocolate chips and heavy whipping cream, uncovered, on high for 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds. Continue stirring until the chips are melted and the mixture is smooth. Spread the ganache over the peanut butter layer and sprinkle with the chopped peanuts. Refrigerate until the dough and ganache are set, about 1 hour. Cut into 16 squares and arrange on a serving platter to serve.

Multi Grain Bread- Cook's Illustrated

The real reason you made all that turkey? The leftover turkey-stuffing-cranberry sandwich! mmm. And I have the perfect bread to put it on: Multi Grain Bread from our friends at Cook's Illustrated. I am sad to admit that this is NOT a 5-min bread, but sometimes you need to work a bit harder to get a great result. I'm listing the single batch here, but I usually make a 1.5 batch and split it into 2 loaves for a slightly fuller loaf. The key to the recipe is the 7 grain cereal mix. "Bob's Red Mill" is the brand recommended, but I use the store brand in the bulk bin at Whole Foods. Any sort of 7 or 10 grain hot cereal combination should work. Don't use 7 grain cold cereals- you're looking for a grain mixture that wants to be cooked with hot water.

1 1/4 cups 7 grain hot cereal mix
2 1/2 cups boiling water
4 Tbs butter
4 Tbs honey
1 Tbs instant yeast
3 cups white flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 Tbs salt
3/4 cup unsalted raw sunflower or pumpkin seeds (or 1/4 cup flax seeds)
1/2 cup rolled oats (optional)

1. Put 7 grain cereal mix in the mixer bowl and add the hot water. Add the butter and let sit 1 hour to cool. (Note, recipe adds melted butter in the next step, but I don't see why you should waste another dish to melt butter)

2. When you can hold your finger in the mixture for a count of 10 add honey, butter if you haven't already, and yeast. Mix well to incorporate the yeast.

3. If you're using a mixer, get out the dough hook - if you're not be prepared for some serious kneading as multi grain takes more work to get the gluten going. Add the flours 1/2 cup at a time and mix with the dough hook. Knead until dough forms a ball - you may need a Tbs or two more or less of flour depending on your climate.

4. Let the dough rest for 20 min covered in saran wrap

5. Add the Tbs salt and knead via mixer for 5 min - this is a long time and a lot of kneading, so don't under do it!

6. Add the seeds and mix to incorporate. The dough hook doesn't do a very good job of this and I recommend you take it out of the mixer and give it a quick knead on the counter to incorporate everything. You can use your creativity with the seeds. Just make sure you get raw ones and not toasted and salted.

7. Place in a greased bowl and cover and let it rise for 1 hour, until doubled in bulk. It doesn't matter if it rises too long on the first rise, so if you need to abandon it, now's the time.

8. Punch down the dough and form into 2 loaves. Place in a 9x5 greased loaf pan. The recipe suggests you use the 1/2 cup of oats to roll the formed loaves so they have a coating of oats. If you're going to show - do it. It looks great. If, however you just want to eat bread, I'd skip it - the oats just end up all over your counter when you slice it.

9. preheat oven to 375. Let the loaves rise about 45 min - until they are peaking over the tops of the pan. It does not gain a lot of height in the oven, so if you need to wait a bit longer to put it in.

10. Bake 35 min until a thermometer inserted in the center reads 200F. Yes, a thermometer really works best. It won't hit 200 until about 8 min after you think it looks nicely golden, so if you don't have a thermometer just wait 5 min beyond what you think is done. This bread is very dense so it takes a bit longer.



11. Slice and top with leftover cranberry and turkey for a delicious leftover lunch!

Can-Am Thanksgiving Part 5: Stuffing

We come at last to the real reason for the meal: Stuffing! Whatever you do don't call is dressing- after all you stuff it IN the bird, you don't dress it on the outside. My chronic problem with stuffing is that the inside of a turkey only holds enough for, well me. You can bake it separately but it's never quite as good. This is another Cooks Illustrated recipe and it is quite a bit better than normal out-of-the turkey stuffing, but I think there is still room for improvement, I would add a bit more liquid- or possibly take it out a bit sooner rather than chatting away with friends and almost forgetting.

2lb bread - I use cheap 'Kleenex' bread
2 large onions, chopped fine
6 stalks celery, chopped fine
1 box Bell seasoning*
3lbs turkey wings
1 qt chicken stock
4 tbs butter
3 eggs

1. Shred the bread into little bits and either toast it in the oven or (if you live in Utah where everything dries out) just leave it out on cookie sheets overnight.

2. Cut the turkey wings apart at the joints if they didn't come that way. Heat 2 Tbs of oil in a skillet. Brown the wings, in batches if necessary. It will take about 6 min per side. (Note, you don't need them cooked, just nicely browned) Set the wings aside.



3. Add the butter to the pan you fried the wings in. When the foaming subsides, add the celery and onion and saute until soft. Add 1 Tbs of the bell seasoning and mix well. Add 1 cup chicken broth and scrap the yummy bits off the bottom of the pan.

4. Pour the celery mixture over the bread and toss well. Add the remaining Bell seasoning and mix more.

5. Beat the eggs in a small bowl with the rest of the chicken stock and pour over the bread - mix well!

6. Butter a 9x13" pan. (or 10"x15" if you have it). Squish all the bread mixture into the pan and then top with the wings.


7. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 60-75 minutes until wings are 170 degrees (Note, if you prep this dish while the turkey is in the oven you can bake it while the turkey rests for the 30-90 min)

* Bell seasoning - you can't get this in Utah, I've looked. You can substitute poultry seasoning or fresh thyme and sage in it's place.

