Honey Pecan Granola

Honey Pecan Granola
From Martha Stewart 

I have a love-hate relationship with Martha Stewart.  On the one hand I want to be her (minus the divorce, then I'd have to change the name of my blog! jk).  She makes everything look perfect and effortless.  She makes you think things like "why wouldn't you give beautiful homemade gifts to everyone on your Christmas list??"  So true, Martha!  I'm on it!  I saw her show about homemade granola a few weeks ago and was immediately compelled to do what she was suggesting - make a massive batch and put it in adorable jars and give it to everyone I know.  Great idea!

But following every great Martha idea comes the inevitable moment when I hate her guts for causing me such grief.  This time that moment came in the form of a Ball Jar wild goose chase.  I'd decided to use Ball Jars with special storage caps to package my granola because they are cheap and I have been seeing them in every grocery store for months now.  Little did I know, the "months" I had been seeing them are also known as "summer."  Since Illinois is not one for a December harvest, the canning season officially ended about a month ago.  So after driving to 3 city grocery stores during rush hour 4 days before Christmas, I was about ready to compose some hate mail to one Ms. Martha Stewart.  In a last resort I started calling every grocery store in the city (side note, most customer service people have never heard of a Ball Jar and a few almost hung up on me for what they thought was a prank call...), I finally located the ONE store that still had some in stock.

Long story short, anyone who doesn't read this blog and received this granola was probably very impressed and will forever think that I am that much closer to being Martha Stewart.  As for the rest of you, you'll always be able to imagine me wearing sweats and glasses in a fit of rage at my 3rd grocery store, seriously contemplating punching the bell ringing Santa guy and/or bursting into tears...  At least the granola itself is easy to make!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!


Ingredients

• Pam or other nonstick cooking spray
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cups rolled oats (there's a million kinds of oats out there, make sure you buy ROLLED OATS)
• 2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped
• 1 1/2 cup dried fruit (any kind you like)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees and place racks far enough apart to allow 2 baking sheets at the same time.
2. Lightly coat two baking sheets with cooking spray.  Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, combine oil, sugar, honey, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt.
4. In a large bowl toss oats and pecans to combine.
5. Pour liquid mixture over oats and pecans, scraping the small bowl to get all the liquid out.  Stir until thoroughly combined.
6. Spread mixture out on baking sheets.
7. Bake for 27-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
8. Remove from oven and immediately add fruit and toss.  It will seem a little soft, but don't worry, it hardens before you know it.
9. Allow to sit 10 minutes or until granola is cooled and crunchy.
10. Store in airtight containers for up to 3 weeks, or freeze.

Makes about 7 cups of very addicting granola.

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Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE HONEYMOON KITCHEN!!!

We've got a delicious recipe for granola coming tomorrow, and then we'll be taking a break until the new year.  See you in 2012!

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Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes

Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes
From Cooking Light 

After 4 months of food blogging, we've become very familiar with the question "is it blog-worthy?"  It's always sad to admit it, but some of the stuff we make just doesn't cut it.  It may be a decent dinner, but it's not something we'd recommend to a friend, so into the recipe dumpster it goes.  It's fairly common, actually.  What is not fairly common is a night where the actual meal goes straight to the dumpster.  If taking a nice picture of recipe that never gets posted is sad, tossing an uneaten meal is down right depressing.  But alas, we were plagued with such a situation last week.

As you may recall, we cooked up a massive quantity of pulled pork for our Labor Day BBQ.  Despite making nearly 6 pounds of pulled pork, our first CostCo experience left us with 4 extra pounds which we froze and vowed to find a later use for.  I saw a recipe for an apple cider pork pot roast and thought we'd found the perfect cold-weather use for that puppy.  Being the smart lady that I am, I moved the meat from the freezer to the fridge a WHOLE DAY before I needed it!  Fail.  In case you didn't know (yeah, you probably knew) 4 pounds of frozen solid meat takes more than a day to thaw in the fridge.  And with that error, our window of opportunity was gone.  John started traveling more for work, and before we knew it the meat had been in the fridge for 2 weeks.  In a last ditch effort on a Sunday night when we weren't even that hungry we decided to make the pot roast happen.  In hindsight, I'm not sure the meat smelled quite right, but we went with it.  In 2 hours time we had a lovely grey-brown mass that smelled putrid when we cut into it.  Double fail.

The silver lining?  We made these trusty mashed potatoes as a side dish.  And no one in their right mind scoffs at curling up with a big bowl of mashed potatoes for dinner.


Ingredients

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups onion, diced
• 1 1/2 lb baking potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Preparation

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add onion, saute 15 minutes or until golden.
3. Place potatoes in a medium sauce pan and cover with water.
4. Bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until tender.  Drain and return to pot.
6. Add buttermilk, butter, salt and pepper to potatoes and mash together.
7. Stir in onions.

Serves 4.

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Caesar Salad Deviled Eggs

Caesar Salad Deviled Eggs

From Smitten Kitchen 


As I'm sure everyone knows, last night was the epic basketball match up of Western Illinois University versus University of Illinois at Chicago.  What's that?  You didn't watch???  You didn't even know it took place?  Well by golly, you missed a heck of a game!  John, my parents and I were lucky enough to procure 10th row seats thanks to my dad's active membership in the WIU alumni association.  Since my parents are WIU alums, my dad is also a UIC alum, I am currently a grad student at UIC, and John has the honor of paying for my UIC tuition, this was clearly a very meaningful game to us.  So much so that we left with 2 minutes remaining and missed UIC's come-from-behind victory in the last second.  Woops.


Ok, so the game wasn't the highlight of the evening, but it did give us an excuse to get together and have a few drinks.  And since those drinks took place at our house, it FINALLY gave me a reason to cook something!  Last time I served deviled eggs was at my book club, and I was stunned to discover that a lot of people don't eat deviled eggs or are scared to try one.  Since they're a bit of work to do, I've been hesitant to make them again lest they go to waste.  But with just my parents and John I was sure they'd be a hit, so I whipped up a batch.  And since John's all time favorite salad is Caesar, they were enough to ensure a speedy departure from work to make sure he got a few before we left for the game.


Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 3 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp anchovy paste (original recipe called for 1 anchovy, minced, but paste was all I had on hand)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 cup panko break crumbs
• 2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese (obviously fresh is ideal, but I used the green can and it was perfectly fine)

Preparation

1. Boil the eggs.  I put the eggs in a pot, covered with cold water.  Brought to a boil.  Removed from heat and let sit, covered, for 10 minutes.  Immediately place in an ice bath for at least 5 minutes.  This makes very pretty, but somewhat tender hard boiled eggs, so take care when slicing and scooping the yolks.
2. Peel eggs.
3. Slice eggs in half, long ways.  If you don't have a deviled egg platter, slice slivers from each side to create a bottom for them to sit on.
4. Scoop egg yolks into the bowl of a small food processor or small bowl.  Set whites aside.
5. Add mayo, mustard, Worcestershire, and lemon juice to the yolks.  Mix in food processor or by hand until creamy.
6. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, stirring and tasting to check flavor.
7. Spoon yolks back into whites, or pipe them in with a pastry bag.
8. Heat olive oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat.
9. Add anchovy and garlic to olive oil and cook, stirring constantly, for about one minute or until anchovy dissolves into oil.
10. Add panko and saute until golden, about 2-3 minutes.
11. Stir in Parmesan cheese.
12. Sprinkle panko mixture over eggs and serve.

