It's Recipe Friday Y'All, Super Bowl Edition!

Let me start by saying you can't grow up in small town Mid-Missouri where it's all about the Friday night lights and not get a little bit excited to see the pigskin tossed around.  I've spent countless chilly Fall evenings bundled under a blanket sipping cocoa and cheering on a team with a rich tradition reaching back two centuries and boasting a winning streak that lasted from 1958-1966 (Go Jays!).

Although I don't follow professional football per se (college...of course...Go Tigers!), I do enjoy a good game, and I can't resist good water cooler talk, so a part of me tunes in for the commercials.  

But let's be honest one of the best parts about game day...the food!

Go Steelers!

Chili has always been standard fare at every football event I've ever attended...people that's a lot of beans, so I can say with some authority that chili recipes, preferences, heck chili philosophies run the gamut.  I don't claim to pledge allegiance to one form or another, as by now I'm sure you've figured out, I'm an equal opportunity eater.  I would, however, love to share with you one of my favorite versions.  I first discovered it out of necessity when my lovely neighbor began sharing the fruits of his raised bed gardening experiment.  I had a sack full of Anaheims, what's a girl to do...cut to this delicious Chili:

Roasted Anaheim and White Bean Chicken Chili

What you'll need:

1 lb. dried small white beans

8 fresh Anaheim chilies (approx. 1 pound)

1/4 C. butter (1/2 stick)

2 large yellow onions, chopped

1/3 C. all purpose flour

4 C. low-salt chicken broth

3 C. half and half

4 C. shredded cooked chicken (cheat and buy a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken, my lips are sealed)

1 Tbl. chili powder

1 Tbl. tabasco sauce

1 Tbl. ground cumin

2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. white peper

1 1/2 C. grated Monterey Jack cheese (approx. 6 oz.)

1 C. sour cream

Chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish

What to do:

Place beans in a heavy large pot with enough cold water to cover them by at least 3 inches and let stand overnight (generally I'm all about shortcuts, so you're probably wondering, why the dried beans.  Seriously people, this is virtually labor free, you're just soaking beans while you sleep for crying out loud!).  

Char chilies over gas flame or in broiler until blackened on all sides.  While chilies are charing shred the chicken.  Once blackened remove chilies from oven and carefully enclose in a paper bag (No bags? That's cool, try a large bowl covered tightly with plastic wrap, you're just sweating these puppies out of their skin, use any method you prefer).  Let stand 10 minutes.  Peel, seed, and chop chilies. Set Aside.  (And WASH YOUR HANDS, you don't want that heat migrating anywhere else.)

Drain Beans and return to pot.  Add enough cold water to pot to cover beans by 3 inches and simmer until the beans are almost tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour.  Drain well.  

Melt butter in a clean heavy large pot over medium heat.  Add onions and saute until tender, about 15 minutes.  

Add flour and stir 5 minutes (Ok ladies and gents, we are creating the beginning of a roux here, so patience is key. You don't want to brown the flour, we are shooting for a blonde roux, so stir your little hearts outs and watch that heat!)

Gradually whisk in chicken broth and half and half (slow here we don't want lumps).  Simmer gently until thickened, about 10 minutes.  Add reserved white beans and roasted chilies, shredded chicken, and the next 5 ingredients.  Simmer gently to blend flavors, about 20 minutes.  

*If you are planning on consuming the entire batch in one sitting, say at a Superbowl party, then go ahead and add grated cheese and sour cream right to the pot, stir just until cheese melts (don't let the chili boil at this point, you'll have a mess on your hands, we are just melting the cheese). 

*If you will be eating this in smaller servings throughout the week then I'd recommend leaving out the dairy and simply garnish with it.  Reheating will be much easier without the cheese and sour cream already included in the chili.

Ladle chili into bowls and garnish with cilantro (another wonderful addition is a bit of tomatillo salsa, Trader Joe's has a pretty solid version).  Serve and enjoy!

Oh and did I mention Go Steelers!?!?

The Girl Scouts of America's Business Plan Can Suck it!

Finally...It's that time of year when getting hassled at the office to participate in some rugrats fundraiser is actually a pleasure.  That's right folks, it's Girl Scout Cookie time!