Can-Am Thanksgiving Part 4: Roasting the Turkey

Now for the day-of fun! It all starts with the turkey, of course!

1. Remove the turkey from the brine and allow it to soak in a sink of cold water for 15 min.

2. Dry the turkey well. Let it sit there while you:

3. Chop 3 celery stocks, 1 onion and 1 carrot, spread them in the bottom of a heavy cookie sheet and cover with a rack. I used a cookie cooling rack.

4. Dry the turkey with paper towels. Mix 1 Tbs Salt, 1 tsp pepper and 2 tsp baking powder together and rub it all over the top of the turkey.

5. tie the drumsticks together so the legs partially cover the breast (see photo)

6. Put in the oven at 275 for about 3 hrs until breast is 160F and legs are 170-175F



7. Remove from the oven and let it sit for 30-90 min - use this time to cook the stuffing. Note the nice golden dry skin from the baking powder.

8. Glaze -
This is from the America's test kitchen website mentioned under Part 2. You can make it at any point ahead of time - even the day before. Just warm it up before you glaze.

3 cups cider
1 cup craberries
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 tbs mustard (I would go less as I thought it was a bit strong)
1 tbs fresh grated ginger

Bring all ingredients to a boil and cook, stiring occasionally until reduced to about 2 cups - approx 30 min. Then the directions told you to strain out the cranberry but I just skipped that because it seemed like too much work.

9. After you take the stuffing out of the oven, bring the oven back up to 450. Glaze the turkey with a first coat and put it in for about 7min. Remove and apply a second coat of glaze - 10 more min at 450. Then a final coat of glaze and a final 10 min and you're ready to much.



Transfer the turkey to a serving platter/cookie sheet so you can get at the yummy drippings for the final gravy step.



Carve up the beautiful bird and enjoy!

Can-Am Thanksgiving Part 3: Gravy

The gravy follows the general theme of the Turkey-Giblet pan gravy recipe in The New Best Recipe cookbook. It's really a multi-step timeline but I'll condense it all together.

1. (The day before) Take the neck and backbone from the turkey and put them in a heavy bottomed pot. Add about 1/2 an onion and cook, covered over medium heat for 20 min - until the juice starts coming out. Add 1 qt chicken broth and 2 cups water and simmer for 30 min. Strain out the turkey bits and put in a tupperwear overnight.

2. (while the turkey cooks) - skim the fat off the top of the container and put into a pot to heat to boiling. In a separate heavy bottomed pot melt 4 tbs butter. Add 1/4 cup flour and whisk constantly to make a roux. Keep wisking and cook over medium until it browns - about 10 min. Add 1 cup of the hot broth and mix like crazy until smooth. Add remaining broth and cook ~ 30 min until thickened. Set aside to wait for the turkey to come out.

3. (After turkey comes out): Strain all the juices from the bottom of the pan into the gravy. Squish the veggies in the colander to make sure you get all the goodness out. Bring gravy back to a boil and reduce for about 10 min while you get everything else ready

4. Ladle over mashed potatoes and realize life is good.

Can-Am Thanksgiving Part 2: Brining and butterflying the turkey

Turkey all brined and ready for the fridge. I used a hair elastic to tied the bag up - otherwise it was too big for the turkey and not everything would have been covered. Use a strong cookie sheet -it's heavy!

I had never brined a turkey before, but I keep hearing good things and it seemed worth it to me. Once again I stole the basic recipe from www.thepioneerwoman.com I decreased the salt slightly because I had one of those turkeys that said "injected with a 3% solution..." You really want to avoid this, but it seems to be pretty hard to do. Frozen turkeys especially have this added- go for a fresh turkey if possible.

Here's the directions for brining - note that while she tells you to cool it to room temperature she does not point out that that might take say, 2 hours. You'll want to do this the afternoon before.

1. Make the brine following the direction above. Key point- your largest pot might not hold 2 gallons + 3 cups of liquid - mine doesn't. I put in less water to cook it and then split it into 2 pots to cool adding the extra water to help it cool.

2. While your brine solution is cooling you'll want to prep the turkey. This is the intimidating butterfly step . Aside from being freeky it's not that hard.
a. First, rinse the turkey and take the neck and giblets out. I used the neck for stock but threw out the innards. I hear they improve the flavor of stock but I think they are gross.
b. Figure out which side of the turkey is up- that would be the breast. Got it? Ok, now flip the turkey over. Find the backbone (hint, it's the bump down the middle) Take those kitchen scissors that came with your knife set that are super sharp because you never use them and cut up either side of the bone. It does take some force, but it shouldn't be impossible. If it gets too hard try moving away from the backbone a tiny bit or going from the other end. Put the backbone in the pot with the neck to make stock.

If you don't like my directions you can get the real ones by signing up for a 14 day free trial at http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/login.asp?docid=26397 just remember to cancel within 14 days or they'll charge you. The account it tied to email addresses so you should be able to repeat the trick for as many email addresses as you can find - I'm running out. :(

3. You'll now have a floppy turkey ready for brining. Grab the brining bag you bought at the last second while the brine was cooling. (Yes, it's an overpriced ziplock, but it did allow the turkey to fit in my fridge and it didn't leak which is worth $4 to me)

4. Have your assistant help hold the bag open while you put the turkey in and then pour in the brine. Place the whole thing on a cookie sheet in your fridge. It is super important it is in the fridge so you don't get salmonella so make sure it fits before you get too far into this mess. :)

5. Pour your self some wine and relax while the turkey brines overnight

Can-Am Thanksgiving Part 1: Cranberry

I've decided to post Can-Am Thanksgiving recipes in the order in which I made them - This way if you want to repeat this feat (or parts of it) you get an idea of the timing.

