White beans & Veggie Pot

I pulled this recipe together last week on a whim. I wanted to do something with dried beans, as I need to start working through my growing pantry. I can't help getting a little bag of some new ingredient when I'm in the bulk section of my local natural grocer. Needless to say my beans are starting to pile up.

In the morning I soaked a bowl of them, with the intent of making myself use them that night. But when I got home tired, and thinking about an evening appointment that night, I was pretty ready to order pizza instead of deal with the beans.

Lacking any great sense of culinary creativity I decided to make a vegetable pot of sorts, with beans. Basically I pulled out anything I had left in the fridge from the week: half a potato, a random bell pepper, the last few stalks of celery...you get the idea. By using the dutch oven I was able to pour everything in the pot and bake it while we were away at the appointment. Though I wouldn't really recommend leaving the oven unattended - it was well worth coming home to a hot-cooked dinner.

If your ever in a pinch, and you have some dried beans you need to use, let this recipe be your guide. Many veggie combinations would do, you could substitute the white beans for another variety, or use this as a lovely side dish for a bit of light fish or chicken.

White beans & Veggie pot

1 cup Great Northern White Beans
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 potato, washed and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 bell pepper, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
3 stalks of celery, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup spinach
3 sprigs fresh oregano
1 1/2 cups broth, either chicken or vegetable
salt and pepper to taste

Soak beans in water all day.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Drain the beans. Heat oil in a dutch oven and slightly brown the garlic. Add onions and stir until they start getting soft. Then add potatoes, bell pepper, celery and greens and stir until thoroughly mixed and coated. Add the beans and stir in broth.

Place the lid on the dutch oven and bake for 1.5 hours. Pull out of the oven and stir in salt and pepper to taste. This dish is very versatile and I could see adding more veggies (just be aware of the cooking liquid to make sure nothing burns while it is baking), or you could add pancetta or something similar once the beans are finished baking.

Stats: Serves 4
Time: 1 hour 45 minutes, with all day soaking. Only 15 minutes of active time.
Seasonal Ingredients: The veggies I used were the ones left in the fridge at the end of the week. Everything was from the local market except the bell pepper, which is from Mexico, but I couldn’t resist its beautiful bright orange color.

happy cooking,
alison

Flatbread Lasagna

I love magazines. Not all mag's mind you, anything related to cooking and food - love. Any design, home improvement, get-fit mag, natural living mag - love, love, love. It's such a treat when I fly somewhere and to pick out a couple for the trip. Although I've found that it's better to get the cooking ones on the way home, that way I don't have to lug them around for the whole trip. It only took a couple years to figure that out!

Last month coming home from somewhere I grabbed the April issue of Food & Wine. I used to be a subscriber and still love it. I'm not usually one of those read the end of the story first kind of people, but I always turn to the last page for the "last bite" section which features some yummy pastry, or dessert. I can never resist trying those recipes.

Anyways, over the weekend I was scrolling through the recipes I marked to try and this one caught my eye. I don't have a good standby lasagna recipe and using flatbread instead of noodles definitely sounded different.

Overall I was happy with how it turned out. The whole wheat bread made it seemingly healthier and the soaked up all the sauce and cheese nicely, making a good base. The second night we re-heated it in the oven and got that nice crispness that makes everything a bit chewier. This is definitely a dish where the first night is good, but the second is better.

Flatbread Lasagna
from Food & Wine

1 pound hot Italian sausages, casings removed
1 and 1/2 cups ricotta
salt and ground pepper
3 cups jarred tomato sauce (I used my homemade tomato sauce, but any marinara would work)
4 whole wheat pita (or naan)**
2 cups shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a skillet cook the sausages over medium heat and break up the sausages until thoroughly cooked and browned. In a small bowl season the ricotta with salt and pepper and mix it well. Spread 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce in a large pie plate (if you have a deep-dish pie plate use that).  Top with one flatbread, half of the sausage, and 3/4 cup each of the ricotta and mozzarella (see side note below). Start again with the sauce and layer everything again.

Side note: If your using a deep dish pie plate you will probably be able to layer everything twice more in which case you should use 1/3 of the sausage to start and 1/2 cups of the cheese.  I used just a normal plate and found that only two layers fit.   

After the last layer top with another 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce and the last flatbread.  Top with the remaining 1 cup of sauce and 1/2 cup of mozzarella.  Create a foil tent and place your pie plate on the top shelf in the center of the oven.  I recommend putting a sheet pan underneath the plate to catch any drippings.  Bake for 30 minutes with the foil on, then uncover and bake for 30 minutes longer.  Let it cool for 15-20 minutes and serve. 

**The original recipe called for pocketless pita or naan, to make this a little healthier I used whole wheat pita.  With all the sausage and cheese not sure if I can really call this a healthy dish though...whole wheat or not.

Stats: Serve 6, with leftovers
Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes, but only 20 minutes active time
Seasonal ingredients: No seasonal ingredients for this one, although I did use the tomato sauce I jarred a couple weeks ago.

happy cooking this week.
alison

Roasted Chicken with Sage, Celery and Blood Orange

For my first foray in to The Naked Chef I turned to this lovely recipe.  Though the original recipe called for guinea fowl, I decided to use a more easily found bird on this side of the pond, chicken.  Also, by making up a whole 5 pound chicken I easily had enough for leftovers of the original recipe for two of us, and we used the rest of the meat in chicken tacos later in the week.

What originally caught my eye about this recipe was the blood oranges.  Though spring vegetables and fruit are becoming more readily found out here on the West coast, I know for most folks in the northern hemisphere citrus and root veggies are still most prevalent in the markets.  The blood oranges become the base of the stuffing and gravy, making the whole dish full of citrus flavors and the chicken super moist.  We spooned it over orzo the first night and quinoa the second to make a lovely 2-pot meal.

