tabicakes’ blog

Crockpot chicken 009

Not an angle I'd want myself to be photographed at, but I think it makes this chicken (still raw) look pretty good.

They say you can tell how good a cook someone is by the way they roast a chicken.  I can count the number of times I've roasted a chicken, and honestly, I've got work to do.  On the last occasion, it was several months ago, I followed bad boy Anthony Bourdain's recipe from his Les Halles Cookbook.  It was a beauty!  The chicken came out of the oven golden and crispy. I took photos, anticipating a glowing review on the blog.   We cut into it, and it was still raw.  Bourdain cautions against overcooking the bird, but I don't think this was what he had in mind.

So, this week has been a crockpot week.  Husband's and my schedules are opposite again, so the crockpot provided a great way to get a hot meal into both of us at different times.  The above meal, was a good (and easy) one.  It's not exactly roasting a chicken, but the crockpot does provide you with a tender and moist bird when it's through with it.  And believe me after several hours, the chicken is not raw.  Another plus, a whole chicken provides white meat for me, and dark meat for Husband.

Crockpot Chicken

Place cut up veggies (your choice:  onions, carrots, potatoes, celery, etc) in the bottom of a crockpot.  Season.   Add a tad chicken broth or water (you don't need very much).  Place seasoned chicken on top of veggies.  Cook on high 4 hours or low 8 hours.

Husband is not a fan of the chicken breast, so I've been trying to incorporate a little dark meat onto the menu.  I've discovered, unlike Husband, that I prefer the dry flavorless taste that is the chicken breast.  Dark meat is so chicken-y.  Here's a couple of meals where I've marinated the chicken thigh, grilled them, and glazed them with the cooked/reduced marinade.

Boneless skinless chicken thighs 007

Citrus-Glazed Chicken Thighs.  This was a very tasty marinade/glaze.  I think I subbed quite a bit of lime juice for part of the orange juice, so there was a mixture of the two citrus flavors.

Green Bean Spinach and Beet Salad.  Delicious!  I've made this once before, and both times were winners.  It's a perfect summer dish, and would be a great salad to take to a BBQ or picnic.

Boneless skinless chicken thighs 002

Meal number two: not so tasty.  Even the picture is a bit sad.  It might have been because I refused to put both honey and brown sugar in the chicken marinade.  I love sugar, especially in dessert!, but two sugars in a chicken dish I couldn't do.

If you'd like to try the original recipe, here it is: Balsamic Chicken Drumettes.

Although it received mostly rave reviews, Orzo with Peas, Dill and Pancetta was a little disappointing too.

Thai Salad 002

I think I've mentioned, and I'm sure you'll agree, that using up leftover ingredients can be hit or miss.  Last night, all the stars moved into alignment in my leftover universe (refrigerator).  It was a delicious salad!

Here were the odd ingredients that I mixed with a few staples to create Thai Lettuce Salad:

lime juice
cashews
ground turkey
cilantro
small bit of lettuce
small bit of green cabbage (I wished I had napa cabbage)
1 carrot

Though I didn't follow any particular recipe, and I did use Lettuce Wraps and Hot and Sour Dressing from Food of the World: Thailand for guidelines and proportions.

Thai Lettuce Salad
serves 2-3

For the Meat:

1/2 T veg oil
1/2 onion, chopped finely
1 carrot, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Thai chile
1/2 lb. ground turkey or pork
2 T. soy sauce
1/2 t. brown sugar
1/4 t. green curry paste
1 T. cilantro, chopped

Heat oil in wok and stir-fry onion, carrot, garlic, and chile for 30 seconds.  Add the ground turkey and stir-fry for 8-10 minutes, until browned and crisp.  Stir in the soy sauce, sugar, curry paste, and cilantro, and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.  Let rest while you make the dressing.

For the Dressing:

Whisk together:

2 T. veg. oil
2 T. rice vinegar
2 T. lime juice
1/2 t. soy sauce
1/2 t. sesame oil
1/4 t. fish sauce
1/4 t. green curry paste

Assemble the Salad:

Toss meat mixture with a salad of lettuce, cabbage, cilantro, cashews, and rice.  Toss salad with dressing and serve immediately.

Sour Cherry Muffin

I picked a small bucket of cherries last week.  Picking them was quite easy...it took just under one hour for my bucket.  Pitting them was not...it took a few hours.  It was such a tedious task I divided the time over a few days.  Waa waa, I shouldn't cry too much.  We've had fresh cherries to eat, and there's some in the freezer for future pies.  Husband loves sour cherry pies.

Sour Cherry Muffins with Coconut Struesel tasted great!  They, however, were not pretty muffins.  I didn't listen to my intuition when assembling.  The recipe says to fill the muffin cups to the top.  I've made enough muffins to know not to do this.  I did it anyway, and I had flat, spread out, spilled over muffins.  The coconut struesel topping made the muffins.  Delish!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Husband and I have spent the last two weekends relaxing at home.  The first at my parents' and the second at his.  Don't you love summertime?  Thanks M and D.  Thanks MIL and FIL.