First up: Cranberry Sauce. I debated between just buying a can of the stuff or making my mom's traditional but time consuming version but then I saw a post about Cranberry-Pomagrante sauce on thepioneerwoman.com and decided to do it. I actually followed the directions for once, possible because it's so simple and fast. You can do this a couple days ahead of time - I did it the day before

1 bag cranberries (12-16oz)
2 cups pomagrante juice
3/4 cup sugar

combine in a pot and cook over medium heat for 20 min stirring occasionally to smush the berries. Pour into your favorite serving dish and refrigerate until it's time to eat!

Fall Squash

It's squash time! grab an acorn-ish squash and eat this for dinner:


1 acorn squash (I used some carnival type from the coop)
1 cup cranberries
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbs butter

1. cut squash in half and scoop out seeds.
2. chop the cranberries into bits and put half the berries in each squash half. Top each squash half with 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/2 Tbs butter
3. Bake on a cookie sheet at 350 until squash is soft - about 45min

Enjoy!

Double Chocolate cookies

I needed some chocolate, wanted cookies and had a lot of unsweetened chocolate. Here's the result

1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup)
3 oz unsweetened chocolate
3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp instant coffee powder
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

1. Combine the unsweetened chocolate with 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter in a microwaveable bowl and microwave, stirring periodically until melted.

2. In the mixer bowl cream the remaining 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter. Add 3 eggs and beat on high for 2 min. Scrape the sides and then add the sugar in a steady stream while beating slowly. Increase the mixer speed to med-high and beat until eggs and very fluffy.


3. Combine the vanilla with the coffee powder in a tiny bowl and add to the egg mixture. (if you need to, add a tiny bit of water to ensure the coffee powder is dissolved)


4. Add the brown sugar to the unsweetened chocolate mixture and mix well and allow to cool to room temperature.

5. When the chocolate-brown sugar mixture has cooled, add it in a steady stream to the egg mixture and beat slowly until just combined.

6. mix the baking soda and salt into 1 cup of flour and add it to the dough, add the remaining 2 cups of flour, mixing until well combined after each addition.

Almond Poppy Amish Friendship Bread

If you haven't received a mushy white ziplock filled with Amish friendship bread recently then this recipe won't really work. You can create your own starter (google it) or just swing by my house for some. I had been avoiding this as it uses pudding mix which has never seemed very amish, but I've finally accepted it for what it is - an almost cake sweet bread. I can't leave well enough alone though, I've modified it to fit my poppy seed fetish.


Almond Poppy Amish Friendship Bread
Wet:
1 cup Amish starter
3 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup milk
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp almond extract
3 Tbs poppyseeds
1 large box instant vanilla pudding

Dry:
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sliced almonds

1. preheat the oven to 350
2. Mix together the wet ingredients in a large glass bowl (the recipe claims you shouldn't use metal, but I think that's a bit bogus)- beat well
3. mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, use a fork to avoid lumps
4. Combine the dry with the wet and mix well. Crumble 1/2 the almonds and add them to the batter
5. pour into 2 greased and floured 9x5 loaf pans and sprinkle the remaining almonds on top.
Bake at 350 until done - about an hour

Note on pans - the original recipe says 2 loaf pans. I think my loaf pans are a bit bigger than normal so it was too flat in 2 pans. you can also use muffin tins, mini loaf pans, etc. Just adjust the bake time accordingly.

Indian feast

two curries and Naan bread, delicious. Adapted from lots of sources, with measurements estimated.


Red Lentil Curry (hot)
1 diced onion
2 Tbs oil
1 cup lentils
2 cups water
1 15oz can chickpeas
3 Tbs tomato paste
1 tsp red curry powder
1 tsp curry powder
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp habanero pepper powder
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp sugar

1. In a frying pan (or the pot you're going to use for the other curry below) saute the onion in the oil until soft

2. put lentils and water in a pot and boil about 8 min while onions brown.

3. Add remaining ingredients and cook until lentils are soft and water is gone

VEGETABLE CURRY (mild)
1 diced onion
3 tbs oil
3 carrots diced
1/2 a head of cauliflower
2 tsp garham marsala powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp tumeric
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup water

1. In a heavy bottom pot, saute onions in oil over medium heat for 8 min (take out half of 'em for other curry above), then add carrots and cover for 5 min

2. mix all the spices together, and add it to the pot with the carrots and onions. Mix well to combine.

3. Add cauliflower, mix well to coat spices and then add 1/2 cup water and put the lid on.

4. Allow to cook covered over medium heat until veggies are soft.

NAAN BREAD
1. preheat a pizza stone and the oven to 450F

2. take an egg-sized piece of the bread-in-5-min-a-day dough you have in your fridge. You have some, right? Otherwise go back to THIS POST (do not pass go, do not collect $200).

3.Roll the dough out into a very thin round using a rolling pin - about 1/4 inch thick.

4. put the dough flat on the pizza stone and bake 5 min. Flip and cook another 5 min until there are brown spots just starting to show. It will puff up like pocket bread. This is ok. It will stop when you take it out of the oven. You should use oven mitts to flip it because it's very very hot.

Enjoy!

