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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Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Roasted Brussels Sprouts
From Ina Garten 

Brussels sprout season excites me.  A lot.  If this puts me in the minority I think it's largely because the majority hasn't tried Ina Garten's roasted Brussels sprouts recipe.  In her description she talks about salting them heavily and eating them like french fries.  That sounds like a crazy comparison, but it's really not once you taste them.  Done right, these sprouts are crunchy and salty on the outside and buttery smooth on the inside.  I've been known to eat whole baking sheets of them in leui of dinner when John is out of town.

However, in the interest of full disclosure, I should admit that John likes, but does not love, this recipe.  His brother, who happens to be an excellent cook, makes a Brussels sprouts dish that includes bacon, and John reminds me every time we have these that bacon makes everything better.  One day maybe we'll steal that recipe for the blog, but until then, try these.  I promise you [probably] won't be disappointed!


Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lb Brussels sprouts
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 tsp coarse salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut off brown stem ends of Brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves.
3. In a large bowl toss Brussels sprouts, oil, 3/4 tsp salt, and pepper.
4. Pour them onto a sheet pan and roast for 35-40 minutes, shaking the pan every 10-15 minutes so that they brown evenly.
5. Once crispy (almost burnt looking on the outside), remove from oven and toss with additional coarse salt, to taste.

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Brussels Sprouts Stalks

Reason #385 why I love farmers markets - see what your food looked like when it was growing!  Who knew Brussels sprouts grew on stalks???  Recipe for roasting them to perfection coming Monday.

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Braised Short Ribs with Parmesan Polenta

Braised Short Ribs with Parmesan Polenta
From Cooking Light 

Despite this being my 5th straight year subscribing to Cooking Light magazine, I still get super excited every time a new one comes in the mail.  I read each issue cover to cover and we usually find one or two must-make recipes.  But this year's October issue was out of control.  I wanted to make EVERYTHING.  There was even a whole section on braised meats in which every page looked better than the last.

With that said, we usually steer clear of "light" recipes for company.  But this short rib recipe hardly looked like health food.  We decided to test it out before dinner with John's parents, and sure enough it was so awesome we didn't even mind eating it twice in two weeks!

We were especially surprised to find that the gremolata, which sounds superfluous at first, really makes the dish - and we aren't even big parsley fans!  Our only change the second time around was to up the sauce to meat ratio a little because the sauce was so delectable dripping down over the cheesy polenta.  Pair this dish with a nice roasted or sauteed veggie and you've got a knock out meal - for company or just for yourself!


Ingredients


Ribs

• 2 lb bone-in beef short ribs, trimmed 5/8 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp olive oil, divided
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3/4 cup chopped shallots
• 1/2 cup chopped carrot
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 6 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1/8 tsp dried rosemary2 1/2 cups Cabernet Sauvignon or other dry red wine
• 1 1/4 cups beef broth
• 1 tsp flour
• 2 tsp water
• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Gremolata Topping

• 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 1 garlic clove, minced

Polenta

• 3 cups fat free milk
• 1 cup water
• 5/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1 cup quick-cooking polenta
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sprinkle ribs with salt and pepper.
3. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
4. Saute ribs, turning to brown on each side, about 6 minutes.  If all ribs can't fit in a single layer, brown them in batches, splitting the 2 teaspoons of oil across the batches.
5. Remove ribs and set aside.
6. Add onion and next 5 ingredients (through rosemary) to pan.  Saute 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
7. Add wine to pan and bring to a boil, scraping the bottom of the pan to release any brown bits.
8. Cook 13 minutes, or until liquid has reduced to about 2 cups.
9. Add broth and bring to a boil.
10. Return ribs to pan, cover, and bake 1 1/2 hours, turning ribs after 45 minutes.
11. Remove ribs from pan and strain cooking liquid through a fine mesh sieve, using a spoon to press all the juice out of the vegetable pulp.
12. Return strained liquid to the pan along with flour and water, whisking to combine.
13. Bring to a boil.  Cook 11 minutes, until reduced to about 1 cup.  Stir in vinegar.
14. To prepare gremolata combing parsley, lemon zest and garlic in a small bowl.  Set aside.
15. To prepare polenta, bring milk, water, salt and pepper to a boil in a sauce pan over medium heat.
16. Slowly stir in polenta.  Cook 5 minutes, or until thick, stirring frequently.
17. Stir in cheese.
18. Divide polenta among bowls, top with short ribs, reduced sauce, and a sprinkle of gremolata.

