Beans and Greens with Bacon

Brr! The winter weather is pretty bad lately. Not as bad as last year, when we all got stuck in our cars for hours and ate frozen pizza for dinner. (I spent five hours in mine, but made it home safely.) But still it's been bad enough to have a few school closures or late starts. I'm taking advantage of today's day off to do the things that make me happy, like baking and sleeping in.

The other thing making me happy right now is soup. Gallons upon gallons of delicious, warming healthy (and sometimes not...) soup. I've got a regular rotation right now between loaded baked potato, vegan minestrone, chili and this wonderful bean soup I've been dying for a chance to post about.

There's two ways to make this one. One is the lazy shortcut way, which still produces a delicious soup. The other is slightly harder and still produces a delicious soup. Hear that? No matter what, you will be eating delicious soup. The lazy way is to use canned beans. The harder way is to use dried and soak them before using. Which one you do is up to you. It's not difficult for me to leave a bowl of beans soaking on my counter before I leave for work, but other people may not have that luxury. I just like working with dried beans and they are cheaper to play with.

This soup uses some of my favorite ingredients, bacon and kale. It also benefits from my current obsession with chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. I've taken to keeping these on hand to slide into soups, chilis and casseroles for extra flavor and warmth. They come in a can, but I only use one or two peppers at a time. The extras keep very well in a container in the fridge and make a very convent flavoring for whatever you are having. This soup is easy to make, if not very quick and makes delicious leftovers. I looked at several other recipes for pinto bean soups, but couldn't find one that incorporated much in the way of vegetables, so I had to make my own. They were mostly just slow cooked beans decorated with bacon or ham. I wanted more than that. This is especially delicious with a square of your favorite cornbread recipe.


2 cups dried pinto beans, soaked for eight hours OR two cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
2 slices bacon
2 cups carrots, sliced
1 medium onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
About 3 cups of curly leafed kale, sliced thin
Vegetable broth (I make mine using Better than Bullion)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
salt to taste

If you are using dried beans, you want them to soak for at least six hours before using. I measure mine into a mixing bowl, then cover with cold water and leave them be while I am at work. If you decide to use canned beans, just rinse and drain them before using.

Cook the bacon until brown and crisp. Remove from pot and set aside. Add carrots, onion, celery and garlic to the pot. Cook over medium heat in the bacon grease until softened. Add beans and chipotle pepper. Cover with water or broth and salt heavily if using dried beans. Bring it up to a boil, then drop it back down to a simmer. Times get tetchy here, because it can take up to an hour for dried beans to cook. If using canned, expect about twenty minutes. When the beans are soft, add the sliced kale, reserved bacon and black pepper. Salt it again.  Seriously. It needs salt. When the greens are tender, your soup is done!

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Really Good Gumbo

I've been promising/threatening for years to post my gumbo recipe. By my standards, it's a long, complicated recipe. This is not a quick meal. But if you've got a Saturday to spend stirring roux, there's worse things you do with your time.

I usually make gumbo in the summer, when I'm off from school and the okra is fresh at the markets. But if you are craving a memory of summer, this is the soup to get you through the winter months. My version is heavy on veggies and lighter than most recipes. It's not quite broth based, because there is a roux, but just enough to give body and flavor. Because we need to watch carbs at our house, we skip the traditional rice that usually accompanies it. But if you don't have that problem, it goes great poured over white or brown rice.

The part that will tax your patience is the roux. Roux is a paste of cooked flour and fat. Cooked lightly, it's great for sauces. Cooked until brown, it's a base for gravy. Cooked until dark, it's base for gumbo. I'm a bit timid with my roux, since the dividing line between "perfect" and "horribly, horribly burned" is a thin one that jumps quickly. So I cook mine to a nice golden brown.


1 pound spicy sausage links (my preference is hot Italian turkey from Publix, but you can use whatever you prefer)
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/4 flour
1 cup onion, diced small
1 cup bell pepper, seeded and diced small
1 cup celery, diced small
1 pound okra, cleaned and sliced
1 14 ounce can of dice tomatoes
7 cups chicken broth
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1-2 teaspoons file powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika

Lightly coat the bottom of your pot with oil. Fry the sausages until brown, then remove. With a rubber scrapper, dig up all those little brown bits. Leave them in the pot, because they will make everything tasty. Over medium heat, add 1/4 cup of oil and 1/4 cup of flour. Stir together to remove lumps and continue stirring. Keep stirring. And stirring. How long you stir depends on your patience and willingness to take things to the edge. I keep mine going until it's a rich caramel color. When you've had enough, add the onion, peppers and celery and keep stirring. When those veggies are soft, add the okra, tomatoes and chicken broth. Simmer until the veggies are cooked through. Make sure to add salt.

While your soup is simmering, take a skillet. In about a a tablespoon of oil, sauté your shrimp. Give them a good shake of salt and the smoked paprika. I like to cook the shrimp separately so it doesn't overcook.

After the okra s cooked through, add the file powder and sliced sausage. Simmer another minute or two. Check for salt.

Serve gumbo poured over rice, or not and topped with the shrimp.

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My Thanksgiving Menu

Oh man. I've been so bad about posting here lately. I'm the Google Apps for Education coordinator at work this year. If you don't know what that means, just know this. Google is my kung fu. And it is strong. But yeah, doing computer stuff all day means I'm pretty sick of looking at one when I get home. So I haven't been around here as much as I'd like. But I'd be remiss if I didn't make at least one post about the Foodie High Holiday of Thanksgiving.

No knead rolls

Typically, I don't have much to say about cooking for Thanksgiving. I do have some recipes you are welcome to try, but usually I'm enjoying my in laws cooking in far off and distant Texas this time of year. But this year we aren't able to make the trip, so instead I'm cooking at home with my parents and siblings coming over.

