Slacker

Ah yes.  The slacker bug has hit again.  Well, not that I have been slacking off, I have been plenty busy.  I have just been too busy to sit down and write.  It has been almost two whole weeks since I last wrote.  Yikes!

It has been a bit quiet on the foodie front.  My hubby has been away on business and I just can not bring myself to make huge awesome meals for one person.  Now, JT is starting to eat regular meals, if the I can make things small enough.  But let's be honest, sometimes it is just easier to pop the microwave meals in and not think.  I do have a bunch of recipes lined up to try with a heavy emphasis on crockpot meals.  Why?  Besides the fact that it will be ready whenever the hubby gets home, the meats become tender enough that JT can just gum at it.  Well, doesn't he have teeth?  He does - at least 6, we are cutting a few more as I type.  But he still has not quite gotten the concept of chewing or in his case mashing the food up with his gums.

I have also been kept busy with Army life in general and volunteer work.  It is rewarding but sometimes I would like to put it on hold so that I can do all the little activities and hobbies that relax me.

Oh, I did manage to find my little flip video hd recorder.  Now that JT is moving so much, it seems like a godsend.  So here are a couple of clips from the past two weeks:

Sharing

I had to share this little story.

This evening JT was enjoying dinner.  Actually, a big step too.  He had some normal...adult food.  I wimped out and made a Barilla Skillet Meal for two.  He almost ate an entire adult portion.  But that is not what I want to share.

Once JT finished his meal, I gave a him a few cookies.  This evening JT decided he would demonstrate that he knows about sharing.  He leaned over the side of his booster chair and outstretched his cookie filled hand to Silvio.  I was so proud of him.  Unfortunately, Silvio does not understand about sharing.  I would almost say he has the doggy version of kleptomania.  Silvio jumped up, took the entire cookie and ran off to eat his prize.  JT just sat there, hunched over the side of the chair, staring at the spot that Silvio occupied.

I just had to laugh...and share it with you all.

My Little Cowboy

Yesterday, JT went in for his one year well baby shots.  It was a rough morning but JT took it very well.  I was probably more of a wreck than he was.  He is 19 lbs and 9.6 oz and just about 30 inches long.  He has almost doubled his birth length and he is 4.5 times bigger than his birth weight.  It amazes me how far he has come.

I was racking my brain for some small present or game for us to play when we got home from the doctor but luckily I was saved.  One of JT's birthday presents arrived.  Grandma and Grandpa S gave JT his very own rocking horse.  Unfortunately, it did not quite fit in the car on the way home.  Fortunately, it showed up in the mail this afternoon.

Cruising!

JT is almost walking or as his doctor said - he is "Cruising!"  To help him on his way to walking, I ordered him a John Deere tractor.  It showed up a few days ago.  Here is JT's reaction:

A One Year Old

Yep, JT is now one year old. My blogging silence was due to our taking a huge birthday road trip. JT got a chance to meet a whole slew of people. I got a surprise birthday cake. We saw Alexander Hamilton's house, the National Aquarium, and the Yuengling brewery. I got a Yuengling cookbook, which I can't wait to try out.

JT has grown quite a bit. He finally is holding things - fruit pouches, bottles, sippy cups. We have moved over to whole milk (hurray no more formula!). He has 5 teeth. He is starting to eat like a big boy.

JT is almost to walking. And this video shows that the John Deere Push and Scoot Tractor I ordered recently can't come fast enough...

Posted with Blogsy

Putengeschnetzeltes

During a road trip, I stopped to see my friend Suzy in Pittsburgh.  While there, we had dinner at the famed Hofbrauhaus.  I could not walk out of there without taking home a copy of the cookbook.  This week has been interesting - feel good food, chinese food, and I thought what the heck, lets add some German food to the mix.  Without further ado,

Putengeschnetzeltes

Turkey Ragout with Mushrooms

from The Hofbrauhaus Cookbook

Ingredients

1 1/4 lb turkey meat
1 1/4 lb white mushrooms
1 tbsp oil
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup heavy cream

Steps

1.  Wash the turkey meat and dab dry.  Cut into bite-size strips.
2.  Rub the mushrooms clean and cut into thin slices.
3.  Heat oil in a pan and meat until golden brown.  Season with salt, pepper, and paprika.  Add mushrooms and fry briefly.
4.  Pour over the white wine and reduce by half.
5.  Add the cream, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a boil once.
6. Place the ragout on warm plates and serve with boiled rice or spaetzle.

