Wine Poached Pears

Wine poached pears are really delicious, and I don't even like pears all that much. They are extremely easy to make. You can also save the extra cooked-down sauce, and it's like wine jam. So yummy.

Christmas Dinner - Pt. 1

"Do as I say, or I will cut you."

"I have crazy eyes. I wouldn't mess with me."

There was a great and bloody battle, and only one was left standing.

No, no. Of course I'm kidding. That's just pomegranate juice, sillies. However, let this very short tale be a lesson for you. Pomegranates are messy. Don't wear nice clothes if you use them.

OK, onto the recipe: Spinach Pomegranate Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 (10 ounce) bag baby spinach leaves, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 red onion, sliced very thin
• 1/2 cup walnut pieces
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta
• 1/4 cup alfalfa sprouts (optional)
• 1 pomegranate
• balsamic vinegar
• honey
• salt & pepper
• olive oil

Directions:

1. Cut your pomegranate in half. Inside, it will look like this:

It's good to separate the seeds in a sink or bowl of water. The white pith will float to the top & you can scoop it all away. If you use a bowl, you can dump the seeds in a strainer. Scooping them out of the sink was easy as well.

A pretty bowl of pomegranate seeds.

2. Mix the last 4 ingredients to taste to make a vinaigrette.

3. Assemble the salad, sprinkle the pomegranate seeds on top & sprinkle with the dressing.

Voila!

Burrata & Caprese Salad

I found burrata cheese!!! I got it at Jungle Jim's, but I have heard reports that Whole Foods has it too. Burrata is the most amazing cheese. I really recommend finding some for yourself. It's heavenly.


This isn't the best picture in the world, but this was really tasty. We used a balsamic reduction on it. Yum. Yum. Yum.

Thai Chicken & Leek

*I didn't have enough leeks, so I changed some of the amounts -- I don't think it matters much at all.

Ingredients (from The Modern of Art of Thai Cooking)

2 leeks (about 1 pound; I used one small leek that was less than 1/2 pound)
1/2 tbsp flour
1/3 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp vegetable oil (I only used 1 tbsp)
6 cloves garlic, minced (I used 3 tbsp of the minced stuff from the jar)
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast (I used one breast...I don't know how much it weighed)
5 tbsp sugar (I used 3 tbsp)
3 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp whole yellow bean sauce (I don't know what that is...I used the red curry paste from the previous post)

Trim off the root ends of the leeks and all but about 3 inches of the green tops. Angle-cut the green tops into thin slices. Cut the white bulbs in half lengthwise, then angle-cut them into thin slices. Put the sliced leeks in a colander and wash them well. Drain and set aside.

Stir the flour into the chicken stock until blended.

Place all of the ingredients within easy reach of the cooking area.

Set a wok over medium-high heat. When hot, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and stir-fry briefly, just until golden and aromatic. Add the chicken, raise the heat to high, and stir-fry for 1 minute. Stir in the sugar, fish sauce, and leeks and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the yellow bean sauce (or red curry paste) and the chicken stock-flour mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally, just until the meat and vegetables are tender and cooked through, and the sauce reduces slightly, about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.

Transfer to platter and serve with jasmine rice. (I omitted the rice, but I bet it would have been tasty.)

2 servings, 7 weight watcher points each.


The picture is not great -- it looks gelatinous. It looked better in person and was scrumptious.

Jamie's Chicken & Leek Stroganoff

This recipe is from Jamie Oliver's cookbook, Jamie's Food Revolution, a cookbook which my mother gives 2 spoons up or 5 forks, or whatever food-related scale you prefer. Jamie also has a special rice-cooking method:

snacks and sides | serves 4 - 6
This is my basic recipe for getting perfect rice every time. Have a go at mastering it – you’ll be amazed at the light and fluffy results.

Once you’ve got the hang of that, you can have a go at flavouring it - any flavouring you boil with the rice will infuse it with wonderful fragrances and flavours. So try boiling things like fresh herbs, a cinnamon stick, a few cardamom pods, a strip of lemon zest or even a green tea bag in the water with the rice.