It's an interesting mix to cook for. The big potential pitfalls are that my dad and husband are both Type II diabetics. And my youngest sister is a vegetarian. So in a large, argumentative family of picky eaters, those are really the only ones I'm going to attempt to please. So I put together a menu that's... well, not healthy. It is a holiday, after all. But it's heavy on vegetables and low on processed carbs and sugars. No sodium hangovers this year.

I've provided links to recipes when I have it. I'm digging out some of my old stand by, as well as introducing some new favorites.

Appetizers (Because I need you to get out from under my feet)

• Hot Crab Dip and crackers
• Hummus and raw veggies
• Cheese tray from Roswell Provisions

Main Event

• Smoked turkey (Ordering a smoked turkey from Greenberg's is a Liang family tradition that's grown on me. Picture this: A perfectly cooked, flavorful turkey that isn't taking up half your oven for five hours. It being delicious seems almost secondary.)
• Small roasted turkey breast, with butter and herbs tucked under the skin.
• Curry Roasted Acorn Squash (recipe here)

• 

  Curry roasted acorn squash

• Roasted brussel sprouts (done simply with oil, salt and pepper)
• Cauliflower cheese (recipe courtesy of Smitten Kitchen)
• Slow cooker green beans with bell pepper and tomato (Oddly enough, I've never blogged this staple recipe. I'll have to fix that.)
• Chili Lime sweet potato wedges (Recipe here)
• No Knead rolls (recipe here)
• Salad (I had three heads of lettuce in my CSA this weekend. We are eating salad. Everyone is eating salad. Forever.)

Dessert

• Sour cream pumpkin pudding (recipe courtesy of Smitten Kitchen)
• Apple crisp (The recipe I posted here several years ago is seriously out of date. I promise you a better one someday.)

The big appeal of many of these recipes is that I can do much of the prep work ahead of time. The sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts and acorn squash can be prepped ahead of time and kept in the fridge. The rolls are better if mixed a day or two ahead of time. The desserts can be made the morning of, with the apple crisp just needing to be popped into a warm oven to reheat while we eat dinner. The green beans will cook happily in my giant crockpot and not take up a burner or space in my oven at all. 

Anyways, thats my Thanksgiving plan. What's yours?

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Curry Roasted Acorn Squash

Fall is finally here, which means I no longer have to feel guilty about turning on my oven. I love fall in north Georgia. It's the prettiest time of year and it has all of my favorite foods.

Big Trees Forrest Preserve in Sandy Springs

Look how pretty that is! And it's not hot and sticky outside anymore and all the mosquitoes are gone! This is my favorite time to be outside in nature. 

Thanks to Georgia's long growing season, the best foods are being harvested now. Crisp apples, savory winter squashes, fresh kale... The list goes on and on. 

And oh those winter squashes. Look, I've tried with summer squash. I've had them all, zucchini, yellow crookneck, patty pan. I've tried them grilled, fried, baked, sautéed and more. The only way I've been able to enjoy them is in zucchini bread. And if you have to chop it up really small and hide it inside a cake, you aren't really enjoying that vegetable, are you? 

But winter squash... savory, sweet. Blended into a soup or roasted in the oven. I was ridiculously excited to see the first acorn squash of the season in the Roswell farmer's market last Saturday. I was less excited when the farmer suggested I drench it in butter and brown sugar to eat it. I mean, yeah sure, butter and brown sugar make everything taste better. But there are just some things that just don't need it. 

My version of roasted acorn squash forgoes extra sugar and fats in favor of a hearty dusting of curry powder and drizzle of olive oil.  Curry powder goes amazingly with winter squash. Trust me. You'll like it better than sugar. It's simple enough to have any night of the week, but looks fancy enough to sneak onto the Thanksgiving table. And don't tell the carnivores, but it's actually vegan, so your hippy friends will love you. This is worth waiting for winter squash season. 

Curry Roasted Acorn Squash

2 acorn squash, sliced in half long ways and seeds removed

Extra virgin olive oil

Curry powder

Kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Slice your squash, carefully, because those suckers are tough and scoop out the seeds. Brush with olive oil, then sprinkle generously with curry powder and salt. Place on a cookie sheet and roast for about 20-30 minutes, or fork tender. To eat them, fluff up the insides like a baked potato and scoop it out with your fork. Makes a great side dish and fantastic leftovers. 

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Review: Le Bistro by Roswell Provisions

Seriously, this sandwich is huge. 

We were dismayed to hear last month that Party Chic would be closing. I'd been a fan for years of their affordable menu, geared towards the ladies who lunch crowd in Roswell. It took awhile to get my husband on board, but he eventually caved to the lure of fancy cupcakes and five dollar martini specials. So it was a sad thing to hear the owners were closing it in favor of a new concept, more closely tied with the Roswell Provisions store downstairs that they also own. Our friends at Provisions assured us that we'd love the new place, that the recipes were being updated and that everything we loved would still be there, just better. Their enthusiasm was well placed, because the new Le Bistro is everything good about Party Chic, but better.

Spinach salad

In France, a "bistro" is a small, casual, moderately priced restaurant. Le Bistro is precisely that. The menu is traditional french cooking, made well and not nearly as pricey as some of the other offerings in the Historic District. It's a welcome break from the trend towards destination dining on Canton street. Which shouldn't be taken as a knock on Le Bistro, Canton street needs a mix of styles and prices ranges to stay vibrant and growing. I like having a super fancy steak house on the same street as a boisterous Irish pub. Tucking a casual French bistro upstairs over a wine and cheese shop is precisely what's needed.

My natterings about the proper mix of restaurants aside, how is the food? Good? Great? Terrifying? It's pretty good. This isn't fine dining, but you could take a first date here and no be embarrassed or break the bank. The menu is standard French classics, such as the French Dip, savory crepes and various other sandwiches and salads. The aforementioned French Dip is an improvement on the previous version, featuring a big pile of tender, slow roasted beef, tangy horseradish and a savory au ju that I'm told starts with roasted bone marrow and red wine. The pan bagnat is a big, sloppy pile of tuna salad spiked with potatoes, green beans, olives and more and served on what seems like half a loaf of bread. Seriously, it's like two meals worth of sandwich.