I myself was a Girl Scout, well technically I was a Daisy, then a Brownie, and then a Junior Girl Scout.  I never actually made it all the way to full-fledged Girl Scout.  Looking back that probably had a lot to do with the fact that I was never in uniform for the meetings, earned three measly patches, and was really only interested in one thing...those cookies...I mean can you blame me!  I don't even recall ever going door to door.  My parents did the grunt work for me and we always ended up with a surplus of boxes tucked away in various cabinets to spread the wealth so to speak, lest I eat all 20 boxes in one sitting, which was a scenario that always had strong potential as it was the only time we ever really had good ole' bona fide "junk food" in my house.

I have continued this rationing tradition and have gone to great lengths to hide Samoas in places only I would think to look.  There is always a package of Thin Mints tucked into the freezer, pulled out ever so slowly, one by one, until the next cookie season rolls around.

I'm pretty sure that if I ever landed myself in the slammer Girl Scout cookies would become my currency.

But as much love and affection my sugar-coated heart has for those cookies, I pretty much detest the business plan.  Seriously people, who in their right mind came up with this cockamamie scheme.  "Ohh I know let's bake crack into the dough and then only sell them ONCE A YEAR!" First bite's free.  I really think SNL writer John Mulaney says it best here:


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I mean really...WORST BUSINESS PLAN EVER (good thing I ordered 15 boxes)!

Financial Crisis Averted

"The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don't know what the hell they're doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino."
~ Joe Fox (as played by Tom Hanks) "You've Got Mail"

I'm sorry to say that I have jumped on the Starbucks bandwagon.  I'm not particularly fond of their roasting processes.  It seems like they intentionally slightly burn their beans for that distinct Starbucks flavor, and by distinct I mean acrid.  But alas, during this holiday season in one of my many many trips to Target I was sucked into the hoopla that is the Peppermint Mocha.  In an effort to avoid a Christmas shopping meltdown I stood in line at our local Target's Starbucks in complete awe of that alluring aroma.  I watched as perfectly normal shoppers were somehow seized by the gravitational pull, lumbering toward caffeine like a scene from The Walking Dead.

Starbuck's Holiday Campaign...or as I like to call it, "the first sip's free" push.

I'd only heard tell of the legendary Peppermint Mocha, and in my effort to buck the trend, I ordered mine as a White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha...and I was hooked...line and sinker!  Trouble is I craved it for a week, that sharp peppermint tingle, the oh so creamy whipped topping, and the feeling like each sip brought you closer to a trip to the North Pole was too intoxicating...and way too expensive!  I was headed toward a second mortgage, and fast.  I needed an intervention, better yet I needed a way to recreate this tantalizing treat at home.

I did some hunting in the grocery store and discovered that my faithful friend Coffee-Mate had a peppermint mocha flavor (squeal) but I couldn't stop there.  I needed that smooth white chocolate taste...enter Torani to save the day...

My Heros!

Bonus points...both ingredients are available all year long!  I just add both "to taste" in a regular old cup of joe.  It's not exactly the real thing, but it's close enough to avoid becoming a regular.

And so in the imortal words of Joe Fox: Grande.  No Whip.  White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha.

Raise Your Glass to 2011

I have woefully neglected this blog...so my very cliched and obvious New Year's resolution is to deliver more food writing pleasure to you, my loyal fans...all three of you...here's lookin' at you Mom!

Yes it's Friday, and generally that means one hilarious romp through recipe madness, but in honor of New Year's tradition I offer you a "how to" on Champagne opening.

People...the big pop is a big no no!  Save the bubbles for your glass.  And never ever never point that cork toward anyone!

And now some fun facts about the bubbly you all know and love:

1. The French, in all their nationalistic glory, are the only ones allowed to actually label a bottle of bubbly "Champagne" it must come from the Champagne region of France, otherwise it's known as a sparkling wine.  If you plan on picking up a bottle of bubbly from Italy they bottle under the label Prosecco, and Spain calls it Cava.

2.  Picking up a bottle of German bubbles?  The label "Troken" on the bottle means you've got one dry elixer on your hands, nothing wrong with a dry sparkling wine, in fact, it's what I prefer, but it's not always the biggest crowd pleaser.  Brut is the common term for dry for most other sparkling wines, extra Brut = extra dry.  Now here is where is gets confusing the next step down from Brut and heading toward the sweeter side of things is called "extra dry" it's actually the middle of the road sparkling, and the one I would recommend serving at a party.  Lastly on the scale you'll find demi-sec which is on the sweet side and pairs well with a dessert.

3. Superior sparkling wines will have a second fermentation in the bottle NOT a tank.  Second fermentation in a tank implies large batch bubbly, think Korbel.  So next time you are out to eat and order a glass, look for teeny tiny little bubbles, it's a good indication of in-bottle fermentation and therefore quality.