Makes 12 pieces.

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Curried Egg Salad

Curried Egg Salad
From 101 Cookbooks 

Things in the HMK have been busy busy busy lately.  Well, not the "K" part so much, since the kitchen hasn't been seeing much action these days.  In between Christmas shopping, running errands, working and heading out to endless festivities, restaurants and takeout have become pretty common around here.  So today when I had a few hours at home mid-day, I couldn't pass up the opportunity for a home-cooked lunch.  I managed to swing through the grocery store on the way home from work and grab the short list of ingredients for this egg salad.  It comes together pretty quickly - while the eggs are cooking you can get everything else chopped up and ready to go.  The title makes it sound punchy, and the apple seems a little suspect, but it really melds together and no one flavor dominates the dish.  Serve it on crackers, toasted bread, or on top of a bed of lettuce for a refreshing little lunch any day of the week!


Ingredients

• 5 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 4 Tbsp plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp finely minced onion
• 1/2 medium apple, chopped fairly small, but not minced
• 1/4 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
• 2 Tbsp chives

Preparation

1. Hard boil the eggs.  I think I use a different method for boiling eggs every time, but in this case I went with the recommendation in the recipe, which was to place the eggs in a pot, cover with cold water by 1/2 inch, bring to a gentle boil, remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 7 minutes.  Immediately remove eggs and place in ice water for 3+ minutes.
2. Combine yogurt, curry powder and salt in a large bowl, mixing to combine.
3. Add onion, apple, pecans, chives, and peeled eggs to bowl.
4. Mix everything together using a wooden spoon, smashing the eggs with the back of the spoon.
5. Serve as a sandwich, on crackers, or on a bed of lettuce.  Or just eat with a spoon!

Serves 3-4

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Taco Stuffed Shells

Taco Stuffed Shells
From My Friend Laura's Grandma

For the first time since starting the blog back in August, I've been at a bit of a loss for recipes.  There's a million reasons - December is hectic, we recently acquired an adorable but time consuming new family member (Ralph, our new puppy - be on the lookout for pics), and I haven't spent much time in front of a computer, which is when I do most of my recipe stalking (most people Facebook stalk, I recipe stalk...ok I do both).  But probably the number one reason is that John has been traveling a lot for work, and at the end of the day cooking for one isn't as fun.  Once upon a time it was my main form of cooking, but over the past three years I've gotten used to cooking with two, for two.  It's still doing dishes with one - our marriage isn't that perfect.

Luckily, I have friends ready to step in!  I mentioned my blogging woes at a party over the weekend and my fabulous friend Laura jumped in with not only a fantastic recipe, but an offer to come over and make/eat it with me!  Pretty sweet deal, especially since this is the perfect weekday recipe.  It's super easy and the only ingredient I didn't have laying around was ground beef and the pasta shells.  I *almost* felt bad John missed this one...then I remember that our puppy has to go out every 6 hours and travelling for work = 8 hours of CONTINUOUS sleep...


Ingredients

• 12 jumbo pasta shells
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/8 cup water
• 1 envelope taco seasoning
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 cup shredded cheese (we used a mix of chihuahua and cheddar, but pretty much anything would work)
• 3/4 cup crushed tortilla chips
• sour cream, to serve, optional
• green onions, to serve, optional

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain and toss with butter.  Set aside.
3. In a medium skillet cook beef over medium high, until browned.  Break up with a spoon while cooking.
4. Drain fat.
5. Add 1/4 cup water, taco seasoning, and cream cheese.  Stir to combine and melt cream cheese.
6. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. 
7. Grease a 9x9 baking dish.  Spread a few tablespoons of the salsa across the bottom of the dish.
8. Divide beef mixture across the 12 shells and place in the baking dish. 
9. Top with remaining salsa, cover, and bake 30 minutes.
10. Remove cover, top shells with cheese and tortilla chips, and return to oven for 15 minutes, uncovered.
11. Serve topped with sour cream and green onions.

Serves 4.

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Molasses Cookies

Molasses Cookies
From Framed Cooks 

Holy smokes, these are some delicious cookies.  I've been following the Framed Cooks food blog for about a year now, and have been meaning to make these cookies for nearly as long.  But as I mentioned earlier this month, I try to not make cookies very often, in order to avoid eating cookies too often.  However, I have a few girlfriends coming over for dinner tomorrow night, and having a batch of cookies on hand seemed appropriate.  I'm not sure if molasses cookies really count as Christmas cookies, but I don't see any reason why they couldn't be.  Obviously gingerbread really steals the show in the spiced holiday cookie category, but my mom and I tried a different recipe every year when I was a kid and they never came out quite right.  These, on the other hand, I'm pretty sure are fool proof.


Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar, plus more for rolling cookies
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preparation

1. Place butter, 1 cup sugar, molasses, and egg in a large bowl, stirring until combined.
2. Place flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and salt in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk to sift together.
3. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, stirring until combined.
4. Refrigerate batter until it is hardened.
5. Scoop dough and roll into 1-inch balls (a sturdy ice cream scoop works well).
6. Roll each ball in additional sugar and place on a cookie sheet or a baking sheet lined with parchment.  (I like using parchment because these cookies come out of the oven pretty soft and it allows you transfer them all to a wire cooling rack in one fell swoop).  Space cookies well apart, with about 12 to a sheet.
7. Use your thumb to lightly press down the center of each ball.
8. Bake for 9-10 minutes.  Transfer to a cookie rack immediately to cool.

Makes 3 dozen.

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Beef Tenderloin

Beef Tenderloin
From the Pioneer Woman 

First, let me just say, LOOK AT THAT PICTURE.  Sweet, sweet nearly raw meat, how we love you in the HMK.  On nights when we can't afford to go pick up a beef tenderloin (99.9% of nights) we just pull up this picture and drool a little.

The exciting event that spurred the purchase of this beautiful piece of meat was one of our signature dinner party test runs.  We are planning to do a surf and turf extravaganza for a few friends on New Year's Eve, but until recently we had very little experience with turf.  Far be it for us to make everyone chip in for expensive meat on NYE only to over cook it (just typing it makes me sad inside).  So we splurged on a random weeknight to test it out, and boy are we glad we did.

If you've ever cooked large hunks of meat before, you know that the most important tool, hands down, is a meat thermometer.  We know this.  That's why when we started the recipe we rummaged through our big bin of crap potentially useful kitchen gadgets and found one.  We popped it in the meat, set it on the grill, and...EXPLOSION.  As it turns out, our meat thermometer is NOT, I repeat NOT, the kind you can leave in the oven or grill.  Considering it was Pyrex brand and their supposed specialty is awesome glass capable of cooking on the surface of the sun, this was a very shocking discovery.  So now our [expensive] dinner is cooking away, our thermometer is ruined, and we have absolutely no idea what temp we are at.  Back to the bin of [lifesaving] gadgets.  The only other thermometer we have is a candy thermometer...also not heat stable, but it does have a really long metal part.  SO, John runs back to the grill and Macgyvers some sort of extensive temperature reading station (being honest, I avoid going outside in the fall/winter in Chicago, and thus never actually went out to see this invention.  I'm sure it was marvelous).  In the end: IT WORKED!!!  I'll refer you back to the majestic picture above for proof.