Chicken & mushroom crepe.

The spinach salad entree comes with almost too much bacon, but the warm vinaigrette  comes in a cute container and is the perfect balance of fat and vinegar. Most entrees come with house made kettle chips, but you can add a side salad with dijion mustard vinaigrette.

The wine list is small, it's a couple of varietals served in either a large carafe suitable for sharing, or a small one that equals about a glass and a half. You can also purchase a bottle from the shop downstairs and drink it at dinner for a $20 corking fee. They also have a full bar, featuring the fancy cocktails that made Party Chic so attractive, as well as the menu of cupcakes and other desserts by Kelly's Kakes.

The space itself has been lightly remade to fit the retro chic look of the Provisions store. Think lots of burlap and destressed wood and things made out of old wine barrels. They found a video of Roswell during the 1940's and it plays on continuous loop on a back wall, giving everything a nostalgic air. The front porch overlooking Canton street is still the best seat in the city for people watching on a pleasant, early spring day and the back patio is still lively and cozy with live music on the weekends.

All in all, I say the move from Party Chic to Le Bistro was a worthwhile one. They've kept the charm and added better food and a more appealing aesthetic.




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An Insider's Guide to Historic Roswell

Historic Roswell is amazing, especially Canton Street. There's so much to see and do and it just gets more exciting every year. When I first moved to Roswell and discovered Canton street, there were only a handful of shops and restaurants. Now it's becoming a destination dining scene with frequent activities like Alive After 5, First Friday Art Walks, and the upcoming Roswell Beer Festival. It's getting pretty crowded over there. Here's my picks for the best spots in Historic Roswell with a focus on avoiding the crowds.  Soon, you too, can be a smug, suburban hipster like me.

Parking

Even the back alleys of Historic Roswell look really cool. 

Parking can be a nightmare on Canton street. There are only a couple public lots and they fill up quickly, no matter the time of day. At night, they become valet only. I always park at the nearby City Hall. It's free, there are 400 spots available, and no one seems to know about it. Yes, it's a tiny walk and it's dark at night. Get over it. It's not that far, even if you are walking all the way to Woodstock road and you are in Roswell, not east Atlanta. It's aggravation free parking.

Drinks

I really like the bar at the Mill Kitchen & Bar. It's lots of lovely dark wood, excellent crafted cocktails, a large selection of bourbons and good service. I'm kinda meh on the rest of the restaurant, but the bar is a winner. If you are just looking to meet someone for a drink, go here.

Steak and Eggs Benedict at Little Alley. 

Brunch

I have a couple picks here. If you are in a rush, or just want something light, check out Roswell Provisions. They serve pastries, coffee, tea and hot chocolate all day. On weekend mornings they have a limited selection of hot items, like breakfast sandwiches. They have limited seating when they are busy, so you might find yourself on a park bench across the street.

For a longer brunch, go next door to Little Alley Steaks. They don't advertise it, but they do a great, not terribly expensive brunch menu on Sundays. It's not well known, so the restaurant isn't as crowded as it usually is and the service is excellent. I reviewed it more completely back in October.



If you had too much fun the night before and you are getting up late, PURE taqueria on Alpharetta highway is practically empty at 11 am when it first opens and does a latin inspired brunch menu on Sundays. If you like their food, but hate their crowds, this is a good time to visit. Just note that since they aren't a traditional brunch place, they don't serve orange juice or coffee.



  Dinner

Short rib burger at Artisan Foods

There are so many places to get dinner in Historic Roswell. But if you want something quiet and not busy, hit up Artisan Foods Cafe on Thursday, Friday or Saturday night for their weekly Burger & Beignet special. They do a short rib burger on a soft brioche bun that is amazing, along with ground lamb, turkey, shrimp and vegetarian options. At ten dollars, it's not a cheap burger and sides are extra, but it's very good quality. You'll have the restaurant almost to yourself and as they don't have a liquor license, they allow you to bring your own bottles. Depending on how much you drink with dinner, that might balance your equation a bit.





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Recipe Free Cooking: Easy Vegetarian Curry

This will all be food soon.

People ask me all the time where I get my recipes for the blog. I think some of them think I'm cooking my way through a book, similar to the Julie/Julia project everyone saw in that stupid movie. And while I do frequently consult recipe books and cooking blogs for inspiration, I'm just as likely to walk into the kitchen, quickly scan the fridge and then start making something. I learned how to cook pretty young, so I'm very comfortable in the kitchen. My mom taught me to cook dinner with her, and I saw her modifying and adapting recipes on the fly to suit our family's tastes and so I picked up the idea that a recipe is just a guideline. 

Recipe free cooking makes you so much more flexible and versatile in the kitchen. Once you are familiar with your ingredients and confident in your skills, you will be doing it all the time. Instead of just knowing a few recipes, you know a couple of methods for creating a meal. And that's what makes a good cook. You'll get there with practice. 

There's a couple things that really lend themselves to recipe free, improvisational cooking. Soups, curries, and stir fries are my go to meals when I have a hodge poge of ingredients and desperate need to eat dinner. They all incorporate large amounts of healthy vegetables and are easy to prepare. They are flexible enough to include anything you've got on hand, and rely on easy to store pantry staples, like chicken broth, canned beans and brown rice. 

Check out the picture. All the things in this picture will combine together to make a delicious vegetarian meal. It's easy. I heat up a little oil in my pan, brown some onion, garlic and ginger if I've got it. No worries if I don't. Then I add a generous spoonful of curry powder. I don't measure. Stir everything around to make a paste, then add the peeled, chopped carrots, cauliflower, mushrooms and kale. Add a big pinch of kosher salt. Stir some more and add a can of rinsed and drained chickpeas, and a can of tomatoes if you've got it. If you don't, no one will die. Add the coconut milk, turn the heat down and let the whole thing simmer on low until the vegetables are tender. Serve over brown rice and enjoy. 

