Sunday Football Chili

B and I love pretty much everything about fall- sweater weather, caramel apples, hot apple cider, fairs and festivals, and most importantly, football and fall food.  Sunday’s in our apartment are dedicated from 1 PM on to NFL and tailgate-worthy eats.  Nothing welcomes the season better than homemade chili.  I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to make chili- you have to have cool weather to really enjoy it.  Summer chili just won’t do.  Read on for my Sunday Football Chili recipe, and GO EAGLES!  (Sorry, no matter how long B and I live here, we’ll never be Redskins fans…)

JM’s Sunday Football Chili

Serves 6

1 ½ lb ground turkey

1 46 oz can diced tomatoes in juice

1 15oz can tomato sauce

1 can dark kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

½ of a Vidalia onion, chopped

½ of a red pepper, chopped

½ of a green pepper, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 bay leaf

½ tsp sugar

½ tsp basil

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

1 ½ tsp cumin

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

¼ tsp red pepper flakes

¼ cup chili powder

Brown meat in a Dutch oven on stove over medium high heat.  Add the peppers and onions and cook until onions are translucent.  Add all other ingredients, bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 2 hours.  Top with shredded cheddar cheese and serve with cornbread.

Italian Jambalaya

I realize it's been a long time since I've posted a new recipe, but that's only because I want to provide you with only the best of my work (and I'm just not much of a summer cook...let's just say I've ODed on BBQ food).  Luckily I got my groove back when I had some leftovers from our (FINAL) cookout that I needed to use up.  We had some Italian sausage and chicken breast left over from Labor Day, so I decided to come up with something creative to rid my refrigerator of all of it at once and get B and I through most of the week.  I originally wanted to make jambalaya, but B insisted he hates jambalaya (I'm calling his bluff on that, by the way) and insisted I throw everything together with some pasta and marinara sauce, which I am very tired of at the moment.  Rather than overruling him and being a culinary dictator (even though I was the one doing all the work), I decided to be creative and come up with a compromise that incorporated both of our ideas.  I came with an Italian-style "jambalaya," with orzo subbing in for rice and the tomato base filling B's request for a red sauce.  I have to say I was quite pleased with 1- my ingenuity and 2- my benevolence.  Hey, I could have totally overruled him and made him eat whatever I cooked.  Instead I took the high road.  I'm going to be such a good wife!  (BTW, I feel like a giggly teenage girl referring to myself as a future wife...wonder when the reality of that is actually going to kick in?)  Anyway, I hope you enjoy the result of my good wife-practicing exercise, I know I did!  (B secretly did too, even though he won't admit it and insists he still would have rather had boring old pasta and red sauce...someone's going to have to clue him in on the "tell your wife whatever she makes you is delicious so you don't starve" rule before we get married).   

Italian Jambalaya

Makes 6-8 servings

extra virgin olive oil

2 chicken breasts, cubed

2 Italian sausages, cut into bite size rounds

2 red bell peppers, bite-size chunks

1 green bell pepper, bite-size chunks

1 vidalia onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup dry white wine

1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes and juice

1/2 tsp each of oregano, basil, salt, pepper, thyme, parsley

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 box orzo

Begin by heating about 1/4 cup of EVOO in a dutch oven pan on medium to medium-high heat.  Brown the chicken and sausage, then remove from pan and set aside.  Saute the peppers and onion in the pan, adding a little more oil if the pan is dry.  Saute until onions are translucent, then add in the garlic and herbs and reduce heat to medium.  Saute for a few minutes, then add in the chicken, sausage, tomatoes, chicken broth, and white wine.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover, cook for at least an hour.  About half an hour before serving, cook the orzo according to the directions on the box.  Drain, then add to the jambalaya.  It's best to let it cook for a few more minutes so the orzo absorbs the flavor of the sauce.  Remove from heat and serve with a crusty bread and top with fresh Parmesan cheese if desired. 

Enjoy!

Monday Blues

Hi DCFoodLovers!  Sorry the posts have been sparse lately, summer really just seems to have a way of getting away from me!  Between travelling and a crazy work schedule, June and July are always a little hectic.  That and I haven't been cooking much lately because I'm never home!  I did try out a new pasta recipe earlier this week though, so I finally have something to share! 

Monday night B and I invited two friends up for dinner.  Everyone hates Mondays, so I can't think of a better way to cheer up the day and make the week more bearable than by spending the night with friends, a bottle of wine, a good meal, and The Bachelorette!  Pasta is my go-to comfort food, so I picked a new Giada recipe to try to help beat the Monday blues.  Of course I adapted it to my own liking- added more vegetables, and I kind of guestimated measurements (that's the beauty of a pasta dish, you can usually get away with just throwing things together).  I thought it turned out very well, everyone seemed to enjoy it, and it really was a great way to start off the week!