Bread in 5-min a day

This bread recipe comes from the book "Artisan Bread in 5min a day". And they really do mean it - it takes very little work to get a delicious loaf. There is a tiny bit of specialized equipment, but I'll discuss what I've done as substitutions below the recipe

Basic Boule
3 cups lukewarm water
1.5 tbs yeast
1.5 tbs salt
6.5 c flour

1. Put the warm water, yeast, salt in a 5qt bowl or lidded Tupperware container (* see equipment discussion)
2. add the flour and mix with a spoon until combined. There should be no extra flour in the bottom of the bowl, but you do no need to knead. The dough will be super wet - resist the temptation to add more flour
3. Let the dough sit on the counter for about 2 hours - enough time for it to rise and then fall again.

STOP - you're done with prep work. You can now through the dough in the fridge in a Tupperware for up to 2 weeks. 2 weeks, really, it will just get a more sourdough flavor the longer you wait. If you can't wait, continue with the next steps right away, with the caution that the dough is especially sticky on day 1.

Baking day instructions:
1. Take a hunk of dough about the size of a cantaloupe (about 1/4 of the dough). coat your hands and a pizza peel/cookie sheet/piece of parchment (* see equipment discussion) with flour.
2. Form the dough into a ball by pulling the top down and over your hand and pushing the excess up in the middle until the top is smooth and rounded. (It's hard to describe but super easy to do)

3. let the dough rise on the floured surface for 40 min. It might not change shape much, this is ok.

4. After 20 min preheat the oven and your pizza stone(* see equipment if you don't have one) to 450.

5. After 40 min rise, put the dough on the pizza stone in the oven. This is where you will curse if you didn't use enough flour because the dough will want to stick to whatever you left it on.

6. dump 1 cup water on the broiler pan - yes it will steam instantly. The close the door and bake 30 min until crunchy brown.

Equipment:
1. Large Tupperware. I use a square one that's about 8" by 8" by 4". If you don't have a big one, let the dough rise first in a different bowl and transfer it to a smaller Tupperware after the rise.
2. pizza peel - the recipe says to put the dough on a pizza peel, one of those wood things that will let you slide it into the oven. I don't have one and have found the just putting it on parchment paper and then putting the dough and parchment in the oven works well. This way even if it sticks to the parchment it goes into the oven easily
3. pizza stone - Really worth owning if you like crusty things (they cost about $30-$50). However, it is not necessary. The principle is you need some very heavy cooking vessel that will hold heat. I used a ceramic casserole dish I got at DI for $2 for several years. Enamel coated cast iron or normal cast iron would also be good options. If you try to use just a normal cookie sheet it will not be as crunchy.

Chili Con Carne

What to do with stew beef? Well I hate beef stew and I had some chilis, so chili con carne it is!


4 strips of bacon, chopped
1 diced onion
1.5lbs stew beef, cubed
6 dried red chilis
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp cumin
4 poblano peppers
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
1 15oz can (or 2 cups) cooked pinto beans

A few key ingredients:

1. fry the bacon over low heat in a heavy bottom pan until the bacon is crisp and fat renders out. Remove bacon to paper towel to drain and remove half the fat in reserve for later.

2. increase heat to med-high and brown the beef, about 5-7 min. remove the browned meat to another plate (or crockpot if you're going to use it)

3. add the reserved bacon fat and onions and peppers and saute. While the onions are saute-ing, grind the chilis in the coffee grinder, or chop very fine.

4. Combine all spices in a small bowl and add water to make a paste



5. add the spice paste, browned meat, tomatoes, 1 can water (approx 2 cups) and bring up to a simmer.



6. Chili gets better with age so feel free to stop now and put in fridge, or complete one of the following:
a.) simmer 2 hours on stove
b.) put in crockpot on low for 10 hours
c.) crockpot on high for 5 hours

enjoy!

Shrimp and Rice Bake

Waaay behind on recipes, but here's a new one from Everyday with Rachel Ray

Shrimp and Rice Bake (from Nov 2010 issue)
4 slices bacon
1/2 onion chopped
1 1/4 cups rice
salt and pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup water
1 lb frozen peeled and devained shrimp
1 large zucchini, chopped into 1/2" cubes

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Chop bacon and cook in a heavy bottom skillet (dutch oven) until crisp, about 5 min
3. add onion (and 2 anaheim peppers) and saute
4. add rice, tomatoes and water and spices and bring to a simmer
5. cover and bake until rice is tender, about 20 min
6. Add the shrimp and zucchini and bake 5 min more

Stuffed zucchini

More zucchini recipies this one based on the America's Test Kitchen stuffed peppers recipie

2 12" zucchini (about 1.5 lbs)
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
olive oil
1lb lean ground beef
1 jalepano
1 15 oz can tomatoes
1/2 cup white rice

1. Boil the rice for 13 min or until done
2. Heat the olive oil in the bottomof the Dutch oven . Add the garlic and Onondaga and sauté until translucent.
3. Finely dice the jalepano and add it to he pot.
4. Add the ground beef and cook until it's not pink
4a cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and hollow it out with a spoon or scoop
4b put the zucchini cut sid down on a cookie sheet and bake 10 minutes at 350
5. Add tomatoes and drained rice and put aside
6. Fill the zucchini with the ground beef mixture - mound up the yummyness
7. Put ketchup on the top of each and sprinkle with cheddar cheese
8. Bake at 350 for 15-20 min until warm and browned

oven fries

World's best oven fries

4 russet potatoes
3-Tbs oil
salt, spices as desired


0. preheat oven to 450
1. scrub the potatoes and slice into about 10-12 slices (keep 'em the same size)
2. Soak the sliced potatoes in hot water for 5 minutes
3. drain and dry the potatoes
4. coat a cookie sheet with oil - more generous is better!
5. lay the potatoes out in an even layer and generously salt (consider chili powder, cayenne for spicy fries!)
6. cover with foil and put in the oven
7. After 5 min remove the foil and bake another 25 min
8. flip, season, bake 10 minutes more