Doubling the amounts in the recipe will give you enough rice to serve 8-12 people.

• Put a large pan of salted water on a high heat and bring to the boil
• Rinse the rice in a colander under running water for about 1 minute, or until the water runs clear (this will stop the grains sticking together later)
• Add your rice to the boiling water and wait for the grains to start dancing around
• From that point, boil for 5 minutes
• Drain the rice in a colander
• Pour 2.5cm of water into the pan, put it back on the heat and bring it to the boil again, then turn down to a simmer
• Cover the rice in the colander with foil or a lid
• Place the colander on top of the pan of simmering water and let the rice steam over it for 8 to 10 minutes
• Remove from the heat and if you’re ready, serve immediately
• If not, leave the foil or lid on and put aside until ready to serve – it should stay warm for about 20 minutes

I have placed my picture of it down here, because it really doesn't do it justice. It looks so colorless, which I suppose it is, but that colorless indicates starches, cream, and butter. I think we can all get behind that. (Skinny people who only like skinny people food need not apply.) I stuffed myself beyond what is natural. I looked like I was pregnant with a rice & cream baby.

Mama's Internet Cooking

My mommy is visiting me this week, and we have plans to make lots of food. We didn't feel like going to the grocery store on Sunday, so my mom poked around my fairly bare fridge and looked on the interwebs for some appropriate recipes. Dinner was simple, but quite delicious. The carrots were really good -- my mom was skeptical that they would be, but she was converted once we started eating.

Chicken recipe from Reluctant Gourmet:

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1-1/2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 1-1/2 tablespoons of olive oil (or vegetable oil)
• Salt and ground pepper
• 3 shallots, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup of dry white wine
• 1 cup of homemade chicken stock
• 3/4 cup heavy cream

Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper on both sides.

Pre-heat your saute pan (frying pan) until drops of water quickly evaporate. This means the pan is at least 212° F.

Heat butter and oil in a heavy bottomed pan over high heat until butter stops foaming and just starts to turn a light brown.

Sauté the breasts until they are lightly browned on one side, approx. 3 minutes.

Turn breasts over and sauté for another 3 minutes, again until lightly browned. (At this point the meat should be firm to the touch.)

Transfer the chicken breasts to a plate, cover with aluminum foil, and keep warm in the oven or toaster oven set at low.

Remove the pan from the head source, and add half of the wine to deglaze the pan, stirring to dissolve the flavorful brown particles stuck to the pan.

Return pan to the stove and add the shallots and cook until translucent, about 2 minutes.

Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, making sure the garlic doesn’t burn. (It makes the dish bitter if it does)

Add the remaining wine and reduce (boil) until only a trace of wine is left in the pan.

Add the chicken stock and reduce to half the original amount, approx. 6-7 minutes.

Add the cream, and again reduce until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon.

Spoon sauce over cutlets and serve.

Carrots from We Heart Food:

**Note: Oregano was used in lieu of marjoram

Sauteed Carrots with Lemon and Marjoram
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 bunch carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch slices
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
2 tbsp lemon juice

In a medium nonstick frying pan, heat 1/2 the oil over moderately low heat. Add the garlic, carrots, sugar, 1/2 the salt, the pepper, and the dried marjoram. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Uncover the pan. Raise the heat to moderate and cook, stirring frequently, until the carrots are very tender and beginning to brown, about 8 minutes longer. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the remaining oil and the lemon juice.

