Keg Party.

Other than the fact that my house smells like I just hosted a keg party, I am very pleased with the chicken I cooked tonight for dinner.  I served this beer chicken on a bed of basmati rice.  I hope you like it!

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1/2 to 3/4 of a bottle of beer (depending on how much you drink of it!)
4 tbsp soya sauce
1/4 c orange juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp honey
2 c broccoli

Put everything but the broccoli in a large pot over high heat and bring to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes.  This will burn off the alcohol.  Stir occasionally.  Cook for another 10 minutes covered.  Throw broccoli and cook for 3 minutes.  Serve over rice.

Sausage & Shrimp Gumbo

This morning I was half watching a cooking show while marking essays and saw a recipe that I thought I'd try out tonight.  My husband is fairly picky when it comes to vegetables (seems wrong for a farmer to not like a lot of vegetables eh? I'm working on it!).  I didn't tell him what was in this dish until he finished.  He was pretty impressed!  This recipe is a great way to mask some nutrient rich vegetables.  Hope you like it!  I'm happy that we have plenty leftover for a quick meal tomorrow.  Serves: 6

 

1/3 c canola/vegetable oil
1/3 c all-purpose flour
1 medium onion, chopped (I used red onion)
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
Cayenne pepper, to taste  ( I used about 1/2 tsp)
2 tbsp tomato paste

2 c okra, chopped (Couldn't find this fresh so I used the frozen stuff)
2 stocks Swiss chard, chopped
3 spicy pork sausages, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 bay leaves
3 c water
1 tsp sea salt
1 pound uncooked shrimp, peeled and de-veined (1 lb = 1 bag PC raw shrimp)
Chopped fresh Italian parsley, to garnish

1.       In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add flour and cook, whisking constantly, until pale golden, about 5-7 minutes.

2.       With a wooden spoon, stir in onion, bell pepper and garlic. Sauté until veggies are soft, about 10 minutes.

3.       Add cayenne pepper and tomato paste, then mix well to combine. Gently fold in okra, Swiss chard, sausage and bay leaves. Sauté for 3 minutes, then add water and salt, stirring well. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low. Cover and let simmer for 25 minutes.

4.       Add shrimp, then simmer uncovered for 5 minutes, until shrimp is light pink and opaque. Serve over steamed white rice and garnish with chopped fresh Italian parsley, if desired.

I served without the rice, as more of a stew.  Neither my husband nor I had even heard of Okra.  I was pretty good.  Not much of a flavour to it - - almost looks like a jalapeno pepper.  I will definitely cook with it again. 

1,000 views!

Here I sit sipping on a coffee working on putting together some handouts for my students and I decided to take a quick peek at the good ol' blog. 1,000 page views!  Thank you everyone who visits my blog on a regular basis.  I am happy that people are actually reading this.  My mom has probably viewed it 500 of those 1000 times, but still :) 

As a thank you, I'm wondering if there is a dish idea that you have that you would like me to try out, spruce up and blog about.  If so, post a comment and let me know.  I'd be happy to try something out.  I also love reading comments so POST AWAY.  

Thanks everyone,
Jill xo

Home alone.

Being married to a farmer means that I spend a lot of time alone, especially during the most beautiful days of the year.  I find cooking dinner for one can be a challenge so I often find myself putting together plates of randomness.  Tonights dinner - - a bowl of homemade guacamole with corn chips.  Took me right back to being in Los Cabos, poolside with a ice cold beer, fresh guacamole and pipping hot, greasy corn chips. YUM!

Guacamole

1 ripe avocado
1/2 tomato, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp lime juice from concentrate
1 tbsp diced red onion
salt & pepper to taste

Throw all ingredients together in a bowl, smush with a folk. Eat.

Saturday night in...

I thought pumpkin spice lattes would be a perfect treat while lounging on the couch with the hubby, especially after the fantastic fall weather we had today.  Starbucks sells these lattes every fall and they are AMAZING.  My new school is about 3 kms away from a Starbucks which is a tad dangerous for me (& my bank account).  I looked at a few different recipes and came up with this one.  It turned out fantastic!  I will definitely be making these again....and again.....and again....