Goodies

I nearly lost the post-it with Rob's favorite cookies on it, so here it is:

Goodies

Combine:
2 c sugar
1/4lbs margarine
1/2 c milk
in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil 1 min to softball (234)

add

1/2 c peanut butter
1/2 c cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups oats (approx)

drop onto wax paper and allow to harden

Marrow Jam

This is part 3(4?) in my continuing quest to use more zucchini. Richard suggested this one to me. Apparently the brits call zucchini 'marrow' which is why my google searches for zucchini failed to yeild this excellent recipie

1 kg peeled and seeded zucchini
1 kg sugar
2 lemons
1 Tbs fresh ginger, finely chopped

1.Cut the zucchini into chunks and combine with the sugar in a saucepan.
2.Add the zest and juice of 2 lemons and the minced ginger.
3.Slowly bring to a boil and then boil over moderate heat until it reaches jelly stage.
pour into jars and cool.
Refridgerate until you're ready to eat it on toast.

IMPORTANT. I DO NOT KNOW IF THIS IS ACIDIC ENOUGH TO CAN. DO NOT CAN THIS, ESPECIALLY AT ALTITUDE UNLESS YOU HAVE A pH METER. My friendly local USU extension rep says the following when I emailed about this recipe : "I also can't tell if it is acidic enough to can. Usually canning recipes use bottled lemon juice, because that is the only way to tell if it has 5% acidity. Zucchini is very low acid and cannot be canned by itself."

Carrot slaw

Apparently I'm quite a bit behind in posting the remainder of those infamous 'gems' found in the 2007 Cooking Light magazine. My next favorite item was a carrot slaw

4 cups grated carrots
1 15oz can pineapple chunks (drained, juice reserved)
1/2 cup crasins (or raisins if your family eats 'em)
2 Tbs canola oil
2 Tbs lemon juice
2 Tbs pineapple juice
2 Tbs maple syrup
salt pepper

Whisk together the lemon juice, pineapple juice, oil and maple syrup and pour over carrots, pineapple, and crasins in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Oatmeal-Chai Buttermilk pancakes

I ran into the March 2007 issue of Cooking light and found several gems, the first:

OATMEAL-CHAI BUTTERMILK PANCAKES

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk
* 12 whole cloves
* 8 cardamom pods, crushed
* 1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick, broken
* 1 (1-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger, coarsely chopped
* 2 teaspoons black tea leaves (such as Darjeeling or Assam)
* 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
* 1 tablespoon butter, melted
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)
* 3 tablespoons brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups regular oats


Preparation

Combine first 5 ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cover and cook 15 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in tea leaves, and steep 2 minutes. Strain mixture through a sieve into a large bowl; discard solids. Stir in buttermilk; cool to room temperature. Add butter, vanilla, and eggs; stir well with a whisk.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to milk mixture; stir until combined. Stir in oats. Cover and let stand 15 minutes. Pour about 1/4 cup batter per pancake onto a hot nonstick griddle or nonstick skillet. Cook 2 minutes or until tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. Carefully turn pancakes over; cook 2 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned.
Nutritional Information

Calories:
249 (24% from fat)
Fat:
6.6g (sat 2.7g,mono 2g,poly 0.8g)
Protein:
10.6g
Carbohydrate:
37.8g
Fiber:
2.8g
Cholesterol:
80mg
Iron:
2.3mg
Sodium:
589mg
Calcium:
199mg

Bruchetta

It is now late summer and the peak of tomato season. Time for simple delicious food, straight from the garden:


(blogger is insistent this photo goes this direction, despite my attempts to rotate it)


Tomatoes (Roma, cherry)
Basil
Olive oil
pepper
salt
bread

1.Bake yourself up a batch of 5-min bread and put a slice in the toaster


2. Head out back and pick some of these:




and these:


and a couple leaves of basil:



Chop it up, top with a light drizzle of olive oil, and a touch of salt and pepper to taste.



Toast the bread, rub it with a clove of garlic and top with the tomato. Yum!

Asian zucchini salad

In our continuing quest to use up Zucchini and not turn on the oven, I've created this.

6 cup shredded zucchini (3 small, or one very large, or any combo yellow squash and zuchini)
3 Tbs red wine vinegar
1.5 Tbs brown sugar
2 Tbs sesame oil
3 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp mustard
4 Tbs sesame seeds
salt
pepper

1. grate the zucchini. Salt it well and leave it in a colander to drain for about 30 min
2. whisk together vinegar, sugar, oil, soy sauce, mustard in a small bowl
3. toast the sesame seeds in a frying pan on medium heat (option, grease very lightly with butter first)
4. squeeze as much water as possible out of the zucchini , toss with the dressing and sesame seeds and enjoy!

Zucchini Banana bread

This is what happens when coop order has zucchini and bananas - a best of quick breads combination. This recipe is adapted from the America's test kitchen version of both recipes.

