Kitchen Comforts

Autumn into Winter::3 Week Menu Plan

First Week

Sunday

Meatloaf

mashed potatoes

mixed green salad with pomegranate, goat cheese, and pecans

Basic Bread

Monday

Pasta Bolognese (or other pasta)

Green salad

Basic Bread

Tuesday

Garlic Chicken and Angel Hair pasta

roasted broccoli

Wednesday

roasted chicken

sweet potatoes

mixed green salad with pomegranate, goat cheese, and pecans

Thursday

Chicken and Cream Cheese Enchiladas

Spanish Rice

Friday

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Brussels Sprouts with maple glaze

Saturday

Cream of Tomato Soup

Grilled Cheese

Download Fall Menu Week 1

Week Two

Sunday

Get Yo' Man Chicken

Butternut risotto

green beans

Monday

Curried Chicken Soup

Pumpkin Bread

Tuesday

African meatballs

couscous

mixed greens

Wednesday

Rotisserie Chicken and Swiss Paninis with Sundried Tomatoes, Spinach and Swiss Cheese

Thursday

Slow Cooked Pork Chops with Apples and Onions

Sweet Potatoes

Brussels Sprouts

Friday

Pasta with Spinach Pesto

green salad

Basic bread

Saturday

Flank Steak

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Salad

Download Fall Menu Week 2

Week Three

Sunday

Rustic Chicken

Butternut Risotto

Roasted Broccoli

Monday

Chicken Tikaa Masala

coconut rice

Tuesday

Chili

Grilled Cheese

Wednesday

Split Pea Soup

corn muffins

Thursday

Beef Stew

cornbread

Friday

White Bean Soup

Rustic Bread

Saturday

Fajitas w/ Grilled chicken

Download Fall Menu Week 3

"Not real" dessert for the "not real" feast

I know that we were not to celebrate the Feast of St. Joseph on March 19th this year, because it fell during Holy Week. And I tried, I really did, to keep in step with the Church. I wrote my check for tickets to the Irish-Italian dinner at my parish on Saturday the 15th. They were sold out. Okey-dokey. I can deal with that. Mike took half my kids with him for a soccer tournament that weekend any way. Those of us left at home cleaned house and ordered carryout. I was feeling some of that Catholic guilt. March 19th rolled around and I couldn't bear to let it pass.

My grandmother taught me about St. Joseph. She was devoted to him. And when she knew that her time on earth had come to an end, she marched into the Mayo Clinic and informed the doctor that she was dying. He assured her that she was not. And then, she died. Just like that. On March 19th. That was 21 years ago. And my Italian grandmother has inspired a St. Joseph feast on the anniversary of her death every year. She didn't die on March 15th. She died on March 19th, the day after we'd talked long into the night, discussing wedding plans. The day after she promised me as she had so many times before that she'd dance at my wedding. It was March 19th.

Almost without thinking, I went to the store and bought the ingredients for Bolognese sauce. I cooked all day and filled the house with the familiar smell of an Italian grandmother's kitchen. I sliced a piece of Italian bread and dipped it in the sauce and handed it to my toddler. Her eyes grew wide in appreciation. I remembered how many such pieces of bread my grandmother had handed me. This is my solemn duty--to be certain my children know the taste of Italy.

By then, I was in it. We were going to have a feast despite ourselves. I whipped a half gallon of softened vanilla ice cream with two cups of heavy whipping cream and two teaspoons of almond extract. Katie and Mary Beth helped me ladle the mixture into star-shaped aluminum molds. We sprinkled sliced almonds on top. This is not real bisque tortoni. It's Mama's Made Up Bisque Tortoni. But then again, it wasn't really the feast of St. Joseph either, was it?

Winter Dinners

Monday: Spaghetti Carbonara with sourdough bread and apple cider (I've found that I can whir 2 cups of cottage cheese in the food processor and replace the half and half with it and bump up the protein in this dish considerably).
Tuesday: White Bean Soup or Curried Chicken Soup 
Wednesday: Mexican Beef Bake
Thursday: Chicken Parmesan with angel hair pasta and garlic roasted broccoli or the "Letter of the Week" dinner recipe.
Friday: Spanakorizo and roasted sweet potatoes
Saturday: Beef Stew
Sunday: Beef or Chicken Pho

White Bean Soup with Rosemary and Pasta

This is based on a recipe in Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, probably my favorite cookbook. I soak the beans overnight. You can also experiment with other herbs, substituting sage, for instance, instead of rosemary. But I do love rosemary and we can keep it alive here pretty much year 'round.