Serves 4-6

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Caprese Bruschetta

Caprese Bruschetta
From Giada De Laurentiis

One of the nice things about living 30 miles away from your parents is you can get together fairly often, yet infrequently enough to make a special occasion of it.  For example, last weekend we had John's parents over for dinner, which seemed like the perfect excuse to use our new place settings and put together a festive table.

We always take menu planning pretty seriously, but the advent of the blog has definitely changed the game a little.  John's mom put in a special request for the bacon kale, which we were happy to fulfill.  We've also been looking for a reason to serve our papaya soup, so we started with those two items and built the menu from there.  The plan was to keep appetizers simple and just buy store bought bruschetta topping and a loaf of French bread to toast up.  However, John was feeling inspired and came across this simple recipe from Giada De Laurentiis.  He whipped up the topping that afternoon and then we toasted the bread and topped them right before serving.  It turned out to be totally worth the incremental effort for these fresh and delicious treats!  And, bonus, we had a little extra topping and mozzerella, which made for awesome caprese paninis the next day!


Ingredients

• 1 (32 oz) can whole tomatoes, drained
• 1 cup fresh basil, plus extra for garnish
• 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• 2 French baguettes, cut into 1 inch slices (~36 slices)
• 1 1/2 lbs mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/4 inch slices

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Place tomatoes, 1 cup basil, olive oil and garlic in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse until smooth with some chunks.
3. Place bread slices in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Bake for 3 minutes until light golden brown.
4. Place a slice of mozzarella on each piece of bread and return to oven for 1 minute, or until cheese starts to melt.
5. Top each piece with a tablespoon of the tomato mixture and a few strips of basil.

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Fall Table

Pretty Fall table for dinner with John's parents.  On the menu: bruschetta, papaya soup, short ribs, and bacon kale.  Bruschetta and short rib recipes coming later this week!

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Moroccan Spiced Spaghetti Squash with Chickpeas

Moroccan Spiced Spaghetti Squash with Chickpeas
From Smitten Kitchen and Fearless Homemaker 

Poor spaghetti squash, you are so misunderstood.  Countless people throughout time have brought one of these beauties home with images of low cal, low carb pasta miracles dancing in their heads.  They cook it, string it, dump marinara sauce on it, and proceed to be super bummed.  I vaguely remember my mom and I conducting one such experiment years ago and I've never had spaghetti squash since.

But every fall I become enthralled with trying all the great seasonal squashes, and this year I decided it was time to revive the spaghetti squash.  John was skeptical when I proposed squash as our dinner, but considering we'd feasted on chicken wings for lunch that day, it seemed like a healthful choice.

I learned from my mistakes and steered clear of all marinara-based recipes, or any recipe likening squash to pasta, for that matter.  I found this recipe on one of my go-to blogs, Smitten Kitchen.  A little Googling got me to Fearless Homemaker's adaptation with chickpeas which seemed hearty enough for dinner.  The result: fantastic!  It's warm, fragrant, and really celebrates fall produce.  Keep it in mind for a light dinner or side dish, and if you have leftovers it reheats quite well for lunch the next day.


Ingredients

• 1 (3.5-4 lb) spaghetti squash
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed and minced
• 1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp cayenne
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp parsley, chopped

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut spaghetti squash in half, long ways (so you have two long pieces).
3. Scrape out seeds.
4. Brush cut sides of squash with olive oil.
5. Roast squash, cut side down, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for 50 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
7. Add garlic and chickpeas.  Saute, stirring often, until garlic is just golden.
8. Stir in cumin and next 5 ingredients (through salt) and saute 2 more minutes.  Remove from heat.
9. Remove squash from oven and use a fork to pull out spaghetti strands.  If you over cook it, they may be mushy, so if your squash is smaller consider lowering the cook time and checking the consistency.
10. Toss squash with spiced butter and chickpeas.
11. Garnish with parsley.

Serves 4 as a main course or 8 as a side dish.

