creamy, melty spinach

This is a cooling counterpoint to the grill-ades recipe - and easy to throw together after all the work on the other dish.

1 large container of fresh baby spinach
1 cup of half and half
salt
pepper
garlic
olive oil
1 tbsp butter

Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add spinach, salt, pepper and garlic and stir until all of the leaves have wilted.

In a separate saucepan, melt the butter. Season with more salt, pepper and garlic. Add the half and half, stir and heat through.

Once the spinach is wilted, pour the cream sauce over the spinach. Stir to combine. Leave over low heat stirring occasionally for 20-25 minutes. Serve.

grill-ades

For the first time in all our years of cooking we finally have a dutch oven and I couldn't be enjoying it more. It (along with all of our new kitchen implements) are making it so that I can't wait to cook again. The meals I'm making take a whole lot longer, it seems, but I don't care because I'm enjoying the process just as much as the result. I swear this meal took more than 4 hours to make, but that also included a run to the store for forgotten tomatoes and a phone break. Regardless of the time it took, the result was well worth it.

For this we used a fresh ham steak from the farm share - a cut I never have any idea what to do with and have dreaded getting each month. But now I'll know exactly what to do with it the next time I see it.

1 - 2 pounds fresh ham steak (or veal or beef top round) cut into 2 to 3-inch pieces
2-3 tablespoons cajun seasoning
1/2 cup potato starch, for dredging
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped green bell peppers
1 pound crimini mushrooms, brushed cleaned and quartered
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3/4 cup dry red wine
3 cups veal/beef stock
1 can of whole peeled tomatoes, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Lay the meat pieces a few at a time between sheets of cling wrap or parchment paper. Using a meat mallet, pound the meat to tenderize and break up some of the connective tissue. Season the meat pieces with 2 tablespoons of cajun seasoning and dredge in the potato starch.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot add 2 tablespoons of oil in the pan and brown the meat, working in batches and adding more oil as necessary. Do not overcrowd the pan with the meat. Cook the meat for about 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. As the meat is browned, transfer to a large plate and set aside until you have cooked all of it.

Add the butter to the pan and, when melted, add the onions, celery, peppers and mushrooms. Cook the vegetables, stirring often, until softened, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 1 minute. Pour the red wine to the pan and scrape the bottom of the pot with a spoon to remove any browned bits that may have formed on the bottom.

Add the veal stock, tomatoes, bay leaves, thyme, salt, cayenne and black peppers to the pan and bring to a boil. Return the meat to the pan and reduce the heat to a simmer. Place a lid on the pan and place in the oven. Allow the meat to cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, for 2 hours, or until the meat is fork tender.

Recipe adapted from the Food Network

fruit salad portk chops

We had to adapt this recipe to fit what we actually had in the house, but it turned out better than if we had all the right ingredients in the first place. The seasoning is one of the best matches for pork chops I've found.

For the fruit sauce:
1 teaspoon olive oil
French sea salt
1-2 cups peaches, raspberries and dried cranberries
1/3 cup ruby port
1 teaspoon pomegranate balsamic vinegar

For the pork chops:
3 (1-inch-thick) bone-in pork loin chops
1 1/4 teaspoons french sea salt
1 teaspoon coriander
3/4 teaspoon mustard seeds, lightly crushed
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil

Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees to pre-heat cast iron pans. Crush coriander, mustard seeds, salt and pepper in a mortar and pestle. Rub all of the spice mixture and olive oil all over the pork chops.

Add the chops to the cast iron pan and cook, undisturbed, until golden brown, about 3 and 1/2 minutes on each side. Place the pan in the oven. Bake for 2 and 1/2 minutes.

Let them rest 5 to 7 minutes.

In the cast iron pan used for the pork chops, stir in the peaches, raspberries and dried cranberries, port, and vinegar and cook until the fruit begins to soften and the port has reduced by half, about 7-10 minutes. When the sauce is finished, remove it from the heat and set it aside.

Spoon the reserved sauce over top of the pork chops and serve.

The above picture also includes a latke-style vegetable pancake made with multi-colored carrots and topped with beet yogurt.