I encourage you all to try an early-week dinner party, you won't be sorry!

 

Italian Baked Chicken and Pasta

Adapted from a recipe by Giada De Laurentiis

Serves 4

 

1/2 box whole wheat rotini

1 zuchinni, cut into bite-sized chunks

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup cubed chicken breast

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced 

1 can diced tomatoes with juice

1 cup shredded mozzarella

oregano, red pepper flakes, parsley, salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs

1/4 cup grated parmesan

1 tbsp butter

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cook pasta until tender (about 5 minutes) and drain.

Meanwhile, saute the chicken in olive oil over medium heat.  Cook for about 3 minutes, then add the onion, garlic and zuchinni and cook for 5 more minutes.  Put the pasta in a mixing bowl and add the chicken and zuchinni mixture, the can of tomatoes, cheese, herbs, salt and pepper and mix well.  Place in a buttered 8 by 8 baking dish. Top with the breadcrumbs and parmesan and bits of butter.  Bake for 30 minutes. 

 

Cook's note: You can save yourself some time on Monday by making this dish ahead of time Sunday night.  Just stop after placing the mix in the baking dish, cover and refrigerate overnight.  Add the breadcrumbs and parmesan right before baking on Monday.

Bon Apetit! 

 

"Now thatsa spicy meat-a-ball!"

Hey it’s B.  Last weekend for JM’s b-day celebration, I decided to make up my own spicy meatball recipe.  I’ve included my creation below.  For those who tend to shy away from spicy foods, you may find the recipe below to be a little hot (but that’s just how I roll!).  If you like foods a little more mild, I’d suggest using a regular marinara sauce instead of the spicy marinara sauce and skipping the habanera pepper.  I’d also suggest taste testing as you cook this meal.  If it’s too tame, add more of the spices, and if during your tasting you feel the meal may be too spicy for your guests, continue adding additional amounts of sour cream, lemon juice, or sugar (all three will help to chill out the heat of the dish).  I also recommend including a cool dip for the meatballs.  I went simple and put out a bowl of sour cream, but you can try all kinds of creamy dips. 

Meatballs:
2 lbs. of beef
3 tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tbs. salt
1 tbs. cumin
1 tbs. nutmeg
1 tsp. fennel seeds
1 tsp. chili powder
2 tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 finely chopped habanera pepper
1 finely chopped jalapeño pepper
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 egg

Sauce:
2 jars of spicy marinara sauce
½ c. sour cream
2 tbs. lemon juice
¼ c. sugar
2 bay leaves

Toss all the meatball ingredients into a big bowl and use your hands to get in there and blend everything together.  Once the meat is evenly mixed, begin rolling bite –sized meatballs and set aside.  Get your olive oil out again and put 2 tbs. of olive oil in a big sauté pan and bring to medium-high heat.  Then begin placing 4-5 meatballs into the pan at a time, rolling the meatballs every 45-60 seconds so the outside is cooked evenly.  Remove the meatballs from the pan and set aside.  Now that all the meatballs have been browned get out a crock-pot and, beginning with a layer of marinara sauce, alternate between putting a layer of meatballs and sauce into the crock-pot.  Set the crock-pot to low and let cook for about 6 hours.  After the meatballs have cooked for 6 hours, add the sour cream, lemon juice, sugar, and bay leaves and stir until the sour cream dissolves into the sauce.  Then cover and let cook for another 2 hours (just a side note, cooking time is flexible, that’s the best thing about crock-pots!).  Feel free to serve the meatballs directly out of the crock-pot or serve on individual plates with a scoop of sour cream for dipping.

Hope you enjoy!

 B.

Quick and Easy Dessert

I’m not much of a baker.  Baking tends to require more precision than I am willing to use (I’m a little of this, little of that kind of girl), therefore I don’t usually make desserts.  However, on Sunday I found myself with not much to do and some leftover phyllo dough in the fridge that I needed to use up.  I had some apples sitting out, and remembered that B really likes apple turnovers.  I never made them before, but figured a lazy Sunday was the best time to attempt to create a dessert recipe.  Now I won’t claim that this experience has turned me into a pastry chef, but I did manage to pull off the turnovers quite well with a recipe loosely inspired by Emeril’s Apple Cups.  Read on for a quick and pretty foolproof dessert.