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Grilled Chicken Wings 3 Ways

 

Grilled Chicken Wings 3 Ways
From Ribs, Chops, Steaks & Wings by Ray "Dr. BBQ" Lampe

 

A couple weeks ago we enjoyed a lazy Sunday barbecue at our friends' house in the suburbs.  We were there to watch the Bears game, but since they let us down (as usual), the focus turned towards food.  Our chorizo bean dip was a hit, but the real star of the show was the grilled chicken wings made by our lovely hosts.

 

The next weekend we stayed home for the game, but we just had to have more of those wings!  We found a recipe for wing rub in a grilling cookbook we got as a wedding gift.  Then we saw that the book had a whole chapter dedicated to wing sauces, so we decided to take it up a notch.

 

All three of these versions turn out amazing and prove that deep frying ala your favorite sports bar is totally unnecessary for a crispy skin.  They all start with the same rub and grilling process.  Then one third is served as is, just rubbed and grilled.  Another third is tossed in a buffalo sauce, and the remaining third gets honey-BBQ sauce.  Of course, you can make all the wings to have one or two of these sauces, but we thought having all three was more fun.

 

Ingredients

 

Ribs

• about 20 whole, fresh chicken wings (they're weird looking if you're expecting what you see at the bar - see step 1 for cutting them down)

Rub

• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp onion powder
• 1 Tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp lemon pepper
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Hot Wing Sauce

• 1/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce (other brands would do, I guess, but Frank's really has that classic hot wing flavor)

Barbeque Wing Sauce

• 1 cup barbecue sauce (we're partial to Sweet Baby Ray's, but use what you like)
• 1/4 cup honey 

Preparation

1. Use scissors or a sharp knife to cut each wing into three parts.  One end turns into the little drumstick, the middle turns into the rectangle shaped one, and the pointy tip end is garbage (we accidentally left it on, so you may notice it in the pic - we just ate around it).  I recommend You Tube if that made no sense, but if you order wings at bars a lot just take a second to look at the wing and I think you'll see the familiar parts.
2. Mix salt, sugar, and next 8 ingredients (through cayenne pepper) together in a small bowl.
3. Rub the spice mixture over each wing.  Allow wings to rest for at least 15 minutes, and up to 4 hours.
4. Heat grill to medium.
5. Grill wings for about 25 minutes, turning often.  They are done when they are nicely browned and the juices run clear.
6. For dry-rubbed wings, serve as is.
7. For hot wings, melt butter in a small sauce pan.  Stir in hot sauce.  Toss grilled wings in sauce.
8. For barbecue wings, warm barbecue sauce and honey in a small sauce pan over low heat.  Toss grilled wings in sauce.

Serves 40 wing pieces.

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Spinach, Mushroom and Goat Cheese Crepes

 

Spinach, Mushroom and Goat Cheese Crepes
From Closet Cooking 

Back in my professional crepe making days (yes, I was a professional crepe maker, didn't you read Monday's post!?) my all time favorites were savory crepes.  We served one stuffed with chicken pot pie filling that was the stuff dreams are made of.  A lot of people associate crepes with breakfast and dessert, but these "really thin pancakes" deserve more time in the dinner spotlight.  This recipe isn't quite as decadent as the chicken pot pie version, but it is perfectly savory with the creamy goat cheese and tart splash of balsamic vinegar.

Random side note on the mushroom mixture: if you don't already, try adding thyme to just about anything with mushrooms.  We discovered this combo in a mushroom pizza recipe two summers ago, and have been hooked ever since.  Plus cooking with thyme is my favorite thanks to all the great puns (the more wine we drink while cooking, the more puns...poor John).

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 8 oz mushrooms, sliced (we used creminis and shiitakes - anything would work, but exotics and mixes always have a deeper flavor)
• 1 Tbsp thyme, chopped
• 4 oz spinach
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• 1 splash dry Sherry or Marsala
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled
• 4 small crepes

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a large skillet.
2. Add onion and saute until just starting to brown, about 7 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and saute about 1 minute.
4. Add the butter and let it melt.
5. Add mushrooms, thyme, salt and pepper, and saute until soft.
6. Add Sherry or Marsala and scrape the pan with a wooden spoon to deglaze.
7. Add spinach and saute until wilted.
8. Meanwhile, place balsamic vinegar in a small sauce pan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until it is reduced to a syrupy consistency.
9. Divide mushroom mixture across 4 crepes, drizzle with balsamic reduction, and sprinkle with goat cheese.
10. Fold crepe in half and serve.