Bottom line: if you are looking for an impressive and delicious holiday protein, consider beef tenderloin...but buy a heat stable meat thermometer FIRST!!!


Ingredients

• 1 whole beef tenderloin (butt), about 4-5 lb
• seasoned salt, to taste (be liberal with it, since only the outside touches seasoning)
• lemon pepper seasoning, to taste (be liberal with it, since only the outside touches seasoning)
• olive oil
• 4 Tbsp butter, divided
• whole peppercorns (about 1/3 cup or more, to taste)

Preparation

1. Preheat grill or oven to 475 degrees.
2. Rinse meat and trim off any fat and cartilage (we're spoiled and our butcher did this for us, which saves a lot of time).
3. Generously sprinkle seasoned salt on the meat, rubbing it in with your hands.
4. Generously sprinkle lemon pepper seasoning on the meat, rubbing it in with your hands.
5. Heat a skillet and add enough olive oil to lightly coat the bottom.
6. When oil reaches it's smoking point, place the tenderloin in the pan and toss 2 tablespoons butter in next to the meat.
7. Sear each side of the meat for a minute or two.
8. Remove seared meat from pan and set aside.
9. Place the peppercorns in a plastic bag.  Smash them with a mallet or whatever aggression-releasing tool you have lying around.  They don't need to be dust, just broken up a bit.
10. Use your hands to rub the peppercorns into the surface of the meat, covering all sides and pressing to make them stick.
11. Place the tenderloin directly onto the grill or in an oven pan with a roasting rack.
12. Top the tenderloin with remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.
13. Insert meat thermometer and cook until meat reaches just under 140 degrees.
14. Place meat on a cutting board and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.
15. Slice and enjoy!

Serves 8.

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Pantry Garlic Bread

Pantry Garlic Bread
From AllRecipes.com 

If you've ever made or ordered Italian food (ummm, if you're human, I assume you have), then you know that it's a week-long effort to consume all the leftovers.  Obviously we can't control absurd restaurant portions, but for whatever reason even when we cook Italian food at home we make WAY too much.  It does reheat relatively well, but all leftovers start to lose their intrigue a few days in.  Usually the night we actually make the Italian dish we go out of our way to buy some delicious garlic bread, make side salads, and get out the fresh Parmesan cheese.  Three days later it turns into an unceremonious bowl of noodles eaten sitting on the couch in front of the TV.  (The image I've just planted is a 100% accurate portrayal of me right now...John's out of town, motivation for dinner making has waned).

So what's a leftover ridden person to do?  Make pantry garlic bread!  If you have a loaf of bread on hand and a fairly normal pantry/fridge, YOU CAN MAKE THIS!  Right now!  The beauty of it is the bread base, which can pretty much be any bread.  Of course, if you have some fabulous crusty Italian bread on hand, more power to you, but I did it with 4-day-old bakery white bread and it was absolutely mouth watering.  Keep the butter and olive oil as written, but you could probably change the seasonings to suit you.  Jarred crushed garlic instead of fresh, sure!  Italian seasoning instead of oregano, why not!  Toss in some crushed red pepper, scrumptious!  I'm hungry just thinking about it (yes, I did just eat it 30 minutes ago, don't judge).


Ingredients

• 8 1-oz slices of bread
• 5 Tbsp butter, softened but not melted
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp coarse salt
• pepper, to taste
• 1 cup mozzarella, shredded (I imagine just about any cheese working fine)

Preparation

1. Arrange oven rack to highest position and preheat broiler.
2. In a small bowl mix the butter, oil, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper.
3. Spread the butter mixture evenly on the bread slices.
4. Arrange slices on a baking sheet.
5. Broil 4-5 minutes, keeping an eye on them to watch for burning.
6. Remove bread from oven, top with mozzarella cheese, and return to oven for 2-3 more minutes.

Makes 8 slices.

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Breakfast Souffle

Breakfast Souffle
From John's Grandma ABC (Rosemary)

Actual conversation:

John: Geez, this is easy to make, I don't know why my mom only makes it Christmas morning.
Tera: Well it makes so much food, it's not like you can just whip it together for 4 people or something.
Pause.
Tera: Wait, that's how many we're making it for.
John: Yeah.....

So yes, this is John's family's official Christmas morning breakfast casserole, and it most certainly serves their family of 6 and then some.  But it's also really delicious and super easy to make, and since it calls for 9 eggs we decided it just couldn't be cut in half.  In retrospect, all the ingredients are pretty simple multiples of 3, so it could actually be cut down quite easily, but there's no Monday morning quaterbacking allowed in the HMK.

Frankly, it's probably for the best that we made so much of it since we enjoyed it while drinking Bloody Marys and screwdrivers at 9am before the Bears game this past weekend.  Considering the amount of cocktails that we ultimately consumed on Sunday, I'm sure we needed all the food we could get to soak up some of the alcohol.  (As you probably noticed, I'm breaking my perfect record of 7am Monday posts thanks to the ensuing hangover...what's that?  you didn't notice...oh, well, sad but true).  In the end the Bears may not have won, but at least this casserole didn't let us down!


Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs bulk breakfast sausage (the stuff that comes in a big log 'o meat)
• 9 eggs
• 3 cups milk
• 1 Tbsp dry mustard
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 slices white bread, cut into 1/4" cubes
• 1.5 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Preparation

1. Brown sausage in a large skillet over medium-high, using a wooden spoon to crumble it up.
2. Whisk eggs, milk, mustard and salt in a large bowl.
3. Stir bread, cheese, and sausage into egg mixture.
4. Pour egg mixture into a greased 13x9 pan.
5. Refrigerate overnight, covered.
6. Uncover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Serves a lot more than 4...probably closer to 8-10.

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Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
From John's Family

The month of December is special for a number of reasons, not the least of which is my sudden willingness to make batch after batch of cookies.  Don't get me wrong, I have a desire to make cookies year-round.  But in the interest of my waistline, I generally only cave to this desire when I can use "'tis the season!" as my excuse for all culinary indiscretions.  Sure, I have space in my diet for the occasional year-round cookie, but in the honeymoon kitchen, a whole batch of cookies for the household = a whole batch of cookies minus two for Tera.  For example, this is how last Saturday played out:

Tera and John bake Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies together.  Tera offers John one of the mixer whisks with cookie dough on it.  John proclaims he doesn't like raw cookie dough.  Tera licks both whisks.  And the bowl.  Batch one of three comes out.  Tera tests a cookie, you know, just to check.  John takes a bite of one and sets it back on the rack.  The minute he turns his back Tera eats the remainder.  He doesn't even notice.  Batch two comes out.  Tera tests it to check for "discrepancies between the two different cookie sheets used."  They taste the same.  Aka still really good.  John is bored so he leaves the kitchen to do other stuff.  Tera sticks around to "supervise the oven"...eats 3 more cookies out of boredom.  Final batch comes out, taste test says all three cookie sheets worked marvolously.  John's mom and sister stop by.  Tera shoves as many cookies as she can fit into some tupperware and begs them to take it away.  About 2 dozen cookies remain on the counter.  You get the picture.  (Speaking of, I obviously had to take a bite of another one for the sake of the above picture...and then eat the rest to reward myself for getting a good shot.)