Adapted from Chow.com

crocked pulled pork

1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ cup honey
¼ cup black cherry balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, peeled and cut in half
3 to 3 ½ pounds pork shoulder

Mix together the first six ingredients (all of the spices) with a fork. Pour in the honey, vinegar, and olive oil and stir to form a paste.

Place the onion in the bottom of the slow cooker. Top it with the pork and then pour the honey paste over all sides of the pork pieces.

Turn the slow cooker on to low and cook for 7 to 8 (or 10) hours or until the meat is tender enough to be easily shredded with a fork.

Serve with collard greens and Bell seasoned mashed potatoes.

Adapted from 100 Days of Real Food

stewed collard greens with baby tomatoes

1 bunch of collard greens, washed, stems removed
1 pint of grape tomatoes, halved
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup water or cooking stock
salt and pepper to taste

Remove stems and cut collards into one inch ribbons.

Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add tomatoes to the pan and begin to heat. Add collard greens and a dash of salt and pepper. Add water to the pan, season to taste with salt and pepper, cover and simmer on medium heat for 20 – 30 minutes until collards are thoroughly cooked.

mi csa su csa: week 11

tomato

lettuce

eggplant

cucumbers

carrots

peppers

onion

potato

garlic

We went straight for the lettuce with a steak salad - a great way to start the week with fresh flavors while getting to use some of the items that might go bad faster. We did our usual skirt steak salad with balsamic brown sugar dressing cooked down with a small red onion. We also used a cucumber and the previous week's last 3 multi-colored tomatoes. Topped with pepper-coated goat cheese and a few dried cranberries the salad was bursting with fresh flavors.

After spending the week fighting a cold we wanted to get some fresh veggies back in our meals and a frittata sounded like a pretty good way to get there.

Cast Iron Frittata

1 tablespoon of oil

1 tablespoon of butter

6 eggs

2 tablespoons cream/milk

1 onion

1 garlic clove

2 japanese eggplants

1 -2 red peppers

1 small log of goat cheese

1 tomato

parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

Chop onion, red pepper, eggplants and red pepper and garlic. Heat butter and oil in a cast iron skillet until bubbling. Cook onion, red pepper, eggplant until softened. Add garlic and salt and pepper. While the vegetables are cooking, whisk the eggs and cream with a little more salt and pepper. Slice the goat cheese log into 1/4 inch pieces. Once the vegetables have softened, pour the eggs into the pan. Place the goat cheese slices evenly around the pan. Cook over medium high heat for 5 minutes. Very thinly slice the tomato and place on top of the goat cheese. Sprinkle generously with parmesan cheese and a little more salt and pepper. Place under the broiler for 3-4 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.

mi csa su csa: week 10

Tomatoes

Peppers

Potatoes

Beets

Zucchini

Melon

Lettuce

We got a ton of tomatoes again, and after not eating many of last week's tomatoes I needed something to use up a bunch. And even though it's as hot as it's been all summer I couldn't stop thinking about a tomato soup recipe I saw earlier in the week. So simple, and while it took a little longer to make than the recipe says, it was totally worth it.

With peppers leftover from the week before it was time for more stuffed peppers, this time with an italian twist. After the success of the tomato soup earlier in the week, I wanted to go in a similar direction. I cooked up some onions and tomatoes with some farm fresh ground beef (and some spices, egg and cheese) and stuffed it all into some pre-roasted peppers (the key to great stuffed peppers). The long, green and sweet green peppers (shaped like poblanos or anaheim peppers, but without the heat) were the best.

Tomato Soup

3 tablespoons butter
4 to 5 medium ripe tomatoes, halved
Flaky salt and freshly ground black pepper
⅓ cup cream
1 large sprig of rosemary or thyme, optional

Put the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. When it melts, add the tomatoes, cut side down, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the tomatoes have released most their juices (but aren’t charred), 10 to 15 minutes. Turn the tomatoes over and cook until they begin to break down, 5 to 7 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat. After 30 seconds, add the cream and stir, scraping the bottom of the pot as you go. Use the spoon to break down the tomatoes to a chunky but spoonable consistency. Add the thyme or rosemary sprig, if desired. Taste and adjust the seasoning, and serve warm. 