Finished Product:

This was really quite yummy and very simple.  Definitely plan on making it again.  Maybe next time I will be adventurous and make spaetzle!

Beef and Mushroom Stir Fry

A while back, my hubby purchased me a wok.  I do not use hardly as frequently as I should.  Probably because using a wok requires really good timing.  I don't usually cook quickly.  Five minutes to done kinda scares me.  But we have a hard time getting good chinese food around here.  So, I tried my hand this week at a basic stir-fry.

Beef and Mushroom Stir Fry

adapted from The Everything Chinese Cookbook

Ingredients

1/2 pound stir-fry beef
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp oil for stir-frying
1 clove garlic, smashed
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
1/2 tsp sugar

Steps:

1.  Add soy sauce , cornstarch, and baking soda to the meat in that order.  Use your hands to mix in the cornstarch and baking soda.  Marinate for 30 minutes.
2.  Add vegetable oil, and marinate for another 30 minutes.
3.  Add oil to a preheated wok.  When oil is hot, add the garlic and stir-fry until aromatic.
4.  Add the beef, laying it flat.  Let it cook for a minute, turn over and brown on the other side.  Begin stir-frying.
5.  Before meat it nearly cooked, remove from wok to a paper towel lined plate.  Add mushrooms to wok and stir-fry.
6.  When mushrooms begin to brown, return meat to wok.  Add rice wine and sugar.  Stir-fry until meat is fully cooked.

Finished Product:

For all of my fears of quick cooking, it turned out really well.  Plus, I managed to make fried rice at the same time.  They nearly finished cooking simultaneously.  I was really proud of myself.  Lesson learned, don't be scared of the wok!

Chicken Pot Pie

So, I really like the Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie.  But sometimes, you just want to make it from scratch.  Luckily, Cooking for Two 2012 had a recipe for it.  Score!  It didn't seem to bad, even if you discount the laundry list of ingredients.  But to my surprise is was a bit labor intensive.  Don't let that discourage you because it really did taste fantastic....my favorite part was the crumbly bits on top.  Sadly, we dug in way to quickly for me to get a picture of it.  :(

Chicken Pot Pie with Savory Crumble Topping

from Cooking for Two 2012, America's Test Kitchen

Crumble Topping

2/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
salt and pepper
cayenne pepper
1 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup plu 1 tbsp heavy cream

Steps:

1.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.  Combine flour, baking powder, 1/8 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, and cayenne in bowl.
3.  Sprinkle butter pieces over tope of flour mixture.  Using fingers, rub butter into flour mixture until it resembles a coarse cornmeal.
4.  Stir in Parmesan cheese.  Stir in cream until just combines.
5.  Crumble dough onto prepared pan into irregular shaped pieces.  Bake until fragrant and starting to brown around the edges, 6 to 8 minutes; set aside.

Filling

8 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 tbsp oil
4 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced thin
1 small onion, minced
1 small carrot, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp tomato paste
2 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp flour
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp minced fresh parsley
1/4 cup frozen baby peas

Steps:

1.  Bring chicken and broth to simmer in medium saucepan.  Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes.  Transfer chicken to medium bowl and shred chicken with 2 forks into bite size pieces.  Reserve one cup of broth.
2.  Heat oil in the now-empty saucepan.  Add mushrooms, onion, carrot, celery, 1/4 tsp of salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper.  Cover and cook, until mushrooms have released their juices, about 5 minutes.
3.  Uncover and stir in soy sauce and tomato paste.  Increase heat to medium-high and cook until liquid has evaporated and mushrooms are well-browned (5 to 7 minutes).  Transfer veggies to bowl with chicken.
4. Melt butter in the empty saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in flour and cook for 30 seconds.  Slowly whisk in reserved broth and milk.  Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened.
5.  Off heat, stir in lemon juice, parsley, chicken mixture and peas.
6.  Pour chicken mixture into an oiled baking dish. Scatter crumble topping evenly over filling.  Bake pot pie until filling is bubbling and topping is well browned, 12 to 15 minutes.