Apple & Pear Turnovers

Makes 4 turnovers

1 apple

1 pear

2 tbsp. orange juice

2 tbsp. water

2 tbsp. honey

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tbsp. butter, melted

3 sheets phyllo dough

1 tbsp. sugar

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Peel, core and slice apple and pear.  Place fruit slices, orange juice, water, cinnamon and honey in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until apples are soft, approx. 10 minutes.  Lay out one sheet phyllo dough, brush with melted butter, then layer on a 2^nd sheet.  Repeat and add a 3^rd sheet.  Cut into 4 strips.  Place a tablespoon or so of the filling at the end of each strip, fold into a triangle shape and continue folding up the rest of the dough, maintaining the triangle shape.  Brush the end with butter to seal.  Brush both sides of the turnovers with butter and sprinkle with a little sugar.  Place on cookie sheet and bake for about 8 minutes until brown.  

Comfort Food Done Healthy

B’s surgery this week went very well, and he’s on the road to recovery.  He’s handling it really well, but I know he’s still in some discomfort and tired of being stuck in the apartment.  Being the (part) Italian that I am, I immediately turn to cooking for others in their time of need.  Food is one of those things that people look to for comfort, and providing that for others is my way of consoling and (hopefully) helping those in need.  Since B can’t be physically active for a while, I wanted to make him something comforting but still somewhat healthy.  Lasagna is one of B’s favorite foods, so I decided to put a healthy spin on the old classic.  What I came up with was turkey and vegetable lasagna rolls.  Rather than layering sheet upon sheet of noodles and filling, I thought that rolling up the noodles and filling would make it easier to portion out and serve.  I ended up with individual lasagnas instead of a big messy pan.  To increase the health quotient, I replaced the classic ingredients with healthier versions and added lots of veggies.  Read on for my recipe!

Lasagna Rollups

Makes 9 servings

9 whole-wheat lasagna noodles

1 c. diced onion

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

½ lb. ground turkey (93% lean)

1 c. fresh spinach

¼ tsp. red pepper flakes

½ tsp. pepper

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. basil

½ tsp. oregano

4 tbsp. part skim ricotta cheese

1 jar marinara sauce

1 c. mozzarella cheese

1 tbsp. olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook noodles according to directions on box.  Drain and lay out on foil so they don’t stick together.  Chop the onions, peppers, and garlic, then sauté in olive oil (I usually add the garlic a minute or two later so it doesn’t burn). 

When the veggies are soft, add the turkey and spices and brown.  Put the spinach in a large bowl, add the cooked turkey/veggie mix and stir.  Let cool for a few minutes before adding the ricotta and half of the mozzarella cheese.  

Mix well, then spoon filling on each noodle, spreading down the length of the noodle, then roll.  Put a layer of sauce in the bottom of a 13x9 inch pan, then add the lasagna rolls (seam down) and top with remaining sauce and mozzarella.  Cover with foil, bake for 15 minutes.  Remove foil and cook another 10 minutes. 

Sneaking in the Vegetables

During the winter, B and I, like most northerners, tend to go for comforting, cold weather meals- lots of starches and hearty dishes.  When spring rolls around, I get inspired to eat healthier and try to incorporate better ingredients into my cooking.  I love fruits and vegetables, especially when they are fresh, so this isn’t much of a challenge for me.  B tends to be a bit more difficult to please.  He likes when I hide vegetables (especially spinach) in meals- he usually doesn’t like to eat veggies when they’re sitting on the plate beside the more appetizing main course.  It tends to be a challenge to get him to eat, let alone enjoy, a vegetable other than a potato or corn, so I seek out ways to disguise them or sneak them into meals.  Unfortunately it tends to decrease the healthiness factor significantly, but sometimes you lose some to gain some.  This recipe incorporates spinach and heart healthy salmon, and I use nonfat cream cheese so as to not completely negate the nutrition quotient.  B loved it and even commented I could add more spinach next time, if that’s not success, I don’t know what is!  Next challenge- getting him to like zucchini and squash without frying it or coating it with cheese.  Check back later for progress on that one!

Spring Salmon Packets

Serves 2

1 salmon filet (big enough for 2 people)

4 sheets of phyllo dough (or 1 sheet puff pastry)

1 egg

Salt and pepper

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. parsley

2 tsp. nonfat cream cheese

1 c. fresh spinach

Olive oil

Preheat oven to 350.  Remove skin from the salmon filet and cut in half.  Season with salt, pepper, oregano, and parsley.  Coat the top of each filet with 1 tsp. cream cheese.  Lay out the phyllo dough (or puff pastry), brushing each sheet with olive oil before layering on the next sheet (skip this step if using puff pastry).  Cut the pastry in 2 equal pieces, then place the salmon filets on each.  Top each with ½ cup spinach, then wrap each in the dough/puff pastry.  Cut off any extra pastry, and then fold the ends under like a package.  Wisk the egg to make an egg wash, then brush it on the top of each packet.  Place on a baking sheet (coated with a little nonstick spray) and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.  Serve with rice. 