1 small-ish zucchini
2 bananas
2 eggs
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 Tbs Lemon juice
6 Tbs butter
3/4 cup pecans
2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

1. A key principle here is to eliminate the extra juice from the zucchini and bananas so you can get more flavor. For the Zucchini- grate it and toss with 2Tbs sugar and place in a paper towel lined colander to drain. For the Bananas- place in a glass dish, cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 2 min to get the juice out - alternatively use frozen bananas which juice easily when defrosted. Put the bananas in the paper towel lined colander with the zucchini and leave it all to drip for about 30 min.

2. Toast the pecans over medium high heat for a few minutes (or in the oven) - chop to desired consistency and allow to cool.
2a. melt the butter in the microwave and let it cool.

3. Combine the flour,remaining sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt and toasted nuts in a large bowl

4. combine eggs, yogurt, lemon juice, vanilla and melted butter in a medium bowl and beat well.

5. squeeze and bananas and Zucchini in the paper towel to get out all the juice, then add them to the wet ingrediants and mix well.

6. add wet to dry and stir until just combined.

7. put in a buttered and floured loaf pan and bake at 350 for about 50-55min or until a toothpick comes out clean.

5 min bread

I am home sick from work so what better activity than making bread? A few minutes mixing, a few hours napping with a yummy ending. This recipie is from the book "Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day"

3 cups warm water
2 scant Tbs yeast
1 1/4 Tbs kosher salt
6 1/2 cups flour

1. Dissolove yeast and salt in water in a large container (skip dishes by mixing in whatever you want to keep it in in the fridge)
2. Add flour and mix until combined - Don't knead!
3. Loosely cover and let rise 2-5 hours until fallen or flat. Now would be nap time!
4. Refridgerate until you want it at least 3 hours and up to a week

when you're ready to bake:
1.take a grapefruit sized lump ( approx 1/4 of the dough ) and form a ball
2. Let rise 45 minutes
3. Preheat a pizza stone to 450
4. Bake untill crusty - yum!

Steve's Shrimp Salad

As originally conceived this was a Mexican salad, then when I smelled the basil in the garden it became a Thai Salad and now I am giving credit where credit is due, Steve from da van - yea for carpool brainstorms!

1 can yellow corn
1 can garbonzo beans (aka chickpeas)
8oz peeled, cooked, deveined frozen shrimp
1 lime
1 Tbs honey
1/2 tsp thai red chili powder
1/2 tsp lemongrass curry powder
dash of salt
3 large leaves, fresh basil
1/2 jalepano
2 small zuchini or summer squash (about 3 cups sliced)
1/4 of a red onion
avocado
lettuce

1. combine juice of lime, honey and spices in a small bowl (suggest chili powder and cayenne pepper if you don't have a collection of odd spices you've been waiting to use).
2.Thaw the shrimp (I soak 'em in hot water) and put them to marinate in the honey-lime mixture.
3. drain and rinse the corn and beans and put them in a large bowl. Dice the onion and jalepaneo very fine (to taste) and add them. Cut zuchini/squash into chunks and add to the vegtables.
4. add the shrimp and mix well.
5. chop basil finely and mix into salad
6. serve on a bed of lettuce topped with avacodo

Nutrition ( per serving without avacado or lettuce, above amounts makes aprox 4 servings, 2 cups each. )
Calories 210.3 Total Fat 3.1 g Saturated Fat 0.2 g Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5 g Monounsaturated Fat 0.3 g
Cholesterol 96.7 mg Sodium 398.6 mg Potassium 217.7 mg Total Carbohydrate 29.9 g Dietary Fiber 4.5 g Sugars 7.5 g
Protein 18.3 g

Rob's feast

For today a guest post by Rob, my husband, who is an amazing cook when he has time and a peanut-butter-a-holic when he doesn't.

Pan seared, and Grilled Ahi Tuna served on a salad bed, with a side of roast garlic stuffed mushrooms sauted in olive oil and white wine, and Pasta Romesco


Chez Piggy Romesco Sauce

1/2 Cup Olive Oil
2 Red Bell Peppers
1 tomato, halved
5 cloves of garlic
2 finger-hot chilies
1.5 cups blanched almonds, toasted
1 tsp. red-wine vinegar
Pinch coarse salt

Preheat oven to 350, Warm 1tsp oil in ovenproof pan. Place tomato in pan, coat with oil, roast 20 min.
Roast red peppers, and steam for 25 min, remove skin, stems, seeds.
Place all ingredients into food processor, blend to a paste.

I did two vine ripened tomatoes instead of one, both halved, with a bulb of garlic in the center of the pan, and poured olive oil over them all. The tomatoes were finished in 20 min, the garlic bulb took another 20 minutes to roast (I your blue iron pot - which worked amazingly - and cleaned up really well afterwords).

I added the juice of 1/2 a lime - although, I don't think it added much to the flavor.

The sauce is really good (if I do say so myself), but I think I'd add less almonds next time. The sauce by itself, without the almonds is rich and creamy, and I think if one were to put in the juice of a couple limes, and to not add almonds at all - one would have a basic roasted red bell pepper mole, or a mole rojo.




A basic salad of home-grown lettuce (various types including spinach), chopped tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. Pan seared and then grilled tuna steak with a zest of lemon (from the brand-new zester!)



The mushrooms were stuffed with roasted garlic and then refrigerated until dinner time. They were then sauted in the pan the tuna was seared in. The mushrooms were browned on both sides, and then white wine was added (Sauvignon Blanc). They were then cooked in the wine sauce, while covered for about another five minutes. If I had to do it over again, I would probably add the roasted garlic stuffing after the mushrooms were done - this seemed to cause the garlic to loose some flavor!
yummy- mushrooms.

double chocolate cookies

Yummy enough to be handed down through two generations. (Disclaimer- original source was the back of a package, but they are delicious!)