Makes 4 small crepes.

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Crepes

Crepes
From All Recipes 

Strange but true: in high school I was a professional crepe maker.  I had a brief stint working at an adorable crepe and gelato place that has long since closed and turned into a Subway.  Part of my job was making giant, gorgeous crepes on a huge circular crepe griddle, spreading out the batter with this special stick/rake thingy.  I made and ate about a bajillion crepes that summer, and then spent the next decade under the impression that you can't make them at home without all that fancy schmancy equipment.  Well folks, the crepe fast has officially come to an end!

This recipe is super simple and the crepes turn out as delicate and delightful as, albeit much smaller than, the ones from that little creperie of my past.  Later this week I'll post a great recipe for a savory crepe filling.  For now though, I'll let these guys stand on their own.  They're great with a little powdered sugar, and can be filled with just about anything.  Nutella and bananas, anyone???  Mmmmmm.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 2/3 cup flour
• pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 tsp vegetable oil

Preparation

1. Combine eggs, milk, flour, salt, and oil in a blender.  Process until smooth.  It only took my blender like 20 seconds.
2. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.  I've done it for only 30 minutes, and I've done it for 3 or 4 hours.  It's all good.
3. Heat a 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat.  If your skillet is bigger or smaller, adjust the amount of batter per crepe accordingly.
4. Spray skillet with cooking spray and pour 1/4 cup of batter into pan.  Tilt pan around to spread the batter out.
5. Cook 2-3 minutes per side.  Use a spatula to check for desired level of browning before flipping.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 with remaining batter - including re-spraying with a light layer of cooking spray.  After about 3 crepes we had to wipe the pan out with a paper towel and let it cool a little because the old, super hot cooking spray buildup was causing the crepes to burn a little.

Makes 7-8 crepes.

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Honey Cornbread Muffins

Honey Cornbread Muffins
From The Neelys 

Any good chili dinner needs cornbread on the side.  As someone who has long been yeast averse (aka scared of anything that can randomly come alive on my counter top), this is one of the only "bread" products that comes out of the honeymoon kitchen on a regular basis.  With that said, we make a LOT of cornbread and have found a ton of awesome recipes.  Each variation serves its own purpose.  This one is great first and foremost because of its convenient muffin shape.  Since we brought these to the neighbors but also stole some for ourselves, muffins seemed less awkward than bringing them a loaf with a hunk cut off.  They're great if you're looking for something milder, with a slightly sweet flavor.  They compliment chili perfectly, and are especially good crumbled right into the bowl.

Ingredients

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 large eggs
• 4 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1/4 cup honey

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
3. Whisk whole milk, eggs, butter, and honey in a small bowl.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.
5. Place muffin paper liners in a 12-cup muffin tin.  Evenly divide cornbread mixture into the papers.  Don't be alarmed if the batter is kind of runny.  It will come together.
6. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden.

Makes 12 muffins.

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Baked Mac and Cheese

Baked Mac and Cheese
From the Honeymoon Kitchen

The vegetarian portion of our new-baby feast is one of the greatest comfort foods of all time.  And let me tell you, this puppy was a labor of love.

Last year we received a very exciting directive from the family - bring a dish to Christmas!  As two people working our way up to hosting a real live holiday (Easter 2012, we've got our eye on you!) this was the audition opportunity we'd been waiting for.  We were assigned a starch that could sub in as an entree for John's vegetarian cousin.  Macaroni and cheese seemed like the obvious choice, but what recipe to use was not.  So we did the logical thing: tested out 4 different recipes and ate mac and cheese for no fewer than 10 meals in the month of December.

What's that?  Most people wouldn't call that logical?  Huh.

In the end we decided to use elements from all of the recipes, resulting in the very first recipe written by us!  Not gonna lie, we're pretty proud of it.