Leftover Love

I have a love-hate relationship with leftovers.  On the one hand, they’re great for a quick and easy meal.  On the other hand, they’re boring.  I hate eating things two days in a row.  Yesterday, I came up with a great recipe to use up the rest of the stuffed peppers I had from Friday’s dinner.  It was easy, just requiring a few more ingredients, and it enhanced the flavor of the peppers.  Read on for a great leftover solution for stuffed peppers! 

Spicy Stuffed Pepper Soup

Serves 4

2 leftover stuffed peppers

1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 c. chicken stock

1 tbs. tomato paste

1 tsp. chili powder

½ tsp. oregano

½ tsp. red pepper flakes

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

¼ tsp. cumin

salt and pepper

1 bay leaf

½ c. dry white wine

Chop the peppers into bite sized pieces.  Place in a large pot with the chicken stock, tomatoes, tomato paste over medium heat.  Add the herbs and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for an hour, covered.  Add the white wine during the last 20 minutes.  Serve with crusty bread.

Dinner Date Stuffed Peppers

B and I decided to have a Friday night dinner date at home.  We are trying to save up money for a vacation this summer, so we’ve been cutting back on how much we go out (it’s been painful, we love to go out to eat!).  We decided to open up a bottle of wine and make a nice meal.  I offered to cook, after a long and stressful week, nothing relaxes me like cooking, for some reason I find it therapeutic.  I decided to make stuffed peppers since we haven’t had them in awhile and I hadn’t quite perfected my recipe yet.  I thought they turned out really well, and the wine, which was a gift, was fantastic.  Here’s my recipe for stuffed peppers, bon appétit! 

Stuffed Peppers

Serves 4

4 bell peppers

1 c. cooked rice

Olive oil, 1 turn of the pan

2 cloves garlic, chopped

½ Vidalia onion, diced

½ lb. ground turkey

Salt and pepper

¼ tsp. cumin

1 tsp. chili powder

½ tsp. cayenne pepper

¼ tsp. red pepper flakes

½ tsp. oregano

1 can tomato sauce

1 c. shredded mozzarella

Parmesan cheese if desired

Preheat oven to 375.  Cut the tops off the peppers; remove all seeds and white membrane from the peppers and tops.  Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat.  Sauté the garlic and onions.  When onions are translucent, add the ground turkey and spices and brown the meat.  Remove from heat, put the mixture in a bowl and add the rice and cheese.  Stuff each pepper with the filling and replace the tops.  Place in a glass baking dish and top with tomato sauce.  Cook at 375 for 35-40 minutes.  Top with fresh parmesan before serving.  

New Food to Love: Beef Short Ribs

Since B and I both love to experiment in the kitchen and create our own recipes, we came up with an idea to keep our recipes fresh.  Each time we go to the grocery store, we’ll purchase an ingredient or food that we’ve never cooked with before.  This is our first attempt at the new ingredient challenge, and we both were excited with the results.  The new ingredient?  Beef short ribs.  Though a popular cut of beef, neither of us has ever cooked it before.  I took the lead on this one (B was burned out from the pancake fiasco).  Read on for my recipe for beef short ribs.

JM’s Beef Short Ribs

Serves 2 generous portions

2 lbs beef short ribs

Olive oil

2 whole cloves garlic

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 onion

¾ c. carrots

2 c. beef broth

1 c. Cabernet Sauvignon (or other dry red wine)

2 bay leaves

1 tsp. basil

Salt and pepper

Chop onion and carrots to bite size pieces.  Coat the bottom of a Dutch oven pot (or other heavy bottomed pot) generously with olive oil, heat on stove over medium heat.  Season beef on all sides with salt and pepper.  When oil is hot, add the beef and brown on all sides.  Remove beef, set aside.  Add whole garlic, onion, and carrots, sauté for a few minutes until onions become translucent.  Add the beef back to the pot along with the chopped garlic.  Add beef broth, wine, herbs, and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.  Serve over mashed potatoes or rice. 

*Cook’s note:  The liquid should cover the short ribs; liquid ingredients may vary depending on the size of your pot.  If you have a large pot, add more liquid, keeping the 2 broth to 1 wine ratio.  When finished, there will be a lot of liquid left over, I like to ladle some of the broth over the beef and potatoes, you could also make a quick gravy by adding a flour/water mixture after you remove the beef and vegetables.  Add the flour/water mixture slowly, stirring often, over low heat until desired thickness is reached.