Recipe from Slate.com

mi csa su csa: week 9

Lettuce

Carrots

Beets 

Melon

Peppers

Potatoes 

Tomatoes
Eggplant

The only thing we actually got to after eating out nearly every day this week were the beets, which we made into both chips and sauteed beet greens with garlic.

mi csa su csa: week 8

Carrots

Tomatoes

Cucumber

Zucchini

Beans

Garlic

Lettuce

Peppers

Eggplant

Onions

CSA share fail this week.

mi csa su csa: week 7

Rainbow Chard
Onion
Potatoes
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Peppers
Tomatoes
Lettuce

I wanted to get to the chard first, as it had the best chance to go bad before we got to it. It was beautiful - different colors, shapes and sizes. I found a creamed chard and noodles recipe that looked great, but I didn't have any noodles except for boxes of mac and cheese. I decided I could fake the creamed chard recipe, so I made the mac and cheese according to the recipe, chopped up the chard with 2 of the onions and pan fried them, seasoning with salt, pepper, Jamaican curry powder and ground ginger. Once everything was finished cooking I mixed it all together for a tasty twist on mac and cheese.

For an appetizer we chopped up a yellow and orange tomatoes to serve over a very fresh burrata with some cracked salt and pepper and a drizzle of balsamic.

Eggplant was next on the list - gorgeous dark purple, long, thin eggplants. We also got one more pepper this week so we decided to pick up some ground pork and make asian-style stuffed peppers. We made them similarly to our cabbage shumai, along with the dipping sauce, with the addition of the eggplant and onions to the stuffing. The key was roasting the oiled peppers a bit before stuffing them and then cooking them in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Served over some sushi rice, the flavors came together nicely.

We've had a beef roast from the other farm in the freezer for a couple of months and finally pulled it out to roast with some carrots and tiny potatoes from the farm, along with some parsnips and vidalia onions. The juices and scrapings from the pan made an excellent gravy.

Got through just about everything, just the lettuce and some of last week's zucchini. But we just got a spiral slicer and I can't wait to make some zucchini noodles with it.

mi csa su csa: week 6

Carrots
Onions
Potatoes
Green Pepper
Cucumber
Zucchini
Tomatoes
Garlic

With an abundance of zucchini and carrots we got to work making fritters. They were ok, but not the best version we've made. Other than that we didn't have a chance to get to much of the rest of it. But we did make up for it the next week.

mi csa su csa: week 5

From the farm share in week 5:

Dragon Tongue Beans
Carrots
Zucchini
Cucumber
Potatoes
Lettuce
Onion
Garlic
Mixed Tomatoes
Basil

We still had quite a few vegetables left over from the week before after not being home for most of the week, so when the new batch came in I roasted most of the vegetables from the week before, including carrots, turnips, lots of zucchini and onions from this week. The onions are so good they always go into meals quickly. I also peeled the rest of the previous few weeks' carrots just to have as a snack with some salad dressing. The only week 4 items I ended up starting week 5 with were the new potatoes, a ton of cucumbers and some beans.

By the end of week 5 I still had week 4's leftovers and nearly all of week 5's batch. Unfortunately the cucumbers and the beans didn't make it to the end of week 5 before going bad. I also only got through about half the basil before it turned, but I also grow my own, so it wasn't a huge loss.

The first day I made a salad of the lettuce, basil, tomatoes and some mozzarella with balsamic vinegar - good but maybe one too many items. I also used some of the tomatoes with my own basil, wrapped up in sliced Italian meat - a great little appetizer.

At the end of the week it was time to see if we could use up as much as we could before the next share comes in, and we made a perfect meal to do that. We started with a quick pickle to use up some cucumbers, though we found the previous week's batch had rotted already, but we still had plenty, and got to use the farm fresh garlic in it too. We refrigerated them until dinner and they turned out perfectly. We roasted both the new potatoes from last week and this week's red potatoes, which gave us the chance to really see the different flavor profiles of both. The new potatoes far outshined the red, though they are both very delicious. We also sliced up the rest of the tomatoes and salted them for a simple side dish. We rounded out all our great veggies with a perfectly cooked porterhouse from our meat farm share.