What else can you add? Broccoli is good. So are potatoes or kohlrabi. Any kind of winter green works.  Green beans are probably okay. Just throw something in! If you need meat to be happy, throw some leftover roast chicken or pork in at the end.  Skip the chickpeas if you don't like them, or swap out another bean. Use chicken or vegetable broth instead of the coconut milk. Use tomato sauce instead of the canned tomatoes. Pour it over quinoa instead of rice. Really, I don't care. You won't hurt my feelings any. Make yourself  happy. Improvise. Experiment. Enjoy. 

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Ribeye Steak and Bourbon Mushroom Sauce

Eat this.

I promised to post this a few weeks ago and I'm finally getting to it now. Yeah, that'll teach me to attempt any kind of schedule around here. Luckily, you all have low expectations for me anyway.

So! Let me introduce you to Exhibit A in the "Why I Will Never Be A Vegetarian" debate. Delicious steak with bourbon mushroom sauce. Mmm. My mouth waters just thinking of it. Mr. Northside and I both love steak. We used to go out for it, but then I perfected my home cooking technique. I can make a good ribeye from the grocery store taste like something from an upscale chain. Why would I go out for steak, wait forty five minutes for a table, and spend twice as much for something I can make myself? Especially with Valentine's Day coming up. Everyone goes out for Valentine's and everyone eats those silly, overpriced prix fixe meals. Save money and aggravation by making your own meal at home and watch Netflix in your jammies.

We've been making steak at home for years and have perfected the technique. It's very simple. You pan sear a good ribeye as hot as you can get it, then finish it in the oven. While it's resting on the counter, you use the already hot pan, full of delicious brown bits to make a bourbon mushroom sauce you pour over the steak. It takes minutes to prepare and I promise, it's just as good as waiting in line for an hour on a special occasion. Plus, you get to be creative with sides. Why waste your time with steamed broccoli when you can have roasted? Forget mashed potatoes, have some cauliflower puree. You'll be happy you decided to stay in tonight.

Why bourbon? Because I like it, that's why. Bourbon pairs really well with steak and the mushrooms soak up the flavors. Plus, I can't think of a single place around here that serves something like this. I guess you can go to TGI Friday's and get something with that syrupy sweet Jack Daniels sauce dumped on it, but why? This is better. Much better. I recommend using a good quality bourbon, one you'd be happy drinking neat. My favorite right now is Four Roses small batch, but really, any good bourbon will work.

You know you want this.

Ribeye Steaks with Bourbon Mushroom Sauce

2 ribeye steaks, salted and brought up to room temperature
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup fresh, sliced mushrooms (I like crimini, but use your favorite)
2 tablespoons bourbon

Pre heat broiler. Pre heat pan. When a drop of water skitters across it, add canola oil and swirl to coat. Place steaks salt side down in the pan, salt the other side and wait. You are waiting for the side touching the pan to finish cooking. You can tell it's done when you can easily flip it over with a pair of tongs. After you flip the steaks, throw the whole pan in the oven until steak reaches desired doneness. I'm a fan of the finger poke test. When steaks are ready, move them out of the pan and cover. While they are resting, the mushrooms will cook. Put the pan back on the stove and turn your burner to medium. Drop your butter in the pan, let it melt. Add your sliced mushrooms and let them brown, while also scraping up the delicious brown bits. Add the bourbon and let it cook off, about one minute. Pour over steaks. Ta dah! Now you have the
best special occasion meal you and your sweetie can have on Valentine's Day.

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Easy Tofu and Broccoli Stir Fry

Chinese New Year started on Friday, and I married into a Chinese family, so of course we are having fun eating our traditional foods like noodles for long life and a whole fish for prosperity. Even if you aren't celebrating Chinese New Year, stir fries are a great way to eat more vegetables. You can stir fry almost any vegetable and lean protein together. I have a beautifully seasoned wok now, but for years I made my stir fries in a regular skillet. As long as you can cook quickly, over high heat, you can make delicious stir fries at home. The great thing about stir fries is that they are endlessly customizable. You can do any combination of veggies and protein. 

The trick to a good stir fry is to cook everything very fast. You need to chop everything in small, even pieces, get your pan extremely hot and just keep it moving. Stir fries are the only thing where I make sure all my vegetables are chopped before I turn on the stove, Usually, I chop as I go. If you try that while stir frying, something will burn. So make it easy on yourself and chop everything first. You can even cook your rice before getting started. It's one less thing to worry about.

For a tough, woody vegetable like broccoli, it needs more than just touching the wok to cook through. I always give it a quick stir fry to brown it, then blanch it very quickly in the wok before cooking anything else. The tofu needs some prep work too. It needs to be pressed and drained before cooking and I like to give it a swirl of soy sauce and sesame oil before cooking.


Tofu and Broccoli Stir Fry

2 crowns brocoli, separated into florets
2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 small onion, cut into strips
1 block tofu, rinsed, drained and cubed (I like to marinade mine with one tablespoon soy sauce and one teaspoon sesame seed oil. It adds flavor to the tofu and it keeps it from sticking.)
1/2 teaspoon of ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Get your skillet or wok extremely hot. I test mine by flicking drops of water at it. If it sizzles immediately, its good. Give it a good glug of canola oil, or something else that can take the heat and swirl pan to ensure coverage. Add broccoli to pan and move it around to keep it from burning. Add about a quarter cup of water, then cover with a tight fitting lid. Let broccoli cook until bright green and tender, about three minutes. Remove immediately and rinse out wok. Heat it back up, add more oil.