So in the name of all things merry, enjoy the first of a few Christmas cookie recipes this season, and then don't expect any more until next year!  Happy December!


Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cups vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 10 oz bag mint chocolate morsels (here's the deal, back in the day when John's family made this recipe a Christmas tradition, Nestle made these wonderful mint chocolate chips...in the past year or two they discontinued them and now sell a bag that's a mix of chocolate chips and minty chips...not nearly as good...this year I found bags of Andes mint crumbles and it turns out they work really well) (UPDATE: apparently Ghiradelli makes a good option too, so be on the lookout people, and don't be afraid to stock up!)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.
3. In a large bowl combine vegetable oil and 1 cup sugar.  Mix well.
4. Beat eggs and vanilla extract into oil mixture.
5. Gradually beat in flour mixture.
6. Stir in mint chocolate chip morsels.
7. Shape into small balls (a little smaller than a ping pong ball).  Roll each ball in remaining sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheets.
8. Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Cool completely on wire racks.

Makes 4-5 dozen, depending on how big you rolled them.

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Garlic and Red Pepper Broccoli

Garlic and Red Pepper Broccoli
From Cooking Light 

Alright, here it is, probably the last healthy recipe I'll have a chance to post before next year.  Oy.  Hopefully our actual diet won't be as bad as this blog will make it out to be, but it only seems right to post fun seasonal things during the greatest holiday eating season of the year.

But I was determined to squeeze this recipe in sooner than later.  We took this picture when we made it over a month ago as a side for our fettuccine Alfredo.  And we've made it at least 3 times since then.  It's in our top 3 go-to sides since we keep every ingredient except the broccoli on hand.  I know it sounds super simple and hardly revolutionary, but there really is something special about the result.  I'd recommend following the directions exactly because every time we try to get fancy (aka more red pepper to satiate our weird addiction to heat) we regret it.


Ingredients

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 6 cups broccoli florets (about 1 large head)
• 1/4 tsp coarse salt
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup water

Preparation

1. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add broccoli, salt, crushed red pepper and sliced garlic.  Saute 2 minutes.
3. Add 1/4 cup water.
4. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 2 minutes or until broccoli is crisp tender.

Serves 4.

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Fried Turkey and [Stuffing] Waffles

Fried Chicken Turkey and [Stuffing] Waffles
From Longman and Eagle via Daily Candy 

I swear I am being 100% honest when I tell you I was going to post something healthy today.  I had a lovely broccoli saute all cued up to post since I figured people are probably really full from Thanksgiving and could use something refreshingly light.  That was the plan.

Then this recipe found its way to my inbox.  Stupid inbox, gets me every time.

We came back from our holiday adventures in the suburbs on Saturday morning and immediately whipped up two batches of these - one with leftovers of the stuffing we made last week, and one with the leftovers we brought back from John's family.  Then, after we stuffed ourselves silly, we mixed what remained of both batters and made a combo batch the next morning.  See, that's the great thing about this recipe - it totally doesn't matter what variety of stuffing you have on hand.  And all the other ingredients are pretty standard pantry and fridge staples, so chances are you can whip these up without a trip to the store.  Of course you do have to have a waffle maker, but even our crappy $15 Walmart variety one worked just fine.  And if you're really in a bind, you can probably get away with a pancake of sorts instead.

As for the turkey, well, it's buttermilk fried turkey.  Do you doubt it's good?  Maybe it's because neither of our families does the deep fried turkey thing, but we were seriously enthralled with this concept.  We agreed unequivocally that this was the best use of leftovers we have ever tried.  I know it's already been 4 days, but seriously, if you have ANY leftovers still hanging around, MAKE THIS!!!


Ingredients

Fried Turkey

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 Tbsp seasoned salt
• 1 cup buttermilk (if you only have regular milk, mix 1 Tbsp white vinegar with 1 scant cup of milk, let stand 5 minutes)
• leftover turkey pieces - we think we used about 2-3 cups of chunks of dark meat
• vegetable oil

Stuffing Waffles

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup leftover stuffing
• 2 cups flour
• 1 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• butter (for serving, optional)
• syrup (for serving, optional)
• leftover cranberry sauce (for serving, optional)

Preparation

Fried Turkey

1. Mix flour and seasoned salt in a shallow bowl.
2. Set up a dredging station with the seasoned flour and another shallow bowl with the buttermilk.
3. Dip each piece of turkey in the milk, then the flour.
4. Heat enough vegetable oil to thickly coat the bottom of a high sided skillet.
5. Fry each piece of turkey until golden brown, turning as needed to brown each side.  Do this in batches so that you only have single layers of turkey each time.

Stuffing Waffles

1. Mix eggs and next eight ingredients, through vanilla extract, with a hand mixer.
2. Pour batter into waffle maker, according to manufacturer's instructions.
3. Top with fried turkey and serve with butter, syrup, and cranberry sauce, if desired.

Makes about 10 small waffles.

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Fennel, Sausage and Caramelized Apple Stuffing

Fennel, Sausage, and Caramelized Apple Stuffing
From Cooking Light 

As you are probably aware, Thanksgiving is tomorrow.  And as you probably don't know, John and I attended a fabulous "Friendsgiving" feast on Sunday.  Both of these events involve stuffing.  Lots of delicious stuffing, some of which may even be offered to us as left overs, which is great since we love stuffing.  In fact, love might not be a strong enough word.  Case in point: on Tuesday we made a MASSIVE (i.e. 12 serving) batch of stuffing...for the two of us.  Of course we didn't eat all of it in one sitting, but I'd be willing to bet we polish it off before the week is out.

I blame magazines (obviously I'd never blame our lack of self control...) for this act of gluttony.  The magazine shelves are currently brimming with outrageous cover stories about caramelized veggies, potatoes galore, and of course every variety of stuffing known to man.  The average person only gets to contribute one or two dishes to their family's feast, so for cooking addicts like us there's just not enough Thanksgivings in a lifetime to make everything that looks amazing.  Thus, we had no choice but to cave in and make this awesome stuffing recipe on a random Tuesday night sandwiched between two legitimate holiday feasts.
Don't worry, we turned it into a real meal by sauteing some extra sausage with red pepper and red onion strips and having some garlicky broccoli on the side, but in the end this stuffing stole the show.  The apples add a hint of sweetness without over powering it, and the sausage is the perfect savory note.  It's certainly not traditional Stove Top style, but it's not so far off that traditionalists would be insulted.  So if you're one of the lucky ones that gets to contribute stuffing this year and for some reason haven't found a recipe yet, consider giving this one a try!