Everyday Dressing

Yes, those are bacon wrapped meatballs.  And to think, Husband and I declared this week vegetarian week in our household.  We only lasted through Monday.  I guess one evening of chickpea salad was enough for us.

Everday Vinaigrette, my favorite dressing, usually appears on our lettuce.  Last night, I topped our roasted vegetables with this anything but dull dressing.  Don't you think the word everyday implies something that leans towards humdrum?  Don't let it fool you.  This dressing would work for special occasions too. 

Everyday Vinaigrette
adapted from Gourmet Everyday Cookbook

1/2 c. red wine vinegar
1/2 c. freshly grated parmesan
1/3 c. water
1 1/2 T Dijon mustard
1 1/2 t. sugar
1 1/2 t. salt
1 large garlic clove
1 1/2 c. olive oil
1/3 c. fresh flat-leaf parsley

Puree vinegar, cheese, water, mustard, sugar, salt, and garlic in a blender.  Add oil and parsley and puree until parsley is finely chopped.

Makes about 2 1/2 cups.

Rasberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream

I come from an ice cream family.  Although they do enjoy ice cream, I'm not talking about my mom's side.  It's my dad's side of the family that has a special place in their hearts (stomachs) for ice cream.  I know they could eat ice cream after every meal.  It's probably a rare evening when either my dad, my uncle, or my grandpa doesn't have a bowl of ice cream after dinner.  Nothing special either...just vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup and peanuts.

I was very lucky growing up in that I got to see both sets of grandparents almost weekly.  We'd visit my dad's parents for Sunday lunch.  There'd always be ice cream.  It would go something like this:

"How much would you like?"

"I'll take two Grandpa scoops."

"I'll take half a Grandpa scoop with extra strawberries."

For those of you not in the family, a Grandpa scoop is the size of a love it bowl at Coldstone Creamery.  (I'd always get half a Grandpa scoop).

My Grandparents' church has an ice cream social every summer.  We'd usually attend.  It seemed there was always talk of how good the cherry-nut was that year.  As a 10-year-old, I thought cherry-nut ice cream sounded like the worst flavor on the planet.  As a 30-year-old, I'd be willing to try it.  After all, I've had black truffle ice cream, and I liked that.  Bacon ice cream...that's a flavor I'd like to sample.

Raspberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream
adapted from Blueberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream from Dorie Greenspan's Baking:From My Home to Yours
Makes about 1 pint or 2 1/2 Grandpa Scoops

1 c. frozen raspberries
1/3 c. sugar
Pinch of salt
Grated zest and juice of 1/2 lime
3/4 c. half and half (original recipe used heavy cream)
3/4 c. sour cream 

Put the raspberries, sugar, salt, zest and juice in a medium nonreactive saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the mixture boils and the berries pop and soften, about 3 minutes.

Turn berries into a blender, and whir until you have a fairly homogeneous puree, about 1 minute.  Add the half and half and the sour cream and pulse to blend.  Taste and, if you'd like, add a squirt more juice or a tiny bit more sugar.

Pour the mixture into a bowl and refrigerate until it is chilled before churning it into ice cream.

Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.  Pack the ice cream into a container and freeze for at least 2 hours, until it is firm enough to scoop.

Raspberries have seeds.  I don't mind them.  If you do, run the pureed mixture through a sieve to remove them before adding the dairy.

According to my calculations, this is my 100th post!

Veggie Pizza 002

Husband was required to take lunch into the office today.  I've been told there's some sort of summer lunch rotation schedule.  I live for these type of activities!  As much as I enjoy it, it is a bit stressful.  In a group of 12 or so people, there's bound to be a picky eater or two.  Luckily, I'm not used to dealing with a finicky eater on a daily basis (it was one of my must-not-have's in a husband). 

We decided on vegetable pizza as one of the menu items.  Who doesn't love this pizza?  It's basically a cheese ball on a croissant with a few veggies thrown in to make it appear healthy.  I guess if you're not a vegetable person this could be a problem.  Just shake them off.  Or seriously, learn to like them!  Vegetables are good for you.  (Stepping off soap box).

In addition to making the huge pizza for the office, I made a personal size one for myself.  It is a bit large for one person.  I'd like to think it's not all going to be eaten today, but when you're home by yourself these types of things can happen...

Vegetable Pizza
(This recipe came from my Mom. Not sure where she found it).
(makes one 10x15 jelly roll pan, plus a little extra)

2 cans crescent roll dough
2 8 oz. pkgs. cream cheese
1/3 c. mayo (or miracle whip if you like that tang)
1/3 c. sour cream
1 t. dill weed
2 T minced green onion
1 t. garlic salt
1 c. shredded chedder cheese
assorted vegetables chopped finely (I think I had about 4 cups)

Spread out crescent dough in the bottom of a jelly roll pan.  Press seams together, so that the entire bottom of the pan is covered and there are no cracks.  Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes.  Cool.

Mix together cream cheese, mayo, sour cream, dill, onion, and garlic salt.  Spread out evenly on baked/cooled dough.

Top with cheese and vegetables.  Press lightly to set into the cream cheese.