Add carrots and onion, stir it around for about a minute. Add tofu, continue to stir. Add minced garlic and ginger, then add broccoli back to the wok. Stir it again. Combine cornstarch with enough water to make a slurry, plus the leftover soy sauce. Add to wok, stir to make sure vegetables and tofu are covered. Serve immediately.

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Chicken and Biscuits for a Wintery Day

Not my car, thankfully.

Tuesday afternoon, when Snowpocalypse 2014 struck Atlanta, I spent five hours on Roswell road between Sandy Springs and Roswell. And I was one of the lucky ones. I drive a Prius, which was designed for stop and go traffic and has a computerized system that prevents your tires from spinning out. I slid a few times on Glenridge and Riverside, but never for more than a few seconds and I never lost control of my vehicle. And I still had a full tank of gas when I was finally safe in my driveway. I feel incredibly lucky.

Five hours in the car gives you lots of time to think. When I wasn't contemplating which gas stations would be a good zombie apocalypse shelter, I made a recipe in my head, because that's what I do. I wasn't able to make it that night, because my nerves were shot after that long behind the wheel. (I am a nervous driver and prone to panic attacks. I am a super exciting person to be in a car with.) But I did make this the next day. Cold weather makes me crave soups, stews and hot breads pulled freshly from the oven. In my head, as I navigated the icy conditions, I planned out a meal that included the best of all these things: Chicken and biscuits.

As with many of my recipes, I try to lighten things up a bit. So instead of a heavy cream sauce, or cream of condensed soup, this uses a light chicken broth thicken with corn starch. I loaded it up on veggies, including the super trendy kale that I always seem to have around these days. Skinless chicken thighs provide the protein.

Why chicken thighs? First, they hold up to stewing better than breast meat. I've never made a chicken stew with breast meat that wasn't tough and stringy. But thighs? They become melt in your mouth delicious when braised slowly at low temperatures. Thighs get a bad rap for being fatty, but pull the skin off and ounce for ounce, they are nearly indistinguishable from breasts. Plus, they just taste more…chickeny than breast meat. Trust me on this one. Do this with thighs.

The biscuits are where I don't try to be healthy. I use Michael Ruhlman's Chicago biscuit recipe to top this stew. Someone less lazy would roll these biscuits out and cut them properly before laying them down, but I think drop biscuits taste just as good and don't make such a mess of my countertops. The combination of tender, puffy biscuits and savory chicken and vegetables is really quite magical. Take the extra time to make your own biscuits.

Chicken and Biscuits

For the stew…

1 pack skinless, bone in chicken thighs
3 ribs celery, rinsed and chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups carrots, chopped roughly
2-3 small, waxy potatoes, chopped
1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped
2 cups leafy kale
6 cups chicken stock (I use Better than Bullion)
2 tablespoons cornstarch

For the biscuits…

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 ounces butter, chilled
6 ounces milk


In dutch oven, brown chicken thighs. Remove and set aside. Add chopped carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Once those are soft, add potatoes, mushrooms and kale. Add chicken back to the pot and cover with chicken broth. Place in a low oven (mine goes down to 270 degrees) and cover with heavy lid. Cook for two hours, or until chicken shreds easily with a fork and vegetables are tender. Mix cornstarch with enough water to make a slurry and add it to the pot. This will thicken your sauce.

For the biscuits, sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Cut in chilled butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Slowly beat in milk until mixture is pliable. I do all this in a food processor, so it's really fast. If you are rolling and cutting, let your biscuit dough chill for at least twenty minutes before rolling out. I'll do another post just on biscuits some day, but the secret here is keeping everything cold.

Top with generous spoonfuls of biscuit dough and and bake at 350 until brown. Serve immediately.

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Low Carb Cauliflower Puree

Cauliflower puree topped with
 steak & mushrooms

There are two schools of thought on cauliflower puree, the popular, low carb substitute for mashed potatoes. The first is to pretend your cauliflower really is mashed potatoes and drown it with butter and cream. The second is to man up, admit you are eating a vegetable, and prepare your cauliflower simply and lightly with just a little vegetable broth. I've done it both ways and yes, I prefer the second version. Cauliflower has a natural sweetness to it and it doesn't need much embellishment to be delicious. Besides, the idea of cauliflower puree is to eat healthy. It's silly to load it up with lots of saturated fats when you've got something so good for you. It soaks up your gravy or pan sauce just as well without the extras. I don't miss mashed potatoes when I make this at all.

I cook my cauliflower in vegetable broth to add extra flavor. You could use chicken if you prefer, or just plan salted water. I like to do my puree in my food processor, but I think a blender would work too.  I've tried mashing it with a fork, which works okay, but you aren't going to get a really smooth puree. It'll be mashed cauliflower chunks. I usually make this when I know I'll have a gravy or sauce to go with it, so I leave it plain. But if you want to experiment, I think roasted garlic, a handful of grated parmesan cheese or chopped fresh herbs would be amazing.

Cauliflower Puree 

1 head cauliflower, chopped (You can include the stems, along with the flowerettes.)
Enough vegetable broth to cover your cauliflower (About three cups)
Salt to taste


Chop cauliflower into smallish pieces. The smaller the pieces, the faster they will cook and the easier it will be to fit them in your food processor. But don't make yourself crazy over this step. Bring your broth to a simmer and add the cauliflower. Simmer until it's soft enough to break apart with a fork. With a slotted spoon, remove cauliflower and add to food processor. Pulse until it reaches your desired level of smoothness. I like mine with a few chunks still in it. If needed, use the remaining broth to thin out your puree. Sometimes it needs a little extra to get things moving. Serve immediately.  

Next up, I'm going to share how I did that steak with bourbon mushroom pan sauce.

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Four Easy Soup Recipes

Soup is one of my favorite winter time meals. It can be light and healthy, but still fill you up and feel indulgent on a cold day. I usually make a big pot of a vegetable heavy soup at the beginning of the week and take the leftovers to work for lunch along with a piece of fruit or a small salad. I have something like several dozen soup recipes in my rotation. The favorites have been blogged here, but going through my archives I can't believe I've never posted the chicken and rice soup I make when one of us is sick, or the black bean and vegetable soup that uses up all the summer time veggies. Clearly, I need to blog more.