We got through just about everything this week, with just zucchini and carrots to go, and I should be able to find a good use for both at the beginning of next week.

mi csa su csa: week 4

From the farm share in week 4:

butter lettuce
new potatoes
zucchini
green beans
peas
carrots
turnips
green onions
cucumbers

I started the week with the peas, shelling them into mac and cheese and tossed with some of last week's scallions.

Next up was our favorite pork chop and peaches dish, this time with fresh peaches, which improved the dish greatly. We roasted the new potatoes with olive oil and salt—and they were some of the best potatoes we've ever made, even though we've made them the way dozens of times.

mi csa su csa: week 3

The third week of farm-y goodness includes:

zucchini
scallions
sugar peas
cucumbers
carrots
bok choy
lettuce mix
kale

There's always one item to catch up on from the week before and this week it was cucumbers, especially since we got two more in this week's farm share. So I made one of favorite childhood foods: chopped cucumbers in sour cream. Literally add some sugar to those two ingredients and you have a dish I can snack on for days.

I also went straight for the kale on night one. Mostly because it's not my favorite and likely to be one of the first things to go bad if I don't eat it right away. Also it was easy enough to just throw it in a frying pan with some sliced leftover kielbasa and have a meal ready to go in 15 minutes.

Been a little slow getting around to everything this week. Ate a bit of the lettuce mix, but wasn't as into it this week. Tossed the bok choy, zucchini and shucked the peas into a stir fry, which was probably a little overpowered by the sauce we used, but the bok choy was clearly very tasty. Saving the carrots to make a big batch of carrot latkes when we get more carrots next week. Scallions might be the only thing that don't make it into anything.

mi csa su csa: week 2

The farm freshness continues in week 2 with:

carrots
spinach
scallions
beets
cucumbers
broccoli
zucchini
arugula

Since I didn't get to the arugula last week I thought I'd start there first with a steak salad. Here's the original recipe, though it's just as good when you just pan fry the steak, reduce some balsamic and brown sugar in the pan and sprinkle in whatever cheese you've got. And this was definitely the best arugula I've ever had.

I roasted the broccoli the first night we got it, just to make sure it didn't go bad. Mid-week we defrosted some bone-in pork chops from the farm and used our steak method to cook them: a hot cast-iron pan, oiled with bacon fat and salt and peppered chops, 3 minutes a side and 6 minutes in a 400 degree oven. We then used the cast iron pan to cook down the spinach using the drippings and half a lemon to flavor the spinach. We also reheated the broccoli in the pan as the spinach finished cooking. It was all delicious!

With so much ground beef and ground pork from the farm a meatloaf seemed in order. We used our usual meatloaf recipe, though we exchanged the usual dried italian herbs with fresh parsley, oregano, thyme and basil (the rest is chopped onion, parmesan cheese, ketchup, mustard, tabasco steak sauce, eggs, salt, pepper and garlic powder). We also roasted slices of this week's zucchini and last week's peas with a little olive oil, salt and pepper for half the duration while the meatloaf cooked for 60 minutes at 400 degrees. It was the best meatloaf we've ever made.

For lunch we grilled up some kielbasa and hot dogs along with the scallions, which is my favorite scallion preparation.

We had a ton of leftover meatloaf, so we ate the leftovers with roasted carrots, golden beets and some mushrooms. We topped the mushrooms with salt and pepper, the carrots with thyme and the beets with dill - all very tasty, and a good way to use up nearly all of the rest of the vegetables.

mi csa su csa: week 1

We're doing both a meat CSA and a veggie CSA this year, both for the first time. The meat CSA is year round and we're on month 2, but the veggies just started. Since we're getting vegetables we don't usually eat, I thought I'd keep a record of what we've created with them.

Week 1:
scapes
broccoli
zucchini
turnips
arugula
red leaf lettuce
peas

First up: broccoli, a couple scapes and mushrooms pan fried with leftover chicken and homemade chicken broth.