Pumpkin Spice Lattes for 2

2 c milk

2 tbsp pumpkin puree

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

sprinkle of cinnamon

sprinkle of nutmeg

1 c strong brewed coffee (I doubled the amount of coffee grinds that we usually use & chose decaf)

Brew coffee.  In a sauce pan over medium heat warm milk, sugar and pumpkin, constantly whisking.  Do not bring to a boil because you don't want to burn the milk. Remove from heat and add vanilla and spices. Whisk until frothy (or blend for 15 seconds).  Pour into two mugs and add coffee.  We didn't have any in the house, but you could add whipped cream to the top.

Bad for you brownies

I know that I've already posted a brownie recipe but this one is far worse for you than the other one :)   They taste so awesome though - - so good that they don't need icing.  Tonight I whipped this together when my brother in-law came by for a visit.  He approved!

4 oz unsweetened chocolate (4 Baker's chocolate squares)

4 oz semisweet cholcolate

1 c butter

2 c sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

In top of double boiler ( I don't own one so I use a small pot inside a bigger one), over hot water, melt all chocolate until smooth.  Set aside.  In bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one (that's what she said).  Stir in vanilla.  Stir in flour and salt.  Add chocolate and stir until colour is consistant.  Pour batter into a greased 13X9 inch baking dish.  Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.  Let cook before serving.  ENJOY!

Basic Baba Ganoush

This past weekend I contributed to 4 different Thanksgiving meals.  I am now sporting a nice blister on my right index finger from all the peeling, mashing and chopping.  I decided to take something a little different to our largest family gathering on Saturday, where there were about 50 people in attendance.  Hardcore eh? :)  All the basics were covered so I decided on an appetizer of sliced fresh baguettes, homemade hummus (previously posted), oil bread dip and baba ganoush.  They were all a hit!  Here is the very basic Baba Ganoush recipe that I threw together.

1 medium egg plant

1/4 container light cream cheese

1/2 c 5% sour cream

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp lemon juice concentrate

1 tbsp olive oil

salt & pepper 

Pierce eggplant a few times with fork and put on baking sheet.  Cook for 35 minutes at 400 degrees, rotating every 10 minutes.  Place eggplant in a bowl of cold water and peel skin off.  Squeeze some of the moisture out before tossing into a food processor.  Add all remaining ingredients.  Pulse until desired consistency.  Add more sour scream if you like it creamier (that's what she said).  Chill for at least three hours.  Serve as a dip. Enjoy!

Reality Check.

I firmly believe that there certain people who come into our lives to teach us lessons that we otherwise wouldn't experience.  This year I have a student that has done just that in 5 short weeks.  This particular student is likely the most positive student I've taught.  He comes into class, smiling, chatting and contributes so positively to the overall classroom atmosphere.  In the last year this student has undergone 3 brain surgeries, has lost his sight entirely and missed his first year of high school.  He has integrated so seamlessly into my cooking class that I often forget that he is visually impaired.  He has taught me that no matter how crappy my day is I always have a reason to smile and should always try to project positivity. 

Yesterday this student told me that he spent last Thanksgiving in the hospital. After our apple crisp cooking lab he told me that he was going to make one to drop off at the hospital on Saturday for their Thanksgiving meal.  I couldn't resist doing the same.  Today I spend the morning cooking a giant batch of garlic mashed potatoes to take to the Children's Hospital.  I swung by a local farm and purchased a cherry pie on my way to deliver the 'goods'.  Today I learned another valuable lesson - - I am so very grateful for health, family and friendship.  Far too often we seem to get wrapped up in the overwhelming feeling of family gatherings that we forget the point of them.  They aren't meant to be stressful, an inconvenience and a pain in our ass.  They are meant to be a time of love, bonding and happiness.  So the next time you are feeling like the last thing you want to do is get together 4 times over with family on the holidays think of the children that I saw today at the hospital who are unable to pull a chair up to a table covered with delicious home cooking that is surrounded by the love of family this Thanksgiving.

To everyone who is reading this, Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families xoxo

...since this is technically a cooking blog and not 'Jill's rant & rave blog' I suppose I should include a recipe. 