Ingredients

• 12 oz sourdough bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• cooking spray
• 9 oz Italian sausage (we used hot Italian sausage, but mild works too)
• 5 tsp olive oil, divided
• 4 cups chopped onion
• 1 1/4 cups fennel bulb, sliced
• 1 1/4 cups carrot, chopped
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves (the recipe called for 2 Tbsp chopped fresh sage, but we didn't have any)
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
• 5 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
• 1/2 tsp black pepper, divided
• 3 cups apple, chopped (we used Honey Crisp, the recipe called for Golden Delicious)
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 1/2 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 2 large eggs

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.  Bake for 16 minutes, stirring after 8 minutes.  Place toasted bread in a large bowl.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Coat with cooking spray.
4. Remove casings froms sausage and add to pan.  Cook 8 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble.  Add cooked sausage to bread bowl, reserving sausage grease.
5. Add 3 tablespoons oil to sausage grease, swirling to coat.
6. Add onion, sliced fennel bulb, carrot, thyme, crushed fennel seeds, garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to the pan.  Saute 8 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.  Add veggies to bread mixture.
7. Add 2 tsp oil to pan, swirling to coat.
8. Add apple and sugar, and saute 5 minutes or until apple caramelizes, stirring occasionally.  Add apple mixture to bread mixture.
9. Whisk broth and eggs in a small bowl.
10. Add broth mixture and 1/4 tsp pepper to mixture, tossing well to combing.
11. Spoon mixture into a 13x9 inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray.
12. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
13. Remove foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until browned and crisp on top.

Serves 12.

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Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
From allrecipes.com 

Happy four days till Thanksgiving!  Is there any other week all year with an anticipation level quite like this?  Just four days till a gloriously long weekend, unabashed Christmas decorating, and of course, the meal to end all meals.

Interestingly, though I think not uncommonly, neither John nor I are big turkey eaters.  For us it's the side dishes that really steal the show.  Just the thought of stuffing gets my heart racing.  We recently had a sample of some mediocre store brand stuff at the grocery store and we were practically drooling in our little paper cups.

At this year's family Thanksgiving feast the stuffing is being covered by my mom, but we're excited to contribute an appetizer and a Brussels sprouts side dish.  For the sprouts we naturally thought of our Roasted Brussels Sprouts recipe, but that dish pretty much demands to be eaten right after roasting and we were worried there might not be enough space in my aunt's oven.  To be safe we decided to test out a few recipes that could be made in advance and reheated in the microwave before serving.  This recipe turned out to be a big winner, and although best eaten fresh, it can definitely be reheated - just add the bacon and almonds after it's been microwaved.  As it turns out my aunt is a kitchen logistics master and we're able to make the roasted sprouts after all, but we're hardly complaining about adding this awesome dish to our repertoire.


Ingredients

• 1/2 lb bacon
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2/3 cup slivered almonds
• 2 lb Brussels sprouts, shredded (use a food processor for speedy prep)
• 3 green onions, minced
• 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
• pepper, to taste

Preparation

1. Place bacon in a cold, large, deep skillet.  Cook over medium-high heat till crisp.  Set aside to drain on paper towels.
2. Discard bacon grease, reserving 2 tablespoons in the skillet.
3. Reduce heat to medium.  Melt butter with reserved bacon grease.
4. Add almonds and cook, stirring constantly, until lightly browned.  (If you are planning to reheat the dish to serve later, skip this step and toast the almonds in a dry pan or the oven so that you can add them after microwaving the sprouts).
5. Add Brussels sprouts, green onions, seasoned salt and pepper.
6. Cook over medium heat until sprouts are wilted and tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.
7. Crumble bacon on top just before serving.

Serves 8 as a side dish.

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Cranberry Dip

Cranberry Dip
From the Honeymoon Kitchen

Brace yourselves folks, eating season has officially arrived.  From about November 15th through January 2nd the honeymoon kitchen turns into a lean, mean, holiday food making machine.  Well, maybe not so lean...

Right now we're in the throes of Thanksgiving prep, which means testing out potential recipes to contribute to the big family dinner next week.  We're somewhat neurotic when it comes to finding the perfect recipe, and we always test things out before serving them to the masses.  This usually results in a lot of weird dip-for-dinner, veggies-for-breakfast type meals, but we can't complain.

This particular dip was inspired by a Whole Foods cranberry dip and it's certainly pretty enough for any holiday spread.  The only problem with it is that I couldn't figure out when to serve it.  It's delicious but a little too sweet for an appetizer to a big dinner.  I think it could be perfect for a holiday cocktail gathering, but alas, we don't have any such event on the calendar this year.  Oh well, it made for a decadant dinner and a number of fantastic afternoon snacks!


Ingredients

• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 1 tsp + 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 4 oz goat cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 tsp orange zest
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted (you may notice a variety of nuts in the pic because we were experimenting - trust me, go with almonds, they were the winner by far)

Preparation

1. Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat.
2. Add diced onions.  Saute, stirring often, until onions are softened.
3. Add 1 tsp sugar and mix well. Cook until onions are caramelized, stirring often, about 10 minutes.
4. Remove onions from skillet and set aside.
5. Add cranberries, water, and 1/4 cup sugar, stirring to dissolve sugar.  Cook until cranberries are softened, periodically smushing them with a wooden spoon, about 7 minutes or until mixture thickens.
6. Add balsamic vinegar and caramelized onions.  Stir to combine.
7. Chill cranberry topping at least 1 hour.
8. Meanwhile, mix cream cheese, goat cheese, orange zest, and orange juice together with a hand mixer.
9. Spread cheese mixture in the bottom of a serving dish.  Top with chilled cranberry mixture and slivered almonds.
10. Serve immediately or chill up to 3 days.  (I thought it got better after a night in the fridge.)

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Magic Sauce

Magic Sauce
From 101 Cookbooks 

Oh magic sauce, how do I use thee?  Let me count the ways.  Roasted chicken.  Baked potato.  Scrambled eggs.  Dipping oil.  Roasted squash.  Frittata.  And the list goes on.

We initially whipped up a batch of this oil to rub down chicken thighs that we roasted, shredded and used in our fettuccine Alfredo.  We had a lot left over so we popped it in the fridge for "later use."  We put a lot stuff in the fridge for "later use," which is typically just a synonym for "throwing out in 7 days."  But not magic sauce.  I pulled it out every day that week until I was scraping the bottom of the jar with bread scraps.  The recipe says it will last 3 weeks in the fridge, but I guess if I want to test that out I'll have to make a triple batch next time.


Ingredients

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves
• 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
• 2 medium cloves of garlic, smashed into a paste
• 1 well-crumbled bay leaf (hotly debated on a number of websites, but yes, you can eat dried bay leaf - we didn't die anyway)
• 1 pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon grain sea salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preparation

1. Gently warm the olive oil over medium-low heat in a skillet or pan, until it is just hot, but not so hot that stuff sizzles when you drop it in. Remove from heat. 
2. While the oil is warming, lightly pound the rosemary, thyme, and oregano in a mortar and pestle.  We don't have one, so we busted out the meat pounder mallet then and just smushed them around a bit on the cutting board with that.
3. Stir the paprika, garlic, bay leaf, red pepper flakes, and salt into the oil.
4. Add the bruised herbs and lemon juice. 
5. Use now, or store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.  If it thickens when cold, just set it in the sun or on top of a warm oven for a few minutes when you want to use it.

Makes about 1/2 cup.