I ate most of the lettuce simply dressed with a tangerine dressing—though I didn't get through all of it.

The zucchini made up the meat of a delicious Persian Kuku Kadoo recipe from Saveur, which we served with roasted turnips, scapes and carrots we seasoned with fresh dill from our herb garden.

The arugula didn't make it, but the peas look like they'll still be good enough to eat in week 2.

spring pork chops...anytime

Fresh peaches this spring have been delicious, so they haven't been lasting long enough around our house to make it into an actual dish before being picked up and just eaten as is. This is a great dish because it uses frozen peaches, which you can get any time of the year. The flavors in this dish come together beautifully, sweet and savory all at once. We served it with roasted asparagus and fried plantains.

3-4 (1-inch-thick) pork chops
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots
1-2 teaspoons finely chopped thyme
1/4 cup brandy
1 (10-ounce) bag frozen peaches, thawed
1/3 cup peach preserves

Sprinkle pork chops on both sides with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper (total) and coat lightly with olive oil.

Heat 12-inch cast iron skillet in oven for 10 minutes at 500 degrees, bring pan back to the stove top and cook pork chops over high heat, turning once, until browned, 3 minutes on each side. Return pan with pork chops to 350 degree oven for 6 minutes, until cooked through. Transfer to a platter and keep warm, loosely covered with foil.

Return skillet to stove top. Heat butter in skillet over medium heat until foam subsides, then cook shallots with thyme, stirring occasionally, until tender and golden-brown, about 5 minutes.

Add 1/4 cup brandy to skillet, then cook over medium heat, scraping bottom of skillet to loosen brown bits. Add peaches, preserves, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper and any meat juices from platter. Nestle pork chops in the sauce and cook, until peaches are tender and juicy, about 3 minutes. Plate pork chops and spoon sauce over chops.

Adapted from epicurious.com

smoked mozzarella non-pizza

I crave pizza all the time, but feel pretty terrible after eating a pile of nothing but carbs, cheese and grease. This recipe, which I threw together with a few vegetables and stuff I had on hand, fills the pizza craving without the heaviness. I would recommend making double the recipe below if you want any leftovers.

Ingredients:
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 zucchini
half a ball of smoked mozzarella
parmesan cheese
romano cheese
6 fresh basil leaves
spaghetti sauce

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread evenly on baking sheet. Roast in oven for 30 minutes. Remove baking sheet from oven and sprinkle with parmesan and romano cheeses. Top with slices of smoked mozzarella and sprinkle with fresh basil leaves. Roast in oven 10 minutes.

Spread a layer of warmed spaghetti sauce on a plate and top with the roasted vegetables and cheese.

cheesy chewy brazilian bread

These little pieces of squishy bread are amazing! Like a combo of warm and chewy crescent rolls and croissants.

Ingredients:

1 egg

1/3 cup olive oil

2/3 cup milk

Scant 1 1/2 cups tapioca flour

1/2 cup (packed) grated queso fresco

1 teaspoon of salt (or more to taste)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a mini-muffin tin. Put all of the ingredients into a blender and pulse until smooth. You may need to use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the blender so that everything gets blended well. At this point you can store the batter in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until all puffy and just lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack for a few minutes.

Eat while warm or save to reheat later.

Adapted from Simply Recipes

light and fresh chicken soup

This soup is wonderful for any reason, but is especially good if you're not feeling well. The cornstarch turns the broth silky and beautiful and the ginger gives it a nice bite.

Chicken, Mushroom and Ginger Soup

1 ounce dried shiitake mushrooms (dried is much preferable to fresh in this recipe)
4 cups boiling water
4 cups additional water
2 pounds chicken thighs cut into chunks
A 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced very thin
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 teaspoons sugar
A pinch of salt
1 1/2 teaspoons corn starch

Boil the first 4 cups of water. Soak the mushrooms in the boiled water for 20 minutes.