Creamy Pasta with Chard and Tomatoes

This is in our Gracewood cookbook but I don't think I ever made it before. It is from the Joy of Cooking. It took me a while to find chard in the grocery store but everything else I had in my fridge/pantry. It was very good and easy to make! I'll post the recipe, but my roomies can easily access it in the very fancy gracewood recipes cookbook :)


Ingredients:
olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 to 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 large ripe tomatoes, peeled & chopped OR 1 cup chopped, drained canned tomatoes
1 pound chard, trimmed and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch strips
3/4 cup heavy cream
salt & pepper to taste
3/4 cup grated Parmesan

Cooking Instructions:
Heat & cook onion, garlic, & red pepper in olive oil over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes, until soft & golden.
Add tomatoes & cook for about 5 minutes or until most of the liquid is evaporated. Stir occasionally.
Add chard & cook until chard has wilted, about 2 minutes.
Add cream & salt & pepper. Cook 2 minutes or until bubbling. Remove from heat.
Meanwhile, cook pasta. When cooked, drain pasta, retaining a couple tbs of pasta water. Put pasta in completed sauce with some of the pasta water. Toss until well coated.
Add Parmesan.

Egg-in-the-Hole Grilled Cheese

This won't be the most popular post, but I made a grilled cheese egg-in-the-hole. I liked it. So there.

Michelle's World Famous Raisin and Bran

Michelle posted this under my cookie post, and I thought it was funny enough to enjoy a more prominent placing.

Let me add to this blog:
Raisin Bran Crunch (people with jaw problems need not read further)
1. Take out a huge bowl
2. Pour in an amount of cereal that would only be considered a single serving size in America.
3. Pour skim milk in the bowl until if covers the cereal and goes about an inch over
4. Enjoy this delicacy no more than three times per day.
5. For dessert, repeat steps two and three with Fruity Pebbles.
6. Rinse bowl, put in dishwasher, and go on with your life!

Chiang Mai Soup w/ Coconut Rice

This is two recipes combined, and the coconut rice is more than good enough as a small meal on its own. In fact, I was pretty full from nibbling on the rice by the time I actually got the rest of it cooked. I got both of these out of my Rice & Noodle Cookbook.

Coconut Rice
2 1/4 cups Jasmine rice
2 cups Coconut milk
1 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
(Calls for shredded coconut for garnish, but I left that out.)

Wash the rice in several changes of water until it runs clear. (The directions on the rice didn't call for this, but I did it anyway. It took 5-6 changes of water for it to run clear.) Put everything in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan. (I used my pretty new dutch oven!) Cover & bring to boil. Lower heat & simmer for 15-20 minutes. Take off heat & let rest for 5-10 minutes, then fluff the rice.


Chiang Mai Soup
2 1/2 cups coconut milk
2 tbsp red curry paste (I used this before, but I didn't have any this time -- still tasted fine)
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 lb chicken thighs, boned & cut into bite-sized pieces (I used 2 frozen chicken breasts, thawed)
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
4 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce (I don't know the difference b/w dark & light. Kikoman seems to work fine.)
juice of 1/2-1 lime (I used bottled lime juice. I just squirted some in there -- I don't think it needs to be precise. You can put more in any time if it is a little bland.)
salt & water to taste
[The recipe calls for egg noodles, but I didn't use them -- I used the rice instead]

1. Pour ~1/3 of the coconut milk into the saucepan & bring to a boil, stirring frequently until it separates. (This separation thing -- I'm not entirely sure mine ever did, but it started looking vaguely like tapioca at some point, and I decided that was good.)
2. Add the curry paste & ground turmeric, stir to mix completely and cook for a few minutes until blended.
3. Add chicken pieces & stir-fry for about 2 minutes. Ensure all chunks of meat are covered in paste. (It is not as paste-y if you don't use the curry paste.)
4. Add the remaining coconut milk, stock, fish sauce, soy sauce, & seasoning. Simmer for 7-10 minutes. Remove from heat & add lime juice to taste.

5. The direction here call for you to add the egg noodles. I just poured it over the rice & mixed it up. If you have leftovers, it will save for a long time. The rice just soaks up the soup, which is great, because you don't get that tough leftover rice thing the next day. I ate for several days in a row.

As always, particularly with Asian food, use your prep bowls! Have everything ready to go when you start. If you try it, let me know what you think!