Crispy Pan Fried Pork Chops

A lot of the meals I make are usually family friendly, as in, I could feed a small army with them.  We are always stuck with leftovers.  While leftovers are great, it is nice every now and again to make a meal that is a good portion size.  So, I picked up Cooking for Two 2012 by America's Test Kitchen.  I stumbled upon a fried pork chop recipe and I was intrigued.  Normally, my frying technique is egg bath (sometimes I add some tabasco sauce for a little heat) and then dredge in breadcrumbs.  This one introduced me to the use of buttermilk.  It definitely produces a different sort of crunch.  I think this one is going to go into regular rotation.

Crispy Pan-Fried Pork Chops

adapted from Cooking for Two 2012 by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup of panko
Salt and pepper
4 (3- to 4-ounce)boneless pork chops, 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick, trimmed
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Steps

1.  Place 1/4 cup of cornstarch in a shallow dish.  In a second shallow dish whisk buttermilk, mustard, and garlic together until combined.
2.  Combine 1/4 cup of cornstarch, panko, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper until well mixed.  Transfer mixture to third shallow dish.
3.  Dredge pork chop in cornstarch and shake off excess.  Coat in buttermilk mixture, allowing excess to drip off.  Then dredge in panko mixture and gently pat off excess.
4.  Heat oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering.  Carefully place chops in skillet and cook until golden brown and crisp on first side, 2 to 5 minutes.  Flip chops and cook until second side is golden brown and pork registers 145 degrees.
5.  Transfer chops to paper towel-lined plate and let drain for 30 seconds on each side. 

Sorry, I don't have any pictures.  We just sat down and gobbled it all up.  The 1/3 cup of vegetable oil wasn't enough for frying and I had to add some extra.  Other than that, we heartily enjoyed this.

Shepard's Pie

The hubby has been out "in the field" as they say for the past week.  So my push to try new recipes really was not high.  But he was home over the weekend, so I though we should try something new.  I tried my hand at something I have always thought about attempting but always thought it was too difficult - Shepard's Pie.  This comes from a cookbook that has recipes compiled from the employees at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey.  A lot of the recipes seem really tempting to make but this one really caught my eye.  So here it goes:

Shepard's Pie

from Colleen Hudak

via A Dash of TLC: Recipes from the Cancer Institute of New Jersey

Ingredients:

1 - 2 lbs ground beef
Prepared mashed potatoes (flavored with garlic, butter, and cream)
1 large onion, minced
1 cup carrots, diced
1 cup mushrooms sliced
1 cup red wine
1 - 2 cups beef broth
Parsley and thyme
Salt and pepper
Dash of flour

Steps:

1.  Brown the ground beef in a saute pan.  Remove from pan and set aside.
2.  Brown the onion in the pan drippings.
3.  Add the carrots and mushrooms.  Saute for a few minutes.
4.  Return meat to the pan.  Add the wine and beef broth and simmer for 20 minutes.
5.  Add seasonings to taste and flour to thicken, if needed.
6.  Spray a large casserole dish with Pam and place mixture in the dish.
7.  Cover with spoonfuls of mashed potatoes.
8.  Top with minced scallions and shredded cheddar cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven until top is nicely browned.

The Finished Product:

This turned out really well. I used one pound of ground sirloin, used about 6 russet potatoes to make my usual mashed potatoes, one small onion, threw in an entire 8 oz package of sliced mushrooms (i diced these up a little bit more so that the sizes where relatively the same), and 2 cups of beef broth. I had to make a slurry of about 2 tbsp of flour and left over beef broth to add to the meat mixture in step 5.  This made enough to fill my casserole dish and then two little ramekins.  I would guess that I could have probably filled about 8 of these ramekins if I went the individual route.  Our only little complaint is that it could have used a little bit more of a kick.  I purposely went light on the spices just to see how it would turn out.  It had a very beefy, earthy taste - but not overwhelming.

Next time, because yes there will be a next time, I would do 1 cup of beef broth.  I would add a package of frozen peas at step 3.  Then besides the thyme and parsley, I would add a bit of Worcestershire sauce (start at a tsp and work up) and possibly a sprinkle of paprika.  I also forgot to add salt and pepper - so definitely a must next time around.  You definitely need to try this one!