While the mushrooms are soaking, mix the soy, sugar, salt and corn starch in a large bowl. Make sure there are no corn starch lumps. Add the chicken and ginger to the bowl, toss to coat with the marinade, and set aside.

When the mushrooms have softened, remove from the water (saving the soaking liquid) and slice thin. Add the mushrooms into the bowl with the chicken. Pour the soaking water though a fine-meshed sieve lined with a paper towel back into the cooking pot.

Put the chicken mushroom mixture, and the additional 4 cups of water into the pot and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a bare simmer, cover the pot and cook gently for 25 minutes. Serve hot.

Adapted from Simply Recipes

potato smoothness

The first time we made this the potatoes we used were on the smaller side, so the soup turned out a little thin, but it was absolutely delicious. I can't wait to make this with even more potatoes for a thick and creamy version. And it's great as a side with corned beef and cabbage in place of boiled potatoes.

Irish Potato Soup

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 medium yellow onions, peeled and chopped
6 medium russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
4 cup stock (chicken, vegetable, or ham), homemade if available
2 cups whole milk
salt and pepper to taste
Garnish: chopped parsley

In a large stock pot, melt the butter. Add the onions and potatoes; heat over medium heat, covered, stirring often until they begin to soften (15-20 minutes). Do not allow them to brown.

Add the stock and milk and allow to come to low simmer. Stirring often, cook until the potatoes and onions are fully soft about 25 minutes.

Use an immersion blender to achieve a smooth consistency. If, after processing, the soup is thicker than desired, pour it back into the cooking pot and thin with additional warm stock.

Adapted from Boulder Locavore

mushroom mushroom badger badger mushroom

I found this recipe back in 2005, and I can't actually remember if I've ever made it, but it certainly looks good and relatively easy. Been craving mushrooms lately, so if I find a good assortment I may just have to whip this up.

Thyme and Mushroom Soup

1 tablespoon butter
1/2 onion, sliced
5 cloves garlic, chopped
3 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves (removed from the stems)
10 cups sliced assorted mushrooms (One very full brown paper mushroom bag will slice up into about 10 cups)
1 cup white wine
4 1/4 cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon sea salt (depending on how salty your stock is)
1 teaspoon cracked pepper

Melt butter in the bottom of a large stockpot. Cook and stir onions, garlic and thyme over medium heat for 5 or so minutes, until onions begin to brown and the scent of thyme fills your kitchen.

Add mushrooms and cook, over med-high, heat stirring only occasionally, to brown the mushrooms a bit before they start giving off too much water. Continue to cook, stirring for 6 to 8 minutes.

Add in remaining ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes. Ladle off 1/2 the mixture into a bowl. Use immersion blender on one half the soup. Combine the two portions again and heat through.

Adapted from Lex Culinaria

dreams of new orleans

As I recently discovered, don't skimp on the 45 minute cooking time. Giving the flavors time to blend is important.

Red Beans and Rice

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound fully cooked smoked sausage or Kielbasa, sliced into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 14 1/2- to 16-ounce cans kidney beans
1 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon Creole or Cajun seasoning
3 cups cooked rice

Heat olive oil in heavy large Dutch oven or saucepan over medium heat. Add sausage, onion and garlic and sauté until onion is brown, about 15 minutes.

Mix in kidney beans with their juices, broth and Creole seasoning. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer until flavors are blended and mixture is very thick, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.

Divide cooked rice among large shallow soup bowls. Spoon bean mixture over rice and serve.

Adapted from Epicurious.com

crockpot delights

We've tried this both on the stove-top and in the crockpot and while the depth of flavor is a little more complex when cooked on the stove, the crockpot version is so easy and just as delicious that it's worth the time and effort saved to be able to make it on a weeknight.

Sweet Potato Soup with Rum Cream

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 small onion, chopped
4 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 medium-size sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (1 3/4 to 2 pounds)
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 fresh thyme sprigs or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
Pinch ground nutmeg
Pinch ground red pepper
Rum Cream or caramelized onions

Stove-top directions:
Melt butter in pot over medium-high heat; add onion, and saute until tender. Stir in chicken broth and next 4 ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour or until potato is tender. Remove and discard thyme sprigs. Cool slightly.