Ingredients

• 8 oz (about 2 1/2 cups) cavatappi pasta, uncooked
• 2 Tbsp olive oil (if you are fantasizing about truffle mac served in many restaurants, this is where you can sub in truffle oil, or any other flavored oil)
• 1/4 tsp lemon juice
• 3 Tbsp butter, divided
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp Cholula hot sauce (or other hot sauce, if you can't find Cholula)
• 1 packed cup (5 oz) Gruyere cheese, shredded, divided
• 1 packed cup (5 oz) white cheddar cheese, shredded, divided
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup panko

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions, until just tender.
3. Drain pasta and toss with olive oil and lemon juice.  Set aside.
4. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.  Whisk in flour and cook, whisking constantly, for 3 minutes.
5. Gradually whisk in cream, half and half, and sour cream.
6. Stir in onion, garlic, bay leaf, sugar, and Cholula.
7. Simmer gently, stirring often, 15 minutes.
8. Remove from heat.  Stir in 3/4 cup Gruyere cheese, 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, and dry mustard.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
9. Remove bay leaf.
10. Stir cavatappi into cheese sauce.*
11. Pour half of cavatappi mixture into a greased, high sided 1 1/2 quart baking dish.  Sprinkle with 1/8 cup Gruyere and 1/8 cup cheddar.  Top with remaining cavatappi mixture and remaining cheese.
12. Melt 1 tablespoon butter.  Add panko to butter and toss to coat.  Sprinkle panko mixture over macaroni.
13. Bake for 25 minutes.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

*If you want to add mix-ins such as bacon, mushrooms, chicken, spinach, etc, this is the time to do it (step 10).  They should be pre-sauteed and well-drained from any water or cooking fat.

Serves 4 as an entree or 8 as a side dish.

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Turkey Chili

Turkey Chili
From Martha Stewart 

We debated long and hard over what to do for our awesome next door neighbors who just brought home a new baby.  As new homeowners with roughly zero experience with kids or people producing them, we realized we were woefully unaware of what new parents might need.  Then we thought, well, what does everyone need?  FOOD!  Of course that presented the question of what food.  We don't know them super well since we've only been in the house for 4 months, so we decided to hedge our bets with a mixture of meaty, vegetarian, sweet and spicy.

Today's chili covers the meaty and spicy end of the spectrum.  We kept half the batch for oursleves, and with every bite I prayed that they aren't vegetarians because the idea of this chili going to waste brings tears to my eyes.  You'd NEVER know it's turkey because it's so outrageously flavorful and hearty.
I should point out that this recipe makes enough chili to feed an army.  That's fine with us because we love the leftovers, but beware if you don't own a huge pot.  We DO own a huge pot, yet we are two for two on starting this recipe in our medium one and having to transfer it half way when things get crazy.  Planning isn't my strong suit...

Ingredients

• 4 slices bacon, cut into half inch strips
• 3 lb ground turkey, 7% fat
• 4 cups white onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup minced garlic cloves (we used jarred, pre-minced garlic, due to laziness)
• 2 jalapenos, chopped (we left the seeds in, which makes it slightly hotter - your call - frankly it wasn't very spicy, so feel free to play it up with hotter chilies)
• 3 Tbsp chili powder
• 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 tsp cumin
• 2 cans (28 oz each) whole tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp molasses
• 4 tsp coarse salt
• 2 cans (15 oz each) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• oyster crackers, for serving, optional
• chopped onion, for serving, optional
• shredded cheese, for serving, optional
• sour cream, for serving, optional

Preparation

1. Heat a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat.
2. Cook bacon until crisp and brown, about 6-8 minutes.
3. Raise heat to high, and add turkey.  Cook, stirring and breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 8-10 minutes.
4. Add onion, garlic, and jalapenos.  Cook until soft, stirring often, about 5 minutes.
5. Stir in chili powder, cocoa powder, and cumin.  Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
6. Add tomatoes with juices.  Break up whole tomatoes with a wooden spoon.
7. Add molasses, 1 cup of water, and salt.  Bring to a boil.
8. Reduce heat to low.  Simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes.
9. Add beans.  Continue cooking, uncovered, about 30 minutes.
10. Serve with desired toppings.

Serves 8 (big, filling bowls).

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Neighbor Feast

Chili feast for our next door neighbors - new parents of an adorable baby boy!  Chili, mac & cheese, and cornbread muffin recipes are up next!  (We figured you already know how to chop up fruit...)

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