1 cup butter (real butter not margarine works best!)
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 2/3 c white chocolate chips (12oz pkg)
Macadamia nuts (optional)

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, add eggs and vanilla and beat well. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and fluff with a fork. Add dry to wet and mix well. Add chocolate chips and 1/2-3/4 cup macadamia nuts if desired. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-9 min at 350. Do NOT overbake. Allow to cool 2-3 min before removing from sheet. I dare you to eat just one!

Italian sausage, bean, kale soup!

No photo, but very good. Adapted from a conversation with someone in my yoga class

3 links hot italian sausage
1 diced onion
1-2 diced carrots
2 15oz cans cannelli beans (white kidney beans)
6 cups chicken broth
1-2 cups kale
In a heavy bottomed pan, brown the sausage (take out of the casing first). Remove from pan and add one onion, saute until translucent and add carrots. Return sausage to the pan and add the chicken broth. Drain and rinse the beans. Add 1 can to the pot as is. Take the other half of the beans and mush them up with a fork into a paste and then add them. Cook until the carrots are hot and then add the kale. Cook 5 min more until kale is wilted. Serve with crusty white bread.

Fish Tacos

When coop order has both Tilapia and cabbage, there's just one thing to do - fish tacos! I had never made them before but they turn out to be quite easy. After chopping prep there's only a few minutes cook time and they are just as good as Lone Star's (the SLC Taco place on Ft. Union, not the state of Texas). The amount of fish determines how many people you can feed. Rob and I ate 6 tacos (3 Tilapia fillets) and there was enough sauce leftover for at least that amount 2 more times.

Fish Tacos
Prep: 30 min Cook: 5 min Difficulty: Easy
1 pkg corn tortillas

for the fish:
1-2 6oz Tilapia fillet per person, thawed
1 lime
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
cayenne pepper to taste

for the sauce:
1 6oz container greek style yogurt (sour cream would work as well!)
3 Tbs mayo
1/4 cup fresh cilantro (1 handful)
1 lime
salt
1-2 Tbs red onion

Toppings:
1 cup green cabbage, sliced thin
red onion
salsa (whip up a quick batch of my current favorite recipe)
more fresh cilantro

1. Marinate the fish by combining all ingredients in a bowl and stir to coat well. Cumin or corriander or hot curry spice are other good additions depending on your spice tolerance
2. Put all sauce ingredients in a food processor or blender and mix for 1-2 minutes until the sauce turns green-ish. (I'm sure you could just mix with a spoon but you get that great Lone Star sauce color when you blend - besides, you had the food processor out for the salsa anyways, right?)
3. Chop up toppings. Cabbage is a must along with either salsa or plain old tomato.
4. Preheat a frying pan over high heat. Add 1 Tbs butter and coat the pan and return to a sizzling level of heat. Cook the tilapia for 3 min on the first side, then flip and 2 min on the other side. (Depending on thickness of the fish - when done it should flake easily, fell free to rip it open in the pan to double check)
5. Assemble the tacos! Start with 1 or 2 corn tortillas (double thickness for re-enforced strength), add 1/2 of a tilapia fillet broken into peices, then salsa, onion, a bunch of cabbage. Top with that magic green fish sauce and serve to smiling people.

Carrot Slaw

What to do if the only vegetable in the house is carrot - Carrot slaw of course! This is adapted from an Alton Brown recipe. I'm not one for mayo in general but this is just enough to bind the carrots without any sort of white residue.

Carrot Slaw
1 lb grated carrots
1/4 cup mayo
3 Tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tsp Curry powder
1/2 cup crushed canned pineapple, drained
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1.Combine the mayo, sugar, salt, curry powder and pineapple and mix well.
2. Toss with carrots - mixing well to ensure even coating
3. top with chopped walnuts and serve.

adapted from
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/carrot-slaw-recipe/index.html

Cheesemaking

I have been waiting for my Cheesemaking kit to arrive ever since I read that chapter in 'Animal,Vegtable, Miracle' by Barbra Kingsolver. It arrived and was as easy as advertised!

First get the ingredients together: bowl, 1 gallon of milk*, cheesemaking kit**, big pot, spoon.


Mix the citric acid with water and add it to the milk in the big pot - stir.


heat it until 90F. Check the temperature with the thermometer from your cheesemaking kit.


next add the rennant and let it sit covered for 5 min (according to the directions, but I waited about 10 to get a good whey separation). Then when it's hardened, you cut the cheese (literally!) and stir up the resulting curds


Then heat it up to 105F and ladle the curds out into a bowl and then drain off as much whey as possible.

Microwave on high for 1 min, drain whey. Microwave again, drain again, repeat until cheese it 135F and there is no more whey to drain.

Then, stretch the cheese- it is soooo cool! it stretches really really far!


Lastly enjoy. It was supposed to take 30min, I think I took closer to 45min, but still, easy! I've left out a few details, simply because you really need rennant to make cheese and it is darn near impossible to find. There's more how to on the website below if you want it.


* I used Winder Milk
** I ordered mine online from www.cheesemaking.com

New England Scalloped Blue Potatoes

I considered calling this 'home-style' blue scalloped potatoes, but really they're just MY HOME style, i.e. the way my mom makes 'em. Possibly New England is too broad perhaps "East Sandwich style Blue Scalloped potatoes" Regardless of the name, I love 'em.