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Fettuccine Alfredo

Fettuccine Alfredo
From Cooking Light 

"Light" fettuccine Alfredo shouldn't be good.  It's supposed to be a heavy, fat laden dish that you can't justify eating more than once or twice a year.  So why is this Cooking Light version SO good?  Answer: we don't know.  It's been discussed at length in our house, and we simply can't figure it out.  We are generally anti low-fat dairy in cooking, as it rarely performs well and doesn't save nearly enough calories to make it worth it.  For example, we'd never dream of swapping out the plethora of cow-based fat in our beloved mac and cheese.  But here, it just works.

The only possible answer we could come up with is that maybe our guilt doesn't allow us to order fettuccine Alfredo in restaurants enough to have a very clear comparison of this version versus something more typical.  Regardless, we have never once finished this dish feeling anything less than decadently satisfied.  I'm always tempted to up the sauce:pasta ratio, but you really don't need to.  This time we even mixed in some shredded, roasted chicken, and it was still plenty of sauce.  On that note, it's the perfect dish to add stuff to - broccoli, mushrooms, chicken, it's all good.


Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp butter
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tbsp flour
• 1 1/3 cups 1% milk
• 1 1/4 cups (5-oz) Parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 Tbsp 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 8-oz uncooked fettuccine
• fresh ground black pepper, optional

Preparation

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add garlic.  Cook one minute, stirring often.
3. Stir in flour.
4. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly with a whisk. 
5. Cook 6 minutes, or until mixture thickens, still stirring constantly.
6. Add most of the Parmesan cheese (save a little for garnish), cream cheese, and salt.  Stir with a whisk until cheese melts.
7. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain.
8. Toss sauce with hot pasta.
9. Top with reserved Parmesan cheese and pepper.

Serves 4.

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Seared Tuna Salad with Wasabi Vinaigrette

Seared Tuna Salad with Wasabi Vinaigrette
From Bobby Flay 

Four and a half years ago I threw my very first dinner party.  I had just graduated college and was living by myself at my parent's new condo in downtown Chicago.  I must have been pretty dead set on throwing that party, because if I recall correctly the condo was so brand-spanking-new that it wasn't even fully furnished yet.  Among the missing furniture was a kitchen table, which makes current-me wonder what past-me was thinking throwing a dinner party (but I could waste a lot of time dwelling on such questions, so let's move on).  I ultimately served this a beautiful seared tuna salad on a black bed sheet spread over the coffee table with everyone sitting on the floor around it to eat.  (Talk about easy-to-please guests - I should throw dinner parties for 22 year olds more often!)

Four and a half years later, I don't remember many more details about that night, and frankly I had nearly forgotten about it altogether.  But I was hanging out with one of my lucky guests the other day and she mentioned that my little dinner party had turned her on to seared tuna for life.  It made me realize how long it had been since I made seared tuna, so I dug through my recipe archives and John and I whipped up that very same dish the next night.  We ate it at the dining room table this time, but it still had all the charm of my dinner party back in 2007.


Ingredients

• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons wasabi paste (usually comes in a shelf-stable toothpaste tube type thing - check the Asian aisle or if your grocery store sells fresh sushi near the fish counter, check there)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 tuna steaks (6-oz each) (make sure you get high quality tuna, since you're pretty much eating it raw - we usually go to a fish market for this dish, but Whole Foods would work too)
• peanut oil
• 4 cups salad greens (we used baby arugula, which was really nice - I would recommend something with character, maybe a little peppery spice - definitely NOT iceberg or even Romain - avoid watery greens)
• 2 avocados, peeled, pitted and thinly sliced
• 2 plum tomatoes, finely chopped

Preparation

1. Whisk together vinegar, wasabi paste, and oil.  Add salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
2. Heat grill or grill pan to medium high.
3. Brush steaks with oil and season generously with salt and pepper.
4. Grill for 30 seconds on each side, just to obtain grill marks (use your discretion, I like tuna really raw and freaked out and made John flip them at like 15 seconds).
5. Thinly slice tuna, against the grain.
6. Place one cup of salad greens on each plate.  Top with avocado, tomatoes, tuna and dressing.

Serves 4.

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Chilaquiles

Chilaquiles
From the Honeymoon Kitchen

Probably one of the biggest things John and I have going for us as a couple is a mutual non-pickiness when it comes to food.  I mean, we both prefer good food, but as ingredients go, we're not opposed to much.  We use this to our advantage regularly in our quest to sample as much good food as possible.  For example, we almost always split food at restaurants, allowing us each to eat two entrees.  This strategy makes me happy ALMOST all the time.  Brunch at Feast, a restaurant we've been frequenting for years, is the exception.

Feast has, hands down, the best chilaquiles I have ever had.  We've tried them at countless other venues and nothing compares.  The only problem is that we can't find a single other half decent item on the brunch menu.  As a result, the same scene plays itself out time and time again.  We sit down, order chilaquiles and XYZ mediocre second dish, relax until the food comes, and then engage in an all out battle for more face time with the chilaquiles, alternating choking down the crappier dish and scarfing the as much chiliaquiles as possible before the other person demands a switch-back.  In theory we could just get two orders of chilaquiles, but it just feels too defeatist.

In an attempt to reduce our trips to Feast, and thus our morning stress, we've resorted to making our own version of chilaquiles at home.  While it's certainly no Feast, the version is pretty delicious and definitely satisfies our craving...at least for a little while!


Ingredients

• 4 oz Mexican chorizo (the tube of raw, crumbly stuff)
• ¼ of a white onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
• 2 dried chilis
• 1 cup of your favorite jarred salsa (something saucy like most jarred varieties, a pico de gallo won’t really work here)
• 1 Tbsp heavy cream
• ¼ tsp salt
• 30 Tostitos rounds tortilla chips (I guess they don't HAVE to be Tostitos, but I find that they perform best when baked)
• ¼ of a white onion, sliced
• ½ cup shredded chihuahua cheese, or a Mexican shredded cheese blend
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 green onion, sliced, for garnish

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place chorizo in a cold skillet and cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes, until cooked and fat is released.
3. Remove chorizo and drain over paper towels.  Leave drippings in pan.
4. Add onion, garlic, and whole dried chilis to drippings and turn heat up to medium-high.  Saute until translucent, about 5 minutes.
5. Add salsa, cream and salt to pan.  Turn heat down to low and simmer 10 minutes.
6. Remove both chilis and set aside.  Taste the sauce and decide if you want it hotter.  Chop up the reserved chilis and add back in the amount needed to reach desired level of heat.  We added one back in and tossed the other.
7. Spread 15 tortilla chips across the bottom of an ungreased baking dish.  Sprinkle the chips with ½ of the onion slices, ½ of the cooked chorizo, ½ of the sauce, and ½ of the cheese.
8. Add another layer of 15 tortilla chips, the remaining onion slices, chorizo, sauce and cheese.
9. Bake for 25 minutes.
10. When the chiliquilas are almost done baking heat butter in a small skillet over low heat.
11. Whisk the eggs in a bowl and then pour them into the skillet.
12. Cook over low heat, stirring gently but constantly for about 5 minutes, until eggs are soft scrambled.
13. Remove chiliquilas from oven and top with eggs and green onions.

Serves 2-3.