In the meantime, here are four easy soup recipes to tide you over.

You can be super healthy with this vegetarian Tofu and Bok Choy Soup. Not only does it use up the ridiculous amount of bok choy we get in our CSA this time of year, but it's a filling soup with lots of nutrition and very few calories. Perfect for balancing out the holiday excess.

Kale and Sausage Soup is another tasty way to use up winter greens. This soup is really fast and easy to prepare and one of my favorites for leftovers.

Curry Butternut Squash Soup is a delicious and healthier alternative to the traditional cream based version. It's easy to make this one vegetarian by simply swapping the chicken broth for vegetable.

We love a good beef stew here and this one is our favorite version. Beef and Cremini Mushroom stew works equally well in your dutch oven or slow cooker. Its a great cold weather meal alongside a batch of No-Knead Dinner Rolls.

Chili Lime Sweet Potatoes

I think I've mentioned my disdain for "traditional" sweet potato recipes, drenched in butter, sugar and marshmallows. Sweet potatoes are naturally flavorful, needing only a little salt and oil and a good roasting in a hot oven to bring them to life. That's not to say that they don't pair well with other flavors, but I'm definitely a "less is more" kinda gal when it comes to this vegetable.

I don't recall where I found this recipe, but it's been part of my repertoire for a couple years now. It's an easy side dish for the holidays, or a nice pairing with a couple pan fried pork chops and turnip greens during the week. Really, the possibilities are endless on this one. You've got the sweetness of the potatoes, the smoky chili powder and a hint of acid from the lime cutting through all of it. It's a lighter take on sweet potatoes, but still full of flavor.

The easiest way I've discovered to prepare this is with the help of a zip top bag. The diced, raw sweet potatoes go in, along with your chili powder, salt and some cooking oil. Squish everything around a bit and pour it out on a cookie sheet to roast. You can even do that step a day before, if you decide to make this for Thanksgiving, and keep the bag in the fridge until you are ready to roast.


Chili Lime Sweet Potatoes

3-4 peeled and diced sweet potatoes, enough to make about three cups
2 tablespoons chili powder (we like the Medium blend from Penzey's, but whatever chili powder you like is fine.)
1/2 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons cooking oil
juice of one lime

Peel and dice sweet potatoes. In a zip top bag or large bowl combine with chili powder, salt and cooking oil until potatoes are evenly coated. Spread on a cookie sheet and roast at 425 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until sweet potatoes are soft and the edges are crispy. Remove from oven and squeeze lime juice over the potatoes. Serve.

Healthy Kale and Sausage Soup (Caldo Verde revised)

A friend asked me a few days ago for one of my soup recipes that I knew I had blogged. But when I looked it over before sending her the link, I realized that how I cook this soup has changed a bit in the last few years. So since I had to rewrite the recipe for her, I decided now is a good time to repost it here.

This recipe is inspired by Caldo Verde, a traditional Portuguese soup made with very thinly shredded kale and european style smoked chorizo. My version is heavily Americanized  to the point that I'm sure someone's little old Portuguese grandma is going to slap me some day. No matter. My version uses easy to find ingredients, such as the mountains of kale we get in our CSA box this time of year, and spicy italian sausage. Unlike some other americanized versions, my soup doesn't add heavy cream or butter. 

It's a nice, light vegetable soup, perfect for cold weather.  You don't even have to use the super trendy kale. The version in the picture actually used collard greens and turnip greens. Feel free to use whatever combo of greens you have on hand. We lighten it up even more by using turkey sausage instead of pork, but that's not necessary. It's great for dinner, but is even better for leftovers at lunch the next day. 

Kale and Sausage Soup

1 bunch kale (or collard greens), chopped 
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound spicy italian link sausage (we like turkey, but whatever you like)
2 cups sliced potatoes
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth

Brown sausage in soup pot. Remove. Add a tablespoon of oil, if necessary. Brown potatoes, onions and garlic. Add chopped kale, cover with broth and simmer until vegetables are tender. Chop reserved sausage into bite sized pieces and add back to pot. Serve with crusty bread. 

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Best Thanksgiving Recipes

I don't have many Thanksgiving recipes. I usually spend this holiday in east Texas with my in laws and they do all the cooking. That suits me just fine. Thanksgiving cooking is less about meal prep and more performance art, so it's nice to not have the pressure. But here are some recipes you might consider adding to your own table this year.  Several of them were already featured in my Fall Recipe feature last month, so feel free to peruse that for even more seasonal inspiration.

Pie is usually how most of us enjoy our pumpkin during the fall. But for those who can't get enough pumpkin flavored baked goods, here's a recipe for pumpkin muffins featuring rye flour.  Pumpkin Curry Soup would make a delicious, yet slightly untraditional starter course for the big meal.
Sweet potatoes are an important part of Thanksgiving. Here's a casserole combining sweet potatoes and orange juice for a treat that's delicious, but not as a heavy and gooey as the traditional one with the marshmallows.

Apple crisp is an easy, but still seasonal alternative to pumpkin pie for dessert. And it tastes good with ice cream.
That doesn't seem like very many recipes, does it? Looks like I have some work to do this month.

UPDATE: True to my word, I've written up more of my Thanksgiving appropriate recipes for your eating enjoyment.  It's still not a huge amount, but I'm feeling more respectable now.

If you are looking for a non-traditional take on sweet potatoes, try these Chili Lime Roasted Sweet Potatoes. I guarantee you won't miss the butter and marshmallows.  For a bread course, check out these No Knead Dinner rolls. They are so easy, I make them for weeknight dinners. And if you need an easy to prepare, but super fancy looking appetizer, you definitely want to use my Holiday Baked Brie. It uses spicy pepper jelly for a surprising twist on a traditional appetizer.