Use an immersion blender to process until smooth in the pot. Stir in whipping cream and next 4 ingredients. Serve with Rum Cream or caramelized onions.

Crockpot directions:
Add butter and onions to the crockpot. Stir in chicken broth and next 4 ingredients. Cook in crockpot for 10 hours on low. Remove and discard thyme sprigs. Cool slightly.

Use an immersion blender to process until smooth in the crockpot. Stir in whipping cream and next 4 ingredients. Serve with Rum Cream or caramelized onions.

Rum Cream

Ingredients:
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/8 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum

Directions:
Beat all ingredients at high speed with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.

The above recipes are adapted (barely) from Southern Living

Caramelized Onions

Ingredients:
5 lb bag of white onions or vidalia onions - sliced
1/2 half stick of butter
2 tbsp of olive oil

Throw all ingredients in crockpot. Cook on low for 10 hours.

Result: The onions weren't as browned as I expected, though they tasted wonderful, if not as sweet as we would have liked. We used regular spanish onions, so next time I will add some sugar to help with the sweetness, or use vidalias. I will also aim to cook them for closer to 12 hours and see how much more that browns them and breaks them down.

all the ice creams

We just got an ice cream maker attachment for our Kitchenaid mixer and after our first less than perfect attempt we've found a really great base. We made strawberry ice cream with it and I can't wait to try it out with peaches once they're in season.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups half-and-half
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1 1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 pound strawberries, hulled
1 tablespoon sugar

Directions:

Stir together the half-and-half and 2 cups sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the vanilla extract. Heat the mixture until it's hot but not simmering or boiling.

In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks vigorously with a whisk until they start to lighten in color, about 2 minutes.

Pour half a cup of the hot half-and-half mixture and very slowly drizzle it into the bowl with the egg yolks, whisking the whole time. Repeat with another half cup of hot half-and-half mixture, making sure to whisk the whole time.

Pour the tempered yolks into the saucepan with the rest of the half and half mixture and stir gently with a wooden spoon for 2 to 4 minutes, cooking it slowly until it's thick enough to coat the spoon.

Pour the thick liquid through a fine mesh strainer and into a clean bowl. Add the heavy cream to the bowl and stir gently to combine. Refrigerate this mixture for 2 hours, or until chilled.

Here is where you can add whatever flavoring you like. Below are the directions for strawberries.

Meanwhile, combine the strawberries and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a blender. Puree until smooth (or you can stop just short of smooth if you want a little texture.) Pour the pureed strawberries into the chilled custard mixture and stir.

Now pour half the mixture into the ice cream maker and freeze it according to its directions. Remove the first batch and freeze, and then pour the second half into the ice cream maker. Freeze ice cream for at least 4 hours, or until frozen firm.

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

stuffed pizzacchini

Twice in the last few weeks I've seen recipes for stuffed zucchini, and it seemed like a good time to try out our own version. Throwing what we had on hand into the pot we came up with pizza-zucchini, and everyone devoured every bite.

Ingredients:

4 small to medium zucchini
1 pound ground pork
1/2 can tomato paste
garlic powder
onion powder
salt
pepper
olive oil
oregano
basil
2 tbsp parmesan cheese
2 tbsp romano cheese
mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

To make the zucchini boats, cut the ends off the zucchini and then cut down  the center lengthwise. Use a small spoon to scoop out the flesh in the center - do not cut through the skin. Continue until each zucchini half resembles a canoe. Chop the zucchini flesh into small chunks to use in the stuffing and reserve.

Place the hollowed zucchini boats onto a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Roast until they begin to soften, 20 minutes.

Brown the ground pork in a large pan, seasoning to taste with the garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper and oregano and basil. Once the ground pork is mostly browned, add the reserved zucchini chunks and the half can of tomato paste. Mix to combine. Add the parmesan and romano cheeses and mix. Cook mixture for 5 to 8 minutes.

Once zucchini boats are roasted, add stuffing mixture to the boats and top with mozzarella cheese. Broil for about 5 minutes or until GBD. Eat everything.