Serve. 

Manicotti 008

When I left the grocery store yesterday, I was planning on ribeye steaks, German potato salad, and creamed spinach for dinner.  The photo to the left was our actual dinner.  What happened on the way home from the store?

Marriage.  Though really wonderful, it's full of compromises and surprises.  Who knew Husband would not be hungry for his favorite cut of beef?

His craving, manicotti, actually turned into a much easier meal for me to prepare.  The steaks will wait in the freezer for another day.  (Ah! We've got something to look forward to).

This was my first attempt at manicotti.  Actually, now that I think about it, this is my second attempt at manicotti, but my first successful attempt.  We've all had bloopers in the kitchen, right?  ...left out ingredients, burnt food, greased a pizza pan with a slab of ham instead of PAM, etc. 

Think back about 15 years.  I was in high school and going to make manicotti for dinner.  I went to our town grocery store, and there were no manicotti shells.  This is a small town grocery store.  It probably had never occured to them to stock this "foreign food."  Thinking that I was quick on my feet, I grabbed the rigatoni pasta shells.  They were basically the same shape, just a bit smaller.  It was going to work.  I don't think my mom had ever laughed so hard when I returned.  She was right, I wasn't able to stuff these tiny shells.  Even if I was able, it would have taken hours.

For this dinner I didn't follow any particular recipe, just looked at a couple before I got started.  I have a feeling (once you have the right shells) it's fairly foolproof, so use whatever ingredients you have, I did.

Manicotti
(makes 1 9x13 or 2 8inch squares)

2 portabella mushroom caps, chopped
1/4 red bell pepper, chopped
3 small cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t. basil
1/2 t. oregano
6 oz. (almost all) bag of spinach, chopped
15 oz. ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 1/2 c. grated mozzerella cheese, divided
3/4 c. grated parmesan cheese, divided
8 oz. manicotti pasta shells, cooked to package instructions
1 jar pasta sauce

Saute mushrooms, bell pepper, and garlic in 1/2 T. of oil until softened and mushrooms' liquid has evaporated.  Add basil and oregano and season with salt and pepper.  Add spinach and continue sauteing until spinach is wilted and liquid is evaporated.  Cool.

Mix together ricotta, egg, 1 c. mozzerella and 1/2 c. parmesan.  Add cooled veggies.

Spread 1/2 of pasta sauce in bottom of pan(s).  Fill pasta shells with cheese mixture. (I used a ziploc and piped the filling into the shells).  Placed filled shells on top of sauce in pans.  When all shells are filled and in pan(s)(for me 12 shells), top with remaining pasta sauce, mozzerella and parmesan.

Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes.

Pound Cake

I haven't had chocolate cake (you know it's my favorite food from a previous post) since my blogiversary in April.  And to get technical, I didn't actually eat my blogiversary cake on the actual day.  It was a week before, so it's been a while.

We stayed in a lovely villa last week on our vacation.  It came complete with our own private cook.  The food was delicious!  Every night was a four course dinner.  Each evening I asked myself, "Is it going to be chocolate tonight?"  No.  It didn't happen.  She could have thrown a little cinnamon in and called it Mexican Chocolate Cake.  I didn't care.  When the craving hits, I'm not picky.  (I've been known to eat a spoonful of cocoa in a pinch).

So this week, guess what was on my to do list?  Chocolate Cake.  I found a new recipe, set aside Monday afternoon, and then realized no baking soda was to be found.  (I had used the last of the box when I washed towels.  Helpful hint: Add 1/2 c. baking soda to your rinse cycle to freshen up towels.  This works magic folks).  Maybe it exists, but I couldn't quickly find a chocolate cake recipe without baking soda.  Defeated, I hoped that a little butter and sugar would help me forget about my chocolate craving.  I had peaches, so pound cake was the direction I went.

This recipe from Nancie McDermotts' Southern Cakes, is a geniune pound cake: equal weights of butter, sugar, flour and eggs.  I halved the recipe and made a 1/2 pound cake.  Caution: This does not make it any more low-fat or low-sugar.  It's just a smaller cake.

1/2 Pound Cake
Adapted from Waddad Habeeb Buttross's Classic Pound Cake of Southern Cakes

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 pound (about 1 1/2 + 1/3 cups) confectioner's sugar
3 eggs
1/2 pound (about 2 cups) sifted flour
1/2 t. vanilla

Heat oven to 325 degrees F.  Grease one 9x5 inch loaf pan.

IN a large mixing bowl, beat the butter at high speed, scraping down the bowl once, until creamy and smooth, about 1 minute.  Add the confectioners' sugar and continue beating to combine well, scraping down the bowl often, about 2 minutes.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating just enough each time to mix the egg into the batter.

Add the flour and beat at low speed, or stir with a large sppon, until it disappears.  Stir in the vanilla, and then scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until the cake is golden and springs back when touched lightly in the center, and until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Loosen cake with a knife and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely top side up.

P.S. Problem solved.  Husband and I went out to eat last night and there was a delicious bite of chocolate cake in my bento box.