4-5 medium potatoes - get the BLUE ones (N.B. Blue ones are usually a bit smaller so more like 6)
1 yellow onion
2 tbs butter
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded cheese

1. preheat oven to 350
2. wash the potatoes well (I leave skins on) and slice them into 1/3in slices.
3. cut the onion up into rings
4. butter a 9x9 pan
5. layer potatoes, onion, potatoes, cheese until the pan is full or ingrediants are used up. I split the onion up into individual rings.
6. top with a little extra cheese and pour the milk over the top
7. bake at 350 until the potatoes are cooked and top is cheesy. (you can cover with tin foil to keep it from getting too brown.

P.S. the potatoes get less purple as you bake them, and they taste just like the white ones, but they look cool!

Irish soda bread

Happy St. Patty's day! whip up a quick batch of this:

IRISH SODA BREAD

4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 Tbs sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup currants or raisins
4 Tbs butter
1 egg
1 3/4 cup buttermilk

0. preheat oven to 400
1. combine dry ingredients
2. cut in the butter with a knife or fingers as for pies. Mix in raisins or currants if desired
3. blend egg and buttermilk and add to the dry ingredients.
4. mix well and knead about 10 times to form a ball.
5. place in a greased cast iron pot and bake 35 min.

serve with an Irish coffee or Guinness.

quick and easy Salsa

I've fallen in love with this salsa recipie. It was on the library's DVD of the America's Test Kitchen season 3. What I find so impressive is it a fresh-tasting salsa yet comes from a can.

1 15oz can diced tomatoes
1 lime
handful cilantro
1 tsp salt
1/2 red onion
1 clove garlic
1 jalepano - or to taste

0. Strain the tomatoes - wait as long as possible to get all the juice out by pressing them into a strainer and leting them sit a few minutes.
1. put the onion, cilantro, salt, chopped garlic and chopped jalepano and juice of a line in the food processor and pulse into small peices
2. add the tomatoes and pulse into bits.
3. if you have time you can drain the salsa again to get more water out.

Mocha filling

This is mocha filling for cake. Another version. I haven't actually tasted cake filled with it yet, but I need to write it down before I forget. Initially based on http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Chocolate-Filling-1

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tsp instant coffee powder
1 cup half & half
5 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Makes: About 1 1/2 cups of filling.


instructions
Mix the flour, salt, instant coffee and sugar in a saucepan and blend in a little of the cream. Place on medium heat and stir constantly. Add the rest of the cream and and continue stirring until the mixture reaches the consistency of medium cream sauce. Stir a little of the sauce into the egg yolks, then pour egg yolks into the sauce in pan. Cook for a few minutes on low heat until thickened. Remove from heat, add unsweetened chocolate to the mixture along with the vanilla and cool quickly. To prevent a skin from forming, brush with melted butter. Stir a little before using

Lentil Soup

I've been raving about this soup recently, so here it is. Listed as "My favorite lentil soup" in the Good Food Book by Jane Brody. For a household of 2 I typically make a 1/2 batch as the recipie makes more leftovers than I want otherwise.

3 Tbs olive oil
2 large onions chopped
3 carrots grated
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
7 cups broth
1 1/2 cups dried lentils*
salt
pepper
marjoram
thyme
6oz white wine (optional)
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese (optional)

1. Heat the oil and saute onions, carrots and spices (I often use about 1 tsp of an italian mix of spices) for about 5 min over medium heat

2. Add broth, tomatoes, and lentils. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer covered until lentils are soft (about 1 hour)

3. Add fresh parsley, wine and simmer a few more miutes. serve with grated cheese.

The wonder of this soup is that everyone seems to love it, it is very easy and very forgiving. Feel free to modify herbs. or omit entirely. White wine does add a nice touch and I always pour both the soup and myself a glass if I have it but more times than not I don't.

*Salt Lake grocery stores have decided that lentils are "mexican" and thus dried lentils are usualy found in a package near salsa and pinto beans. Certainly many other cultures use lentils but apparently none of them are close enough to the temple to be worth mentioning. Also if you use red lentils it tastes fine but cooks much faster and can become mushy- I prefer the normal grey-greenish lentils which take a bit longer but don't turn to mush if you let 'em simmer.

Donuts - turns out they don't come from a box

Yet another recipe gleaned from www.thepioeneerwoman.com She posted these last Monday and I couldn't resist - it was certainly an experience! Let's give the general run down:
Simple- no
Fast- no
quick clean up- no
low fat - no
delicious - yes!

The complete directions can be found at http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/02/homemade-glazed-doughnuts/

A few tidbits to add - if you live at altitude, ignore the parts about making sure they rise enough and start cooking 'em after 45 min. I waited 1 hour and the first ones were perfect and the last ones had fallen by the time I got to them. Also nowhere in the directions does it mention that you kitchen will smell like frying oil for a full 24 hours even if you open the window. Do this in a WELL ventilated place and be prepared to smell donuts for a while. A few photos for your enjoyment:

Prepping the dough - note the shot glass to cut out the middles.


They sort-of look like cookies, don't they?



Now they look more donut-y let's put them in oil and see what happens:

Things they didn't say in the directions - those darn holes don't want to stay on the flip side, . .

Cinnamon sugar and powdered sugar glaze- yum, after you fry 'em, dunk them in one of these two!


Testing is encouraged - yum!


This is what happens if they over rise - they sorta get flat-ish rather than completely puffy. Still pretty tasty though


Final step- box 'em up and share.