Garlic Mashed Potatoes: This is a giant batch that will serve 10+

1 bag of white potatoes, 3/4 peeled and cubed (leave some skin on for added texture)

1/2 container of light cream cheese
3/4 c 5% sour cream

1/4 c butter

1/4 - 1/2 c milk (depending on how smooth you like 'em)

4 cloves garlic, minced

salt & pepper

Boil potatoes until tender.  Drain and return to pot.  Add remaining ingredients and whip with electric mixer until desired consistency.  Enjoy!

Apple Crisp

My Food & Nutrition students each cook once per week; 10 students cook on Thursdays, the remaining 10 on Fridays.  With Thanksgiving around the corner I decided on Apple Crisp for this weeks lab.  It was a HUGE hit today!  This was a very easy, quick recipe that the students loved.  Many said they are going to bake it for their family dinner this weekend.  I hope you like it!

4-6 med tart apples (we used local Mcintosh but Ida Red and Golden Delicious would do the trick too)

3/4 c packed brown sugar

1/2 c whole wheat flour

1/2 quick rolled oats

1/3 c marg or butter
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Grease square baking dish.  Peel apples and slice. Arrange apples in bottom of pan.  Mix remaining ingredients in bowl. Sprinkle over apples. Bake about 20 minutes at 375 degrees. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Pork Roast

This turned out extremely moist and had a good flavour, but personally I think it needed a little more flavour. Next time I'll definitely serve this with apple sauce to add a little more punch to it.

2 lb pork oven roast

1/4 cup real maple syrup

1/4 cup of honey Dijon mustard

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

Rub roast with oil, salt and pepper. Place into oven safe dish or roasting pan.  Mix maple syrup and mustard together and pour over roast.  Add 1/2 cup water to bottom of dish.  Cook at 400 degrees for an hour (30 mins per lb).  Baste three times during cooking time.  Enjoy!

Makeshift Beef Back Ribs

Earlier in the week I took beef back ribs out of the freezer to thaw out.  I ended up planning meals incorrectly and had to cook them after dinner on Thursday night. I threw them into the crock pot and starting tossing random ingredients in and hoped for the best.  When the ribs were finished I stored them in the fridge.  I was actually happy that I cooked them ahead of time because the fat solidified and I was able to remove it before we reheated them for dinner tonight (350 degrees for 25 minutes).  They turned extremely tender and very flavourful.

Beef back ribs (I used a rack of 10)

1 c Diana Sauce (or your fav BBQ sauce)

3 cloves garlic, chopped

3 tbsp honey Dijon mustard

1/4 c honey

1/4 c water

salt and pepper

Mix all items (except the ribs) together in a bowl.  Place ribs in crock pot and pour sauce over top.  Turn slow cooker on high for 3 hours.  After 3 hours put on low for 1 hour.  Be sure to baste ribs at least 3 times while they are cooking.  A great meal to have with a beer!  Enjoy!

2 weeks later...

I'm not entirely sure if anyone other than my Mother visits my blog on a regular basis, regardless, my apologies for the lack of posts over the last two weeks.  As I anticipated, being back in the classroom teaching has limited my time on the computer.  This coming week I will be tied up every evening so tonight was the night to put together a home cooked, warm meal on a cold, damp fall evening. The menu - crock pot beef ribs, scalloped potatoes and home grown sweet corn that we froze back in the summer.  Dessert?  Probably a giant glass of red :)

Scalloped Potatoes

6 Yukon Gold potatoes
1 small onion (I used red tonight since I don't have anything else)
1/4 c butter

1/3 c flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp dried thyme

2 1/2 c milk

In sauce pan melt butter over medium heat.  Add flour, salt, pepper and thyme and stir.  Gradually whisk in milk. Cook, whisking constantly for 6 minutes until boiling and thickened.  The bottom burns quickly so be certain to keep stirring.  Set aside.

Peel and thinly slice potatoes.  Arrange 1/3 in a layer in greased casserole dish (with lid!), spread 1/2 of the onions over top, repeats layers.  Pour sauce over top.  Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Remove lid after and hour and cook for another 30 minutes or until lightly browned and potatoes are tender.  Let stand a few minutes before serving.  You could also add grated cheese during the last 30 minutes for a cheesy version.  ENJOY!