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Jalapeno Cheddar Scones

Jalapeno Cheddar Scones
From the Honeymoon Kitchen

Baking is a crazy thing.  You see, it's normal for me to spend 90% of my day looking at recipes from various sources, but I don't just go making them all.  Why?  Because there's barriers to savory cooking.  Namely having the ingredients.  But baking, oh baking, somehow you are a whole culinary category based almost entirely on different combinations of the same 7 or 8 shelf stable ingredients.  Flour?  Check.  Sugar?  Check.  Salt?  Check.  Butter?  Is that even a question???  You get the gist.  So the other day when I stumbled upon a few scone recipes online, I couldn't think of one single reason why I shouldn't go downstairs and bake some at that very moment.  One might suggest self control, or the fact that it was 3pm and I wasn't hungry, or that John wasn't even home to share them with me as potential reasons, but somehow those didn't occur to me.

Despite their superfluousness at the time, I'm super glad I didn't let this recipe fall through the cracks.  They turned out amazing, not only right out of the oven, but a few hours later at room temperature, and then frozen raw and baked a few days later.  John did ultimately get to sample that frozen batch, and he immediately agreed that we need to find a more legitimate reason to make them again soon.  We're thinking they might make an awesome dinner roll alternative at one of the holiday dinners in our near future.
One note on the origin of this recipe.  My overall inspiration came from Smitten Kitchen.  First I stumbled on a recipe for cranberry scones that was praised for its creamy texture.  I wasn't feeling sweet, though, so I kept searching until I came upon her cheddar jalapeno version.  I ultimately decided to create a sort of hybrid, which is how these came to exist.


Ingredients

• 1/2 Tbsp butter
• 2 jalapenos, minced
• 2 cups flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 lb sharp cheddar, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Melt 1/4 tablespoon butter in a small skillet over medium high.
3. Saute jalapenos until soft, about 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.
4. Measure out the 2 cups of flour.  Remove 1 tablespoon and toss with jalapenos and cheese cubes.  Set aside.
5. Whisk together remaining flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl.
6. Add cold butter cubes to dry ingredients and cut them together using a pastry blender or two forks, until it looks like course meal with a few clumps.
7. Stir in cream and jalapeno-cheese mixture, mixing with a fork just until dough forms, about 20 seconds.
8. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed just until it comes together in a rough ball, about 10 seconds.
9. Lightly flour an 8-inch cake pan.  Press dough into pan in an even layer.
10. Turn dough back out onto floured surface so that now you have a flat 8x8 square of dough.
11. Cut dough into 8 triangles.
12. Bake scones on un-greased parchment paper for 12-15, until tops are light brown.
13. Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  I'm told they're not great the next day, but I wouldn't know first hand...
14. If you want to freeze them for later use, work through step 11 and then place the triangles on a sheet pan or flat surface in the freezer.  Freeze them like that over night, and then you can toss them all in a gallon bag or something air tight for longer-term storage.  When you're ready to cook them just go straight from frozen and cook them a little longer, about 20 minutes.

Makes 8 scones.

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Jalapeno Butternut Squash Soup

Jalapeno Butternut Squash Soup
From Derek Clayton 

If you've been keeping up with the HMK since the beginning, you may be thinking "geez, they make a LOT of soup!"  Ironically, our pre-blog soup consumption was pretty exclusively Campbell's based.  I've always loved soup and there's been a few ill-fated attempts a making it over the years, but I was never able to produce anything as creamy and comforting as the old Campbell's can (sad, I know).  Usually my attempts involved an immersion blender that I had a brief love affair with.  If you have one, you know that they're super fun to use and hold the promise of being quick, easy, and low mess.  But what they don't offer is creamy.  All my soups were oddly chunky and mealy, and after a particularly off-putting batch of lentil soup, John put a moratorium on the soup making.

Then the KitchenAid 5-Speed KSB560 blender came into our lives. 


That's right, a basic blender that we got as a wedding gift changed everything.  We finally gave into the potential mess and started using our shiny new toy to blend soups.  We hit puree and walk away.  In just 2 minutes, beautiful velvety smooth soup is born.  Now we make every creamy soup that crosses our paths, and we haven't looked back.


Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash (about 3 pounds)
• olive oil
• coarse salt
• 1 tsp butter, melted
• 2 pinches cayenne pepper
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 yellow onions, finely chopped
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
• 2 medium celery ribs, chopped
• ½ jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped (we left the seeds in...and it was HOT.  your call)
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 4 cups chicken stock (store bought is totally fine, but if you're feeling overzealous, make your own!)
• ½ cup heavy cream
• cider vinegar, to taste
• salt, to taste
• 1 Granny Smith apple, thinly sliced into matchsticks, optional
• ½ cup cilantro leaves, chopped, optional

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Slice the squash in half lengthwise.  Scoop out the seeds and fibrous pulp, reserving the seeds.
3. Use a sharp knife to score the neck portion of the squash flesh several times.  Rub the flesh with olive oil and season with coarse salt.
4. Place the squash on a parchment lined baking sheet, cut side down.  Roast for 1 hour.
5. Remove from oven, allow to cool slightly, and scrape flesh from skin.  Set aside.
6. Rinse the seeds in a colander and dry with paper towels.
7. Place the seeds on a baking sheet and toast at 400 degrees for 7 minutes, or until golden and fragrant.
8. In a small bowl, whisk together melted butter, cayenne pepper, cinnamon and a large pinch of salt.  Toss with seeds and set aside.
9. Heat vegetable oil in a medium stockpot over medium heat.
10. Add the onions, carrots, celery and jalapeno.  Cook, stirring often, until tender, about 10 minutes.
11. Add the maple syrup and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes.
12. Add squash, chicken stock, and cream.  Simmer for 10 minutes.
13. Transfer soup to blender and puree until velvety smooth.
14. Return to pot over low heat and season to taste with cider vinegar and salt.
15. Serve hot, garnished with seeds, apple, and cilantro.

Serves 6.

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Homemade Chicken Stock

Homemade Chicken Stock
From Ina Garten 

Making your own chicken stock is clearly not necessary.  According to me, and according to most sane people.  BUT, something strange happens when you watch enough episodes of Martha Stewart and The Barefoot Contessa.  Sure, at first you mock the TV screen and joke about fetching eggs from your chickens out back.  But then one day you wake up and say something absurd to your husband: "honey, I think we should make our own chicken stock today."  And then, because he's been second hand smoking this crazy food babble for the past 3 years, he agrees to the process of sitting around all Saturday afternoon to make this happen (to be fair, college football season makes the sitting around part less objectionable for him).

So what was the result?  Actually, a pretty awesome product for what was really very little work.  Everything goes into the pot whole or nearly whole, so there's not much hands on effort.  And it makes a TON of stock, so thanks to some Gladware and our new freezer in the garage, we'll be enjoying this super rich stock for a while to come.


Ingredients

• 2 (5-pound) roasting chickens
• 2 large yellow onions, unpeeled and quartered
• 4 carrots, unpeeled and halved
• 2 stalks celery with leaves, cut into thirds
• 3 parsnips, unpeeled and cut in half
• 15 sprigs fresh parsley
• 10 sprigs fresh thyme
• 15 sprigs fresh dill
• 1 head garlic, unpeeled and cut in 1/2 crosswise
• 1 1/2 Tbsp coarse salt
• 1 1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns

Preparation

1. Place the chickens, onions, carrots, celery, parsnips, parsley, thyme, dill, garlic, salt, and peppercorns into a 12-quart stockpot.
2. Add 5 quarts of water and bring to a boil.
3. Simmer, uncovered, for 2 hours.
4. Remove the chickens and place in a big bowl.  Pull the breast meat off both chickens. 
5. Return the carcases and all scraps to the pot.  Simmer, uncovered, for an additional 2 hours.
6. Strain the entire contents of the pot through a colander and discard the solids.
7. Chill the stock overnight.
8. The next day the fat will have congealed on the top.  Skim it off with a ladle.
9. Use immediately, or pack in containers and freeze for up to 3 months.