I wish you all a healthy, wealthy, and prosperous New Year full of GREAT FOOD!  Cheers!

I Had Some Dreams...They Were Clouds in my Coffee

I am a creature of habit... and borderline addiction, so it goes without saying that I begin every morning with a cup of Joe to get my eyes a blinkin' and my err other things that may or may not rhyme with "vowels" a movin'.  This is a practice so closely followed in my home that it's become borderline dogma.  We have this schmancy fancy pants "coffee system" that we received as a wedding gift years back.  It's a one cup pod model that does every thing short of raise your kids and wash your dog...but I digress.

My husband detested coffee until it became a necessary evil in law school and he refuses to add any accoutrement for reasons I still don't understand.  In my case, however, coffee is nothing more than a vehicle for dairy and legal addictive stimulants (as are all good things in life when you really think about it).  So you can imagine how it tickles me pink when a novelty creamer flavor arrives all sparkley and new under the refrigerated dairy case lights, promising peaceful mornings and sweet sweet dairy satisfaction.

Remember when Coffee-Mate had two sad little flavors, Original or French Vanilla and it only came in that icky powder that never actually fully dissolved in your coffee?  Original always puzzled me, I mean why not just call it "Cream" what exactly is so original about non-flavored flavored creamer?  But again I digress.  Long gone are the days of easy decisions in the dairy aisle.  Now Coffee-Mate offers 28 count them 28 different little bottles of creamy goodness.  I challenge you to find a creamer mecca that sells all 28 flavors (and if you do, please oh please share with the group) but I am fairly satisfied with my local market's selection...that was until the Great Holiday Creamer Upset of 2010 occurred.

I LOVE trying new flavors, and am ever so delighted when the limited-time-only seasonal line appears.  So excited that just this last week I decided to tempt the fates and skip over the Fall flavors for a brand spanking new, never before tasted, Christmas flavor...

This is the evil doer:

I know what you're thinking..."Sugar & Spice" and everything nice...that's what great coffee is made of.  Look at the little sugar cookies decorated so delightfully in royal icing and silver dragees.  There are cinnamon sticks and star anise on the packaging for crying out loud.  How on earth could we go wrong here?  But it did...it went so very very wrong.  So wrong that the coffee-mate website http://www.coffee-mate.com/default.aspx doesn't even acknowledge this flavor at all.  (In a related topic, I must say it's a snazzy little website Coffee-mate has going, complete with recipes, you should check it out, just skip this particular flavor all together.)
Have you ever put star anise in anything?  How about a cinnamon stick?  Ever left it in said thing too long?  It's disastrous people.  Tree bark does not take kindly to amateur hands.  You have to know exactly when steeping over-steps its boundaries and becomes insidious soaking.

I was so excited to try this puppy that I raced home from the market and brewed a cup of decaf lickety split.  I'll leave you with the first thought that raced through my mind...

Did I just drink tree?

Avast me hearties! This here be a recipe to send scurvy to Davy Jones' locker.

In honor of National Talk Like a Pirate Day, I thought I'd share with you one of the most delicious quick bread recipes in all the high seas. But first a word from our sponser:

Aunt Judy is the "tallest" pictured
the rest are under the age of six.

 My dear Aunt Judy is the mistress of quick breads and has been delighting our family with a plethora of options for as long as I can remember.  As children we knew that once we'd surpassed Aunt Judy's height (a mere 4 foot and some change, see picture for height reference) we could graduate to the adult table at family gatherings.  I'd like to think that until you've mastered Aunt Judy's quick breads you can't graduate into full on foodie.

This particular recipe is perfect for you pirates and the reason is threefold:

1. Portability; it's a quick bread, no refrigeration required and easily wrapped in butchers' paper.  Perfect for all your swashbuckling adventures.

2. Vitamin C; this recipe calls for orange juice, an antidote to the dreaded scurvy.

3. Poppy Seeds; medicinally said to help ease tooth ache, which you may need mates (see reason number 2).

And so please enjoy this recipe that just may have you yelling "Shiver me timbers!"

Aunt Judy's Poppy Seed Bread

What you'll need:

For the bread:

3 c. flour

2 ¼ c. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

1 ½ c. milk

1 1/8 c. oil

3 eggs

1 ½ tbl. Poppy seed

1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract

1 ½ tsp. butter extract

1 ½ tsp. almond extract

For the glaze:

¾ c. sugar

¼ c. orange juice

½ tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. butter extract

½ tsp. almond extract

What to do:

For the bread:

Preheat oven to 350.  