The Rosemary Oil

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary (or 2 tablespoons dried)
• 3 garlic cloves, finely minced

The Soup

• 2 cups cannellini, navy beans, or a mixture
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
• 1/4 tsp hot red pepper flakes
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 carrots, finely diced
• 1 celery rib, finely diced
• 5 garlic cloves, sliced or minced
• 1/3 cup chopped parsley
• 1 can diced organic tomatoes,  with their juice
• salt and freshly milled pepper
• 1 cup dried small pasta - shells, elbows, or other favorite shape
• grated romano cheese

1) Warm the extra virgin olive oil with 2 tablespoons rosemary and 2 garlic cloves until the garlic begins to color, about 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside.

2)  Cover the beans with boiling water and set aside while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

3) Heat the oil with 1 tablespoon sage and the hot red pepper flakes in a soup pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, and cook until the onion is softened and just starting to color, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and parsley and cook a few minutes more. Drain the beans and add them to the pot along with the tomatoes and 3 quarts of water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, the simmer, covered, until the beans have begun to soften, about an hour. Add 2 teaspoons salt and continue cooking until the beans are completely tender, at least another 30 minutes.

4)  Puree half the soup to give it some body - or you can leave it thin, or for a thicker, smoother soup, puree all of it.

5) Cook the pasta in boiling salted water, then drain. Strain the rosemary oil. Ladle the soup into bowls and add some pasta to each. Drizzle some of the oil over each bowl and add pepper to taste. Sprinkle with romano cheese gratings.

Cream of Tomato Soup

1 medium, chopped sweet onion
2 cloves chopped of garlic
2 TBSP butter
2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained - 14 1/2 oz cans
2 large cans tomato puree
1 c. milk
2 tsp minced fresh rosemary
2 tsp dried basil (or fresh if you have it)
1/2 - 1 tsp paprika
8 oz cubed cream cheese

-Saute onions in butter in a very large soup pot, until nearly tender
- Add the garlic and gently saute until soft.
- Stir in everything else EXCEPT the cream cheese.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
-Puree the whole mixture, half the mixture or none of it, as you like
- Add cream cheese, stirring until melted.
- Serve immediately.

Makes approx 2 quarts, or 8 servings.

 

Beef and Winter Vegetable Stew

2-3 lbs beef stew meat
2 Tbsp of Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute
3/4 cup Gluten free baking mix (or you can use flour:-)--if you use flour, you'll probably need to add some salt)
4 Tbsp butter
3 medium sweet onions
3 cloves garlic
5 russet potatoes or 8 red-skinned potatoes, skins on, cut into chunks
1 lb of baby carrots, sliced into big slices
1 pound peeled, cubed butternut squash
2 cups  beef stock
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 bay leaves

Mix the flour with seasoning spice. Coat the stew beef with flour or baking mix. Brown the meat on all sides in 2 tablespoons butter, just until it's brown,  a minute or so on each side. Cook onions and garlic (don't chop the garlic)in remaining butter until they are very soft. Put the vegetables into the slow cooker and then the meat and then the onions.  Add the liquid  and seasonings. Gently lift the ingredients so that you are sure the liquid has trickled down to the bottom.  I cook this on low for 5 hours, turning a couple of times. I've been told that my crockpot is hotter than the norm, so you might have to play with cooking times. Don't forget to remove the bay leaves! Serve with sourdough bread and apple cider.

Curried Cream of Chicken Soup

This one is based on a recipe in The Silver Palate Cookbook. A friend made it for me and delivered it on Halloween the year that Katie was born. It's been a Halloween tradition ever since. I love it because it's a creamed soup without any wheat.

Step 1:

    1    tablespoon butter
    2    cups chopped sweet onions
    2    carrots, peeled and chopped
    2    tablespoons curry powder

Cook over low heat, covered, until tender.

Step 2:
7 cups chicken stock
2 pounds peeled and diced butternut squash (Costco now sells this in bags, all prepped)
1 chicken, quartered and skinned (honestly, I use two)
½ cup basmati rice
Salt and pepper to taste

Add all to the Step 1 ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover. Simmer until chicken is done. Cool chicken in stock.