Roasted Chicken with Sage, Celery and Blood Orange
adapted from The Naked Chef

one 5 lb chicken
6 blood oranges
1 cup chopped celery
1 small handful of fresh thyme*
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 cloves of garlic, whole and unpeeled
6 tablespoons butter
10 fresh sage leaves
1 1/2 cups dry white wine

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Remove anything inside the cavity of the chicken. Wash thoroughly inside and out and pat dry with paper towels.  Rub the cavity with a little salt and rub the outside with salt and pepper.  Let the chicken rest while you are preparing the stuffing. 

Cut off the ends of the oranges.  Stand them on one end and carefully slice off the peel (as close to where the flesh meets the skin as possible).  Then slice the oranges into rounds.  Combine the orange rounds, chopped celery, thyme, and small pinch of salt and pepper in a bowl and toss.  Stuff the cavity of the chicken with this filling, and with any excess stuff underneath the skin (right next to the breast).  Pull the drumsticks together at the base of the bird and tightly tie up with cooking string.

Heat a thick-bottomed pan and add the olive oil and the chicken.  Cook until lightly golden on all sides, then add the garlic, butter and sage and cook for 3-4 minutes until golden brown.  Add the wine in intervals, keeping the pan moist at all times.  Place in the oven for 45-55 minutes, checking every 10-15 minutes to top up the wine as necessary.  If the top starts getting to dark, place a tented piece of foil over the bird to slow the cooking process of the top outside skin.  The chicken will be roasted and partially steamed. 

When cooked (I double tested mine with a meat thermometer), carefully remove from the oven and place upside down on a dish, allowing all the juices and moisture to relax back into the breast for several minutes while you make the gravy.

To make the gravy, first discard the excess fat from the pan and place the pan over gentle heat.  Scoop out the stuffing from the cavity of the chicken and add to the pan with about 2/3 cup of wine.  As the wine boils stir lightly until the liquid has dissolved.  Squash the cooked garlic out of the skins with a spoon (capturing and discarding the skins), and pour any of the juices from the plate that the bird is resting on into the gravy.  Simmer and season to taste.

Serve carved chicken on a bed of grains (such as orzo), and pour gravy over the dish.

Stats: Serves 4, with leftovers
Time: About 1.5 hours from start to finish
Seasonal Ingredients: Blood oranges and celery from the farmers' market, local organic chicken

Alison's Notes:
*Be sure to pick the small leaves off the tougher stalks of the thyme, or pull out the sprigs of thyme before making the gravy.  I didn't do this and wish I had.  The flavor is fine, but when we were eating the chicken we had to pull out the thyme and it would have been more enjoyable to not worry about it.

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Frosting

If you have any Guinness left in the house from St. Patty's Day celebrations last week, and you like chocolate and have an inkling for cupcakes then I highly suggest you try these.

I made them exactly a week ago and they will be my go-to St. Patty's Day treats. They were fairly easy for cupcakes, and were a big hit with my fellow revelers after the traditional corned beef and cabbage. Although, shockingly, I've made it 30 years in life and never tried this traditional feast. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that when I said, "we should have this every year" the response was "we do." HA - who knew.

These cupcakes are a bit thicker than normal cakes kind of like gingerbread. The frosting sat nice and creamy on top and was a nice compliment to the denseness of the cake. Though I had them for last weeks "green" holiday, they would also go well with this brisket I made last fall.

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
adapted from this recipe at Pinch My Salt

chocolate stout cupcakes

2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup plain, non-fat yogurt (full-fat or sour cream would also work, but they would probably be even denser)
6 oz dark stout, at room temperature (I used Guinness)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup cacao powder (dutch-processed or unsweetened cocoa would probably also work)
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons melted butter (I used unsalted)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and set rack to the center of the oven. Line a cupcake pan with 12 papers and set aside.

Melt butter and set aside.  In a large bowl, preferably with a pouring spout, whisk together eggs and yogurt.  Add beer and vanilla and whisk until well combined.  In a separate bowl sift together the dry ingredients (cacao powder, sugar, flour, baking soda and cinnamon).  Add about a third of the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and blend well (I whisked by hand, but a hand-mixer would make it much easier). Continue adding a third at a time until the flour mixture is blended into the wet mixture.  Add the butter and mix until well combined.  Pour batter into the 12 cups, filling only about 3/4's full.

Bake for about 20-30 minutes until the center comes out just barely moist.  The cupcakes will continue to cook in the pan once they are out of the oven.  Place the pan on a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes.  Remove cupcakes from pan and place on rack until completely cooled.  Wait until cupcakes are cool to frost.

vanilla cream cheese frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar
green sprinkles (optional)

Using a stand mixer (or hand mixer) blend cream cheese, butter and vanilla until well combined.  Gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing until fully incorporated (I had to scrape down both the sides and the bottom of the bowl several times to combine everything).  Use immediately, or store well-sealed in the refrigerator.  Top with sprinkles.

To frost these cupcakes I used my small cookie dough scoop and dolloped two scoops on top, then using a small off-set spatula I smoothed out the frosting to fully cover the top of the cupcakes and topped with sprinkles.


Stats: 16 cupcakes, and frosting for at least that many plus more.
Time: This took about an hour and half with maybe a bit more in cooling time, but over all it came together easily. The batter can be stored for several days before making along with the frosting.  The frosting should be room temperature when frosting the cupcakes. 
Seasonal Ingredients: Unfortunately none to speak of...oh that's sad.  I'll have to make sure my next dessert has something seasonal.