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Beef and Crimini Mushroom Stew

Well, it looks like fall is well and truly here. I'm still wearing sandals outside, but they are with jeans instead of capris. In fact, I'm starting to wonder where I put all my work pants. It's going to be a little chilly standing on the playground tomorrow...

Yesterday was one of those wonderfully drizzly, gray days. It wasn't a bad enough storm that I worried about a dead branch busting up my fence again, but it was enough to make me want to burrow under a blanket on the couch and drink something warm. My husband calls it "Soup weather" and is demanding I make him some nearly every night this week. That might be excessive, considering all my recipes make roughly a gallon or so. There's only so many bowls of soup I can take for lunch every week. 

Last night's soup was Beef with Crimini Mushroom Stew, a really nice riff on the classic beef stew recipe I grew on. It's extra seasonal since this is Atlanta Beer Week, and this stew features some German beer whose name has fifteen syllables, bought at Ale Yeah! in Roswell. (I am not a beer person.)

I may not be a beer drinker, but I do love cooking with it. I think it's especially good for braising beef and I use it for stews and pot roasts all the time. 

Crimini mushrooms are probably my favorite mushroom and I look for excuses to add them to things. They sell at grocery stores as "Baby Bellas", because they are just a smaller version of the portabello mushroom. They are a nice, meaty mushroom that's easy to clean and always in stock at the grocery store. As you can imagine, they pair really well with beef. I add them to stews and frequently put them over steaks. 

This stew would work well in a crockpot. In fact, that's how I usually cook it. But I'm in love with my big, porcelain glazed, cast iron, dutch oven right now.  I made this stew in that and let it cook in my oven at a low temperature for several hours. Either method works just as well. One just looks prettier on the table. 

Beef and Cremini Mushroom Stew

1 pound beef stew meat, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

2 cups chopped and peeled carrots

2 cups chopped potatoes (I like a waxy red potato)

1 cup cremini mushrooms, stemmed and sliced

2 cloves of garlic, smashed

1 small can tomato sauce

2 cups (16 ounces) of a medium body beer you like

1 table spoon "Better than Bullion" OR 1 and 1/2 cubes of bullion, beef flavor

1 table spoon cornstarch

In bottom of dutch oven, heat up a couple table spoons of canola oil. In batches, brown stew meat.  Salt it really well. Reserve. Add chopped veggies, add meat back. Salt everything. Add tomato sauce, beer and one cup of water. Cover and place in pre-heated 250 degree oven. Braise for at least three hours, checking periodically to see if more water is needed. When ready to serve, remove from oven and add bullion. Make a slurry of the cornstarch and add to stew. Stir until dissolved. Check for salt and serve. 

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Party Chic

Picture this: You're nestled at a cozy table on a balcony overlooking Canton street on a busy Friday night. Lots of Roswell ladies wearing their official uniform of white jeans and a coral top are around you. Everything looks warm and inviting with golden street lamps lighting up old brick buildings. Maybe one of the chairs at your table is a porch swing. Maybe the live band on the back patio is covering a Cranberries song that you loved in high school. But you've got your friends with you and a nice cocktail and it's time for a leisurely dinner. Got it? Then you understand why Party Chic is such a popular spot on the weekends.

Prosciutto wrapped melon 

But it's not just weekends when Party Chic is the place to be. I'm frequently here for lunch during my summer vacations, meeting other teacher friends. It's a popular spot for the ladies who lunch, so much so, that it took me a couple years to convince my husband to come with me. But once there, the food sold him and I hear nary a peep from him when I want to go now.

So yes, Party Chic is a little girly. It's owned by the same ladies who own Kelly's Kakes, and is connected with Roswell Provisions downstairs. There are fancy cupcakes and themed martinis and lightly dressed salads. But the food is good and won't break your wallet. If you can convince your guy to go, he'll be hooked.

French dip with spinach salad

It's unfortunate that the night I planned to review it, the kitchen was a little off. My French dip sandwich with spinach salad was served with cold au jus, instead of piping hot like I've come to expect. But my salad is an ample portion of greens, dressed with balsamic vinaigrette and dotted with crumbled goat cheese, and segments of orange and strawberry. Our appetizer of prosciutto wrapped melon arrives on the heels of our entrees, with breathless apologies from our server. I only mention this, because this is such an unusual situation. Normally, this place has the kind of spotless, effortless efficiency that you never notice. Our table smiles and laughs it off.

A big part of the attraction is the cocktail menu. I've got a chocolate martini so good, I'm licking the syrup off the glass. If the food isn't pricey, the drinks more than make up for that. My friend is sipping something with Kahlua while she tells me about her class. My husband drinks a Blue Moon and talks to the other guys. A cocktail costs as much as an entree, and so does a fancy cupcake. But the drinks are also pretty strong and well crafted. The cupcakes are huge and big enough to share with a date.

So on a warm fall night, you can find much worse places to meet with friends, but I doubt you'll find better.



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Tokyo Boat II

It's hibachi night! Get excited! Whoo! Hibachi! Fire! Flying shrimp! Chefs clanging on metal salt shakers! Whoo! How much fun is Tokyo Boat II, the latest hibachi to open in the Publix shopping center at Holcomb Bridge and Old Albama? It's pretty fun.

The great thing about hibachi is it's predictability. There's a certain rhythm to the meal, no matter where you go. It's different enough to be a change of pace, but nothing really boundary pushing. You can get grilled chicken and steak! Check out the shrimp and scallops, if you're feeling fancy. Here is your bowl of clear soup with thin mushroom shavings decorating. Now it's the garden salad with creamy dressing. I'm momentarily dismayed when they don't have a cocktail menu of silly drinks made with cheap sake, but I order a glass of syrupy sweet plum wine instead and plow forward. Tokyo Boat has an option for a red snapper combo. That's different enough that I order it. The sushi menu looks interesting and I mentally note to try it next time.