Step 3
Remove meat from bones and dice it.Remove fat from broth. Strain soup through strainer, reserving the solids.Put solids and 1 cup stock in food processor or blender and carefully puree. You will probably need to do this in batches. Trust me; it's worth the annoyance.

Step 4
1 cup half and half
10 ounces frozen peas, defrosted

Return pureed solids  to the  pot and add about 1 cup half and half to  reserved stock until soup reaches desired consistency. Add chicken and peas and simmer for 15 minutes or until peas are done. Season to taste.

Serve immediately. Awesome with pumpkin muffins.

Winter Chicken Soup with all things Good

When I am sick, a hot bowl of pho usually turns things around. But there is no pho delivery near here and Michael has gone to college and when I am sick, I don't like to drive. Necessity is the mother of invention. Last week, when all my children were sick, they wanted pho. But I couldn't leave them to go get it. So, I played around with various web recipes and my own memory of how it should taste. We usually get beef pho, but I thought a chicken based soup might be even more therapeutic. This recipe is kid-tested to rave reviews. Even my pickiest eater wanted it again the next day. This makes a whole lot--perfect for a house full of sick kids to eat over a couple of days.

2 large organic roasters
3 sweet onions
1 head of garlic (more or less)
three stalks lemongrass
tablespoon diced ginger
teaspoon salt
1/2 c Asian fish sauce
1 pound of thin rice noodles
1 package ready-to-eat baby spinach
bean sprouts
cilantro
chili paste with garlic
fresh lime wedges

Cook organic chickens (I did two, but one would have been enough) with onions and lots of garlic, lemongrass, ginger, and a little salt, in a very full pot of water. Let the chicken cool in the broth. Pick the chicken from the bones and dice.Strain the solids from the broth. Soften rice noodles in hot water, according to package directions (time will vary depending on the thickness of the noodles). Add Asian  fish sauce. Add some "chili paste with garlic" to the broth, according to taste. Add the chicken to the broth.Add baby spinach to the broth and heat until the spinach wilts.  Drain the noodles.  Put some noodles and some bean sprouts in each bowl. Ladle the soup over the top. Garnish with lime and cilantro and pass the chili paste. Very healing.:-)

C is for Cranberry Chicken

2 lbs boneless chicken breasts

1/3 c. flour

1t. salt

4T. butter

11/2c. fresh cranberries

3/4c. sugar

1t. orange peel

3/4c. orange juice

1/4t. each cinnamon and ginger

Coat chicken in flour and salt and brown in butter.  Combine remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Pour over chicken, cover and bake at 350F for 45 min. to an hour.  Great served with stuffing or rice!

"P" is for Peach Chicken and Sparkling Peach Punch: Monday Night Football in Georgia

To celebrate Monday Night Football in Atlanta, we had a peachy dinner tonight.
This began as a skillet recipe but when I doubled it to feed my family, I recognized it wasn't going to work in my skillet. Also, I needed to do the prep early in the day because Monday afternoons are ballet driving afternoons. So, I adapted it to cook in the oven while I drove to ballet.

INGREDIENTS:

• cooking oil
• 1 cup flour
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon seasoned pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 12 fryer chicken leg quarters with thighs or chicken breast halves
• 3 cups orange juice
• 2 16 ounce bags of frozen sliced peaches
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons vinegar
• 2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 teaspoon dried leaf basil
• 4 cloves garlic, finely minced

PREPARATION:

Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Combine flour, salt, pepper, and paprika. While oil is heating dredge chicken in the seasoned flour. Brown chicken on all sides. While chicken is browning, combine orange juice with brown sugar, vinegar, nutmeg, basil and minced garlic in a saucepan. Put the chicken in two 11 X 17 baking dishes. Put one bag of frozen peaches on top of each pan of chicken. Pour the sauce evenly over the two pans. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for about an hour, removing the foil for the last fifteen minutes.
  Makes 8 to 12 servings.

Serve with Sparkling Peach Punch:
Mix half a large can  of limeade concentrate with half can of peach daiquiri mix with rum and ice ;-) seltzer water to make a half gallon. Mix and pour over ice.