Grease and flower loaf pans.  Sift into a large bowl the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.  Whisk in milk, oil, eggs, poppy seeds, and extracts until just combined.  I prefer to whisk by hand rather than in a mixer, over whisking will develop gluten making a tougher bread.  

Bake for 50-60 minutes (you are looking for golden brown and delicious with a clean toothpick test).

For the glaze:

While baking combine all glaze ingredients in a small sauce pot.  Heat glaze over low heat until dissolved and combined.  Once your bread is finished baking remove from the oven and pour glaze over bread and let stand for 10 minutes.  Then turn out and continue to cool on wire rack. 

This yields two loaves which is absolutely perfect.  You'll want to devour the first one on site, but the second loaf will freeze beautifully.  Cool completely and then wrap in butcher's paper.  This will easily keep for three months if packaged properly.  Just set it out on your counter overnight to thaw and you'll have the most delicious breakfast awaiting you when you rise.  

Recipe Friday...Tuesday edition

Ok, I know what you're thinking...don't tease me with a recipe thereby tricking my internal clock into thinking the workweek is finally over.  Sorry folks, it's Tuesday.  On the flip side you are going to love this recipe so much you'll hardly care that you have 72 more hours until the weekend...it's that good!

So why, pray-tell, you ask, have I been blessed with this early edition Recipe Friday?  Well friends because Fall is upon us and it's making me giddy with delight and visions of large batch soups and stews (perfect for the freezer, take note you busy workin' folks).  We've had the most perfectly lovely weather lately that I wanted to share this recipe early so you could procure all the necessary ingredients by the weekend, because ground lamb isn't the easiest thing to find, but it's oh so worth the hunt (no you don't actually have to hunt the lamb...it's a figure of speech people).

This recipe hails from Finland, and although I am entirely unfamiliar with what exactly the good people of Finland have contributed to this earth, (I'm sure there are plenty of spectacularly diplomatic things, I just skipped that class in college) even if they only invented this soup, it would be enough to pledge my allegiance to the Finnish flag.  I will admit, this shopping list alone doesn't exactly scream "best soup ever" but trust me this is bowl-licking-good soup.

Finnish Style Cabbage Soup

What you'll need: 

6 oz bacon, minced
9 oz ground lamb
3 oz onion, julienned
3/4 pound cabbage, chiffonade
1 1/2 oz celery, finely chopped
1 1/2 oz carrots, finely chopped
1 1/2 oz turnip, finely chopped
3/4 oz garlic, minced
3/4 tsp cracked black pepper
Salt, to taste
3 oz tomato, concasse and diced
48 oz chicken broth
dill, as needed for garnish (but it's not just pretty, it's for flavor too, so don't skip it!)
sour cream, as needed for garnish (see: dill explanation)

What to do:

Heat a large pot over medium heat and add the bacon.  Cook until the fat has rendered about half way and then add the ground lamb and onion.  Continue to cook until well browned.  Add the cabbage, celery, carrots, turnip, garlic, salt and pepper. Sauté until the cabbage has softened, but do not brown the vegetables (we want the caramelized flavor to come from the meat but the veggies to remain uninhibited, free to let their fall veggie flags fly).  Add the tomatoes* and the broth and bring to a simmer (a simmer people, NOT a boil, we don't want to cook the ever living flavor out of these veggies) and cook slowly until the veggies are tender, approximately 30 minutes.  And there you have it...it's that simple...and it's somewhere in that simplicity that I fell in love with this soup and you will too.  I'm not sure really when the lovely people of Finland partake in this soup (a lot I would imagine, as the few facts that I actually know about Finland involve its flag, which is blue with a white cross, the white of course representing all the snow) but I think it's perfect for the Fall.  It's not really hardy enough to be a rib-sticking Winter soup, but just as you begin to feel the dependable chill of September air roll in, that's the exact moment you want to have a steamy bowl of this soup in your lap (well not in your lap, but in a bowl ON your lap as you enjoy one of the last outdoor meals before Fall officially descends).

*And now a word about concasse:
Concasse is a French technique for getting all the guts and skin and seedy bits out of a tomato so that you are left only with plump tomatoey flesh.  It requires you to cut out the core end, score the other end, blanch, shock, squeeze, and peel.  In my personal opinion this is a whole lot of rigamarole for purely aesthetic purposes.  If you don't mind seeing more tomato parts in your soup, then I say skip this fussy step and just dice the stinking tomato, trust me Finland won't mind