Here's the chef with his wheeled cart. He checks our orders and immediately sets fire to the grill pan. I love the heat coming off the grill in front of me. I chat with my friends about work and the coffee table I'm refinishing while I sip my wine and watch our chef twirl spatulas and fry eggs. Hibachi chefs are amazing. One part chef, one part waiter, all show man. He's new at this, but his patter is still well rehearsed and exactly like every other hibachi chef I've been served by. He fries the rice, grills my steak and fish and makes an onion volcano all while keeping a constant stream of conversation. Now it's time for my husband to catch a piece of raw zucchini in his mouth. Now we set more things on fire. The fire is ALWAYS the best part.

Now we're chowing down on plates of grill steak, chicken and seafood. It's time to order a second drink and make plans for the weekend. Our chef has reserved a shrimp and ends the meal by making my husband catch it in his mouth like the zucchini. He succeeds to great applause. My meal ends with green tea ice cream, wrapped in mochi and arranged on a platter. The show is over and it's time to get ready for work the next day.


Was this great food? Not really. I've had better.  But you don't go to hibachi looking for a great culinary experience. You want onion volcanoes, flying shrimp and gimicky cocktails. Tokyo Boat delivers all this but the cocktails. But that's okay. This was fun! They followed the formula for a successful hibachi night. Plus, Wednesday is half price night, so it's quite the deal. So if you're on my side of 400 in Roswell, check it out.


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Easy Spinach Alfredo Pizza

I just finished up the first week of school, (My schedule is different because I work at a private school.) and felt celebratory. What better way to celebrate than to host a small dinner party? Homemade pizza is such an easy way to entertain, especially on a Friday night when you are exhausted from explaining to autistic fourth graders that stalls in the bathroom are one per customer. (Don't even ask. Seriously.) So pizza it is!

Because it's Friday, and going back to work after a summer at home sleeping in exhausts me, I'm taking a shortcut. While I can make a totally rocking pizza crust, I grabbed pre-made dough at Publix. We like the multigrain. It's tasty without being heavy. Most grocery stores have what I call "the pizza station", which will contain pre-made dough, crusts, jarred sauce and other things you can use to build a pizza at home. I also grabbed a bag of spinach and some shredded mozzarella and a wedge of asiago cheese.

 I pulled it as flat as I could to make the base. Can you see the sunflower seeds? That's multi-grain goodness right there.

I sweated some onions and garlic from our CSA in olive oil, then added the entire bag of baby spinach and a big pinch of salt. I turned down the heat and put the lid on to let the spinach cook down. When I make garlic spinach like this as a side dish, I usually use two bags of spinach, because spinach is delicious. The cooked spinach goes on top, with a generous layer of mozzarella cheese.

 
 The whole thing went into a 500 degree oven until the crust was crisp and the cheese was brown and bubbly. Then I added the grated asiago and popped it back in for a few minutes to let that melt. It was ready to serve after I sprinkled on some chopped parsley and savory from our CSA.

We ate it with heirloom tomatoes chopped and dressed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and chopped savory and lemon verbena, all from our CSA. (Yeah, the CSA thing comes in handy.) Dessert was banana "ice cream" made by freezing over ripe bananas and pureeing them in my food processor until it had the consistency of soft serve. We topped that with nutella. We had a nice bottle of wine and some nice craft beers the staff at Ale Yeah in Roswell helped us pick out.

So what was the verdict? Well, everything but one slice of pizza was eaten. So if you're looking for a fun, casual dinner party after week at work, make a pizza!

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Curry Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

When ever fall happens, it's like a magic switch in my brain flips. Instead of salads and grilled meats, I start craving soup and things that have been braised. Which is really too bad, because the best lettuces are now in season and i just don't want anything to do with them. Oh well.


As I have mentioned before on this blog, I hate squash.  It is a vile, tasteless vegetable with a nasty, slimy texture. And then I realized that I'd only had yellow crooknecked squash, usually steamed. Of course I hated it. So I've made it my mission to discover squashes that I like, or at least recipes I can tolerate them in. It seems like butternut squash soup does the trick.

Astute readers will recognize this soup as a riff on the Pumpkin Curry Soup I posted a couple years ago. There's been a dearth of pumpkins at the markets this year, so rather than use canned pumpkin or spend eight bucks for one at Trader Joe's (for reals? Eight bucks for PUMPKIN?), I decided to mess around with butternut squash and see if it did the trick. And you know what? It does.

The trick is to roast everything. And I do mean, EVERYTHING. The squash gets roasted, of course, before being added to the soup. But I found that kind of bland, and so I decided to roast the onions, potatoes and garlic before adding them as well. It makes a huge difference. The onions caramelize and gain a heavy sweetness which is really notable. The potatoes and garlic are also improved. It's really just a better soup altogether.

1/4 cup onion
4 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 cups potatoes, diced
1 butternut squash, cooked. (I do this by wrapping it in foil, then throwing it in the oven at 350 for about an hour. It peels right off the skin.)
2 tablespoons of butter
4 cups chicken broth
Curry powder to taste (a couple tablespoons is what I use)

Toss the diced potatoes, onions and garlic with a couple tablespoons of canola oil and spread on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with salt, then roast at 350 until brown and crispy. The onions will start to smell like oniuon rings. that's how you know you did it right.

In a pot, melt the butter with the curry powder. Add the cooked squash, the roasted potatoes, garlic and onions. Add the chicken broth and simmer for about ten minutes, then puree. I like to use my stick blender for this.

You end up with a savory soup that gets its power from the layers of flavor created by roasting everything. It's not as heavy as other butternut squash soups that get their omph from cream. And it would be pretty easy to convert to vegetarian by using veggie stock, or even vegan by swapping out the butter for olive oil. Give it a shot. It made a squash eater out of me.