Makes about 4 quarts.

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Chipotle Cranberry Sweet Potato Salad

Chipotle Cranberry Sweet Potato Salad
From Cooking Light 

Happy Halloween!!  I wish I had a really cool series of Halloween themed recipes for you, but for the first time in, well, ever, we aren't doing much to celebrate this year.  Normally we do the requisite costume party (NEVER in couples costumes...proof that John does win the occasional argument), and sometimes that even means bringing a spooky-themed appetizer or dessert.  But this year it never really came together.  We had a few costume ideas that never materialized, and the party we've been going to for the past 3 Halloweens isn't happening this year.  The final nail in the coffin (hehe) was a chance to dog sit John's parent's ADORABLE little rascal, Ellie.  They're not puppies forever, and we were determined to parade her around the city before she lost her "awwww" factor.

Long story short, the best I could do was this sweet potato recipe I made recently.  Hey, at least it's orange!  And for what it's worth, it's a really really really good recipe.  It called for fresh cranberries, but we always have dried ones on hand so I adapted it to work with those.  If you happen to have fresh, just check out the link to the original recipe.  I imagine it would turn out a little saucier, which could be a nice touch, but definitely not necessary.


Ingredients

• 2 1/2 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1 (3.5-ounce) can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper 
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tsp honey
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds (it called for toasted pumpkin seeds, which would probably be awesome, but I'm allergic...sad story)
• 3/4 cup green onions, chopped 
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Place sweet potatoes on a large baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper.  Toss to combine.
3. Bake for 30 minutes, tossing after 15 minutes.
4. Take 2 chilis from the can and chop them.
5. Place 1 tablespoon oil, 1 tablespoon chopped chilis, 1 teaspoon adobo sauce, cranberries, water, and honey in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium-low heat.
6. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook 10 minutes.
7. Use a fork to mash the sauce up a little, releasing any juices from the reconstituted cranberries.
8. Combine potatoes, sauce, sunflower seeds, green onions and cilantro.  Gently toss to coat.

Serves 4-6.

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Houseguest

World’s cutest house guest. Babysitting John’s parent’s 4 month old Golden Retriever puppy, Ellie, this week. Lucy already taught her how to beg while we cook :)

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Grilled Chicken & Roasted Red Pepper Panini

Grilled Chicken & Roasted Red Pepper Panini
From The Pioneer Woman 

John is generally wary of meatless dinners, but he has been a great sport throughout my ongoing fall produce-based entree rampage.  So when I set my sights on making parsnip soup for dinner last week I decided to be nice and suggest a soup and sandwich duo. 

John's sandwich pick is from one of his favorite man-friendly food blogs, the Pioneer Woman.  It rounded out our meal perfectly, and was really flavorful and hearty.  The marinated, grilled chicken is beyond awesome.  I could have easily just eaten that as an entree, and one of these days we probably will.  But taking it to the next level and making the panini is easy enough.  I bet you could even use jarred roasted red peppers for a great result and a few less steps.  Plus the pesto mayo spread can easily be re-purposed the next day for breakfast sandwiches.

Ingredients

• 2 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 8 whole sundried tomatoes, packed in oil
• 3 Tbsp prepared basil pesto (we used jarred - but use your own if you're awesome and have some on hand!)
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 red bell peppers
• 8 slices provolone cheese
• 8 slices bread
• 2 Tbsp butter, softened

Preparation

1. Pound chicken until it's uniformly thick.
2. In a blender or food processor puree sundried tomatoes, pesto, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
3. Mix 3 tablespoons of the tomato mixture with mayonnaise.  Cover and refridgerate until needed.
4. Add remaining mixture to a ziploc bag with the chicken breasts. Smush around to coat the chicken, then refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
5. Heat heavy skillet or grill to medium.  Grill chicken until done.  Slice into strips.
6. If you have a gas range, blacken red peppers directly over the flame.  If you do not have a gas range, blacken them directly under the oven broiler.
7. Immediately seal blackened peppers in a ziploc bag. Allow peppers to sit, sealed, in the bag for at least 20 minutes. When cool enough to handle, remove from bag and use fingers to slip off the blackened skin. (Don't be afraid to leave some black bits!)
8. Cut the peppers in half, remove seeds, and slice into strips.
9. To assemble the panini, spread mayo mixture on one side of all 8 slices of bread.  Place chicken, peppers, and 2 slices of cheese on the mayo side of 4 of the bread slices.   Top with second bread slice, mayo side down.  Butter the outsides of the bread.
10. Grill in panini pan until the cheese looks melty and the bread is brown and crunchy.

Serves 4

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Parsnip, Pear & Pistachio Soup

Parsnip, Pear & Pistachio Soup
From Stephanie Izard 

Just in case I forget to think about food for more than 5 minutes, I've made sure to subscribe to a plethora of eating and cooking email services.  They never fail to tempt me with seasonal and innovative recipes from awesome local chefs and restaurants.  This soup came from a Daily Candy email featuring Chicago restaurant goddess Stephanie Izzard, of Top Chef Season 4 fame.  I'm embarrassed to admit it's actually one of the only seasons we've never seen (and quick to blame Bravo for not releasing it to Netflix), but we did recently have a fantastic dinner at her new(ish) restaurant, Girl and the Goat.

If you've never used a parsnip before, have no fear.  They basically look and act like a stumpy white carrot.  As for the pistachios, word to the wise: buy them pre-shelled if you have the means!  We have an unspoken agreement in the honeymoon kitchen that I do most of the dishes in exchange for John doing the crappiest prep tasks, but I still felt a rare pang of sympathy watching him shell 3/4 cup of pistachios!  I wonder if he feels that way when I clean dishes with caked on cheese....


Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1/3 cup yellow onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 8 oz parsnips, peeled and sliced
• 2 ripe Anjou pears, peeled and diced
• ¾ cup shelled, roasted, salted pistachios, divided
• ½ cup white wine
• 3½ cup chicken broth
• 1 medium sized dried red chile (she suggests Thai or bird chile, but I could only find Mexican varieties)
• 1 cup coconut milk (recipe calls for regular milk, but I like coconut milk in soups)

Preparation

1. Melt butter in a medium stock pot over medium heat.
2. Cook onion and garlic until translucent, but not browned - about 3-5 minutes.
3. Add parsnips, pears, 1/2 cup pistachios and wine.  Cook until the liquid is almost completely gone.
4. Add broth and chili, and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat and simmer until parsnips are soft, about 1 hour.
6. Transfer soup to blender and puree until velvety smooth.
7. Return to pot, stir in milk and heat until warm enough to serve.
8. Garnish with remaining 1/4 cup pistachios.

Serves 4-6.

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